The Cattle (Al-An‘am)
Verses 46-50 GROUP_212 6.46-50
46
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَخَذَ اللّهُ سَمْعَكُمْ وَأَبْصَارَكُمْ وَخَتَمَ عَلَى قُلُوبِكُم مَّنْ إِلَـهٌ غَيْرُ اللّهِ يَأْتِيكُم بِهِ انظُرْ كَيْفَ نُصَرِّفُ الآيَاتِ ثُمَّ هُمْ يَصْدِفُونَ
Say, ‘If God should take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts, who is the deity who could restore it to you save God?’ See how We explain the signs to them in diverse ways, yet they turn away.
47
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللّهِ بَغْتَةً أَوْ جَهْرَةً هَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الظَّالِمُونَ
Ask them, ‘Tell me, if the punishment of God came upon you suddenly or predictably, would any but the wrongdoers be destroyed?’
48
وَمَا نُرْسِلُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلاَّ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ فَمَنْ آمَنَ وَأَصْلَحَ فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
We send the messengers only to give good news and to warn, so those who believe and reform themselves need have no fear, nor will they grieve.
49
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا يَمَسُّهُمُ الْعَذَابُ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَفْسُقُونَ
Chastisement will befall those who reject Our signs because of their disobedience.
50
قُل لاَّ أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِندِي خَزَآئِنُ اللّهِ وَلا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ وَلا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلاَّ مَا يُوحَى إِلَيَّ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَفَلاَ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ
Say, ‘I do not say to you that I possess the treasures of God, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel. I follow only that which is revealed to me.’ Say, ‘Are the blind and the seeing alike? Can you not then think?’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) The granting of ears, eyes and heart to man indicates what his Creator wants from him. The Creator wants man to hear and see His signs and accept them using rational arguments. If a man does not utilise these God-given capabilities for the purpose they are meant, then he is running the risk that he may be declared incapable and his capabilities may be snatched from him. How helpless is one who is rendered blind, deaf and mentally disabled because such a person will remain of no social value. But there is a kind of helplessness greater than this: it is to have ears but be deaf to the Truth; it is to have eyes but be blind to the Truth; it is to have a heart in one’s breast but be incapable of understanding the Truth. This deprivation is much more serious than the first kind, because it makes a man debased and worthless in respect of the Hereafter; there is no shortcoming more heinous than this. If a man is warned of the result of the denial of truth, and has the bravado to respond insolently, it is because, being well placed in the world, he thinks that he need not fear the scourge of God. Indeed, he imagines he is exempt from divine retribution. And the more daring ones, such as he, challenge God’s messenger and say, ‘If you are truthful, bring down upon us God’s wrath, and let us see.’ They do not understand that if God vents His anger, it will be on them and not on anyone else. (a) The preacher of God’s word appears in the world not only as one who gives good news, but also as a warner. In other words, the basis on which a man is tested before God is that he should recognise the Truth conveyed in the language of admonition and reform himself accordingly. If he fails to recognise the Truth and demands magic feats and charms as a condition for acceptance, he merely proves his moral blindness; and for such blind people, there is no fate but havoc and destruction in this world of God.