Tafheem ul Quran
Surah 10 Yunus, Ayat 22-23
هُوَ الَّذِىۡ يُسَيِّرُكُمۡ فِى الۡبَرِّ وَالۡبَحۡرِؕ حَتّٰۤى اِذَا كُنۡتُمۡ فِى الۡفُلۡكِ ۚ وَ جَرَيۡنَ بِهِمۡ بِرِيۡحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ وَّفَرِحُوۡا بِهَا جَآءَتۡهَا رِيۡحٌ عَاصِفٌ وَّجَآءَهُمُ الۡمَوۡجُ مِنۡ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ وَّظَنُّوۡۤا اَنَّهُمۡ اُحِيۡطَ بِهِمۡ ۙ دَعَوُا اللّٰهَ مُخۡلِصِيۡنَ لَـهُ الدِّيۡنَۙ لَـئِنۡ اَنۡجَيۡتَـنَا مِنۡ هٰذِهٖ لَنَكُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الشّٰكِرِيۡنَ
﴿10:22﴾
فَلَمَّاۤ اَنۡجٰٮهُمۡ اِذَا هُمۡ يَبۡغُوۡنَ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ بِغَيۡرِ الۡحَـقِّ ؕ يٰۤـاَ يُّهَا النَّاسُ اِنَّمَا بَغۡيُكُمۡ عَلٰٓى اَنۡفُسِكُمۡۙ مَّتَاعَ الۡحَيٰوةِ الدُّنۡيَا ثُمَّ اِلَـيۡنَا مَرۡجِعُكُمۡ فَنُنَبِّئُكُمۡ بِمَا كُنۡتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ
﴿10:23﴾
(10:22) He it is Who enables you to journey through the land and the sea.
And so it happens that when you have boarded the ships and they set sail with
a favourable wind, and the passengers rejoice at the pleasant voyage, then suddenly
a fierce gale appears, and wave upon wave surges upon them from every side,
and people believe that they are surrounded from all directions, and all of
them cry out to Allah in full sincerity of faith: 'If You deliver us from this
we shall surely be thankful.31 (10:23) But no sooner than He delivers them than they go about committing
excesses on the earth, acting unjustly. Men ! The excesses you commit will be
of harm only to yourselves, (Enjoy, if you will) the fleeting pleasure of this
world; in me end you shall all return to Us, and then We shall tell you what
you did.
Notes
31. The fact that even the most obdurate mushriks and the most hardened atheists
who forget Allah when things go well with them, begin to invoke Allah’s help
when they are pressed hard from all sides and despair of help from any other
quarter, is a clear evidence that there is the All Powerful Allah Who is controlling
each and every thing in the universe. Refer to
(E.N. 29, Surah Al-Anaam).
31a. The parable is meant to warn those who are utterly neglectful of the
life-after-death because of their apparent success in this worldly life. They
have been likened to the owners of the land who were happy to presume that the
crop was ripe and luxuriant and it was within their power to reap it and enjoy
the produce of their harvest. They were so sure of this that they began to enjoy
the fore-taste of the ripened crops, unaware of the decree of Allah which destroyed
their crops and all their great expectations also. Likewise those who neglect
to make preparations for the life-after-death will find to their sorrow that
all they did to earn for the enjoyments of this world was, in relation to the
next world, like the ripe crop that was destroyed all of a sudden.