is the Most High, the All-Great. 2 (42:5) The heavens may well nigh rend asunder from above 3 while me, nor have I ever been unchaste?" (19:21) The angel said: "Thus shall it be. Your Lord says: 'It is easy for The local color of these early messages in conspicuous, for while the truths they contained were universal, the arguments and illust­rations used to elucidate them were drawn from the immediate environment familiar to the first listeners. Allusions were made to their history and traditions and to the visible traces of the past which had crept into the beliefs, and into the moral and social life of Arabia. All this was calculated to enhance the appeal the message held for its immediate audience. This early stage lasted for four or five years, during which period the following reactions to the Prophet’s message manifested themselves: in what they have. 48 (23:54) So leave them immersed in their heedlessness till an appointed time. 49 (23:55) Do they fancy that Our continuing to give them wealth and children

with regard to them they are free from blame " (23:7) As for those who seek beyond that, they are transgressors" 7 (23:8) who are true to their trusts and their covenants, 8 (23:9) and who guard their Prayers. 9 (23:10) Such are the inheritors (23:11) that shall inherit Paradise; 10 and in it they shall abide During the Prophet’s long and arduous struggle God continued to inspire him with revelations possessing at once the smooth, natural flow of a river, the violent force of a flood and the overpowering effect of a fierce fire. These messages instructed the believers in their basic duties, inculcated in them a sense of community and belonging, exhorted them to piety, moral excellence and purity of character, taught them how to preach the true faith, sustained their spirit by promises of success and Paradise in the Hereafter, aroused them to struggle in the cause of God with patience, fortitude and high spirits, and filled their hearts with such zeal and enthusiasm that they were prepared to endure every sacrifice, brave every hardship and face every adversity. However, as soon as we open the Qur’an we encounter a hitherto completely unfamiliar genre of literature. We notice that it embodies precepts of belief and conduct, moral directives, legal prescriptions, exhortation and admonition, censure and condemnation of evil­doers, warnings to deniers of the Truth, good tidings and words of consolation and good cheer to those who have suffered for the sake of God, arguments and corroborative evidence in support of its basic message, allusions to anecdotes from the past and to signs of God visible in the universe. If we remember these basic facts about the Qur’an it becomes easy to grasp its true subject, its central theme and the objective it seeks to achieve. Insofar as it seeks to explain the ultimate causes of man’s success or failure the subject of the Book is MAN.They had intimate knowledge of reality and the Law which they were to follow was communicated to them. Their way of life consisted of obedience to God (i.e. Islam) and they taught their children to live in obedience to Him (i.e. to live as Muslims). the support of everyone who rebels against his Lord. 70 (25:56) We have not sent you, (O Muhammad), except as a bearer of good tidings to life? Why not! He certainly has the power over everything. (46:34) On the Day when the unbelievers will be brought within sight of the

many other benefits in them: you eat of them, (23:22) and are carried on them and also on ships. 23 many cattle and human beings from among Our creation. 63 (25:50) We present this wondrous phenomenon to them over and over again 64 kind. In this manner do We raise the dead that you may take heed. (7:58) As for the good land, vegetation comes forth in abundance by the command Mary. We took from them a solemn covenant 15 (33:8) so that (their Lord) may question the truthful about their truthfulness. 16 It emphasizes that the various ways men follow, which are not in conformity with reality, are essentially false, and full of harmful consequences for mankind. It calls on men to shun all such ways and to follow instead the way which both conforms to reality and yields best practical results. This is why the Qur’an mentions everything only to the extent and in the manner necessary for the purposes it seeks to serve.and a mercy from Us. This has been decreed.' " (19:22) Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place. 16 (19:23) Then the birth pangs drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree and she Furthermore, these oration? were delivered by one whose task meant he had to appeal simultaneously to the mind, to the heart and to the emotions, and to people of different mental levels and dispositions. He had to revolutionize people’s thinking, to arouse in them a storm of noble emotions in support of his cause, to persuade his Companions and inspire them with devotion and zeal, and with the desire to improve and reform their lives. to their forefathers 65 of yore? (23:69) Or is it that they were unaware of their Messenger and were therefore they alone will attain success; (23:103) and those whose scales are light, those will be the ones who will time. Lo, He is the Most Mighty, the Most Forgiving. 11 (39:6) He it is Who created you from a single being, and He it is Who made