Surah Yunus 10:71-82 - Quran Translation Commentary

(10:71) Recite to them the story of Nuh¹⁰⁵ when he said to his people, 'If my staying and my reminding (you) of Allah's signs be overbearing to you, then in Allah I have placed my trust.¹⁰⁶ Therefore, get your acts together,¹⁰⁷ (and call upon) your associate( gods).¹⁰⁸ Further, let not your decision be ambiguous to you.¹⁰⁹ Then go ahead and do to me (what you will) without giving me respite.¹¹⁰

(10:72) But, if you turn away, then I have not asked you for a wage. My wage is on Allah. And I have been ordered to be of those who submit.'

(10:73) But they gave him the lie. So, we delivered him and those with him in the ship, made them successors, and drowned those who cried lies to Our signs.¹¹¹ See then, what was the end of those who were warned.¹¹²

(10:74) Then we sent forth, after him¹¹³ Messengers to their nations.¹¹⁴ They carried to them clear signs. But they were not such as to believe in what they had denied earlier.¹¹⁵ That is how We seal the hearts of the transgressors.¹¹⁶

(10:75) Then we sent forth, after them, Musa and Harun to Fir`awn and his chiefs with Our signs. But they waxed proud. Indeed they were a criminal lot.

(10:76) When the truth from us reached them they said, 'Verily, this is a manifest magic.'

(10:77) Musa said, 'Do you say (that) to the truth when it has reached you? Is it magic? But magicians do not prosper!?'

(10:78) They asked, 'Have you come to us to turn us away from that upon which we found our forefathers? And, so that dominance in the land should be for you two?¹¹⁷ (Well), We are not going to believe in you two.'

(10:79) Fir`awn said, 'Bring me every skilled magician.'

(10:80) When the magicians came, Musa told them, 'Cast whatever you wish to cast.'

(10:81) When they had cast, Musa said, 'What you have brought is magic. Surely, Allah will render it ineffective. Surely, Allah sets not right the work of the corrupters.

(10:82) Allah establishes the truth by His words, though the criminals be averse.'¹¹⁸

Commentary

105. The story of Prophet Nuh has been narrated here because our Prophet was facing the same determined refusal and denial at Makkah as Nuh had faced in his time. Nuh's story should have made it easier for our Prophet to bear the refusal in view of the famous axiom: ‘When a misfortune spreads, bearing it becomes easier’ (Razi).

106. That is, AI do not even bank on the support of my followers. I have placed my trust entirely in Allah.

107. Other possible renditions are, Aset resolve@, Amake a firm resolution, or, Atake a firm decision (Ibn Jarir).

108. Depending on the ending vowel mark, whether accusative or nominative (a fat ha or damma) the word Ashuraka'akum can yield different meanings. The present translation follows the standard reading, i.e., the word is considered in its accusative form. But a second reading is with a damma in which case the translation would be Aget your acts together, (you and) your associates (Qurtubi).

109. Or, do not consider the execution of your decision as a formidable task. Take it as a thing of easy accomplishment and go ahead to do whatever you wish to do (Au.).

Another shade of meaning provided by the textual word Aghummah would render it as, Alet it not be in the dark, or, Amake it open for everyone to know what your resolve is (Zamakhshari), or as some commentators have put it, Ado not be in any doubt about the affair. Set your resolve without any hesitation or dilly dallying about it.

110. This is the strongest challenge reported by the Qur'an by a Prophet to his people which by implication was thrown at the face of the Quraysh. The closest to this is Hud's call to his people (11: 54 56),

إِنِّي أُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ وَاشْهَدُوا أَنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ (54) مِنْ دُونِهِ فَكِيدُونِي جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ لَا تُنْظِرُونِ (55) إِنِّي تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ رَبِّي وَرَبِّكُمْ [هود : 54 - 56]

AI make Allah the witness and you too may bear witness that I am quit of those that you associate apart from Him. Therefore, plot against me, all together, and then do not allow me respite. I have placed my trust in Allah my Lord and your Lord.

In comparison, that of Nuh is much stronger, and intended to evoke the angriest possible response (Au.).

Sayyid writes: “A challenge so infuriating could not come but from a person who had the power to back it. What power did Nuh have? Of course it was the power of faith and trust in Allah. It was faith which belittled the power confronting it, which held in contempt the huge numbers before it, and looked at the means they could employ with total disdain. There was no arrogance behind this challenge, no rashness, nor a suicidal wish. It was a challenge which had the full backing of a Power before which all powers melt away to insignificance.”

111. Although at variance with the majority opinion, Majid believes that the flood was not of universal nature. He writes: AThat ‘those who were warned' by Noah, that is, his countrymen inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates valley were overtaken by an extremely distressful flood is confirmed rather than contradicted by modern exploration. ‘Inundations are of normal occurrence,' says Sir Leonard Woolley, Director of the Joint British and American expedition to Mesopotamia, ‘in Lower Mesopotamia, but no ordinary rising of the rivers would leave behind it anything approaching the bulk of this clay bank; 8 feet of sediment imply a very great depth of water, and the flood which deposited it must have been of a magnitude unparalleled in local history' (Woolley, Ur of the Chaldeans P. 29). This deluge was not universal, but a local disaster confined to the lower valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, affecting an area perhaps 400 miles long and 100 miles across; but for the occupants of the valley that was the whole world' (p. 31).

We have reported the above in line with our habit of reproducing anything that has educative or informative value. Nevertheless, Woolley's conclusion is woolly. When it comes to a statement of religious nature, one has to take the statements of Western scholars with a pinch of salt. They are pretty prone to pulling a fast one, albeit, in scholarly parlance.

For other details see surah Hud, note 58.

112. Yusuf Ali writes: AThe reference to Noah's story here is only incidental, to illustrate a special point.. The special point here is that Noah's life and preaching among his wicked people was a cause of offence to them. But he feared nothing, trusted in Allah, delivered his Message, and was saved from the Flood.

113. Ibn `Abbas has said that there were ten generations between Adam and Nuh all of them believers (Ibn Kathir). But there is no hadith to support this (Au.).

114. Such as Hud, Saleh, Ibrahim, Lut, Shu`ayb and others, peace be upon them all (Razi).

115. Although Yusuf Ali does not substantiate his opinion, nor does the present verse fully support it, his opinion could be given a thought: AI understand the meaning to be that there is a sort of spiritual influence descending from generation to generation, among the Unbelievers as among the men of Faith. In history we find the same problems in many ages, denial of Allah's grace, defiance of Allah's law, rejection of Allah's Message. These influences cause the hearts of the contumacious to be sealed and impervious to the Truth.. What they do is to prejudge the issue even before the Prophet (saws) explains them.

116. Imam Razi differs with Qadi Ayad, but reports him to the effect that such sealing of the heart did not mean that they could not believe thereafter, even if they wished. They could. Allah said elsewhere (4: 155),

بَلْ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا [النساء : 155]

ARather, Allah has sealed their hearts because of their disbelief so they will not come to believe save a few of them. (That is, although it is stated in the earlier part of the verse that their hearts were sealed, the latter part expresses the possibility that a few of them could come to believe: Au.).

117. Sayyid Qutb comments: AThis then is the justification, ancient and modern, that the rebels forward for standing up against the call of Islam, for the use of a variety of stratagems to kill the call, and for accusations that are leveled against the callers .. It is the dominance in the land and what false beliefs rest on: those false doctrines that the ruling authorities compel their masses to adopt as their faith, despite their falseness and perversion, and despite the cart load of superstitions that accompany those doctrines. Why is there such opposition to the Call to the Truth? It is because the Call opens the hearts for right beliefs and fills the mind with new light; and because it happens to be a threat to the inherited values. It is a threat to the ruling authorities and to the dread that they instill into the hearts of their subjects. It is a threat to the founding principles over which the dread rests. It is the fear of losing the authority that banks on masses holding on to false superstitions and to false gods. It is the fear of losing slavish obedience of the masses to deities other than Allah.. And the Islamic call?.. by the Prophets? Well, it aims at establishing lordship for Allah alone and for the destruction of the spurious lords who usurp the rights of the true Lord's lordship.. Therefore, it is not for these covert lords to let the word of truth reach their masses. They will not allow an open pronouncement calling for Allah's lordship and freeing of the people from ‘slavery of the people to the people'. They will not allow this open call to reach the people's ears. They realize very well that this is a declaration of war on their lordship, their powers and their rule, and a move in the direction of an atmosphere of freedom: a freedom which is deserving of a noble creature: Man (who is not so noble in their sight).

118. Yusuf Ali writes: AThe incidental reference here (to the story of Musa) is to illustrate a special point, viz., that the wicked are arrogant and bound up in their sin, and prefer deception to Truth: they do not hesitate to charge the men of Allah, who work unselfishly for them, with mean motives, such as would actuate them in similar circumstances.

Ibn Abi Hatim has reported through Abu Sulaym, AWe have received from our previous generations that reciting these two verses of surah Yunus (81 and 82), five verses of Al A`raf (118 122) and the 29th verse of surah Taha is a cure for magic by Allah's will. They might be recited over water in a bowl and then poured over the head of the one affected by magical spell (Ibn Kathir).

That is, after reciting the verses, one must blow powerfully (to the extent of spitting) on the water (Au.).