Question: When there is a dialogue in the Quran, and at least one of the two speakers is a human being, does the verse convey that persons exact words or the meaning of what he said?
Answer: It appears to me that whatever dialogue Allaah Almighty relates of people from previous nations, He is relating the meaning, while the expression is from Him. This is because the Quran was revealed in the Arabic tongue, as it is well known, the people of previous nations did not speak Arabic, so Allaah related the meaning of what they said in the Arabic language. This proves that Allaah Almighty narrated their sayings with the meanings of what they said, not the expressions they used.
Question: Please clarify who the two men are in the following verses: also, please explain the meaning of the verses: "And there came running from the farthest part of the city, a man : "O my people! Obey the Messengers" (Q36:20) and "And there came a man running, from the farthest end of the city. He said: "O Musa! Verily the chiefs are counsel together about you, to kill, so escape. Truly, I am to you of those who give sincere advice" (Q28:20)
Answer: First, we must know.., that whenever a person is mentioned unnamed either in the Quran or in the Sunnah, we must not preoccupy ourselves in finding out the name of that person, but rather we should concentrate on the story, on the reason why the story was related, and on what morals we can learn from the story. So in Surat al-Qasas (Q28) a man came running, and one in Surah YaSin (Q36).
The point here is that Allaah Almighty did not inform us in the Quran about who the man was in the first or in the second story. There is no real in knowing who the men were, so rather than busying ourselves in trying to learn who they were, we should try to learn the ruling and wisdom related in the verse. As for an explanation of the verse in Surat al-Qasas, Allaah decreed that a man would come to Musa (peace be upon him), informing him that the chiefs in the city were consulting each other regarding what they should do about Musa (peace be upon him), who had killed one of the Copts.
The man was a blessing from Allaah Almighty to Musa, which is why the man said, "So escape. Truly, I am to you of those who give sincere advice." Musa (peace be upon him) was careful and left the area, and Allaah Almighty relates the rest of the story in this chapter. In the verse of Surah Ya Sin, Allaah Almighty sent to the people of the town two Messengers, and the people rejected them and the message they came with, so Allaah Almighty sent a third Messenger, supporting the other two with him. Yet the people continued to disbelieve.
Later, a man came running from the farthest part of the town, and said: "O my people! Obey the Messengers; obey those who ask no wages of you, and who are rightly guided. And why should I not worship Him Who has created me and to Whom you shall be returned." (Q36:20-22).
And this was his reward: "It was said: Enter Paradise. He said: Would that my people knew! That my Lord has forgiven me, and made me of the honoured ones!" (Q36:26-27)
THESE QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED BY SHAYKH MUHAMMAD IBN SAALIH Al-UTHAYMEEN HE WAS BORN IN UNAIZA,SAUDI ARABIA IN 1347 AH. A RESPECTED AND WELL GROUNDED SCHOLAR .HE THAUGHT AT MUHAMMAD IBN SAUD ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY,QASEEM BRANCH. AND HE DIED IN 1421 AH.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited