Surah Az-Zukhruf, Ayah 83

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

حـم - تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَـبِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

(Ha-Mim. By the manifest Book.) means, plain and clear in both wording and meaning, because it was revealed in the language of the Arabs, which is the most eloquent language for communication among people. Allah says:

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَـهُ

(Verily, We have made it) meaning, revealed it,

قُرْءَاناً عَرَبِيّاً

(a Qur'an in Arabic) meaning, in the language of the Arabs, eloquent and clear;

لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

(that you may be able to understand.) means, that you may understand it and ponder its meanings. This is like the Ayah:

Commentary

قُلْ إِن كَانَ لِلرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ وَلَدٌ فَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْعَابِدِينَ (Had there been a son for the Rahman,

I would have been the first to worship - 43:81) It does not mean that, God forbid, there is any possibility of Rahman (Allah) having offspring. What is really being said is that the Holy Prophet t is not denying your beliefs due to enmity or obstinacy, but because they are illogical. If precise logical arguments could prove the existence of offspring of Allah, he would certainly have accepted it. But every intellectual argument contradicts this possibility, and therefore there is no question of accepting it. This tells us that it is lawful, rather desirable, to declare during a debate with erring people that if their claim had been proved by strong arguments, it would have been accepted, because such a manner of speech may sometimes soften the heart of the opponent and may persuade him to accept the truth.

This statement indicates that the belief declared by the Prophet was considered by him to be the absolute Truth. His stand was not on the ground of national tradition or group prejudice but on that of sound reasoning. He was the preacher of that Faith: all facts corroborated its truth. It can be imagined from this that what is vital to the caller to the truth is consciousness of reality and not the blind following of national tradition. The vast creative system of God, which is spread out in the shape of heaven and earth, indicates that its Lord is the one and only God. The extensiveness of the system of the universe rules out the possibility of there being more than one God.