(22–23) “He is the One who enables you to travel by land and sea. Then, when you are aboard ships that carry their passengers along in a favorable wind and they rejoice in it, a violent wind overtakes them, waves assail them from every side, and they become certain that doom has closed in upon them. They call upon Allah with sincere devotion to Him alone, saying, ‘If You save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful.’ * But when He saves them, they immediately transgress throughout the land without right. O humanity, your transgression is only against yourselves—a fleeting enjoyment of the life of this world. Then to Us is your return, and We will inform you of what you used to do.”
After Allah Most High mentioned the general pattern of people’s behavior when they experience mercy after adversity and ease after hardship, He cited a situation that confirms it: their condition at sea when it grows rough and they fear the consequences. He said: “He is the One who enables you to travel by land and sea,” by providing the means that enable you (1) to do so and guiding you to them.
“Then, when you are aboard ships”—that is, seagoing vessels—“that carry their passengers along in a favorable wind,” exactly as they desire, without distress or hardship.
“And they rejoice in it” and feel secure with it. While they are in that state, “a violent wind overtakes them,” blowing fiercely, “waves assail them from every side, and they become certain that doom has closed in upon them.” That is, they realize that destruction is imminent. At that moment, all their reliance upon created beings is severed, and they realize that none but Allah alone can save them from this ordeal. They therefore call upon Him with sincere devotion to Him alone and bind themselves by a solemn pledge, saying: “If You save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful.” “But when He saves them, they immediately transgress throughout the land without right.” That is, they forget the ordeal, their supplication, and the pledge they made binding upon themselves. They then associate with Allah those whom they themselves acknowledged could neither save them from hardships nor deliver them from distress. Why, then, do they not devote their worship sincerely to Allah in times of ease, just as they did in hardship?!
Yet the dire consequences of this transgression return upon them. Hence He said: “O humanity, your transgression is only against yourselves—a fleeting enjoyment of the life of this world.” That is, the most you can hope to attain through your transgression and your straying from sincere devotion to Allah is some of this world’s paltry goods and meager prestige. These will soon come to an end and vanish altogether, and then you will be forced to leave them behind.
“Then to Us is your return” on the Day of Resurrection, “and We will inform you of what you used to do.” This contains the strongest warning against persisting in their conduct.