ANCIENTS

ANCIENTS:

6:25 - Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts so they understand it not and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the Signs not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee they (but) dispute with thee; the unbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the ancients."

8:31 - When Our signs are rehearsed to them they say: "we have heard this (before): if we wished we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients." 1204

15:13 - That they should not believe in the (Message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. 1947

1947 Sects, divisions, and systems invented by men tend to pass away, but Allah's pure Truth of Unity endures for ever. This we see in history when we study it on a large scale. Cf. the parable in xiv. 24-26 Khalat: I have translated it here in the same sense as in xiii. 30 x. 102, and other places. Some Commentators give it a slightly different shade of meaning. The other meaning is seen in xlviii. 23. (15.13)

16:24 - When it is said to them "What is it that your Lord has revealed?" They say "Tales of the ancients!" 2047

2047 When the arrogant Unbelievers are referred to some definite argument or illustration from Scripture, they dismiss it contemptuously with the remark: "Tales of the ancients!" In this, they are not only playing with their own conscience, but misleading others, with perhaps less knowledge than themselves. (16.24)

18:55 - And what is there to keep back men from believing now that Guidance has come to them nor from praying for forgiveness from their Lord but that (they ask that) the ways of the ancients be repeated with them or the Wrath be brought to them face to face? 2399

2399 But man's obstinacy or contrariness asks or calls for a repetition of what happened to the wicked and those who rejected Faith in ancient times. Out of curiosity, or by way of challenge, they seem to court the Punishment and ask that it be brought to pass at once. But it will come soon enough, and then they will think it too early! Cf. xiii. 6 and n. 1810. (18.55)

23:81 - On the contrary they say things similar to what the ancients said. 2926

2926 And they are the more culpable, as they have received a later and completer revelation. Why should they now stand on the primitive ideas of their ancestors? (23.81)

23:83 - Such things have been promised to us and to our fathers before! They are nothing but tales of the ancients!"

25:5 - And they say: "Tales of the ancients which he has caused to be written: and they are dictated before him morning and evening." 3058

3058 In their misguided arrogance they say: 'We have heard such things before; they are pretty tales which have come down from ancient times; they are good for amusement, but who takes them seriously?' When the beauty and power of the Revelation are pointed out, and its miracle as coming from an unlearned man, they again hint at other men who wrote them, though they could not produce any one who could write anything like it. (25.5)

26:137 - "This is no other than a customary device of the ancients 3202

3202 They said, as many of our modern enemies of religion say, "you are only reviving an ancient superstition, a dope of the crowd; there is no such thing as a Hereafter, or the sort of punishments you denounce!" (26.137)

27:68 - "It is true we were promised this we and our fathers before (us): these are nothing but tales of the ancients."

35:43 - On account of their arrogance in the land and their plotting of Evil. But the plotting of Evil will hem in only the authors thereof. Now are they but looking for the way the ancients were dealt with? But no change wilt thou find in Allah's way (of dealing): no turning off wilt thou find in Allah's way (of dealing). 3936 3937 3938

3936 Two causes are mentioned why the Truth is refused acceptance. (1) Unregenerate man is arrogant, and Truth and Righteousness expose all his pretences. (2) He hopes, by underhand plots, to undermine Truth and destroy it; but he is caught in his own snares, while Truth marches forward triumphant. (35.43)

3937 In all history, men who followed evil were dealt with in three stages by Allah: (1) He was forbearing and merciful, and gave them respite; (2) He sent them admonition through His Messengers, or His Signs, or His revelation; (3) He dealt out justice and punishment. At any given moment, those given to iniquity may well be asked: "Are you going to wait through all these stages or are you going at once to repent, obtain forgiveness, and walk in the ways of righteousness?" (35.43)

3938 Allah's Laws are fixed, and His ways of dealing with those who follow iniquity are the same in all ages. Our human will may falter or turn away from its course, but Allah's Will ever follows its course and cannot be turned away by any cause whatever. (35.43)

37:71 - And truly before them many of the ancients went astray

46:17 - But (there is one) who says to his parents "Fie on you! Do ye hold out the promise to me that I shall be raised up even though generations have passed before me (without rising again)? " And they two seek Allah's aid (and rebuke the son): "Woe to thee! have Faith! For the promise of Allah is true." But he says "This is nothing but tales of the ancients!" 4793

4793 A godly man often has an ungodly son, who flouts all that the father held sacred, and looks upon his father himself as old-fashioned and unworthy of respect or regard. The contrast in an individual family may be matched by the contrast in the passing and the rising generations of mankind. All this happens as a passing phase in the nominal evolution of mankind, and there is nothing in this to be despondent about. What we have to do is for the mature generations to bring up their successors in godly ways, and for the younger generations to realise that age and experience count for something, especially in the understanding of spiritual matters and other matters of the highest moment to man. (46.17)

68:15 - When to him are rehearsed Our Signs "Tales of the Ancients" he cries. 5603 5604

5603 Allah's Signs, by which He calls us, are everywhere-in nature and in our very heart and soul. In Revelation, every verse is a Sign, for it stands symbolically for far more than it says. "Sign" (Ayat) thus becomes a technical term for a verse of the Qur-an. (68.15)

83:13 - When Our Signs are rehearsed to him he says "Tales of the Ancients!" 6016

6016 Cf. vi. 25; lxviii. 15; etc. They scorn Truth and pretend that it is Falsehood. (83.13)