Hud (Hud)
Verses 12-14 GROUP_410 11.12-14
12
فَلَعَلَّكَ تَارِكٌ بَعْضَ مَا يُوحَى إِلَيْكَ وَضَآئِقٌ بِهِ صَدْرُكَ أَن يَقُولُواْ لَوْلاَ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ كَنزٌ أَوْ جَاء مَعَهُ مَلَكٌ إِنَّمَا أَنتَ نَذِيرٌ وَاللّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ
You may [feel the inclination] to leave aside a part of what is revealed to you and you may be distressed because they say, ‘Why has no treasure been sent down to him, why has no angel come with him?’ But you are only to give warning. God is the guardian of all things.
13
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِعَشْرِ سُوَرٍ مِّثْلِهِ مُفْتَرَيَاتٍ وَادْعُواْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
If they say, ‘He has invented it himself.’ Say, ‘If you are truthful, produce ten invented chapters like it, and call on whom you can besides God, to help you.’
14
فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَجِيبُواْ لَكُمْ فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّمَا أُنزِلِ بِعِلْمِ اللّهِ وَأَن لاَّ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
But if they do not respond to you, then know that this [Quran] is sent down with God’s knowledge and that there is no deity but Him. Will you then surrender yourselves to Him?
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) When the Prophet Muhammad started opposing the ascribing of partners to God (shirk) and called upon the people to accept the oneness of God (tawhid), his addressees became perturbed. This was because the people most adversely affected by his statements were their great ones—the great ones whose religion they had adopted and were proud to venerate. The position was that these leading lights of ancient Arabia had attained pre-eminence in their eyes through a historical process, while as yet no historical greatness was attached to the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to them at that time as a man of no consequence. So, the people of Arabia were greatly upset that an ordinary man was making statements which made their leaders lose in credibility. Under these circumstances the thought crosses the preacher’s mind that he should at least temporarily give up being critical in his approach and present his message in a more palatable way. ‘You may (feel the inclination) to leave aside a part of what is revealed to you’ means this very portion of the revelations, which contained criticism of polytheistic beliefs. But, Almighty God wants to clarify everything. And if, as a result of fully clarifying the Truth, the preacher is made the butt of ridicule and opposed, this inimical reaction on the part of the addressees is the cost a man has to pay in this world for becoming the preacher of unadulterated Truth. The most certain proof of the veracity of God’s messenger is his inimitable discourse. Those who scorned the Prophet and who rejected the idea that this apparently ordinary man possessed that Truth, which even their great ones did not have, were told that they should not test the Prophet’s veracity on the basis of his material condition, but should appreciate that his missionary discourse was so great that neither they nor their leaders could produce the like of it. This inimitable distinction is a definite proof of the fact that the Prophet was speaking for and on behalf of God. In spite of this clear sign of the Prophet’s veracity, why are people still hesitating to become the obedient servants of God?