The Poets (Al-Shu‘ara’)
Verses 213-220 GROUP_968 26.213-220
213
فَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُعَذَّبِينَ
So do not call on any deity besides God, lest you incur His punishment.
214
وَأَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِينَ
Warn your nearest kinsmen,
215
وَاخْفِضْ جَنَاحَكَ لِمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
and extend kindness and affection to those of the believers who follow you.
216
فَإِنْ عَصَوْكَ فَقُلْ إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
If they disobey you, say, ‘I bear no responsibility for what you do.’
217
وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ
Put your trust in the Mighty One, the Merciful,
218
الَّذِي يَرَاكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ
who sees you when you stand up [for prayer],
219
وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ
and sees your movements among those who prostrate themselves:
220
إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
He is the All Hearing, the All Knowing.
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Commentary
(a) To take anybody other than God to be worthy of worship is the greatest crime in the eyes of God. No one guilty of this crime can escape punishment. It is the duty of the preacher to save himself from polytheism and to call the people to the Truth, primarily those who are near to him. In order to support the Truth, one has to kill one’s ego. That is why there are very few among the highly placed who are prepared to side with the Truth. It often happens that only those who occupy a lower position in society come forward to do so. This poses a serious trial for the preacher of God’s word. He has to guard himself against holding these persons inferior as others do. They must be given equal status in an Islamic society. The true emissary of the Almighty is one whose relation with his Maker is so strong that he passes his lonely nights in restlessness and is often forced to spring out of his bed. He holds his companions who are kneeling to pray to God in the stillness of the night in such high esteem that they become the centre of his attention.