The Holy Quran Text. Translation & Commentary(the Example Commentary in Brief)(volume Four)

The Flimsy Supports Are Like Spider Web

VERSE NO.41ِ44

Those who take protectors other than Allah have taken a very flimsy and unreliable support. Their likeness is the like of a spider that span a web and took it for a house, while the house of spider is relatively the most infirm of houses.

The spider silk is strong enough from the point of relativity, but in our actual world they are flimsy and infirm, and a breeze, a small flame or a rain may ruin the whole construction. Each animal or insect may have a house, but none of them are as flimsy as that of spider web. True that it is a resting place, and a hunting snare, for the spider; but in comparison to the other nests, like that of an ant or a bee, its far weaker a place, and unreliable a support.

Those who rely on gods other than the true, and only one God, [ 634 ] they have relied on the house of a spider which is limp, frail, and unsubstantial.

Although the spider web has been a parable and proverb to show something infirm, yet in itself it is one of the wonders of creation, that studying it will remind us of the grandeure of our Lord.

It has been said that the silk of spider is made of viscous liquid which is made in its abdomen; a small amount of which is span by the spider to some five hundred meters of the silk. The silk is said to be stronger than a thread of the same thickness made of iron. The form and the structure of the web is also wonderful. It seems to be like the sun which is surrounded by her rays. Scholars have recognized some 20 thousand kinds of spiders so far, all of them having their own particularities.

In the next verse (NO-43) we read:-

And these similitudes we coin for people, but none understand them except those with knowledge.'' This implies that without enough knowledge, it is not easy to apprehend the wonders of creation that may show us the Infinite Mercy, Grace, and Beauty of our Compassionate Lord.

*****

THE SPIDER

The SPIDER is one of the several types of small creatures with eight thin legs, many of which spin webs to trap insects for food. Several species of spiders have a venom that is dangerous to man. On the other hand, most of them serve man unwittingly by destroying a vast number of bothersome insects, roaches, mosquitoes, flies, and other harmful creatures. The spiders are one of the most important and numerous groups of the animal kingdom. All of them have jointed legs and a segmented body encased in a stiff skeletons.

The supreme accomplishment of spiders perhaps is the art of spinning silk made within their bodies. Most spiders have eight eyes; there are also six eyed, four eyed and two eyed spiders among them. [ 635 ] All spider are preying animals. They eat insects almost exclusively, subduring them with venom. They cut and break the body of the prey, and at the same time they bathe it with digestive liquids from glands located near the mouth. In this way, the softer parts of the insect are predigested and are then sucked into the spider's stomach by powerful muscles. The prey is rolled and chewed until only a little ball of indigestible matter remains, and this is finally cast aside. Several hours are often required to suck an ordinary fly completely dry.

The male spider is rather short lived. It dies after a brief period of intense activity. It is much smaller than the female.

Males are sometimes killed and eaten by their females. In many cases, males and females live together very friendly. Spider can neither hear nor smell, but it has other sensory organs called palpis.

Each spider begins its life as an egg. An spider may lay a great number of eggs sometimes as many as two or three thousands in a single mass. The spinning organs of spiders are finger like appendages usually located near the rear of the abdomen. There are generally six of them which from them may be spun several different kinds of silk. There are more than 30 thousands kinds of spiders. Some of them are skilled Engineers digging deep tunnels in the soil and covering the openings with hinged trap doors. After preparing their burrows, they waterproof the walls with saliva and soil, line them with silk and then cap the entrance with a hinged trap door.

In some cases, the makers of the doors have a secret side burrow within the main chamber into which they can retreat when menaced by enemies. This burrow is closed with a second trap door.

QUOTED FROM THE BOOK OF POPULAR SCIENCE

VOL.2. AN ARTICLE BY WILLIS J. GERTSCH

Translator's Note

[ 636 ]

اتْلُ مَا أُوحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلاَةَ إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ(( 45 ))

45- RECITE THAT OF THE BOOK WHICH HAS BEEN REVEALED TO YOU, AND PERFORM THE PRAYER, THAT THE PRAYER FORBIDS FROM INDECENCY AND EVIL; AND THE REMEMBRANCE OF ALLAH IS GREATER. AND ALLAH KNOWS WHATEVER YOU MANUFACTURE.

THE COMMENTARY PRAYER IS TO PREVENT OBSCENE ACTS

VERSE NO.45

This verse is to tell our prophet and all the Muslims to read the Book of Allah-Qura"n. Read and rehearse it to others, and see that whatever you look for, of truth, you will find it in there:- Science, knowledge of God, wisdom, Instructions, Historical event for lesson, Law, Right and wrong, light and dark, and whatever is needed to illuminate man's heart and lead him to prosperity in both lives, are inserted in Qura"n. Then read it and follow. Read it and apply.

And perform the prayer with all its conditions, that it strictly forbids indecency and evil deeds. He who performs the prayer will not forget his Lord and the Final Judgement in the Resurrection Day. He will know Allah to be the owner of that wonderful day. He who performs the prayer, will repeatedly ask his God, to guide him to the Direct Path of truth. To the way of those whom Allah has bestowed His Grace and Mercy on them, not the way of those who incurred the wrath of God, and neither the way of those who strayed from the path of truth.

[ 637 ]

He who performs the prayer is humble and has no pride. He prostrates himself before the Lord of all creation and associates not any kind of a partner with him. No prayer has ever been performed without having any spiritual positive effect on the self and soul of the performer. Of course, there are grades, stages, and steps, in the course of faith and religion. All the believers are not alike. Some are higher in rank and some are lower. As a matter of fact, there are as many ways to Allah as there are Souls of men.

The prayer has to make the performer to avoid evil and obscene acts. What of a man who performs his daily prayer and who will not stop committing sins! That kind of prayer is far from being a true prayer.

The Book of God must be read, studied, meditated and well understood, and when so, it merges into real prayer the immediate result of which is getting nearer to beauty and goodnessِto the absolute goodness which is God; and getting more and more a distance from badness and evil. The prayer is a good mount to ride us from darkness to light.

THE END OF PART 20 OF QURA"N [ 638 ] THANKS FOR HELP

When his Holiness HAZRAT AYATULLAH-AL-OZMA", NASIR MAKARIM SHIRAZI, in the MARCH 1999, ordered me to start translating an expressive summary of his great work on the Glorious Qura"n, which is named as, ``THE EXAMPLE COMMENTARY'' I took his order for the best of opportunities in my life. I immediately resigned of my office, and got rid of all my jobs, in order to use my full time and power, with love and pleasure, on this sacred work. Now after three years of a full time work, I offer to my dear readers the fourth volume of the whole work, which is to complete in six volumes altogether.

Up to here, half of the whole Qura"n has been translated and published, and it is also found on Internet too.

Whether I have been successful or failed, I have nothing to say. I only know that I have done my best; and I leave the judgement to the Most Merciful and Compassionate Lord, for whose sake and pleasure, and for nothing else; I have done the work.

In the present attempt, I have to give my sincere thanks to the following commentators, translators, and publishers, without whose help I could not have reached the point that I have reached.

First of all, and in particular, I owe to make a mention of MOWLANA ALLAMEH ABDULLAH YUSUF ALI, whose valuable work in translation and commentary of QURA"N, has been the most intimate friend of mine, in the past ten years. I have always had it a sacred duty incumbent upon me to rehearse a few pages of his sacred work first time in the morning, before I start doing anything else:

``And those who came after them say:ِ ``Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers who came before us into faith, and leave not in our hearts rancour against those who have believed. Our Lord! You are indeed Full of kindness Most Merciful.''

S 59:10

[ 639 ]

In this fourth volume of the work, I again owe alot to my dear colleague, Miss Poora"n Pebdani, who earnestly did all the corrections, the computer works and the layout of the book. Meanwhile I have had her help in preparing the English version of our Grand Ayatullah's frequent answers to Internet questions from all round the Globe.

Then I owe a lot of my present attempts to the following translators of Qura"n, books, and publishers:ِ

1- ARTHUR J. ARBERRY- ANSARIAN PUBLICATION QOM P.O.B. 37185/187 2- Dr. M. H. SHAKIR- ANSARIAN PUBLICATION QOM P.O.B. 37185/187 3- N. J. DAWOOD - PENGUINE BOOKS LONDON 4- ENCYCLOPEDIA INTERNATIONAL 5- THE BOOK OF POPULAR SCIENCEِGROLIER NEW YORK (10 VOLUMES) 6- WEBSTER AND OXFORD DICTIONARIES 7- ARABIC / PERSIAN DICTIONARYِBY: SAYYED HAMID TABIBIYAN 8- GROLIER CASSICS (GLASSICS APPRECIATION SOCIETY CONDENSATIONS