At-Tawbah 9:128–129

Commentary

These are the last verses of Surah At-Taubah where it has been declared that the Holy Prophet ﷺ is very kind and merciful for the entire creation of Allah, particularly so for Muslims. Then, in the last verse, he has been told that he should observe patience and trust Allah even if there are people who do not come to believe despite all his efforts.

That this theme appears at the end of Surah At-Taubah happens to be very appropriate. It will be recalled that this Surah has been full of references to the declaration of withdrawal from the disbelievers, the ultimate severance of relationship with them and then fighting in Jihad against them. This is, however, the last resort of the Call to Allah subject to the condition that the initial steps of Da'wah (call) and Tabligh (communication of the Message) leave no hope of correction and betterment. But, the basic function of the prophets is to invite people to the way of Allah with love, affection, sympathy and an earnest de-sire for their well-being; if they have to face aversion from the people or have to suffer some hardships, they are supposed to leave it to Allah and place their trust in Him, for He is the Lord of the Great Throne. By saying the Rabb رَبّ or Lord of the Great ` Arsh, the purpose is to lay stress on the fact that He encompasses the entire creation.

The last two verses, according to Sayyidna ` Ubaiyy ibn Ka'b ؓ ، are the last verses of the Qur'an. After these no other verse was revealed and the Holy Prophet ﷺ left the mortal world. This is also the statement of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ . (Qurtubi)

Great merits of these two verses appear in Hadith. Sayyidna Abu-d-Darda' ؓ says, ` One who recites these verses three times, morning and evening, shall find that Allah Ta` ala makes things easy for him (Qurtubi) ' Allah knows best.