126. " and (remember) when abraham said: ` my lord,
make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits such of them
that believe in allah and the last day.' he said:
` and whoever disbelieves, i shall let him enjoy himself
for a little while, then i shall drive him to the punishment of
fire and an evil destination it is ! ' "
commentary :
abraham's (a.s.)
petition to allah !
in this verse abraham (a.s.) asks allah two great requests in
favour of the inhabitants of this holy land, one of which was referred to
in the previous verse. the qur'an says:
" and (remember) when abraham said: ` my lord,
make this a secure city ..."
as it was pointed out in the previous
verse, allah accepted this
invocation from abraham (a.s.) and set this holy land as a secure
center, both outward and inward security.
his second petition was thus:
"... and provide its people with fruits such of them
that
believe in allah and the last day.'...."
it is interesting that abraham (a.s.)
requested ` security 'first , and
then he asked for material gifts which itself is a reference to the fact
that a safe and soundeconomic status is not possible unless there exists
security in a town or country.
the opinions are divided amongst the commentators as to the
meaning of the term ` fruits ' here. on the whole, it seems that the
word has a vast meaning, so broad that it includes any material bounty
whether it is fruits or other nutritious substances, as well as spiritual
bounties.
concerning the meaning of this term in the above verse, imam
sadiq (a.s.) in a tradition has said: " it is the fruits of hearts." 1 this
indicates that allah attracts the attention and affection of human
beings to the people of this holy land.
this is also noteworthy, that abraham (a.s.) invocates this petition
only for the believers in allah, the only true god, and the last day,
because he might have realized from the statement: " my covenant does
not include the unjust," cited
in the former verse, the fact that some
groups of his future offspring would follow the path of polytheism and
injustice; then, to show reverence in a courteous manner, here, he did
not include them in his petition.
however, allah's answer to this invocation of abraham (a.s.)
was:
"... he said: ` and whoever disbelieves, i shall let
him enjoy himself
for a little while, ..."
"...then i shall drive him to the punishment of fire
and an evil destination it is ! ' "
this is, in fact, the same ` general mercy
' of allah by which his
unlimited bounties are available to all creatures so that good doers and
evildoers equally enjoy from his vast bountiful table in this world, but
in the next world, where his ` specific mercy ' comes forth, wrongdoers
will have no share of it and also they will have no way to rescue
themselves.