Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (413)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(6) “They urge you to hasten evil before good, although exemplary punishments had already befallen peoples before them. Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for people despite their wrongdoing, yet your Lord is severe in punishment.”

The Exalted informs us of the ignorance of those who deny His Messenger and associate partners with Him. They were admonished but did not take heed, and proofs were established against them but they did not submit to them. Rather, they openly proclaimed their denial and took the forbearance shown them by [Allah], the One, the All-Subduing, and His not immediately punishing them for their sins as proof that they were in the right. They began demanding that the Messenger hasten the punishment, saying, “O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or bring us a painful punishment.”

And yet, “exemplary punishments had already befallen peoples before them”—that is, Allah’s decisive acts and days of retribution among the nations that denied the truth. Will they not reflect on what became of those nations and abandon their ignorance? “Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for people despite their wrongdoing.” That is, His goodness continues to reach them, while His kindness, benevolence, and pardon continue to descend upon His servants, even as their evil (1) and disobedience continue to rise to Him.

They disobey Him, yet He calls them to His door; they commit sins, yet He does not deprive them of His bounty and kindness. If they repent to Him, He is their Beloved, for He loves those who constantly repent and those who purify themselves. If they do not repent, He is their Physician: He subjects them to calamities, ⦗414⦘ thereby cleansing them of their faults. “Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. He is truly the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’”

“Yet your Lord is severe in punishment” toward anyone who persists in sin, refusing to repent, seek forgiveness, and take refuge with the Almighty, the All-Forgiving. Let Allah’s servants therefore beware of the punishments He inflicts upon evildoers, for His seizure is painful and severe.

(1) Manuscript B reads: “their polytheism.”

﴿٦﴾ ﴿وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمُ الْمَثُلاتُ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾ . يخبر تعالى عن جهل المكذبين لرسوله المشركين به، الذين وعظوا فلم يتعظوا، وأقيمت عليهم الأدلة فلم ينقادوا لها، بل جاهروا بالإنكار، واستدلوا بحلم [الله] الواحد القهار عنهم، وعدم معاجلتهم بذنوبهم أنهم على حق، وجعلوا يستعجلون الرسول بالعذاب، ويقول قائلهم: ﴿اللهم إن كان هذا هو الحق من عندك فأمطر علينا حجارة من السماء أو ائتنا بعذاب أليم﴾ ﴿و﴾ الحال أنه ﴿قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمُ الْمَثُلاتُ﴾ أي: وقائع الله وأيامه في الأمم المكذبين، أفلا يتفكرون في حالهم ويتركون جهلهم ﴿وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ﴾ أي: لا يزال خيره إليهم، وإحسانه وبره وعفوه نازلا إلى العباد، وهم لا يزال شرهم (١) وعصيانهم إليه صاعدًا. يعصونه فيدعوهم إلى بابه، ويجرمون فلا يحرمهم خيره وإحسانه، فإن تابوا إليه فهو حبيبهم لأنه يحب التوابين، ويحب المتطهرين وإن لم يتوبوا فهو طبيبهم، يبتليهم بالمصائب، ⦗٤١٤⦘ ليطهرهم من المعايب ﴿قل يا عبادي الذين أسرفوا على أنفسهم لا تقنطوا من رحمة الله إن الله يغفر الذنوب جميعا إنه هو الغفور الرحيم﴾ ﴿وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾ على من لم يزل مصرا على الذنوب، قد أبى التوبة والاستغفار والالتجاء إلى العزيز الغفار، فليحذر العباد عقوباته بأهل الجرائم، فإن أخذه أليم شديد.

(١) في ب: شركهم.