Surah Yunus 10:11-20 - Quran Translation Commentary

11. If Allah had hastened for mankind the ill as He hastens for them the good, their respite would already have expired. But We leave those who do not expect the meeting with Us to wander blindly in their rebellion²².

12. And when misfortune were to touch a man, he invokes Us (while reclining) on his side, or sitting, or standing (in all postures), but when We relieve his distress he goes his way as though he had not invoked Us in the trouble that had confronted him. Thus the deeds of the transgressors have been made to look fair in their eyes. ²³

13. We destroyed many generations (races) before you when they did wrong²⁴; their messengers (from Allah) had come to them with clear signs, but they would not believe. Thus do We recompense the guilty people.

14. Then We made you Khalifa (giving discretionary power ) on the earth after them so that We might see how do you conduct yourselves. ²⁵

15. And when our clear Ayaat (verses)are recited to those who do not expect the meeting with Us, say: “Bring a Qur’an other than this one, or change it²⁶.” Say: “It is not for me to change it of my own accord; I only follow what is revealed to me²⁷. Verily if I disobey my Lord, I fear the punishment of a Great Day²⁸.”

16. Say: “If Allah had so willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. I lived among you for a whole life-time before it. Do not you understand²⁹?”

17. Then who can be a greater wrong-doer than one, who invents a lie concerning Allah or belies His Ayaat³⁰ (verses)! Verily, the criminals will never succeed.

18. They worship beside Allah such things that neither they hurt them nor benefit them and say: These are our intercessors with Allah³¹. Say: “Do you inform Allah of (something) that He knows not in the heavens and in the earth³²? Immaculate is He and High above that which they associate with Him.

19. And mankind were but one community, then they differed³³. Had the decision not been taken earlier by your Lord, judgment in the matter in which they differed would have been given³⁴.

20. And they (people) say : “Why no sign³⁵ has been sent down to him from his Lord?” So say: “The unseen is known by Allah alone³⁶, therefore, wait³⁷, surely I too will wait with” you.

Commentary

22. This is the reply to the question which the deniers of the Final Reckoning ask, that is: if the denial of the Truth or commitment of sins is to be punished by God, then why this punishment is not meted out immediately? The reply is given here that Allah does not employ the same haste in punishing mankind which he employs in giving them good rewards. If such were not the tradition of Allah, then the respite which He has given to mankind would have ended long back. And those who take undue advantage of this respite, Allah leaves them to wander in their contumacy so that their cup of sins may become full.

23. Those who transgress the limits set by Allah and want that they should lead unrestricted lives, do not take a lesson from the accidents and events which take place in everyday life and in which there is ample material for waking them up from the slumber. But they account for and interpret their ill deeds in such a beautiful way that not even the slightest willingness is evoked in their hearts for reforming.

24. By wrong (Zulm) is meant that wrong line of action which a man adopts by belying Allah’s revelations, His messenger and His guidance.

25. When one community departs from this earth, another community takes its place. The purpose behind continuing this chain of communities or nations is not letting them show how much material progress they can achieve in comparison to others, but the object is to examine which people remain loyal slaves to God and which people turn transgressors, which nation creates a God-loving civilisation and promotes virtues and which nation promotes vices, which community follows and adheres to moral and Shariah restrictions and which one jumps over these restrictions.

26. The idolaters wanted that if there is to be a book from God, then it should be such a book in which nothing contrary or derogatory has been said against the idols, or they wanted the existing Qur’an to be so changed that it should have a pleasant reference to the polytheistic civilization also.

27. People suggest changing or amending Qur’an, thinking that it is authored by Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam). They overlook the fact that its author is Allah alone, and in the book from Allah no mortal has a right to make any changes, even if he is Allah’s own messenger.

28. That is: Of the punishment of the Day of Judgment.

29. The prophet (Peace be upon him) became the recipient of the revelation from God when he was forty years old. This long period of his life he had passed among the people of Makkah.

During this period his character had been blameless, and nobody ever expressed any doubt about his truthfulness or honesty; actually he was called Amin (honest keeper of trusts). So if all along this long period he had remained honest and trustworthy, then how can it be possible for a person like him to start telling lies and that too concerning God.

Then again in this period of forty years he did not indulge into any act which might lead any one to doubt that he was trying to rise as a religious reformer or that he wanted to be the leader of the community.

There is also no possibility of doubting that he was trying to impress the people that he was an extraordinary man, a genius. How can such a person lay false claim to prophethood, when at the age of forty the human intellect is already moulded into a set pattern and a man’s temperament and way of thinking is already settled?

His detractors have not been able to answer these questions till this date.

30. This has been explained in Note No.40, Surah Al-An’am.

31. “These are our intercessors with Allah “ means that they would convey their appeal to God and they were their ‘wasilah’ or means or agency to get for them livelihood, children, wealth, etc., from Him. These ‘wasilah’ or means or agencies hear our invocation and get a lot of things granted for us from God.

This was the concept of the polytheists of Makkah concerning their idols, and for this reason they worshipped them and offered presents to them. A similar concept concerning saints and pious men is held by a very large section of the Muslims, who have fallen a prey to exaggerated ‘faith’ in them. On account of this exaggerated influence which the ‘peers’ and saints have on the misguided Muslims, they are considered as the ‘wasilah’ or agencies to reach God, and therefore, they appeal to them for help in their prayers, make elaborate arrangements for their ‘nazr’ and ‘niyaz’ and place offerings on their graves. Inspite of doing all this which is akin to the obeisance of a slave to his God, they think and claim that they do not worship them. As the renowned Urdu poet Hali has rightly stated:

“If others worship an idol, they are infidels, “If they make someone God’s son, they are infidels, “If they declare fire as worship-worthy, they are infidels. If they consider stars as miracle performing, they are infidels, “But for the Muslims, the avenues are open “They may worship anyone they like with pleasure.”

And Allama Razi has very rightly remarked in his commentary:

“The polytheists shaped these idols on the models of prophets and pious men, and were under the wrong impression that if they worshipped them, these pious men would intercede with Allah on their behalf.

These days an illustration of this is found in very many people’s indulging in paying extreme respect to the graves of pious men, with the belief that on account of their paying respect to their graves, they would be their intercessors with Allah.”-( At-Tafsirul Kabeer. Vol. XVII. page 60).

32. A thing which Allah does not know is a thing which has no existence at all. And when Allah does not know that there are such ‘intercessors’ in the heavens and the earth, then the reality about them is that they do not exist at all. There are no such intercessors in reality, except that they are the creation of the imagination of the polytheists.

The strange thing is that Allah Himself is saying that there are no intercessors with Him, and He Himself decides about the fates of His slaves. But those who are polytheists to the core persist in their belief that certain pious persons are their intercessors with God, as if their knowledge is better than that of Allah, and that they want to inform him of a thing which He does not know (We seek Allah’s refuge from that).

33. For explanation please see Surah Baqarah Note Nos. 308 and 309 and Surah An’am Note No.295).

34. Looking to the differences of religions in this world, a question arises: Why does not God set up His court in this world and finish these differences once and for all with His judgment? This question is answered in this verse, that Allah has fixed a Day for this judgment. In the world man is to be tested to see whether by using his intellect properly a midst these religious differences, and by listening to the voice of his innate nature, and taking guidance from the signs and arguments that Allah has sent down, accepts the religion of Truth or not. If the decision about the differences of religions were to be given in the world, then how could man have been tested, and on what acts of his he could have been rewarded or punished?

35. Means some perceptible miracle.

36. It means that the knowledge of the unseen is possessed by Allah alone, and He alone can bring out anything from out of the unseen. The Prophet has neither the knowledge of the unseen, nor can he produce anything from out of the unseen, and therefore he could not meet their demand.

It shows that even a prophet is unable to perform any miracle on his own, so how can a saint perform a preternatural act? In fact, none can do anything without the will of God.

37. Wait to see what would be the result of the improper insistence on this demand to show some miracle.