Introductory article, translated from Arabic. and comments by V. D. USHAKOV (c) 2002 The surah is called "Prophets" because many of its lines are dedicated to the prophets of God-both the Old Testament (Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Aaron, and others) and the New Testament (Zechariah and John the Baptist - Arab. Yahya). Although the Virgin Mary is not mentioned by name in this Surah, she is mentioned in Ayat 91, which recognizes the fact of her immaculate conception. The Surah was proclaimed in Mecca, i.e. its revelation refers to the Meccan period of Muhammad's prophetic activity (before 622, when the Hijrah took place - the migration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina - the former name of Medina - Yasrib). In the introduction to this surah, the authoritative English translation of the Qur'an highlights four main themes:: - "A person, as usual, treats important life issues either lightly or underestimating [their significance], but the Day of Judgment must come, and the Truth will certainly prevail (21 : 1-29); - "The integrity of [God's] Providence, the security of the Lord's Vow, His protection and mercy, and His justice" (21: 30-50); - "Abraham's triumph over idols as part of the struggle of God's chosen ones against various forms of evil" (21 : 51-93); - "[The necessity of] performing righteous deeds while there is still time before [God's]coming Vessels. [The claim that only righteousness will inherit [the Kingdom of God]" (21 : 94- 112) 1 . Here we should pay special attention to esoteric information about the possibility of the existence of intelligent beings in various bodily forms (see Ayat 21: 8 and note. to it). It is also significant to point out that God, when creating " heaven and earth, and all that is between them," had a definite purpose, acted according to His Providence, and not "just like that", "playing and having fun" (Arab. la'ibina) (21: 16). What is the Providence of God, in principle, is unknown to man. However, in this reg ... Read more