Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)

51. “And is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Verily in this there is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe.”

Qur’an is an inclusive and complete Book and somehow it provides all spiritual needs, so that it is the cause of mercy and being off from negligence.

Following the previous verse, this holy verse says:

“And is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them?…”

They ask for bodily miracles while the Qur’an is the greatest spiritual miracle.

They ask for a temporary miracle while the Holy Qur’an is a perpetual miracle and its verses are recited to them every night and day.

Is it possible that an unschooled person, or even supposing literate one, brings a Book with such contents and wonderful attraction, which is above the ability of mankind, and invites the whole human beings to challenge it while all of them remain impotent to bring like it?

If they really demand a miracle, by the descent of the Holy Qur’an, Allah (s.w.t.) has given them more than what they ask for. Nay, they are not truth-seekers. They are pretext seekers.

This fact should be noted that the Qur’anic sentence:

“Is it not enough for them?” is usually used for the aspects that one has accomplished something beyond the expectation of the opposite party, and he is neglectful of it and shows that he is neglectful. For example, he says: “Why did you not do me that favour?”

Now Allah refers to a greater favour that he has ignored it. Allah says:

“Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book…?”

Besides them all, a miracle must be consistent with the conditions of the time, the place, and the circumstance of the Prophet’s call. The holy Prophet (S) whose religion is perpetual must have an everlasting miracle.

The prophet, whose invitation is worldly and it must also continue for many centuries in future, has to have a so clear, spiritual and intellectual miracle that it attracts the minds of wise and mindful persons to him. Surely the Qur’an is suitable for such an aim, not the Rod of Moses and his white hand.

At the end of the verse, for an emphasis and for further explanation, the Qur’an says:

“…Verily in this there is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe.”

Yes, the Holy Qur’an is both mercy and the means of remembrance, but only for the believers; for those who have let the doors of their hearts open to the Truth; for those who seek for the Light to find the right path, such persons feel this Divine mercy with their whole entity, and they rest under its rays. Every time they recite the verses of the Qur’an, they find a new admonition.

The difference between the Qur’anic words /rahmat/ and /ŏikra/ may be in this that the Qur’an is not only one miracle and a source of admonition, but, in addition to that, it is full of merciful programs and laws, and it is full of constructive and educational instructions.

For example, Moses’ Rod was only a miracle and it had not any effect in people’s daily life, but the Qur’an is both a miracle and a complete program for life, and a source of mercy.