Tazkirul Quran · Tafsir · in English
At-Tur 52:35–49
52:35–36Page 525
أَمۡ خُلِقُواْ مِنۡ غَيۡرِ شَيۡءٍ أَمۡ هُمُ ٱلۡخَٰلِقُونَ ٣٥
Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?
أَمۡ خَلَقُواْ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَۚ بَل لَّا يُوقِنُونَ ٣٦
Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain.
The realities declared on behalf of God, are all perfectly rational and reasonable. If a man pays attention to them, he can easily understand them. So why do people reject them? The reason for this is people’s disbelief in the Hereafter. People do not earnestly and actively believe that they will have to face any reckoning in the Hereafter. So, they are not serious about these matters and as such they are unable to understand them. If a man has a firm belief in the reward for good deeds, he will immediately understand matters which he hitherto found extremely difficult to appreciate.
52:37–43Page 525
أَمۡ عِندَهُمۡ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمۡ هُمُ ٱلۡمُصَۜيۡطِرُونَ ٣٧
Or have they the depositories [containing the provision] of your Lord? Or are they the controllers [of them]?
أَمۡ لَهُمۡ سُلَّمٞ يَسۡتَمِعُونَ فِيهِۖ فَلۡيَأۡتِ مُسۡتَمِعُهُم بِسُلۡطَٰنٖ مُّبِينٍ ٣٨
Or have they a stairway [into the heaven] upon which they listen? Then let their listener produce a clear authority [i.e., proof].
أَمۡ لَهُ ٱلۡبَنَٰتُ وَلَكُمُ ٱلۡبَنُونَ ٣٩
Or has He daughters while you have sons?
أَمۡ تَسۡـَٔلُهُمۡ أَجۡرٗا فَهُم مِّن مَّغۡرَمٖ مُّثۡقَلُونَ ٤٠
Or do you, [O Muḥammad], ask of them a payment, so they are by debt burdened down?
أَمۡ عِندَهُمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبُ فَهُمۡ يَكۡتُبُونَ ٤١
Or have they [knowledge of] the unseen, so they write [it] down?
أَمۡ يُرِيدُونَ كَيۡدٗاۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ هُمُ ٱلۡمَكِيدُونَ ٤٢
Or do they intend a plan? But those who disbelieve - they are the object of a plan.
أَمۡ لَهُمۡ إِلَٰهٌ غَيۡرُ ٱللَّهِۚ سُبۡحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُونَ ٤٣
Or have they a deity other than Allāh? Exalted is Allāh above whatever they associate with Him.
The addressees of a preacher invariably exist on the level of materialism. In view of this, if they have the feeling that the preacher of Truth wants to take some material thing from them, they immediately shy away from him. That is why a preacher of Truth never allows any material demand to crop up between his addressees and himself. To the very end, he maintains an atmosphere of selflessness between his addressees and himself. In so doing he may have to bear some material loss. When a preacher proves his seriousness to this extent with regard to his call for Truth, he then becomes entitled to God’s help, so much so that the unbelievers find all their tricks and devices recoiling on them, rendering them unsuccessful in gaining the upper hand.
52:44–47Page 525
وَإِن يَرَوۡاْ كِسۡفٗا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ سَاقِطٗا يَقُولُواْ سَحَابٞ مَّرۡكُومٞ ٤٤
And if they were to see a fragment from the sky falling,1 they would say, "[It is merely] clouds heaped up."
فَذَرۡهُمۡ حَتَّىٰ يُلَٰقُواْ يَوۡمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِي فِيهِ يُصۡعَقُونَ ٤٥
So leave them until they meet their Day in which they will be struck insensible -
يَوۡمَ لَا يُغۡنِي عَنۡهُمۡ كَيۡدُهُمۡ شَيۡـٔٗا وَلَا هُمۡ يُنصَرُونَ ٤٦
The Day their plan will not avail them at all, nor will they be helped.
وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ عَذَابٗا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكۡثَرَهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ ٤٧
And indeed, for those who have wronged is a punishment1 before that, but most of them do not know.
Why were the people of ancient Makkah so inclined that, wherever they saw God’s punitive devices falling from the sky, they would say that it was only a cloud? The reason for this was not that they did not accept God or His powers. The real reason for this was that they were doubtful of the Prophet really being a prophet. They were not convinced that the rejection of the person who was before them and who was apparently just like them could be so great a crime as to bring down a mountain of destruction upon them. The personality of the Prophet Muhammad was a matter of controversy among his contemporaries. He had at that time no established reputation, as it would seem to people today. But, it is the real test of man that he should see the reality by tearing asunder the veils of doubt. He should be able to discover the essence of the established personality in the apparently controversial personality.
52:48–49Page 525
وَٱصۡبِرۡ لِحُكۡمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعۡيُنِنَاۖ وَسَبِّحۡ بِحَمۡدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ ٤٨
And be patient, [O Muḥammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes [i.e., sight]. And exalt [Allāh] with praise of your Lord when you arise
وَمِنَ ٱلَّيۡلِ فَسَبِّحۡهُ وَإِدۡبَٰرَ ٱلنُّجُومِ ٤٩
And in a part of the night exalt Him and after [the setting of] the stars.
This means that in spite of all sorts of unpleasantness on the part of the addressees, dawah work should be continued until it has reached its completion in the eyes of God. When this limit is reached, God’s decision is made manifest; this in practice clarifies the difference between Truth and untruth, which had earlier been merely a matter of theory. During this entire period, the preacher is completely under the protection of God. The task of the preacher is that he should focus on God and should believe that at all times he will remain under God’s protection.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences