Note 1
These symbolical epithets, consisting of adjectival participles without any mention of the nouns which they qualify, have been variously interpreted by the early commentators; but since there is a consensus of opinion regarding the first of these participles - adh-dhariyat - as denoting "dust-scattering winds", we may assume that the other three relate to different phases or manifestations of the same phenomenon (Razi) - namely, to the life-giving function of the combination of wind, clouds and rain - pointing, symbolically, to the miraculous creation of life as such and, thus, to the existence of a conscious, purposeful Creator.

Note 2
I.e., life after death.

Note 3
I.e., "think of the Creator of this great universe and, hence, of your responsibility to Him".

Note 4
Lit., "you are indeed in a discordant opinion (qawl)", i.e., as to whether or not there is life after death, whether God exists, whether there is any truth in divine revelation, and so forth.

Note 5
Lit., "perversely turned away from this [truth] is he who is made to lie" - or, according to the Taj al-'Arus, "he who is perverted in his reason and opinion", i.e., who is a priori disposed to deceive himself: implying that belief in God and, hence, in life after death is inherent in man's mind and feeling, and that, therefore, a departure from this belief is but an outcome of intellectual perversion.

Note 6
For this rendering of the expression qutila, see note 9 on 74:19.

Note 7
Thus the Taj al-'Arus, explaining the deeper meaning of al-kharrasun. "That which they cannot ascertain" is, in this context, synonymous with al-ghayb, "the reality which is beyond the reach of human perception".

Note 8
This "trial (fitnah) by the fire" is in tune with several Quranic allusions to the effect that the otherworldly suffering described as "hell" is not to be eternal: see in this connection notes 114 on 6:128, 40:12 and note 53 on 43:74.

Note 9
A reference to their one-time sarcastic demand that they should be punished for their rejection of the Quranic message: cf. 6:57 and 8:32 .

Note 10
Lit., "before that (Day)".

Note 11
See note 10 on 3:17 .

Note 12
Sc., "but could not beg" - and this applies to all living creatures, whether human beings or mute animals (Razi), irrespective of whether the need is of a physical or an emotional nature.

Note 13
See note 3 on 45:4.

Note 14
I.e., both physical (rain) and spiritual (truth and guidance).

Note 15
Lit., "even as you speak" or "are able to speak": an allusion to man's ability to think conceptually and to express himself - that is, to something of which man is absolutely, axiomatic­ally conscious.

Note 16
This story (as well as the subsequent mention of what happened to Lot's people and to the tribes of Ad and Thamud, of Moses and Pharaoh's people, and of Noah's people) is connected with the preceding references to the "signs", visible and conceptual, of God's existence and almightiness and the inflexible moral causality apparent in what the Qur'an describes as "the way of God" (sunnat Allah). The story of Abraham's angelic guests appears also in 11:69 ff. and - in a somewhat shorter version - in 15:51 ff. as well.

Note 17
Lit., "unknown people" - i.e., not realizing that they were angels.

Note 18
See note 101 on 11:70.

Note 19
I.e., with prophethood (cf. 15:53 ).

Note 20
I.e., Lot 's people.

Note 21
Lit., "stones of clay" - the noun "clay" (tin) is, according to Zamakhshari , identical with the term sijjil mentioned in 11:82 and tentatively explained in the corresponding note 114 as signifying "chastisement pre-ordained".

Note 22
For an explanation of this rendering of the term musrifin, see note 21 on 10:12 .

Note 23
Lit., "And then", i.e., after the events described in 11:77 ff. and 15:61 ff.

Note 24
I.e., Lot 's family.

Note 25
I.e., in the utter destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Note 26
The above interpolations are based on the consensus of most of the classical commentators regarding the phrase "And in Moses, too".

Note 27
This is an illustration of the Quranic doctrine that the suffering which is bound to befall an evildoer in this world or in the life to come, or in both, is but a consequence of his own doings.

Note 28
See 69:6. For the story of the tribe of Ad as such, see second half of note 48 on 7:65.

Note 29
Cf. 11:65. An outline of the story of the Thamud is given in 7:73.

Note 30
Lit., "the sky" or "the heaven", which in the Qur'an often has the connotation of "universe" or, in the plural ("the heavens"), of "cosmic systems".

Note 31
See note 38 on the first part of 21:30 . The phrase inna la-musi'un clearly foreshadows the modern notion of the "expanding universe" - that is, the fact that the cosmos, though finite in extent, is continuously expanding in space.

Note 32
I.e., in accordance with the requirements of the living organisms that were to - and did - develop on it.

Note 33
Lit., "of every thing have We created pairs"- a phrase which is explained in note 18 on 36:36.

Note 34
Cf. 89:3 and the corresponding note 2.

Note 35
Lit., "do not set up any other deity".

Note 36
Lit., "sorcerer".

Note 37
For a full discussion of the term jinn ("invisible beings"), see Appendix III. As pointed out by most of the philologists - and stressed by Razi in his comments on the above verse - this term includes also the angels, since they, too, are beings or forces "concealed from man's senses".

Note 38
Thus, the innermost purpose of the creation of all rational beings is their cognition (marifah) of the existence of God and, hence, their conscious willingness to conform their own existence to whatever they may perceive of His will and plan: and it is this twofold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deepest meaning to what the Qur'an describes as "worship" (ibadah). As the next verse shows, this spiritual call does not arise from any supposed "need" on the part of the Creator, who is self-sufficient and infinite in His power, but is designed as an instrument for the inner development of the worshipper, who, by the act of his conscious self-surrender to the all-pervading Creative Will, may hope to come closer to an understanding of that Will and, thus, closer to God Himself.

Note 39
Implying that every act of evildoing bears the seed of its own retribution either in this world or in the hereafter.