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CHAPTER ELEVEN

PROPHETS AND GOD’S JUDGMENT IN THIS LIFE


The Quran tells us that man’s life in this world is but the first stage - a very short stage - of a life that continues beyond the hiatus
called “death”; and the principle of man’s moral responsibility for all his conscious actions and his behavior, and of the
continuation of this responsibility, in the shape of inescapable consequences, good or bad, in a person’s life in the hereafter. The
exception to this rule is that when a community is totally engulfed in sin, God may choose to punish them in this life. Since God
is a loving and merciful God, He will not render punishment until certain conditions are met. In aftermath of natural disasters with
heavy loss of human lives, the question always arises whether these tragedies represent God’s punishment? Natural disasters such
as earthquakes, hurricanes, cyclones, draughts, etc., have always existed since the inception of earth and people living in high risk
area will always be vulnerable. It will be pure a speculation to describe natural disasters as God’s punishment. Before any sinful
community is destroyed, it goes through a clear process: God send His prophet with guidance, sinful community goes through a
period of trial and tribulation and respite, last warning is given and righteous are saved. In the event of natural disaster, where
many innocent children are killed, cannot therefore be described as God’s punishment only an unfortunate natural disaster. The
translation of the Quran is presented in bold letters and the explanation in parentheses.
(17:58) And [bear in mind:] there is no community which We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection, [I.e., since
everything in this world is ephemeral and bound to perish, man ought to be conscious of the life to come.] or chastise [even
earlier, if it proves sinful,] with suffering severe: all this is laid down in Our decree. [I.e., in accordance with the immutable
laws which God has laid down for His creation.]
CONDITIONS FOR GOD’S JUDGMENT
WHEN PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE OF RIGHT AND WRONG
(6:131-135) And so it is that thy Sustainer would never destroy a community for its wrongdoing so long as its people are
still unaware [of the meaning of right and wrong]: [The term “town”, “village” or “land” denotes also the people of a town or
land - in short, a community.] for all shall be judged according to their [conscious] deeds - and thy Sustainer is not unaware
of what they do. [Since God does not take people to task for any wrong they may have committed unless it was done in
conscious contravention of a moral law already made clear to them by the prophets.] And thy Sustainer alone is self-sufficient,
limitless in His grace. If He so wills, He may put an end to you and thereafter cause whom He wills to succeed you - even as
He has brought you into being out of other people’s seed. Verily, that [reckoning] which you are promised is bound to
come and you cannot elude it! Say: “O my [unbelieving] people! Do yet all that may be within your power, [while] I,
behold, shall labor [in God’s way]; and in time you will come to know to whom the future belongs. Verily, never will
evildoers attain to a happy state!” [The term “abode” is used in the Quran with reference to both the life of this world and the
life to come.]
NO PUNISHMENT FOR WRONG BELIEFS
(11:116-117) But, alas, among those generations [whom We destroyed] before your time there were no people endowed
with any virtue - [people] who would speak out against the [spread of] corruption on earth - except the few of them whom
We saved [because of their righteousness], whereas those who were bent on evildoing only pursued pleasures which
corrupted their whole being and so lost themselves in sinning. [It denotes one who indulges in the pleasures of life to the
exclusion of moral considerations or one whom a life of softness and ease has caused to behave insolently.] For, never would thy
Sustainer destroy a community for wrong [beliefs alone] so long as its people behave righteously [towards one another].
[This passage connects with the concluding clause of the preceding verse, “and lost themselves in sinning”. The term zulm (lit.,
“wrong” or “evildoing”) is in this context synonymous with “wrong beliefs” amounting to a denial of the truths revealed by God
through His prophets, a refusal to acknowledge His existence, or the ascribing of divine powers or qualities to anyone or anything
beside Him. Explaining the above verse in this sense, Razi says: “God’s chastisement does not afflict any people merely on
account of their holding beliefs amounting to shirk and kufr, but afflicts them only if they persistently commit evil in their mutual
dealings, and deliberately hurt other human beings and act tyrannically towards them. Hence, those who are learned in Islamic
Law hold that men’s obligations towards God rest on the principle of His forgiveness and liberality, whereas the rights of man are
of a stringent nature and must always be strictly observed” - the obvious reason being that God is almighty and needs no defender,
whereas man is weak and needs protection. (See 28:59)]
DIVINE GUIDANCE (when people wrong each other)
(28:58-59) And how many a community that [once] exulted in its wanton wealth and ease of life have We destroyed, so that
those dwelling-places of theirs - all but a few - have never been dwelt-in after them: for it is indeed We alone who shall
remain when all else will have passed away! [The above passage stresses the insignificance and brittleness of all worldly
advantages as compared with the imperishable good of divine guidance.] Yet, withal, thy Sustainer would never destroy a
community without having [first] raised in its midst an apostle who would convey unto them Our messages. [And thus
make them aware of the meaning of right and wrong: see 6:130-132 below.] And never would We destroy a community unless
its people are wont to do wrong [to one another]. [See 11:117 below. All the three passages: 6:130-132, 11:117 and 28:59 are
interdependent and must, therefore, be read side by side. The present passage connects with verse 58 above and its reference to
“wanton wealth and ease of life”; for the sake of which people so often wrong one another.]
JUDGMENT AFTER DIVINE GUIDANCE
(10:47) Now every community has had an apostle; and only after their apostle has appeared [and delivered his message] is
judgment passed on them, in all equity; and never are they wronged. [This verse stresses (a) the continuity of religious
revelation in mankind’s history and the fact that in the long run no community, period or civilization (one of the meanings
attributable to the term ummah) has been left without prophetic guidance, and (b) the doctrine that God does not punish a
community for its wrongdoing so long as its people are still unaware of the meaning of right and wrong: for all shall be judged
according to their conscious deeds (6:131-132).]
(15:4-5) And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been
made known to it; [I.e., unless the people in question had been shown through a divine writ the meaning of right and wrong, and
had deliberately rejected this divine guidance: see the statement, in 26:208, that “never have We destroyed any community unless
it had had its warners”, or in 6:131, that God “would never destroy a community for its wrongdoing so long as its people are still
unaware of the meaning of right and wrong”] [but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and
neither can they delay [it]. [I.e., every community and, in the widest sense of this term, every civilization - has a God-willed,
organic span of life resembling in this respect all other living organisms, destined to grow, to reach maturity and ultimately to
decay.]
REJECTION OF DIVINE MESSAGE
(35:42-44) As it is, they [who are averse to the truth often] swear by God with their most solemn oaths that if a warner
should ever come to them, they would follow his guidance better than any of the communities [of old had followed the
warner sent to them]: but now that a warner has come unto them, [his call] but increases their aversion, their arrogant
behavior on earth, and their devising of evil [arguments against God’s messages]. [I.e., fallacious arguments meant to
disparage those messages and to disprove their divine origin.] Yet [in the end,] such evil scheming will engulf none but its
authors: and can they expect anything but [to be made to go] the way of those [sinners] of olden times? [I.e., the way
(Sunnah) in which God has punished them.] Thus [it is]: no change will you ever find in God’s way; yea, no deviation will
you ever find in God’s way! Have they never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those
[deniers of the truth] who lived before their time and were [so much] greater than they in power? And [do they not see
that the will of] God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth, since, verily, He is all-knowing,
infinite in His power?
(40:21-22) Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the
truth] who lived before their time? Greater were they in power than they are, and in the impact which they left on earth:
but God took them to task for their sins, and they had none to defend them against God: this, because their apostles had
come to them with all evidence of the truth, and yet they rejected it: and so God took them to task - for, verily, He is
powerful, severe in retribution! (40:82-83) Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in
the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time? More numerous were they, and greater in power than
they are, and in the impact which they left on earth: but all that they ever achieved was of no avail to them - for when their
apostles came to them with all evidence of the truth, they arrogantly exulted in whatever knowledge they [already]
possessed: [I.e., they were fully satisfied with their own empirically or speculatively acquired or inherited knowledge; and so, in
their arrogant conviction that man is “self-sufficient” and, therefore, not in need of any guidance by a Power beyond the reach of
human perception, they rejected whatever ethical and spiritual truths were offered them by the prophets.] and [so, in the end,]
they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride. [I.e., the idea of God’s existence and inescapable
judgment: see 6:10.]
REJECTING ETHICAL TRUTHS AND STANDARDS OF MORALITY
(64:5-6) Have the stories of those who, in earlier times, refused to acknowledge the truth never yet come within your ken?
[They denied it -] and so they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doings, with [more] grievous suffering awaiting
them [in the life to come]: [This is an allusion to the disasters and the suffering which, as history shows, inevitably befall every
community or nation bent on rejecting the basic ethical truths and, thus, all standards of morality.] this, because time and again
there came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth, [I.e., apostles from their own midst, entrusted with divine
messages specifically meant for them.] but they [always] replied, “Shall mere mortal men be our guides?” And so they
denied the truth and turned away. But God was not in need [of them]: for God is self-sufficient, ever to be praised. [This
negative response is characteristic of people who, in result of their own estrangement from all moral standards, are instinctively,
and deeply, distrustful of all things human and cannot, therefore, accept the idea that a divine message could manifest itself
through mere human beings that have nothing “supernatural” about them.]
PERSECUTION OF PROPHETS
(12:110-111) [All the earlier apostles had to suffer persecution for a long time;] but at last [The implication being that they
used to suffer for a long time before they were vindicated by God] - when those apostles had lost all hope and saw themselves
branded as liars [I.e., either by their people, who regarded the apostles’ expectation of God’s succor as mere wishful thinking, or
by the harsh reality which seemed to contradict those apostles’ own hopes of speedy help from God. Commenting on this verse,
Abd Allah ibn Abbas used to quote 2:214 - “so shaken were they that the apostle, and the believers with him, would exclaim,
‘When will God’s succor come?’ ”.)] - Our succour attained to them: whereupon everyone whom We willed [to be saved]
was saved [and the deniers of the truth were destroyed]: for, never can Our punishment be averted from people who are
lost in sin. Indeed, in the stories of these men [I.e., the stories of the prophets] there is a lesson for those who are endowed
with insight.
GRANT OF RESPITE
(32:21-22) However, before [We condemn them to] that supreme suffering, We shall most certainly let them taste of a
suffering closer at hand, [I.e., in this world] so that they might [repent and] mend their ways. [Or, so that they might return to
righteousness] And who could be more wicked than he to whom his Sustainer’s messages are conveyed and who thereupon
turns away from them? Verily, We shall inflict Our retribution on those who are [thus] lost in sin!
(35:15-17, 45) O men! It is you, who stand in need of God, whereas He alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is
due. If He so wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new mankind [in your stead]: nor is this difficult for God.
Now if God were to take men [at once] to task for whatever [wrong] they commit [on earth], He would not leave a single
living creature upon its surface. However, He grants them respite for a term set [by Him]: [I.e., the end of their lives on
earth.] but when their term comes to an end - then, verily, [they come to know that] God sees all that is in [the hearts of]
His servants.
TRIAL THROUGH TRIBULATIONS AND GOOD TIMES
(6:40-49) Say: “Can you see yourselves invoking any but God when God’s chastisement befalls you [in this world], or the
Last Hour comes upon you? [Tell me this,] if you are men of truth! Nay, but it is Him alone that you will invoke -
whereupon He may, if He so wills, remove that [ill] which caused you to call unto Him; and you will have forgotten all that
to which you [now] ascribe divinity side by side with Him.” And, indeed, We sent Our messages unto people before your
time, [O Prophet,] and visited them with misfortune and hardship so that they might humble themselves: yet when the
misfortune decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves, but rather their hearts grew hard, for Satan had
made all their doings seem goodly to them. Then, when they had forgotten all that they had been told to take to heart, We
threw open to them the gates of all [good] things, [I.e., to test them by happiness after the test by misery.] until - even as they
were rejoicing in what they had been granted - We suddenly took them to task: and 1o! they were broken in spirit; and [in
the end,] the last remnant of those folk who had been bent on evildoing was wiped out. [The above passage illustrates a
phenomenon well known in history: namely, the inevitable social and moral disintegration of communities which have lost sight
of spiritual truths.] For all praise is due to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds. Say: “What do you think? If God should
take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts - what deity but God is there that could bring it all back to
you?” Behold how many facets We give to Our messages - and yet they turn away in disdain! Say: “Can you imagine what
your condition will be if God’s chastisement befalls you, either suddenly or in a [gradually] perceptible manner? [But then
-] will any but evildoing folk [ever] be destroyed? [I.e., the righteous will never be really destroyed - for, even if they should
suffer physical destruction, they are bound to attain to spiritual bliss and cannot, therefore, be said to have been destroyed like
evildoers, who, by their actions, lose their happiness both in this world and in the life to come.] And We send [Our] message-
bearers only as heralds of glad tidings and as warners: hence, all who believe and live righteously - no fear need they have,
and neither shall they grieve; whereas those who give the lie to Our messages - suffering will afflict them in result of all
their sinful doings.
(7:94-96) And never yet have We sent a prophet unto any community without trying its people with misfortune and
hardship, so that they might humble themselves; then We transformed the affliction into ease of life, [Lit., “then We put
good things in place of the bad”.] so that they throve and said [to themselves], “Misfortune and hardship befell our
forefathers as well” [I.e., they regarded it as a normal course of events and did not draw any lesson from it.] - whereupon We
took them to task, all of a sudden, without their being aware [of what was coming]. Yet if the people of those communities
had but attained to faith and been conscious of Us, We would indeed have opened up for them blessings out of heaven and
earth: but they gave the lie to the truth - and so We took them to task through what they [themselves] had been doing.
[The destruction which is bound to overtake any community, which lives in opposition to the eternal moral verities amounts, in
the last resort, to self-annihilation: for this is the real meaning of God’s “taking them to task through what they themselves were
doing”.]
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS TO HUMBLE MAN
(57:22-25) No calamity can ever befall the earth, and neither your own selves, [I.e., the earth or mankind as a whole, or any of
you individually: an allusion to natural as well as man-made catastrophes, and to individual suffering through illness, moral or
material deprivation, etc.] unless it be [laid down] in Our decree before We bring it into being: verily, all this is easy for
God. [I.e., God’s decreeing an event and bringing it into being.] [Know this,] so that you may not despair over whatever
[good] has escaped you nor exult [unduly] over whatever [good] has come to you: [Thus, the knowledge that whatever has
happened had to happen - and could not have not happened - because, obviously, it had been willed by God in accordance with
His unfathomable plan, ought to enable a true believer to react with conscious equanimity to whatever good or ill comes to him.]
for, God does not love any of those who, out of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner - [I.e., attributing their good fortune to
their own merit or luck.] those who are niggardly [with God’s bounty] and bid others to be niggardly! And he who turns his
back [on this truth ought to know that], [I.e., does not want to admit that whatever has happened must have been willed by
God.] verily, God alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due! Indeed, [even aforetime] did We send forth
Our apostles with all evidence of [this] truth; and through them We bestowed revelation from on high, and [thus gave you]
a balance [wherewith to weigh right and wrong], so that men might behave with equity.
LAST WARNING
(17:15-17) Moreover, We would never chastise [any community for the wrong they may do] before We have sent an apostle
[to them]. [So that they might fully understand the meaning of right and wrong: see 6:131-132 and 28:59 (which, in the
chronology of revelation, immediately precedes the present surah).] But when [this has been done, and] it is Our will to
destroy a community, We convey Our last warning [I.e., to mend their ways.] to those of its people who have lost themselves
entirely in the pursuit of pleasures; [I.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations, see 11:116. The people referred to here are
those who, by virtue of their wealth and social position, embody the real leadership of their community and are, therefore, morally
responsible for the behavior of their followers.] and [if] they [continue to] act sinfully, the sentence [of doom] passed on the
community takes effect, and We break it to smithereens. And how many a generation have We [thus] destroyed after [the
time of] Noah! For, none has the like of thy Sustainer’s awareness and insight into His creatures’ sins.
TOO LATE FOR REPENTANCE
(40:84-85) And then, when they [clearly] beheld Our punishment, [I.e., the God-willed, catastrophic breakdown of their
society and civilization in consequence of their persistent rejection of all spiritual values.] They said: “We have come to believe
in the One God, and we have renounced all belief in that to which we were wont to ascribe a share in His divinity!” [This
evidently includes their past belief in man’s supposedly unlimited possibilities and the illusory conviction that one day he would
achieve mastery over nature.] But their attaining to faith after they had beheld Our punishment could not possibly benefit
them [I.e., firstly, because this belated faith could not unmake a reality which had already come into being, and, secondly,
because it could not contribute to their spiritual growth as it was not an outcome of free choice but had been, rather, forced on
them by the shock of an irreversible calamity.] - such being the way of God that has always obtained for His creatures -: and
so, then and there, lost were they who had denied the truth. [The “way of God” or sunnat Allah is the Quranic term for the
totality of natural laws instituted by the Creator: in this case, the law that faith has no spiritual value unless it arises out of a
genuine, inner enlightenment.]
SAVING OF RIGHTEOUS
(6:6, 11) Do they not see how many a generation We have destroyed before their time – [people] whom We had given a
[bountiful] place on earth, the like of which We never gave unto you, and upon whom We showered heavenly blessings
abundant, and at whose feet We made running waters flow? And yet We destroyed them for their sins, and gave rise to
other people in their stead. [The term qarn does not always denote a generation, but – rather more frequently – an epoch, or
people belonging to one particular epoch, as well as a civilization in the historical sense of this word.] Say: “Go all over the
earth, and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!”
(21:9-15) In the end, We made good unto them Our promise, and We saved them and all whom We willed [to save], [I.e.,
their believing followers.] and We destroyed those who had wasted their own selves. [As regards explanation of “those who
had wasted their own selves”, see 10:12.] [O men!] We have now bestowed upon you from on high a divine writ containing
all that you ought to bear in mind: will you not, then, use your reason? [The term dhikr, which primarily denotes a “reminder”
or a “remembrance”, i.e., with praise. Hence, the above phrase contains, apart from the concept of a reminder, an indirect allusion
to the dignity and happiness to which man may attain by following the spiritual and social precepts laid down in the Quran..] For,
how many a community that persisted in evildoing have We dashed into fragments, and raised another people in its stead!
And [every time,] as soon as they began to feel Our punishing might, lo! they tried to flee from it - [and at the same time
they seemed to hear a scornful voice]: “Do not try to flee, but return to all that [once] gave you pleasure and corrupted
your whole being and [return] to your homes, so that you might be called to account [for what you have done]!” [The
Quran does not say whose words these are, but the tenor of this passage indicates that it is the scornful, self-accusing voice of the
sinners’ own conscience: hence the interpolation, between brackets, at the beginning of this verse.] And they could only cry:
“Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we were wrongdoers!” And that cry of theirs did not cease until We caused them to become [like]
a field mown down, still and silent as ashes.
DIVINE PUNISHMENT
(29:40) For, every one of them, did We take to task for his sin: and so, upon some of them We let loose a deadly storm
wind; and some of them were overtaken by a [sudden] blast; [Of Gods punishment] and some of them We caused to be
swallowed by the earth: and some of them We caused to drown. And it was not God who wronged them, but it was they
who had wronged themselves.
GOD’S PUNISHMENT CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE
(7:4-5) And how many a [rebellious] community have We destroyed, with Our punishment coming upon it by night, or
while they were resting at noontide! [I.e., suddenly, when the people felt completely secure and at ease] And when Our
punishment came upon them, they had nothing to say for themselves, and could only cry, [Lit., “their plea was nothing but
that they said”.] “Verily, we were wrongdoers!” (7:97-102) Can, then, the people of any community ever feel secure that
Our punishment will not come upon them by night, while they are asleep? Why, can the people of any community ever feel
secure that Our punishment will not come upon them in broad daylight, while they are engaged in [worldly] play? [I.e.,
while they enjoy ease and a sense of security, and are unaware of any danger that may threaten them] Can they, then, ever feel
secure from God’s deep devising? But none feels secure from God’s deep devising save people who are [already] lost. [I.e.,
morally lost and, therefore, destined to perish. The term “God’s deep devising” denotes here His unfathomable planning, which is
alluded to elsewhere in the Quran by the expression sunnat Allah (“God’s unchangeable way” - see 33:62, 35:43 and 48:23).] Has
it, then, not become obvious unto those who have inherited the earth in the wake of former generations [The people who
have inherited the earth are those now living.] that, if We so willed, We could smite them [too] by means of their sins, sealing
their hearts so that they cannot hear [the truth]? [See 2:7. The Quran describes as God’s punishment (as well as God’s reward)
is, in reality, a consequence of man’s own doings, and not an arbitrary act of God: it is by means of their sins that God sets a seal
upon the hearts of men. This statement is further elucidated at the end of verse 101.] Unto those [earlier] communities - some of
whose stories We [now] relate unto you - there had indeed come apostles of their own with all evidence of the truth; but
they would not believe in anything to which they had once given the lie: [An allusion to the instinctive unwillingness of most
people to give up the notions - positive or negative- to which they are accustomed.] thus it is that God seals the hearts of those
who deny the truth; and in most of them We found no [inner] bond with anything that is rights and most of them We
found to be iniquitous indeed. [This refers to man’s instinctive ability to discern between right and wrong and, thus, to follow
the dictates of his own conscience.]
DESTRUCTION OF TRULY GUILTY
(54:51-52) Thus, indeed, did We destroy people like you [in the past]: who, then, is willing to take it to heart? [They were
truly guilty] because all [the evil] that they ever did had been [revealed to them as such] in the [ancient] books of [divine]
wisdom; [I.e., the ancient revealed scriptures (az-zubur) had made the meaning of good and evil absolutely clear to them, but they
willfully disregarded or even consciously rejected that teaching. The above verse implies, firstly, that the basic ethical teachings
of all revealed religions are essentially identical, and, secondly, that God “would never destroy a community for its wrongdoing
so long as its people are still unaware of the meaning of right and wrong” (see 6:131-132, 15:4, 26:208-209).]
GOD DID NOT WRONG THEM, THEY WHO WRONGED THEMSELVES
(11:100-102) This account [The purpose of stories of God’s judgment on sinful communities being, as always in the Quran, the
illustration of an ethical principle or principles, and of men’s varying reactions to the guidance which God offers them directly
through His prophets and indirectly through the observable phenomena of His creation.] of the [fate of those ancient]
communities - some of them still remaining, and some [extinct like] a field mown-down - We convey unto you [as a lesson
for mankind]: for, no wrong did We do to them, but it was they who wronged themselves. And when thy Sustainer’s
judgment came to pass, those deities of theirs which they had been wont to invoke instead of God proved of no avail
whatever to them, and brought them no more than utter perdition. And such is thy Sustainer’s punishing grasp whenever
He takes to task any community that is given to evildoing: verily, His punishing grasp is grievous, severe! (11:121-122) And
say unto those who will not believe: “Do anything that may be within your power, [while] we, behold, shall labor [in God’s
way]; and wait [for what is coming]: behold, we too are waiting!”
(30:9) Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the
truth] who lived before their time? Greater were they in power than they are; and they left a stronger impact on the earth,
and built it up even better than these [are doing]; and to them [too] came their apostles with all evidence of the truth: and
so, [when they rejected the truth and thereupon perished,] it was not God who wronged them, but it was they who had
wronged themselves.
EXAMPLES OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT IN THIS LIFE
For the descriptions of God’s judgment upon sinful communities, see story of Noah, Hud and tribe of Ad, Salih and tribe of
Thamud, Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah, Shuayb and people of Madyan, judgment for Israelites, judgment for Pharaoh’s people,
people of Sheba and Tubba.
(22:42-46) And if they [who are bent on denying the truth] give you the lie, [O Muhammad, remember that, long] before
their time, the people of Noah and [the tribes of] Ad and Thamud gave the lie [to their prophets], as did the people of
Abraham, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of Madyan; and [so, too,] Moses was given the lie [by Pharaoh]. [I.e., not
by his own people, since these, despite their sinning, had accepted him as God’s prophet] And [in every case] I gave rein, for a
while, to the deniers of the truth: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My denial [of them,]! And how
many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing - and now they [all] lie deserted, with their
roofs caved in! And how many a well lies abandoned, and how many a castle that [once] stood high! Have they, then, never
journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain wisdom, and causing their ears to hear? Yet, verily, it is not their eyes
that have become blind - but blind have become the hearts that are in their breasts!
(38:11-17) [But] there it is: any and all human beings, however [strongly] leagued together, are bound to suffer defeat
[whenever they refuse to accept the truth]. [A group of people of the same mind leagued together for a definite purpose.] To
the truth gave the lie aforetime [I.e., before the people who opposed or oppose Muhammad’s message.] Noah’s people, and
[the tribe of] Ad, and Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles, [In classical Arabic, this ancient bedouin term is used idiomatically as
a metonym for mighty dominion or firmness of power. The number of poles supporting a bedouin tent is determined by its size,
and the latter has always depended on the status and power of its owner: thus, a mighty chieftain is often alluded to as “he of
many tent-poles”.] and [the tribe of] Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan]:
they all were leagued together, [as it were, in their unbelief:] not one [was there] but gave the lie to the apostles - and
thereupon My retribution fell due. And they [who now deny the truth - they, too,] have but to wait for one single blast [of
punishment to overtake them]: it shall not be delayed a whit. [Beyond the term set for it by God] As it is, they say
[mockingly]: “O our Sustainer! Hasten on to us our share [of punishment even] before the Day of Reckoning!” [This
mocking demand of the unbelievers is mentioned in several other places in the Quran.] [But] you bear with patience whatever
they may say.
(50:12-14) [Long] before those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah’s people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the
folk of Ar-Rass, [As for Ar-Rass, a town of that name exists to this day in the Central-Arabian province of Al-Qasim; in the
ancient times referred to, it seems to have been inhabited by descendants of the Nabataean tribe of Thamud.] and [the tribes of]
Thamud and Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot’s brethren, [The term “brethren’ is used here metonymically, denoting a group of
people who share the same views or, alternatively, the same environment. Since the people referred to formed Lot’s social
environment, they are described as his “brethren” although his moral concepts and inclinations were entirely different from
theirs.] and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba: [Regarding “the people of Tubba”, see
44:37. The “dwellers of the wooded dales” are the people of Madyan (the Biblical Midian).] they all gave the lie to the apostles -
and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true. (50:36-40) And how many a generation have We destroyed
before those [who now deny the truth] - people of greater might than theirs -: but [when Our chastisement befell them,]
they became wanderers on the face of the earth, seeking no more than a place of refuge [Is there any place of refuge? -
implying that after the destruction of their civilization they could do no more than strive for bare survival.] In this, behold, there
is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake - that is, [everyone who] lends ear with a conscious mind -
Hence, [O believer,] you bear with patience whatever they may say, [Regarding the alleged impossibility of resurrection.] and
extol thy Sustainer’s limitless glory and praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting; [I.e., “remember His
almightiness at all times of day”.] and in the night, too, extol His glory, and at every prayer’s end.
PREDICTION OF CORRUPTION AND DESTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENT
(30:41-42) [Since they have become oblivious of God,] corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of
what men’s hands have wrought: and so He will let them taste [the evil of] some of their doings, so that they might return
[to the right path]. [Thus, the growing corruption and destruction of our natural environment demonstrated in our time, is here
predicted as “an outcome of what men’s hands have wrought”, i.e., of that self-destructive - because utterly materialistic -
inventiveness and frenzied activity which now threatens mankind with previously unimaginable ecological disasters: an unbridled
pollution of land, air and water through industrial and urban waste, a progressive poisoning of plant and marine life, all manner of
genetic malformations in men’s own bodies through an ever widening use of drugs and seemingly “beneficial” chemicals, and the
gradual extinction of many animal species essential to human well-being. To all this may be added the rapid deterioration and
decomposition of man’s social life, the all-round increase in sexual perversion, crime and violence, with, perhaps, nuclear
annihilation as the ultimate stage: all of which is, in the last resort, an outcome of man’s oblivion of God and, hence, of all
absolute moral values, and their supersession by the belief that material “progress” is the only thing that matters.] Say: “Go all
over the earth, and behold what happened in the end to those [sinners] who lived before [you]: most of them were wont to
ascribe divine qualities to things or beings other than God.” [I.e., they worshipped material comfort and power, and thus lost
sight of all spiritual values and, in the end, destroyed themselves.]

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