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Ayah
Word by Word
وَلَوۡ
And if
تَرَىٰٓ
you (could) see
إِذۡ
when
فَزِعُواْ
they will be terrified
فَلَا
but (there will be) no
فَوۡتَ
escape
وَأُخِذُواْ
and they will be seized
مِن
from
مَّكَانٖ
a place
قَرِيبٖ
near
وَلَوۡ
And if
تَرَىٰٓ
you (could) see
إِذۡ
when
فَزِعُواْ
they will be terrified
فَلَا
but (there will be) no
فَوۡتَ
escape
وَأُخِذُواْ
and they will be seized
مِن
from
مَّكَانٖ
a place
قَرِيبٖ
near
Translation
If thou couldst but see when they will quake with terror; but then there will be no escape (for them), and they will be seized from a position (quite) near.
Tafsir
If you could but see, O Muhammad may peace and salutation be upon him, when they are stricken with terror, at the Resurrection, you would see a dreadful thing, and so there is no escape, for them, from Us, that is to say, they will not [be able to] elude Us, and they are seized from a close quarter, namely, [from] the graves.
Refutation of Their Accusation that the Prophet was Insane
Allah says:
قُلۡ
Say:
Allah says:`Say, O Muhammad, to these disbelievers who claim that you are crazy,'
إِنَّمَا أَعِظُكُم بِوَاحِدَةٍ
I exhort you to one (thing) only,
meaning, I am only telling you to one thing, and that is:
أَن تَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ مَثۡنَى وَفُرَادَى ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا مَا بِصَاحِبِكُم مِّن جِنَّةٍ
that you stand up for Allah's sake in pairs and singly, and reflect, there is no madness in your companion.
meaning, `stand sincerely before Allah, without being influenced by your own desires or tribal feelings, and ask one another, is Muhammad crazy Advise one another,'
ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا
and reflect means,
let each person look within himself concerning the matter of Muhammad, and ask other people about him if he is still confused, then let him think about the matter.
Allah says:
أَن تَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ مَثۡنَى وَفُرَادَى ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا مَا بِصَاحِبِكُم مِّن جِنَّةٍ
(that you stand up for Allah's sake in pairs and singly, and reflect, there is no madness in your companion).
This meaning was stated by Mujahid, Muhammad bin Ka`b, As-Suddi, Qatadah and others.
This is what is meant by the Ayah.
إِنۡ هُوَ إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ لَّكُم بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ
He is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, commented on this Ayah:
One day, the Prophet climbed up As-Safa' and shouted,
يَا صَبَاحَاه
O people!
The Quraysh gathered around him, and said, `What is the matter with you?'
He said,
أَرَأَيۡتُمۡ لَوۡ أَخۡبَرۡتُكُمۡ أَنَّ الۡعَدُوَّ يُصَبِّحُكُمۡ أَوۡ يُمَسِّيكُمۡ أَمَا كُنۡتُمۡ تُصَدِّقُونِّي
What do you think If I told you that the enemy were approaching and will reach us in the morning or in the evening, would you believe me?
They said, `Of course.'
He said:
فَإِنِّي نَذِيرٌ لَكُمۡ بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡ عَذَابٍ شَدِيد
I am a warner to you in the face of a severe punishment.
Abu Lahab said, `May you perish! You have called us together only to tell us this.'
Then Allah revealed:
تَبَّتۡ يَدَا أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he! (111:1)
We have already discussed this in our Tafsir of the Ayah:
وَأَنذِرۡ عَشِيرَتَكَ الاٌّقۡرَبِينَ
And warn your tribe of near kindred. (26:214)
I do not ask for any Reward for conveying the Message
Allah commands His Messenger to:
قُلۡ
Say,
Allah commands His Messenger to say to the idolators:
مَا سَأَلۡتُكُم مِّنۡ أَجۡرٍ فَهُوَ لَكُمۡ
Whatever wage I might have asked of you is yours.
meaning, `I do not want anything for conveying the Message of Allah to you, advising you and telling you to worship Allah.'
إِنۡ أَجۡرِيَ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ
My wage is from Allah only,
means, rather I will seek the reward for that with Allah.
وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيۡءٍ شَهِيدٌ
and He is a Witness over all things.
means, He knows all things, and He knows everything about me and the manner in which I am conveying the Message to you, and He knows all about you.
قُلۡ إِنَّ رَبِّي يَقۡذِفُ بِالۡحَقِّ عَلَّمُ الۡغُيُوبِ
Say:Verily, my Lord sends down the truth, the All-Knower of the Unseen.
This is like the Ayah:
يُلۡقِى الرُّوحَ مِنۡ أَمۡرِهِ عَلَى مَن يَشَأءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِ
He sends the Revelation by His command to any of His servants He wills. (40:15)
meaning, He sends the angel to whomsoever He wills of His servants among the people on earth, and He is the All-Knower of the Unseen; nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him in the heavens or on earth.
قُلۡ جَاء الۡحَقُّ وَمَا يُبۡدِيُ الۡبَاطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ
Say:The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.
means, truth and the great Law have come from Allah, and falsehood has gone and has perished and vanished.
This is like the Ayah:
بَلۡ نَقۡذِفُ بِالۡحَقِّ عَلَى الۡبَـطِلِ فَيَدۡمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ
Nay, We fling the truth against the falsehood, so it destroys it, and behold, it is vanished. (21:18)
When the Messenger of Allah entered Al-Masjid Al-Haram on the day of the conquest of Makkah, and found those idols standing around the Ka`bah, he started to hit the idols with his bow, reciting,
وَقُلۡ جَأءَ الۡحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الۡبَـطِلُ إِنَّ الۡبَـطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
And say:The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished. Surely, the falsehood is ever bound to vanish. (17:81)
and:
قُلۡ جَأءَ الۡحَقُّ وَمَا يُبۡدِىءُ الۡبَـطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ
Say:The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.
This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i
قُلۡ إِن ضَلَلۡتُ فَإِنَّمَا أَضِلُّ عَلَى نَفۡسِي وَإِنِ اهۡتَدَيۡتُ فَبِمَا يُوحِي إِلَيَّ رَبِّي
Say:If (even) I go astray, I shall stray only to my own loss. But if I remain guided, it is because of the Revelation of my Lord to me...
means, all good comes from Allah, and in what Allah sends down of revelation and clear truth there is guidance and wisdom. So whoever goes astray, does so by himself, as Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said when he was asked about some issue. He said,
I will say what I think, and if it is correct, then it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, then it is from me and from the Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger have nothing to do with it.
إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ قَرِيبٌ
Truly, He is All-Hearer, Ever Near.
means, He hears all the words of His servants, and He is always near to respond to them when they call on Him.
An-Nasa'i recorded the Hadith of Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari, which also appears in the Two Sahihs:
إِنَّكُمۡ لَاتَدۡعُونَ أَصَمَّ وَلَا غَايِبًا إِنَّمَا تَدۡعُونَ سَمِيعًا قَرِيبًا مُجِيبًا
You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent; you are calling upon One Who is All-Hearer, Ever Near and Responsive.
Allah says;
وَلَوۡ تَرَى إِذۡ فَزِعُوا فَلَ فَوۡتَ
And if you could but see, when they will be terrified with no escape,
Here Allah says:`if only you could see, O Muhammad, when these deniers are terrified on the Day of Resurrection, and they have no way of escape and nowhere to run to and no refuge.'
وَأُخِذُوا مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ
and they will be seized from a near place.
means, they will not even be given the slightest chance of escape, but they will be seized from the first instant.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:
When they come forth from their graves.
وَقَالُوا امَنَّا بِهِ
And they will say:We do believe (now);
means, on the Day of Resurrection, they will say, `we believe in Allah and His angels, Books and Messengers.'
This is like the Ayah:
وَلَوۡ تَرَى إِذِ الۡمُجۡرِمُونَ نَاكِسُواۡ رُءُوسِهِمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ رَبَّنَأ أَبۡصَرۡنَا وَسَمِعۡنَا فَارۡجِعۡنَا نَعۡمَلۡ صَـلِحاً إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ
And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying):Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty. (32:12)
Allah says:
وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِن مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ
but how could they receive from a place so far off!
meaning, how could they attain faith now that they are so far removed from the place where it could be accepted from them, and they have entered the realm of the Hereafter which is the realm of reward and punishment, not the realm of trial and testing. If they had believed in this world, that would have been good for them, but now they have entered the Hereafter, there is no way that their faith can be accepted, just as there is no way a person can get a thing if he is far away from it.
Mujahid said:
وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ
but how could they At-Tana'wush means,
How could they attain that?
Az-Zuhri said,
They will wish to attain faith when they have reached the Hereafter and are cut off from this world.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said,
They will seek something when they have no way of attaining it, they will seek faith from a distant place
وَقَدۡ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِن قَبۡلُ
Indeed they did disbelieve before,
means, how can they attain faith in the Hereafter when in this world they disbelieved in the truth and denied the Messengers?
وَيَقۡذِفُونَ بِالۡغَيۡبِ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ
and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen from a far place.
Malik narrated from Zayd bin Aslam that he said:
وَيَقۡذِفُونَ بِالۡغَيۡبِ
(and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen),
means, By guessing. as Allah says,
رَجۡماً بِالۡغَيۡبِ
guessing at the Unseen. (18:22)
Sometimes they said he was a poet, sometimes they said he was a soothsayer, or a sorcerer, or a mad man, or other baseless comments. They denied the idea of resurrection and said:
إِن نَّظُنُّ إِلاَّ ظَنّاً وَمَا نَحۡنُ بِمُسۡتَيۡقِنِينَ
we do not think it but as a conjecture, and we have no firm convincing belief. (45:32)
Qatadah and Mujahid said,
Their belief that there would be no resurrection, no Paradise and no Hell was based on mere conjecture.
وَحِيلَ بَيۡنَهُمۡ وَبَيۡنَ مَا يَشۡتَهُونَ
And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire,
Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Ad-Dahhak and others said,
This means faith.
As-Suddi said:
It means Repentance.
This was also the view of Ibn Jarir, may Allah have mercy on him.
Mujahid said:
وَحِيلَ بَيۡنَهُمۡ وَبَيۡنَ مَا يَشۡتَهُونَ
(And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire) means,
This world and its wealth, luxuries and people.
Something similar was narrated from Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, may Allah be pleased with him.
It is also the opinion of Al-Bukhari and the Group.
The correct view is that there is no contradiction between the two views, for a barrier will be set between them and what they desire in this world, and what they seek in the Hereafter will be denied from them.
كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشۡيَاعِهِم مِّن قَبۡلُ
as was done in the past with the people of their kind.
means, as happened to the nations of the past who disbelieved in the Messengers; when the punishment of Allah came upon them, they wished that they had believed, but this was not accepted from them.
فَلَمَّا رَأَوۡاۡ بَأۡسَنَا قَالُواۡ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحۡدَهُ وَكَـفَرۡنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشۡرِكِينَ
فَلَمۡ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمۡ إِيمَـنُهُمۡ لَمَّا رَأَوۡاۡ بَأۡسَنَا سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى قَدۡ خَلَتۡ فِى عِبَادِهِ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الۡكَـفِرُونَ
So, when they ﷺ Our punishment, they said:We believe in Allah Alone and reject (all) that we used to associate with Him as (His) partners.
Then their faith could not avail them when they ﷺ Our punishment. (Like) this has been the way of Allah in dealing with His servants. And there the disbelievers lost utterly. (40:84-85)
إِنَّهُمۡ كَانُوا فِي شَكٍّ مُّرِيبٍ
Verily, they have been in grave doubt.
means, in this world they had doubts, so their faith will not be accepted from them when they behold the punishment with their own eyes.
Qatadah said,
Beware of doubt. For whoever dies doubting, will be raised doubting and whoever dies believing, with certainty will be raised believing with certainty.
This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Saba'. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the Guide to the right way.
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