(42–44) “Say, ‘Who can guard you by night and day from the Most Merciful?’ Yet they turn away from the mention of their Lord. * Or do they have gods besides Us who can protect them? They cannot even help themselves, nor can they be protected from Us. * Rather, We allowed these people and their forefathers to enjoy themselves until their lives grew long. Do they not see that We come upon the land, diminishing it from its edges? Is it then they who will prevail?”
Allah Most High says, describing the helplessness of those who have taken gods besides Him and their utter need of their Lord, the Most Merciful, whose mercy encompasses the righteous and the wicked alike by night and day: “Say, ‘Who can guard you’”—that is, who can watch over and protect you—“by night,” when you lie asleep in your beds and your senses have left you, “and day,” when you go about your affairs in heedlessness, “from the Most Merciful?” That is, who other than Him could take His place and protect you? There is no protector except Him.
“Yet they turn away from the mention of their Lord.” This is why they associate partners with Him. Had they instead turned attentively to the remembrance of their Lord and received His counsels, they would have been guided to the right course and granted success in their affairs.
“Or do they have gods besides Us who can protect them?” That is, if We intend harm for them, is there any among their gods capable of protecting them from the harm and evil descending upon them?
“They cannot even help themselves, nor can they be protected from Us.” That is, they receive no assistance from Us in their affairs. If Allah does not aid them, they are forsaken in all their affairs, unable either to secure any benefit or ward off any harm.
What caused them to persist in their disbelief and polytheism is expressed in His words: “Rather, We allowed these people and their forefathers to enjoy themselves until their lives grew long.” That is, We supplied them with wealth and children and prolonged their lives, so they became preoccupied with enjoying these things and were distracted by them from the purpose for which they were created. As time passed, their hearts hardened, their transgression grew, and their ingratitude became more deeply entrenched.
Had they turned their gaze to the lands on their right and left, they would have found only peoples who had perished, heard only the voice of one announcing death, and perceived only successive generations passing into ruin. Death has laid snares along every road to entrap souls. Hence He says: “Do they not see that We come upon the land, diminishing it from its edges?” That is, through the gradual death and passing away of its inhabitants, until Allah inherits the earth and all who are upon it—and He is the best of inheritors. Had they recognized this reality, they would not have been deluded or persisted in their present course.
“Is it then they who will prevail?” Are they capable of escaping Allah’s decree? Do they possess the power to resist death? Is that truly their condition, such that they should be deluded by their long survival? Or, when the messenger of their Lord comes to take their souls, do they submit and humble themselves without displaying the slightest resistance?