nor shall they be helped...

nor shall they be helped: These two verses are almost similar to the verses 47 and 48. Here the present talk with the Children of Israel comes to its end. The Qur'an, by repeating the prologue in the epilogue neatly ties the two ends together.

Traditions as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, explaining the word of Allah, Those to whom We have given the Book read it as it aught to be read: “They recite its verses slowly, and understand it, and act accord­ing to its orders, and hope for its promise, and are afraid of its threat, and take lesson from its stories, and obey its command­ments, and desist from what it prohibits.

By God, it does not mean memorizing its verses, and studying its letters, and reciting its chapters, and learning its one-tenths and one-fifths. They remembered its words and neglected its boundaries. And what it means is meditating on its verses and acting according to its orders. Allah, the High, has said**:** (It is) a Book We have sent down to you abounding in good, so that they may ponder over its verses” (38:29) . ( Irshadu 'l-qulub, ad-Daylami).

as-Sadiq (a.s.) said about the word of Allah, read it as it aught to be read, that: ”(It is) stopping at (the description of) the Garden and the Fire.” (al-'Ayyashi) The author says: What the Imam means is the meditation on the Qur'an. The same Imam said about the verse, Those to whom We have given the Book...

, that: “They are the Imams.” ( al-Kafi ) The author says: This explanation is based on the principle of the “flow of the Qur'an”, and gives the best example of those to whom Allah has given the Book. [^1]: Because their books foretell of the Apostle's coming. (tr.) Previous…