seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 17:78. Perform the prayer at the decline of the sun, until the darkness of the night; and the Quran at dawn. The Quran at dawn is witnessed.
79. And keep vigil with it during parts of the night, as an extra prayer. Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a laudable position.
80. And say, “My Lord, lead me in through an entry of truth, and lead me out through an exit of truth, and grant me from You a supporting power.”
81. And say, “The truth has come, and falsehood has withered away; for falsehood is bound to wither away.”
82. We send down in the Quran healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoers only in loss.
83. When We bless the human being, he turns away and distances himself. But when adversity touches him, he is in despair.
84. Say, “Each does according to his disposition. Your Lord knows best who is better guided in the way
This is the commentary.
The man whom the opponents had planned to expel from their city as a helpless man was to be raised to a position of eminent dignity through prayer to God, the prayer in the night in particular. As time passes on, the Prophet is ever rising to positions of greater and greater glory. But while the verse speaks in particular of the Prophet and of the great glory to which he was destined to rise, it gives a promise in general as well that whoever is sincere in calling upon God, especially at night, is raised to a position of glory.
According to I‘Ab the reference here is to the Prophet’s Flight, entering Madßnah and going forth from Makkah (JB). The Prophet was thus told in early revelations that he would have to leave Makkah and find shelter in another place. But the words may also be taken in a general sense, man being taught here to pray that his entering into any affair or his exit may be marked by truthfulness, and that he may be granted Divine help in all his undertakings.
The advent of the Prophet is here spoken of as the advent of the Truth, in reference to the prophecy in John 16:13 as to the coming of the “Spirit of truth” to guide men into all truth: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come.” The vanishing of falsehood is here spoken of in the past tense to indicate the certainty of its occurrence. Falsehood finally disappeared from Makkah when the Prophet entered it as a conqueror, and as the House of the Holy One was cleared of the idols, the Prophet recited this verse, The Truth has come and falsehood vanished, thus showing that he understood it to contain the prophecy of the conquest of Makkah. According to another report, he also recited on this occasion 34:49: “Truth has come, and falsehood neither originates, nor reproduces,” showing that idol-worship was being swept away from Arabia forever. The statement made here, however, is general and it means that falsehood cannot stand before Truth and that Truth must finally prevail in the whole world, as it prevailed in Arabia in the lifetime of the Prophet.
The Qur’ån is here called a healing and a mercy for spiritual diseases, and it is a fact to which history bears testimony that spiritual diseases were all swept away by the Qur’ån. But, it is added, it is a healing for the believers who follow it, and not for those who reject it, and its rejection brings only greater loss.
Both the believer and the disbeliever act according to the rules of conduct which they have set before themselves. Who is on the right path is made clear by the consequences which appear later but which are always known to God.
Some of these passages are as clear as mud. Look.... prayer is the key here. I'm old.... I ache in the night.... I have to get up and get tylenol to get back to sleep. I'm also plagued by the urge to fix stuff I left undone or did wrong. I'm talking about things like I didn't say the right thing on a Christmas morning ten years ago.... when I say "did wrong". It's an annoying tug... that won't go away... unless I talk to God about it... and then and only then.... can I get some sleep.
I'm trying to write up a court case. I know nothing about writing court cases.... but I need to get the court involved because a doctor blinded me. I seriously doubt he did it on purpose.... he's a nice man... and apparently very talented. He just should never have operated on my eye. My eye has endured Lyme disease, cancer, and chemo. It's not a good eye with a few floaters that just showed up.... it's an embattled eye that showed floaters 12 years ago. I could see when I met him.... but now I'm blind in one eye. He says "it was complex". That's his reason I am blind.... "it was complex".... well duh.... Lyme disease, cancer, and chemo are complex..... duh.... I gave him my complete medical history.... even offered to send him the operative notes. He said he could get rid of the floaters. Now I have to face the fact my other eye is not in the best shape either.... and the expenses of being blind [cooking cleaning transportation and much more] are going to be expensive and I am disabled! Now that's complex. His lawyer won't give point of contact information for his liability insurance company. That's what I have to go to court for.... but no one.... no lawyer out here.... will pick up the case... because I have to file within a week or two to save the warranty from expiring. Yep... eye surgery is supposed to have a two year warranty. My warranty is about to expire and my eye is broken! And last night.... I could not sleep because being blind kept waking me up.
So... in the night last night... I told God what I think the problem is. God already knows what's going on... and He knows how it's going to turn out. I have to bring it up and ask Him for help..... that's how it works I think. I asked Him for help so I could get back to sleep.... you know "put it in God's hands" as they say. I got back to sleep and dreamed I was writing. You know how it is when you go to bed with something on your mind... and it appears in your dreams.... only this time I wasn't blocked by ignorance... I was writing... and this morning... I remember what I wrote.... yay!
No... I don't think I'm in the same ball park as Muhammed or anyone else who is so close to God as to represent a whole religious tradition.... I just think... these verses are about trusting God for everything. I'm sure a man who is about to enter battle.... might have a hard time getting to sleep the night before the battle.... prayer will help. I'm sure a college student might have a hard time getting sleep the night before a final exam.... prayer will help.
Truth is.... this too could be more harping on the "hail Mary" stuff the Muslims despise. This could be about people setting up little gods and leaving God out of the picture.... this could be about how greedy men will taint the truth and only sticking with God will allow you to see the idol for what it is... a shiny bauble.
People were lying. They were twisting the word of God all out of shape. They were changing the Gospel into a lie. Preaching against the preacher is dangerous. The Prophet is responsible for shining light on the problem... and liars are also good at covering up their own lies. The Prophet has to stay in prayer or those lying will get the lie to take root.
Truth.... There is only One True Living God!
Truth.... God is in charge.
