The Night Journey (Al-Isra’)
Verses 68-69 GROUP_646 17.68-69
68
أَفَأَمِنتُمْ أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمْ جَانِبَ الْبَرِّ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ حَاصِبًا ثُمَّ لاَ تَجِدُواْ لَكُمْ وَكِيلاً
Do you then feel secure against His causing you to be swallowed up by the earth when you are back on land, or His sending a deadly sand storm upon you? Then you will find none to protect you.
69
أَمْ أَمِنتُمْ أَن يُعِيدَكُمْ فِيهِ تَارَةً أُخْرَى فَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ قَاصِفا مِّنَ الرِّيحِ فَيُغْرِقَكُم بِمَا كَفَرْتُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ تَجِدُواْ لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا بِهِ تَبِيعًا
Or do you feel secure against His sending you back to sea once again, and raising a fierce gale against you and causing you to drown in requital for your ingratitude? You will find no helper against Us there.
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Commentary
(a) Despite man’s insolence, God does not seize upon him immediately. Rather He afflicts him with some natural calamity by way of warning. Man is awakened by this but is so heedless that, as soon as he is relieved of his distress, this feeling of wakening soon vanishes into thin air. He remains blissfully unaware of the fact that he is as much in God’s grip as he was earlier. His coming home safely after the sea voyage does not rule out the possibility of suffering the same calamity again. Furthermore, the dangers and insecurity on land are no less than at sea. Tempests at sea are like earthquakes on land. There is no place where he can take refuge from God’s chastisement.