The Poets (Al-Shu‘ara’)
Verses 204-212 GROUP_967 26.204-212
204
أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ
Do they want to hasten Our punishment?
205
أَفَرَأَيْتَ إِن مَّتَّعْنَاهُمْ سِنِينَ
Think! If We let them enjoy life for some years,
206
ثُمَّ جَاءهُم مَّا كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ
and then the promised punishment fell upon them,
207
مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يُمَتَّعُونَ
of what avail would their past enjoyment be to them?
208
وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا لَهَا مُنذِرُونَ
Never have We destroyed a town without sending down messengers to warn it,
209
ذِكْرَى وَمَا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ
as a reminder from Us: We are never unjust.
210
وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ
It was not the devils who brought down the Quran:
211
وَمَا يَنبَغِي لَهُمْ وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ
neither are they worthy of it, nor are they capable of it,
212
إِنَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ
indeed they are debarred from overhearing it.
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Commentary
(a) When, on behalf of God, the call for Truth appears at the level of a prophet, it appears in its final and perfect shape. That is why it becomes necessary for God’s punishment to visit any community which denies the prophet. However, until this punishment is actually administered, man considers himself safe from it. In order to prove the divine call baseless, he adopts various tactics. Sometimes he derides the prophet’s personality and sometimes he calls the Divine revelation brought by him spurious. Sometimes he says that if God is against them, why does He not punish them? The only responsibility of the prophet, or the preacher acting on behalf of the prophet, is that he should make the people aware of the Truth. All matters over and above that are the responsibility of God and He shows them this when He wills.