(41–50) “A sign for them is that We carried their descendants in the laden vessel, * and created for them others of its kind to ride. * If We will, We can drown them; then they will have no rescuer, nor will they be saved, * except through mercy from Us and enjoyment for a time. * When it is said to them, ‘Beware of what lies before you and what lies behind you, so that you may receive mercy,’ [they turn away]. * No sign from among the signs of their Lord ever comes to them without their turning away from it. * When it is said to them, ‘Spend from what Allah has provided you,’ those who disbelieve say to those who believe, ‘Are we to feed someone whom Allah would have fed had He willed? You are clearly astray.’ * They say, ‘When will this promise come, if you are truthful?’ * They await only a single Blast, which will seize them while they are disputing. * Then they will not be able to make a bequest, nor will they return to their families.”
That is, it is a sign and proof for them that Allah alone is to be worshiped, for He bestows blessings and wards off afflictions. Among His blessings is that “We carried their descendants.” Many commentators have said that this means their forefathers.
“And We created for them”—that is, for those who lived after them (1)—“others of its kind,” meaning others like that vessel and belonging to the same class, “which they ride.” Thus, He mentions His blessing upon the forefathers by carrying them aboard ships, because a blessing bestowed upon them is also a blessing upon their descendants. This is one of the passages I have found most difficult to interpret. The explanation given by many commentators—that “descendants” means forefathers—is not a usage found in the Quran, for descendants are never termed forefathers therein. Moreover, this introduces ambiguity and takes the words away from their proper meaning in a manner incompatible with the speech of the Lord of the worlds and His intent to explain and clarify matters to His servants.
There is another possibility that is better than this: “descendants” may refer to the human race as a class and thus mean the addressees themselves, for they themselves are descended from [the children of] Adam. However, this interpretation is undermined by His words, “And We created for them others of its kind which they ride,” if these are taken to mean: We created, for these addressees, vessels like that one—the various kinds of vessels upon which they ride. This would merely repeat the same meaning, which the eloquence of the Quran precludes. If, however, “And We created for them others of its kind which they ride” is taken to mean camels, which are the ships of the land, the meaning becomes sound and clear. Even then, however, some awkwardness remains in the wording. Had this meaning been intended, it would have said: “A sign for them is that We carried them in the laden vessel, and created for them others of its kind which they ride.” But for Him to say first, “We carried their descendants,” and then, “We carried them,” leaves the meaning unclear—unless it is said that the pronoun refers back to the descendants. Allah knows best the true state of the matter.
When, in the course of writing, I reached this point, a meaning occurred to me that is not far removed from what Allah Most High intended. Anyone who recognizes the majesty of Allah’s Book and its utterly complete exposition, in every respect, of present, past, and future matters, and knows that it mentions the highest and most perfect manifestation of every subject, will appreciate this meaning. Vessels have been among His signs and His blessings upon His servants from the time He blessed them with knowledge of them until the Day of Resurrection, and they continued to exist in every age up to the time of those directly addressed by the Quran.
When Allah Most High addressed them through the Quran and mentioned vessels, He knew that the greatest signs involving them would appear not in their day or era, but when He would teach their descendants [how to construct] [seagoing] vessels, both sail-driven and steam-powered; aircraft that travel through the air like birds and similar craft; [and land vehicles]. Since the greatest manifestation of this sign would come into existence only among their descendants, the Book drew attention to its highest form, saying:
“A sign for them is that We carried their descendants in the laden vessel”—that is, one filled with passengers and goods. Allah Most High carried them and saved them, through means He had taught them, from ⦗697⦘ drowning. [For this reason], He reminded them of His favor to them in that (2) He saved them despite His power to drown them, saying: “If We will, We can drown them; then they will have no rescuer”—that is, no one to answer their cries, assist them in their distress, or relieve their hardship—“nor will they be saved” from their plight, “except through mercy from Us and enjoyment for a time.” We did not drown them out of kindness toward them and to grant them enjoyment for a time, so that perhaps they might return or make amends for their past failings.
“When it is said to them, ‘Beware of what lies before you and what lies behind you’”—meaning the circumstances of the barzakh (intermediate realm) and the Resurrection, as well as punishments in this world—“so that you may receive mercy,” they turn away and pay it no heed, even if every sign were to come to them. Hence He says: “No sign from among the signs of their Lord ever comes to them without their turning away from it.” Their being described as signs “of their Lord” indicates their perfection and clarity, for nothing is clearer than one of Allah’s signs or more compelling in its exposition.
Indeed, part of Allah’s nurturing care for His servants is that He has brought them signs through which they may recognize what benefits them in their religion and worldly lives.
“When it is said to them, ‘Spend from what Allah has provided you’”—that is, from the provision Allah has graciously bestowed upon you, though He could have taken it away had He willed—“those who disbelieve say to those who believe,” opposing the truth and invoking the divine will as an excuse: “Are we to feed someone whom Allah would have fed had He willed? You”—O believers—“are only in manifest error” for instructing us to do so.
This demonstrates either their profound ignorance or their grievous pretense of ignorance. The divine will can never be an excuse for anyone who disobeys. Although whatever Allah wills comes to pass and whatever He does not will cannot occur, He has enabled His servants and given them the strength to carry out what He commands and avoid what He forbids. Thus, when they neglect what they have been commanded to do, they do so by their own choice, not through compulsion or coercion.
“They say”—in denial and demanding that it be hastened—“When will this promise come, if you are truthful?” Allah Most High says: Let them not deem it far-fetched, for it is [drawing] near. “They await only a single Blast”—the blowing of the Trumpet—“which will seize them,” meaning strike them, “while they are disputing.” That is, they will be heedless of it; it will not even occur to them while they are embroiled in their disputes and quarrels, the sort of thing that generally occurs only when people are heedless.
When it seizes them in their heedlessness, they will be given neither delay nor respite: “Then they will not be able to make a bequest,” whether small or great, “nor will they return to their families.”