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Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِذَآ
And when
أَنۡعَمۡنَا
We bestow favor
عَلَى
upon
ٱلۡإِنسَٰنِ
man
أَعۡرَضَ
he turns away
وَنَـَٔا
and distances himself
بِجَانِبِهِۦ
and distances himself
وَإِذَا
but when
مَسَّهُ
touches him
ٱلشَّرُّ
the evil
فَذُو
then (he is) full
دُعَآءٍ
(of) supplication
عَرِيضٖ
lengthy
وَإِذَآ
And when
أَنۡعَمۡنَا
We bestow favor
عَلَى
upon
ٱلۡإِنسَٰنِ
man
أَعۡرَضَ
he turns away
وَنَـَٔا
and distances himself
بِجَانِبِهِۦ
and distances himself
وَإِذَا
but when
مَسَّهُ
touches him
ٱلشَّرُّ
the evil
فَذُو
then (he is) full
دُعَآءٍ
(of) supplication
عَرِيضٖ
lengthy
Translation
When We bestow favours on man, he turns away, and gets himself remote on his side (instead of coming to Us); and when evil seizes him, (he comes) full of prolonged prayer!
Tafsir
And when We bestow graces upon man (insaan, the generic noun [is meant]), he shows disregard, of giving thanks, and turns aside, turns his head in arrogance (a variant reading [for naa'a] has na'aa); but when ill befalls him, he makes prolonged supplications.
Man is fickle when Ease comes to Him after Difficulty
Allah says,
لَاا يَسۡأَمُ الاۡاِنسَانُ مِن دُعَاء الۡخَيۡرِ وَإِن مَّسَّهُ الشَّرُّ
Man does not get tired of asking for good; but if an evil touches him,
Allah tells us that man never gets bored of asking his Lord for good things, such as wealth, physical health, etc., but if evil touches him -- i.e., trials and difficulties or poverty --
فَيَوُوسٌ قَنُوطٌ
then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair,
i.e., he thinks that he will never experience anything good again
وَلَيِنۡ أَذَقۡنَاهُ رَحۡمَةً مِّنَّا مِن بَعۡدِ ضَرَّاء مَسَّتۡهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَذَا لِي
And truly, if We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say:This is due to my (merit)...
means, if something good happens to him or some provision comes to him after a period of difficulty, he says, `this is because of me, because I deserve this from my Lord.'
وَمَا أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَايِمَةً
I think not that the Hour will be established.
means, he does not believe that the Hour will come. So when he is given some blessing, he becomes careless, arrogant and ungrateful, as Allah says:
كَلَّ إِنَّ الاِنسَـنَ لَيَطۡغَى
أَن رَّءَاهُ اسۡتَغۡنَى
Nay! Verily, man does transgress. Because he considers himself self-sufficient. (96:6-7)
وَلَيِن رُّجِعۡتُ إِلَى رَبِّي إِنَّ لِي عِندَهُ لَلۡحُسۡنَى
But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely there will be for me the best with Him.
means, `if there is a Hereafter after all, then my Lord will be generous and kind to me just as He was in this world.' So he expects Allah to do him favors in spite of his bad deeds and lack of certain faith.
Allah says:
فَلَنُنَبِّيَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُم مِّنۡ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ
Then, We verily will show to the disbelievers what they have done, and We shall make them taste a severe torment.
Thus Allah threatens punishment and vengeance to those whose conduct and belief is like that
وَإِذَا أَنۡعَمۡنَا عَلَى الاۡإِنسَانِ أَعۡرَضَ وَنَأى بِجَانِبِهِ
And when We show favor to man, he turns away and becomes arrogant;
means, he turns away from doing acts of obedience and is too proud to obey the commands of Allah.
This is like the Ayah:
فَتَوَلَّى بِرُكۡنِهِ
But (Fir`awn) turned away along with his hosts, (51:39)
وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ
but when evil touches him, (means, difficulties),
فَذُو دُعَاء عَرِيضٍ
then he has recourse to long supplications.
means, he asks at length for one thing. Long supplications are those which are long on words and short on meaning. The opposite is concise speech which is brief but full of meaning.
And Allah says:
وَإِذَا مَسَّ الاِنسَـنَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنبِهِ أَوۡ قَاعِدًا أَوۡ قَأيِمًا فَلَمَّا كَشَفۡنَا عَنۡهُ ضُرَّهُ مَرَّ كَأَن لَّمۡ يَدۡعُنَأ إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَّسَّهُ
And when harm touches man, he invokes Us, lying on his side, or sitting or standing. But when We have removed his harm from him, he passes on as if he had never invoked Us for a harm that touched him! (10:12
The Qur'an and the Proofs of its Truth
Allah says,
قُلۡ
Say, -- (O Muhammad, to these idolators who disbelieve in the Qur'an) --
أَرَأَيۡتُمۡ إِن كَانَ
Tell me, if it, -- (this Qur'an) --
مِنۡ عِندِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ كَفَرۡتُم بِهِ
is from Allah, and you disbelieve in it,
means, `what do you think your position is before the One Who revealed it to His Messenger?'
Allah says:
مَنۡ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنۡ هُوَ فِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ
Who is more astray than one who is in opposition far away.
means, he is in a state of disbelief, stubbornness and opposition to the truth, and is following a path that leads far away from guidance.
Then Allah says
سَنُرِيهِمۡ ايَاتِنَا فِي الاۡفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمۡ
We will show them Our signs in the universe, and within themselves,
meaning, `We will show them Our evidence and proof that the Qur'an is true and has indeed been sent down from Allah to the Messenger of Allah, through external signs,
فِي الاۡفَاق
(in the universe),' such as conquests and the advent of Islam over various regions and over all other religions.
Mujahid, Al-Hasan and As-Suddi said,
And signs within themselves means, the battle of Badr, the conquest of Makkah, and other events which befell them, where Allah granted victory to Muhammad and his Companions, and inflicted a humiliating defeat on falsehood and its followers.
It may also be that what is meant here is man and his physical composition. As detailed in the science of anatomy, which indicates the wisdom of the Creator -- may He be blessed and exalted -- and the different inclinations and opposite natures that people have, good and bad, etc., and the (divine) decrees to which man is subjected, having no power to change and over which he has no control.
Allah's statement,
حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمۡ أَنَّهُ الۡحَقُّ
أَوَلَمۡ يَكۡفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيۡءٍ شَهِيدٌ
until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur'an) is the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord that He is a Witness over all things?
means, sufficient is Allah as a Witness over the words and deeds of His servants, and He bears witness that Muhammad is telling the truth in what he says, as Allah says:
لَّـكِنِ اللَّهُ يَشۡهَدُ بِمَأ أَنزَلَ إِلَيۡكَ أَنزَلَهُ بِعِلۡمِهِ
But Allah bears witness to that which He has sent down unto you; He has sent it down with His knowledge. (4:166)
Allah says,
أَلَا إِنَّهُمۡ فِي مِرۡيَةٍ مِّن لِّقَاء رَبِّهِمۡ
Lo, Verily, they are in doubt concerning the meeting with their Lord.
means, they doubt that the Hour will come, they do not think about it or strive for it or pay heed to it; on the contrary, they regard it as irrelevant and do not care about it. But it will undoubtedly come to pass. Then Allah states that He is Able to do all things and He encompasses all things, and it is very easy for Him to bring about the Hour:
أَلَا إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ مُّحِيطٌ
Verily, He is surrounding all things!
means, all of creation is subject to His control, dominion and knowledge; He is controlling all things by His power, so whatever He wills happens, and whatever He does not will does not happen, and there is no god worthy of worship apart from Him.
This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Fussilat. To Allah be praise and blessings.
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