Verses 29–44
Having warned of the punishment that will afflict the deniers on the Day of Resurrection and given glad tidings that the Godwary will be joyful in gardens of bliss, God bids His Prophet to continue preaching and admonishing his people. He also emphasizes that he has the qualities necessary to call people to the truth and that the deniers have no excuse for their denials and rejections of the Prophetic call.
This set of verses negates each and every objection the deniers could possibly conceive of to the Prophet’s mission. There are sixteen of these in total. Some of them pertain to the person of the Prophet, and if just one of them had been true, it would have meant that he was not worthy of being followed and that people should not have paid heed to him. For example, if he had been a soothsayer, a madman, a poet, a charlatan who invented lies about God, or someone who sought financial rewards from the people for his preaching, then he would not have been someone worthy of being followed by others. Some of these objections pertain to the deniers themselves, such as their having been created from nothing, or their being creators themselves, or that their intellects prompted them to reject his message, or the like thereof. Note that these verses reprimand them harshly for their denials.
Commentary
فَذَكِّرْ فَمَا أَنْتَ بِنِعْمَتِ رَبِّكَ بِكَاهِنٍ وَلَا مَجْنُونٍ ٢٩
(52:29) So admonish. By your Lord’s blessing, you are not a soothsayer, nor mad.
This is the conclusion that follows logically from the punishment that the previous verses foretold would befall the deniers on the Day of Resurrection and from which the Godwary would be protected, as they would be in gardens of bliss.
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘With the above in mind, admonish! For you only warn and admonish people with the truth. You are not, as they claim, a soothsayer or a madman.’
Note that the negation, you are not a soothsayer, nor mad is qualified by the phrase, By your Lord’s blessing. In this way, God highlights the special favor He has bestowed upon His Prophet. However, the blessing is not that the prophet is neither a soothsayer or a madman—after all, the overwhelming majority of people are neither of these! On the contrary, it is because the Prophet has been endowed with so many blessings by God that it is inconceivable that attributes such as soothsaying or madness could be rightly ascribed to him.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَتَرَبَّصُ بِهِ رَيْبَ الْمَنُونِ ٣٠
(52:30) Do they say, ‘A poet, for whom we await (natarabbaṣ) a fatal accident (rayb al–manūn)’?
The verb tarabbaṣ means ‘to anticipate.’ In Majmaʿ al-bayān, we read: ‘Tarabbaṣ means to anticipate some kind of reversal of fortune.’
Manūn means death or fate, while rayb here signifies anxiety or confusion. Therefore rayb al-manūn means an anxiety about death.
In short, the verse means: ‘Instead, they say, “he…’—meaning the Prophet—‘…is but a poet who we anticipate will soon be overtaken by death, and people will soon forget about him and his message, then we can be at ease.”’
قُلْ تَرَبَّصُوا فَإِنِّي مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الْمُتَرَبِّصِينَ ٣١
(52:31) Say, ‘Wait! I too am waiting along with you.’
God tells the Prophet to bid them to wait, as they have already indicated they are pleased to do. This imperative is, of course, meant as a threat, meaning: ‘Wait as you see fit, for there truly is something that will come to pass that is worth waiting for. I too am waiting to witness it, but it will against you rather than for you, for it is your ruin and everlasting punishment!’
أَمْ تَأْمُرُهُمْ أَحْلَامُهُمْ بِهَٰذَا ۚ أَمْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ طَاغُونَ ٣٢
(52:32) Is it their intellect (aḥlām) which prompts them to this, or are they a rebellious lot?
Aḥlām is the plural of ḥilm, meaning intellect. The demonstrative pronoun, ‘this’ refers to the things they are saying to the Prophet and what they are expecting to befall him.
The meaning is as follows: Rather, is it their intellect that prompts them to utter these words and expect him to perish? What kind of intellect is it that responds to the truth with these kinds of falsehoods?
… or are they a rebellious lot? In other words, it is not their intellects that prompt them to this, rather it is their rebelliousness that does so.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ تَقَوَّلَهُ ۚ بَلْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ٣٣
(52:33) Do they say, ‘He has improvised it (taqawwala–hu)’? Rather they have no faith!
In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, al-Ṭabrisī writes that taqawwal means ‘to be tortuous in speech’ and that this is only used for false speech. Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘Rather they say, “He has fabricated the Qurʾan and attributed it to God falsely.” No, rather they have no faith so they level these false accusations at him.’
فَلْيَأْتُوا بِحَدِيثٍ مِثْلِهِ إِنْ كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ ٣٤
(52:34) Let them bring a discourse like it, if they are truthful
This is a response to the claim made by the deniers in the previous verse, He has improvised it. In other words, if the words uttered by the Prophet were the words of a human being, like any other kind of speech, then they would resemble other kinds of speech, and it would have been possible for the deniers to produce a discourse similar to it. Therefore, if they are truthful when they claim that he was the author of the Qurʾan, they should be able to produce a similar discourse. However, it is, in fact, divine speech, as is evident from its miraculous inimitability, which means that no human being can produce anything equal to it. We have already discussed the different aspects of the Qurʾan’s miraculous inimitability in our commentary on Sūrah al-Baqarah, verse 23.
This verse can be read as a refutation of all of the accusations of the deniers quoted above, such as that the Prophet was a soothsayer, a madman, a poet, or a fabricator, because no other person has been able to produce the likeness of it. Therefore, the only possible conclusion is that the Qurʾan is the speech of God. However, the reading closest to the apparent one is the one laid out above.
أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ ٣٥
(52:35) Were they created from something else (min ghayri shayʾin)? Or are they creators?
The word shayʾ is indefinite to imply the existence of an adjective, with the meaning: ‘created from something other than what the rest of humankind were created from.’
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is as follows: ‘Or were those deniers created from something different from the rest of humankind, such that while divine messengers were sent with revelation to everyone else in order to call them to the truth and invite them to don the mantle of divine servanthood, these deniers have no moral duties, nor are subject to any divine commands and prohibitions, and their deeds will neither be rewarded or punishment, because they were created from a substance different to the rest of humankind.’
However, there are other interpretations of this verse as well.
Some commentators say that it means: ‘Were they created and fashioned in this wondrous form without any creator or maker, so they have no need of any deity to look after their affairs?’
Others say it means: ‘Or are they made out of something non-living such that they cannot be given commands or prohibitions, like inanimate objects?’
Still others say it means: ‘Or are they created without reason, or not for the purpose of reward and punishment, and that is why they do not listen?’
Some also say it means: ‘Or were they created in vain, so that they will not be held to account or given commands or prohibitions?’
However, the interpretation we have provided is both the closest in meaning to the text and the most comprehensive.
Or are they creators? Did they create themselves, so that they were not created by God, and, therefore, they do not need Him to nurture them or look after their affairs by sending commands and prohibitions.
أَمْ خَلَقُوا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۚ بَلْ لَا يُوقِنُونَ ٣٦
(52:36) Did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather they have no certainty!
Or did they create the cosmos, such that they are gods and lords in their own right and, therefore, too magnificent to serve another being or obey their commands. No, on the contrary, they are a people without certainty.
أَمْ عِنْدَهُمْ خَزَائِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُصَيْطِرُونَ ٣٧
(52:37) Do they possess the treasuries of your Lord? Or are they the controllers?
Meaning: ‘Do they own the treasuries of your Lord such that they can grant prophethood to whomever they wish and deny it to whomever they wish and, thereby, deny your being a prophet and a divine messenger?’ Or are they the controllers (al-muṣayṭirūn)?
The word muṣayṭirūn is derived from sayṭara, meaning power and dominion. Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘Or are they the ones with power and dominion over God, such that they can take back from you the prophethood and divine messengership that God has granted you?’
أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ ۖ فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُمْ بِسُلْطَانٍ مُبِينٍ ٣٨
(52:38) Do they have a ladder (sullam) whereby they eavesdrop (yastamiʿūn)? If so let their eavesdropper produce a manifest authority (sulṭān).
A sullam is a ladder with steps that one can use to reach high places. Yastamiʿūn (eavesdrop) suggests the meaning of ascending. Sulṭān is a decisive proof or argument.
Therefore, the meaning of this verse is: ‘Do they have a ladder by which they can ascend to the heavens and hear revelations, so that they can take whatever is revealed to them and reject everything else? If so, then let the one who has been listening—the one who has claimed to hear them—provide clear proof of this.
أَمْ لَهُ الْبَنَاتُ وَلَكُمُ الْبَنُونَ ٣٩
(52:39) Does He have daughters while you have sons?
Some have said this mocks their foolishness for ascribing to God what they would deny to themselves.
أَمْ تَسْأَلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُمْ مِنْ مَغْرَمٍ مُثْقَلُونَ ٤٠
(52:40) Do you ask them for a reward, so that they are weighed down with debt (maghram muthaqalūn)?
According to al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, ghurm (from which maghram is derived) signifies when a person’s property is afflicted by misfortune, though not through criminal activity or by betrayal. Muthaqlūn denotes those who have had a burden placed on their backs, and it is a metaphor for being burdened by difficulties.
Therefore, the meaning is: ‘Or do you demand monetary rewards from them in return for conveying your message, such that they are distressed by the debts they have incurred by paying this?’
أَمْ عِنْدَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ ٤١
(52:41) Do they have the Unseen, which they write down?
Some commentators have said that the meaning of the Unseen here is the Guarded Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) upon which is written knowledge of the unseen. According to this view, the meaning of the verse is: ‘Or do they have access to the Guarded Tablet, from which they transcribe knowledge of the unseen and convey it to people, so that the things they have told people about you are true beyond all doubt?’
Others have said that the Unseen refers to knowledge of the Unseen in general, and that writing means to record it. According to this reading, the meaning of the verse becomes: ‘Or do they have knowledge of the Unseen, which they record as a code for others to obey.’ Still others have suggested that ‘to write’ here means ‘to pass judgement.’
أَمْ يُرِيدُونَ كَيْدًا ۖ فَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هُمُ الْمَكِيدُونَ ٤٢
(52:42) Do they seek to outmaneuver (kayd)? But it is the faithless who are the outmaneuvered ones!
According to al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, kayd refers to a kind of stratagem or ruse. In Majmaʿ al-bayān, al-Ṭabrisī says that kayd means ‘to scheme or plot’ and that others have said that it signifies an action done in secret that would anger another person if it came to light.
Based on the context, it appears that the word outmaneuver refers to their plotting against the Prophet by denouncing him as a soothsayer, a madman, a poet, or a fabricator in order to turn the people away from him and dissuade them from following him. In doing so, they hoped to thwart his mission and extinguish his light. Even though they are trying to outmaneuver the Prophet, they are, in fact, only plotting against their own souls, in that they will deprive themselves of eternal happiness and deny themselves the opportunity to follow the path of truth. In fact, it is God who outmaneuvers them by denying them the blessing of divine success and placing a seal upon their hearts.
Other commentators have argued that the meaning of outmaneuver is a specific reference to the decision made by the notables of the Quraysh in Dār al-Nadwa to assassinate the Prophet shortly before the Emigration—based on this, the faithless mentioned in this verse are the notables who participated in this meeting. However, God turned their own schemes against them, and they were slain in the Battle of Badr. If this is indeed the meaning of this verse, then it contains a prophecy about the future, because it was revealed a long time before these events. However, this interpretation does not match the context and tone of this section of verses.
أَمْ لَهُمْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ ۚ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٤٣
(52:43) Do they have any god other than Allah? Clear is Allah of any partners that they may ascribe!
If they had a god other than Allah who had created them and who looked after their affairs, then they would have no need of Allah and could reject the call of His Messenger; their god could come to their assistance and keep them safe from the punishment with which Allah had threatened the deniers and of which the Prophet had warned them.
Clear is Allah of any partners that they may ascribe! This declares God exalted above any partner they might ascribe to Him.
وَإِنْ يَرَوْا كِسْفًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ سَاقِطًا يَقُولُوا سَحَابٌ مَرْكُومٌ ٤٤
(52:44) Were they to see a fragment (kisf) falling from the sky, they would say, ‘A cumulous cloud (saḥāb markūm).’
A kisf is a piece of something, while markūm is an adjective meaning ‘to be piled atop one another.’
The meaning of this verse is: ‘Their obstinate denial and disbelief towards the true message is so deeply rooted that even if they saw a piece of the sky falling upon their own heads, they would dismiss it as a cumulous cloud and refuse to recognise it as a sign of divine punishment.’ This is in a similar vein to the verse, Were We to open for them a gate of the sky, so that they could go on ascending through it, they would surely say, ‘Indeed a spell has been cast on our eyes; rather we are a bewitched lot’ ().