61. " and (remember) when you said: ` o' moses! never can
we (always)
endure
one sort of food, so beseech your lord for us,
to
produce for us of what the earth groweth, its pot-herbs, and
cucumbers,
garlic, lentils, and onions '. he (moses) said:
`
would you have in exchange what is worse for what is better?
enter
a city, thus you shall get that which you demanded! '
abasement
and humiliation were stamped upon them
and
they incurred wrath from allah;
that
was because they went on rejecting allah's signs
and
slaying the prophets unjustly.
that
was because they disobeyed, and went on transgressing."
commentary :
demanding a variety of food
to continue the
description mentioned in the former verses about
the different
bounties allah bestowed on the children of israel, here
in the verse under
discussion, the unthankfulness and ingratitude of the
israelites for those
great favours is illustrated.
the verse indicates
how obstinate they were, so much so that
perhaps no people
can be found in the history of the human race
similar to them from
the point of being ungrateful for divine favours.
at first it says: "
and (remember) when you said: ` o' moses! never
can we (always)
endure one sort of food, ..."
"...so
beseech your lord for us, to produce for us of what the earth
groweth, its
pot-herbs, and cucumbers, garlic, lentils and onions'. ..."
but in reply to
them: " he (moses) said: ` would you have in
exchange what is
worse for what is better?..."
now that it is so: "...
enter a city, thus you shall get that which you
demanded!
'..."
then, the qur'an
adds that: "... abasement and humiliation were
stamped upon them,
and they incurred wrath from allah;..."
"...that was
because they went on rejecting allah's signs and slaying
the prophets
unjustly. ..."
"...that was
because they disobeyed, and went on transgressing."
why were the israelites stamped
with abasement and humiliation?
as the above verse
indicates, they incurred humiliation and
wretchedness because
of two things : the first was because they went on
disobeying the
orders of allah and straying from the path of
monotheism to that
of infidelity.
the second factor
was that they used to kill the righteous and
apostles of allah.
this hard-heartedness and heedlessness of the
divine laws and even
against most human laws, that even today clearly
continues among the
jews, might be the cause of that humiliation and
abasement.
right now, as we are
writing these lines, the territory of lebanon
is being invaded
savagely by this hard-hearted tribe where thousands of
men and women, among
whom are innocent, old persons, infant babies,
hospital patients
and the like, are unjustly and tyrannically being slain in
a pitiable way.
their bodies are lying lifelessly on the ground in wait of
burial. we are sure
that this tribe will certainly have to pay the penalty
for their cruelty in
the future.