5 Preface فَالمُلقِياتِ ذِكرًاYusuf AliThen spread abroad a Message,1If we understand the reference to Prophets or Messengers of God, or the verses of Revelation which would be particularly appropriate for verses 5-6, we also get a satisfactory solution of the Allegory. (1) The Prophets have followed one another in a series: the verses of the Qur-ān came, one after another as needed; in both cases it was for man’s spiritual profit; (2) they caused great disturbance in a spiritually decadent world; they pulled down evil institutions root and branch, and substituted new ones; (3) they proclaimed their truths far and wide, without fear and without favour; (4) through them were sorted out men of Faith and rebels against God’s Law; and (5) they gave a Message, through which just men were justified through repentance, and evil men were warned of their sins. Some Commentators take one or other of these allegories, and some apply one allegory to a few of these verses, and another to another few. In my opinion the Allegory is wide enough to comprehend all the meanings which I have sketched. I wish a translation could do justice to those marvellously terse sentences in the original.