(1–11) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Sād. By the Quran, endowed with remembrance! * Yet the disbelievers are steeped in pride and opposition. * How many generations before them We destroyed! They cried out, but then it was no time for escape. * They marvel that a warner from among themselves has come to them, and the disbelievers say, ‘This is a lying sorcerer! * Has he made all the gods into one God? This is truly astonishing!’ * Their leading men went forth, saying, ‘Carry on, and remain steadfast in devotion to your gods. This is certainly a calculated scheme. * We have never heard of this in the latter creed. This is nothing but a fabrication. * Was the Reminder sent down to him alone from among us?’ Rather, they are in doubt about My Reminder. Indeed, they have not yet tasted My punishment. * Or do they possess the treasuries of the mercy of your Lord, the Almighty, the Bestower? * Or does the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them belong to them? Then let them ascend the pathways to heaven! * A mere army of confederates, doomed to defeat there!”
This is a declaration from Allah Most High concerning the Quran and the condition of those who deny it—their attitude toward it and toward the one who brought it. He said: “Sād. By the Quran, endowed with remembrance!” That is, it possesses immense worth and honor and reminds Allah’s servants of every kind of knowledge they need: knowledge of Allah’s names, attributes, and actions; knowledge of the rulings of His sacred law; and knowledge of the Resurrection and recompense. It thus reminds them of both the fundamentals and subsidiary matters of their religion.
There is no need here to state what the oath affirms, for in reality that by which the oath is sworn and that which it affirms are one and the same: this Quran, described by this magnificent quality. Since the Quran possesses this quality, it follows that the servants’ need for it surpasses every other need. Their duty is therefore to receive it with faith and affirmation and to devote themselves to drawing from it the lessons by which they may take heed.
Allah guided to this whomever He willed to guide, while the disbelievers rejected both the Quran and the One who revealed it and met it with “pride and opposition”: pride and refusal to believe in it, together with arrogance and hostility toward it—that is, opposing and disputing against it in an attempt to reject and invalidate it and to disparage the one who brought it.
He therefore warned them by recalling His destruction of the former generations that denied the messengers. When destruction came upon them, they cried out and pleaded for the punishment to be averted, “but then it was no time for escape.” That is, it was no longer a time when they could escape what had befallen them or find relief from their affliction. Let these people therefore beware of persisting in their pride and opposition, lest the same thing befall them.
⦗710⦘
“They marvel that a warner from among themselves has come to them.” These deniers marvelled at something that should occasion no surprise: a warner from among themselves had come to them, so that they could readily receive his teaching and know him fully. Moreover, because he belonged to their own people, tribal pride should not prevent them from following him. This should have made gratitude incumbent upon them and led them to submit to him completely.
Instead, they reversed the matter. In denial, they expressed incredulous astonishment and, out of their disbelief and wrongdoing, said: “This is a lying sorcerer!”
His crime—in their eyes—was this: “Has he made all the gods into one God?” That is, how could he forbid taking partners and rivals alongside Allah and command that worship be devoted sincerely to Allah alone? “This” message that he brought “is truly astonishing!” In other words, they considered its alleged falsity and unsoundness utterly astonishing.
“Their leading men went forth”—those whose words were heeded—inciting their people to cling to the polytheism they practised: “Carry on, and remain steadfast in devotion to your gods.” That is, persist in devotion to them and discipline yourselves to remain steadfast in adhering to and worshipping them. Let no one turn you away from them, and let no deterrent bar you from worshipping them. “This”—what Muhammad brought, namely the prohibition against worshipping them—“is certainly a calculated scheme.” That is, it is something deliberately intended: he allegedly has some ulterior and improper motive behind it.
This specious objection is accepted only by fools. Whether someone calls to something true or false, his claim cannot be refuted merely by attacking his intention. His intention and deeds are his own concern; the claim itself can only be refuted by confronting it with arguments and proofs that demonstrate its falsehood and unsoundness. What they meant was: “Muhammad has called you to this only so that he may gain leadership over you and become revered and followed among you.”
“We have never heard of this”—the doctrine he proclaimed and the religion to which he called—“in the latter creed,” meaning in recent times. Neither did we find our fathers following it, nor did our fathers find their own fathers following it. Therefore, continue upon the way of your forefathers, for that is the truth. What Muhammad has called to is nothing but a fabrication he devised and a lie he invented.
This too is an objection of the same kind as their first, for they rejected the truth with something that does not constitute an argument sufficient to refute even the least significant claim: namely, that it contradicted the practice of their misguided forefathers. What is there in that to prove it false?
“Was the Reminder sent down to him alone from among us?” That is, what has made him superior to us, such that the Reminder should be sent down to him rather than us and Allah should single him out for it? This too is a specious objection, for what proof does it contain against what he said? Were not all the messengers of precisely this description? Allah bestowed His message upon them and commanded them to call creation to Him.
Since none of these statements could validly refute what the Messenger had brought, Allah Most High disclosed their true source: “Rather, they are in doubt about My Reminder.” They possessed neither knowledge nor proof.
When they fell into doubt and contented themselves with it, even after the manifest truth had come to them, they resolved to remain in their doubt. They therefore uttered those claims merely to repel the truth, not on the basis of any proof they possessed. Rather, this was an instance of their perverse inversion of the truth.
It is well known that the words of anyone who, in such a state, speaks out of doubt and obstinacy are unacceptable and do not undermine the truth in the slightest. His mere utterance makes him deserving of blame and censure. Allah therefore threatened them with punishment, saying: “Indeed, they have not yet tasted My punishment.” That is, they made these statements and dared to speak in this way because they were being allowed to enjoy the life of this world and had not yet been touched by any of Allah’s punishment. Had they tasted His punishment, they would not have dared to do so.
“Or do they possess the treasuries of the mercy of your Lord, the Almighty, the Bestower?” Do they distribute from them to whomever they please and withhold from whomever they please, such that they could say, “Was the Reminder sent down to him alone from among us?” This is His favor and mercy, and it is not in their hands for them to impose restrictions upon Allah.
“Or does the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them belong to them,” so that they are capable of doing whatever they wish? “Then let them ascend the pathways” leading them to heaven and cut off mercy from the Messenger of Allah! How, then, can they speak as they do when they are the most helpless and weakest of Allah’s creatures with respect to the very thing they claim?
Or is their aim to form factions, muster troops, and cooperate in supporting falsehood and forsaking the truth? That is indeed the reality. Yet they will never accomplish this aim. Their efforts will fail and their forces will be defeated. Thus He said: “A mere army of confederates, doomed to defeat there!”