Scattering Winds (Al-Dhariyat)
Verses 38-46 GROUP_1396 51.38-46
38
وَفِي مُوسَى إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ
There is another sign in Moses: We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority.
39
فَتَوَلَّى بِرُكْنِهِ وَقَالَ سَاحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ
But he turned his back, he and his courtiers, and said, ‘This is a sorcerer or a madman.’
40
فَأَخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ
Then We seized him and his army and cast them all into the sea: he himself [Pharaoh] was to blame.
41
وَفِي عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ
There is another sign in the [tribe of] ‘Ad, when We sent against them a life-destroying wind
42
مَا تَذَرُ مِن شَيْءٍ أَتَتْ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا جَعَلَتْهُ كَالرَّمِيمِ
and it destroyed everything over which it passed and reduced it to dust.
43
وَفِي ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُوا حَتَّى حِينٍ
In the Thamud [there was another sign], when they were told, ‘Make the most of your lives for a while.’
44
فَعَتَوْا عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّاعِقَةُ وَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ
But they rebelled against the command of their Lord. So the thunderbolt overtook them while they looked on:
45
فَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا مِن قِيَامٍ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنتَصِرِينَ
they could not stand up again, nor could they defend themselves.
46
وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ مِّن قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ
[We destroyed] the people of Noah before them. They were certainly a sinful people.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(b) The Pharaoh of Egypt called the miracles of Moses magical feats. He interpreted Moses’s firm belief (which indicated the latter’s being on the right path) as madness. This is known as covering up (talbis) and this covering up has always been the way of those people who are not ready to accept the Truth, in spite of its being supported by sound reasoning. (a) People displaying such arrogance in the face of the Truth never escape God’s scourge. Pharaoh was killed for this reason, and the communities of ‘Ad, Thamud, and Noah were also destroyed for this very reason. They were given some benefit in this world, it being the test period. Beyond this small benefit they were destined not to receive any other.