(44–52) “Leave Me with whoever denies this Message. We shall draw them on by degrees from where they do not know. I will grant them respite; indeed, My plan is firm. Or do you ask them for payment, so that they are burdened with debt? Or do they possess the unseen, so that they write it down? So be patient with your Lord’s judgment, and do not be like the Companion of the Fish, when he cried out while filled with anguish. Had grace from his Lord not overtaken him, he would surely have been cast upon the barren shore while blameworthy. But his Lord chose him and made him one of the righteous. Those who disbelieve almost make you slip with their eyes when they hear the Reminder, and they say, ‘He is surely mad.’ Yet it is nothing but a reminder to all creation.”
That is: Leave Me to deal with those who deny the glorious Quran, for it is for Me to requite them. Do not seek to hasten their punishment, for “We shall draw them on by degrees from where they do not know.” We continue to provide them with wealth and children and to increase their provisions and opportunities for action, so that they become deluded and persist in what harms them. This is part of Allah’s plan against them, and Allah’s plan against His enemies is firm and mighty, reaching the utmost degree in harming and punishing them (1).
“Or do you ask them for payment, so that they are burdened with debt?” That is, nothing gives them cause to recoil from you or to reject what you have brought. You instruct them and call them to Allah solely for their own benefit, without asking them to pay from their wealth any charge that would weigh heavily upon them.
“Or do they possess the unseen, so that they write it down?” They have no knowledge of hidden matters in which they have found that they are in the right and shall be rewarded by Allah. Nothing of the sort exists; rather, their condition is that of an obstinate wrongdoer.
All that remains, therefore, is to be patient with their harm, bear whatever comes from them, and persist in calling them. Hence He says: “So be patient with your Lord’s judgment”—that is, with what He has decreed both in His religious law and in destiny. Whatever hardship His decree of destiny brings must be borne patiently and not met with resentment or alarm, while His religious judgment must be met with acceptance, submission, and complete compliance with His command.
As for His words, “and do not be like the Companion of the Fish,” this refers to Jonah son of Mattā, peace be upon him. That is, do not resemble him in the conduct that led to and necessitated his confinement in the belly of the fish: his failure to show his people the patience required of him and his departure in anger with his Lord. He then boarded a ship, and when it became overloaded with its passengers, they drew lots to decide whom they should cast overboard to lighten it. The lot fell to him, and the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy. [As for His words,] “when he cried out while filled with anguish,” this means that he was inside its belly as it constricted him; or that he called out while distressed and troubled, saying: “There is no deity except You! Glory be to You! I was indeed one of the wrongdoers.” Allah answered him, and the fish cast him from its belly onto the barren shore while he was ill. Allah caused a gourd vine to grow over him. Hence He says here: “Had grace from his Lord not overtaken him, he would surely have been cast ⦗882⦘ upon the barren shore”—that is, thrown upon the barren shore, which is empty land—“while blameworthy.” But Allah (2) encompassed him in His mercy, so he was cast ashore praiseworthy, and his condition became better than it had been before. Hence He says: “But his Lord chose him”—that is, He selected him, elected him, and purified him of every taint. “And made him one of the righteous”—those whose deeds, words, intentions, [and states] are righteous. Our Prophet Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—obeyed his Lord’s command and bore His judgment with a patience unmatched by anyone in all creation.
Allah therefore granted him the good end, for “the final outcome belongs to the God-fearing.” His enemies achieved nothing against him except what grieved them. Indeed, they strove to make him slip with their eyes—that is, to afflict him (3) with the evil eye—because of their envy, rage, and rancor. This was the utmost physical harm they were capable of inflicting, while Allah protected and supported him. As for verbal abuse, they made various allegations against him according to what their hearts suggested to them: at times they said, “He is mad”; at other times, “a sorcerer”; and at still others, “a poet.”
Allah Most High says: “Yet it is nothing but a reminder to all creation.” That is, this noble Quran, this wise Reminder, is nothing but a reminder to all creation, through which they may remember what serves their religious and worldly welfare.
The exegesis of Surah al-Qalam (The Pen) is complete. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all creation.
Exegesis of Surah al-Hāqqa (The Inevitable Reality)
It is a Meccan surah.