26. That is, the people would have met with their destruction. And, to paraphrase the verse: man evokes evil through his wrong deeds carried out either in ignorance or out of sheer arrogance. Some of them even challenge Allah and say, AIf He is able, let Him send down His scourge. But, were Allah to hasten His response, as He hastens His response when man supplicates for good, surely, mankind would have met with their destruction long ago (Au.).

Accordingly, the Prophet has said in a hadith of Abu Da'ud,

لاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ وَلاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَوْلاَدِكُمْ وَلاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ لاَ تُوَافِقُوا مِنَ اللَّهِ سَاعَةً يُسْأَلُ فِيهَا عَطَاءٌ فَيَسْتَجِيبُ لَكُمْ

ADo not supplicate against yourselves. Do not supplicate against your children. Do not supplicate against your wealth. Do not allow for concurrence between your words and the hour of Allah's response, so that He responds (to your supplications and you are ill affected) Ibn Kathir.

The above hadith is also in Muslim (S. Ibrahim).

Another possibility is that the allusion is to the arrogant statements of the pagan Arabs paraphrased by the Qur'an elsewhere (8: 32),

وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ [الأنفال

: 32]

AOf God. If this be truly from You, then rain down on us stones from the heavens (Qurtubi).

27. That is, writes Shabbir, although man acts so arrogantly as to demand to be punished, he is actually so weak that as soon as a calamity touches him, he begins to plead. And he is so ungrateful too.

28. Sayyid comments: APasses by: without stopping to express thanks, to consider, to change.

29. Imam Razi comments: When a believer is tried with tribulations or afflictions he ought to act in the following manner:

(i) He should bear it without any complaint: neither with his tongue nor in the heart. He should say to himself that the situation in which he happens to be is the best thing possible for him at that moment. If Allah chooses to keep him in that state then, surely, it is following the rules of justice. If He grants him relief, then that is out of His blessing.

(ii) He should spend time more on the remembrance of Allah than on supplications. Nevertheless, if he supplicates, he should supplicate more for religious blessings than for worldly blessings.

(iii) When the affliction is removed, he should engage himself in thanksgiving and being dutiful in complete earnest.

(iv) There is a higher state thereafter. It is said that he who is thinking of the blessing at the time he receives the blessing, rather than thinking of the One who granted the blessing, or, thinking of the affliction instead of the One who sent the affliction, is, in either case, undergoing an affliction. It is those who are thinking of the One who blessed, and the One who caused the affliction, that are truly in blessings through and through.

30. The textual word Aqurun (sing., qarn) has, according to Lisan al `Arab, several connotations such as, a people, a nation, a generation or an epoch. A period of time, specifically a century, is another connotation; while it is also used for the chief of a tribe. Another interesting connotation in the present context is that of a fort (Au).

31. `Umar used to say to the people (after reciting this verse), AAllah spoke the truth. He did not make us succeed others except to see what our deeds will be. Therefore, show good deeds to Him, morning and evening, in open and in secret.

32. The two demands were different. One demand was, 'Bring us another Qur'an,' that is, one completely other than this, a different message, different words, different style and so on. On the other hand, the alteration that was demanded, meant, 'Remove the objectionable passages.' Now, alteration was simpler than producing an entirely different Qur'an. The Prophet was directed to tell them that he could not attempt even the easier option, viz. alteration. That meant that their other demand that he produce a Qur'an other than this, was entirely out of the question (Razi).

33. Mawdudi comments on the intention concealed behind such demands. He writes: AThey virtually told the Prophet (peace on him), that if he wanted to lead them, he should come forth with something that would be of benefit to them and ameliorate their worldly life. And if this was not possible, then he should at least show some flexibility in his attitude which would enable them to strike a compromise with him by effecting mutual accommodation between the Makkan unbelievers and the Prophet (peace be on him) himself.

AIn other words, the Makkans felt that the Prophet's doctrine of God's unity should not totally exclude their polytheism; that his conception of devotion to God should be such as to allow them some scope for their worldliness and self indulgence; that the call to believe in the Hereafter should be such that it might still be possible for them to behave in the world as they pleased and yet entertain hope of somehow attaining salvation in the Next World. Likewise, the absolute and categorical nature of moral principles enunciated by the Prophet (peace be on him) was also unpalatable to them. They wanted moral principles to be pronounced in a manner that would provide concessions to their predilections and biases, to their customs and usages, to their personal and national interests, and to the lusts and desires that they wished to satisfy.

34. (It is a beautiful reply suggested to the Prophet for those who asked for a different Qur'an or alterations in the revealed one). He was to say that he feared a great chastisement, if he committed a sin, however slight, against his Lord. What would happen to him if he committed the unforgivable act of altering the revelation? (Manar)

35. Asad sums up several commentaries here: AThis argument placed in the mouth of the Prophet has a twofold implication. Ever since his early youth, Muhammad had been renowned for his truthfulness and integrity, so much so that his Meccan compatriots applied to him the epithet Al Amin ('The Trustworthy'). In addition to this, he had never composed a single line of poetry (and this in contrast with a tendency which was widespread among the Arabs of his time), nor had he been distinguished by particular eloquence. 'How, then,' goes the argument, 'can you reconcile your erstwhile conviction based on the experience of a lifetime that Muhammad was incapable of uttering a lie, with your present contention that he himself has composed the Qur'an and now falsely attributes it to divine revelation? And how could he who, up to the age of forty, has never displayed any poetic or philosophic gifts and is known to be entirely unlettered (ummi) have composed a work as perfect in its language, as penetrating in its psychological insight and as compelling in its inner logic as the Qur'an?'

Rashid Rida sheds light on another aspect of the argument articulated by the Qur'an. He writes: Could the pagans not use their reason to ask themselves that someone who had lived and grown among them for full forty years, who had not read a single book, was not taught by anyone, did not pursue any religious studies, knew nothing about rules, regulations or laws (of life and society), did not learn different kinds of rhetoric, different forms of speech, neither in poetry nor in prose, nor delivered sermons displaying knowledge or wisdom .. how could such a person suddenly start delivering a literary masterpiece that was beyond their powers, rather beyond the powers of peoples of all times to produce something, of which no other example exists, not even in the existing Scriptural works?

Finally, Mawdudi follows up with what the Quraysh or antagonists of any other age – have had to say when the above argument (that the Prophet authored the Qur'an), became untenable: AThis (the absurdity of the claim: Au.) explains the fact that when some of the more crafty Makkan unbelievers realized the sheer absurdity of their allegation that the Prophet (peace on him) was the author of the Qur'an, they chose to propagate that there must be some other person who had taught the Prophet (peace on him) the Qur'an. Such a statement, however, was even more preposterous since they failed to convincingly point out who that other person was who was the true source of the Qur'an. Even leaving aside Makka, the fact is that there was not a single person throughout the length and breadth of Arabia who possessed the competence needed for the authorship of the Qur'an. Had such an extraordinary person existed, how could he have remained hidden from the sight of others?

36. Skeptics of all times have been warned through the passage, AWho then can do greater wrong than he who fastened a lie on Allah, or gave the lie to His revelations? There are two kinds of people who commit wrongs that are greater than any other wrong: first, those who fasten a lie on Allah, claiming that they received revelation although they did not. The other kind is of those who, despite being convinced of its authenticity, deny that the revelation is from Allah. Now, since the Prophet was not fastening a lie on Allah, the attention shifted to the second kind: those who were denying the fact of revelation to the Prophet. Who could do greater wrong than them? (Au.).

37. Mawdudi explains what it is that Adoes not constitute success. He writes: AThe Qur'anic term falah (prosperity, success) used in the above verse has been understood by some to signify such things as longevity, worldly prosperity and other worldly achievements... it should be remembered that it has been amply elucidated in the Qur'an that God does not punish evil doers instantly; that He rather grants them a fair opportunity to mend their ways. Not only that, if the evil doers misuse the respite granted by God to perpetrate further wrongs, they are sometimes granted an even further respite.

AIn fact, at times a variety of worldly favours are bestowed upon such evil doers in order that the potential for wickedness inherent in them might be fully exposed by their actions, proving that they do indeed deserve a very severe punishment.

38. That is, they were on the true religion. That was the situation, writes Zamakhshari, starting with Adam until Qabil killed Habil. Another opinion is that the reference is to the time of Nuh (asws), at the end of his mission when every unbeliever was wiped out by the flood.

Majid criticizes Western misguided notions: AThe holy Qur'an clearly repudiates and negatives the current opinion that monotheism has been evolved out of polytheism. It openly proclaims that monotheism was the original, universal religion of mankind gradually debased into polytheism.

Asad has a subtle point: AIn the present context, this expression alludes not merely to mankind's one time homogeneity, but also by implication to the fact, repeatedly stressed in the Qur'an (e.g., in 7: 172), that the ability to realize God's existence, oneness and omnipotence is innate in man, and that all deviation from this basic perception is a consequence of the confusion brought about by man's progressive estrangement from his inborn instincts.

39. What the unbelievers meant, Zamakhshari points out, is a sign and a miracle of the kind that they desired. Otherwise there was no shortage of miracles, not to say anything about the Qur'an, the greatest of all miracles.

40. AThe Prophet's statement conveys the idea that he had faithfully presented to them whatever God had revealed to him. As for the things which had not been revealed to the Prophet (peace on him), they constitute the ghayb (the realm of the unseen). Now, it is only God and none else who can decide whether to reveal any part of the ghayb (the unseen) or not. Hence, if some people's believing was contingent upon their observing the signs which god had not revealed, they might as well keep waiting indefinitely for these signs (Mawdudi).