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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-mizan an Exegesis of the Qur'an (volume Two) Volume 2: Surah Baqarah, Verses 168-171 O men! eat the lawful and good things out of what is in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of the Shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. He only enjoins you evil and indecency, and that you may speak against Allah what you do not know. And when it is said to them, Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay! we follow what we found our fathers upon. What!

and though their fathers had no sense at all, nor did they follow the right way. And the parable of those who disbelieve is as the parable of one who calls out to that which hears no more than a call and a cry; deaf, dumb (and) blind, so they do not understand. (168-171) **COMMENTARY ** QUR’AN: 0 men! eat the lawful (and) good things out of what is in the earth ...

what you do not know: al-Halal (= lawful) is opposite of al-haraam (= forbidden); al-hill is used as opposite of al-hurmah (= prohibition), al-haram (= sanctuary); while al-hall (= to untie) is opposite of al-'aqd ( = to tie). All these usages of al-hill allude to freedom of a thing in its action and effect.

at-Tayyib (= good) is oppo­site of al-khabith (= bad, evil), and basically means "agreeable"; a good speech is that which is agreeable to the hearing; a good perfume is agreeable to the sense of smelling; a good place or house is agreeable to the people residing therein. al-Khutuwat is plural of al-khutwah (= step, pace, stride). Some reciters have read it as al-khatawaat which is plural of al-khatwah (= one step).

The phrase, "the footsteps of the Satan" refers to things leading to the Satanic aim, as footsteps lead to the walker's aim and destination. The Satan's aim is to mislead with polytheism; therefore, his footsteps are the things which lead to polytheism, and take the walker away from Allah. al-Amr (= to enjoin); the enjoiner imposes his own will on the enjoined, so that the latter does what the former wants.

The Satan enjoins and orders by devilish insinuations and temp­tations encouraging man to do what the Satan wants. as-Su' (= evil) refers to the thing or action which is repugnant and repulsive to society. When it exceeds that limit, it becomes al-fahsha' (= indecency); it is a masdar like as- sarra' (= prosperity, happiness) and ad-darra’ (= adversity; distress). Allah has addressed these verses to all the men in general, because the order promulgated therein concerns all.