The Quran

258

Preface

أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى الَّذي حاجَّ إِبراهيمَ في رَبِّهِ أَن آتاهُ اللَّهُ المُلكَ إِذ قالَ إِبراهيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذي يُحيي وَيُميتُ قالَ أَنا أُحيي وَأُميتُ ۖ قالَ إِبراهيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأتي بِالشَّمسِ مِنَ المَشرِقِ فَأتِ بِها مِنَ المَغرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهدِي القَومَ الظّالِمينَ

Yusuf Ali

Hast thou not Turned thy vision to one who disputed with Abraham¹ About his Lord, because God had granted him power? Abraham said: “My Lord is He Who Giveth life and death.” He said: “I give life and death”. Said Abraham: “But it is God that causeth the sun to rise from the east: Do thou then cause him to rise from the West.” Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected faith. Nor doth God Give guidance to a people unjust².

The three verses 258-260 have been the subject of much controversy as to the exact meaning to be attached to the incidents and the precise persons alluded to, whose names are not mentioned. In such matters, where the Qur-ān has given no names and the Prophet has himself given no indication, it seems to me useless to speculate, and still worse to put forward positive opinions. In questions of learning, speculations are often interesting. But it seems to me that the meaning of the Qur-ān is so wide and universal that we are in danger of missing the real and eternal meaning if we go on disputing about minor points. All three incidents are such as may happen again and again in any prophet’s lifetime, and be seen in impersonal vision at any time. Here they are connected with Al Muṣṭafā’s vision as shown by the opening words of verse 258. (R).
The first point illustrated is the pride of power, and the impotence of human power as against God’s power. The person who disputed with Abraham may have been Nimrod or some ruler in Babylonia, or indeed elsewhere. I name Babylonia as it was the original home of Abraham (Ur of the Chaldees), and Babylon prided herself on her arts and sciences in the ancient world. Science can do many wonderful things; it could then; it can now. But the mystery of Life baffled science then, as it continues to baffle science now, after many centuries of progress. Abraham had faith, and referred back everything to the true Cause of Causes. A sceptical ruler might jestingly say: “I have the power of life and death.” A man of science might say: “We have investigated the laws of life and death.” Different kinds of powers lie in the hands of kings and men of knowledge. The claim in both cases is true in a very limited sense. But Abraham confounded the claimer by going back to fundamentals. “If you had the ultimate power, why could you not make the sun rise from the West?”