22. Asad gets to the heart of the matter: “.. inasmuch as he attributes his past happy state to a merely accidental chain of causes and effects in short what is commonly regarded as ‘luck’ and not to God's grace. Hence, the term ya'us, in its Qur'anic usage, is indicative of spiritual nihilism.”

23. Literally, “very exulting” and “very boastful” (Au.).

24. Being patient and grateful are the special qualities of the believers. A hadith of Sahihayn says,

عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إِلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ

“A believer’s every affair is wonderfully good. And this is not for anyone else except a believer. If he is struck with something good, he is grateful. That it is good for him. If he is visited by an evil, he observes patience. And that is good for him” (Ibn Kathir).

The above version is from Muslim (Au.).

25. That is, are you going not to convey the message in full in the hope of improving the response? (Ibn Jarir)

The situation has to be both properly imagined as well as fully understood. In a sea of deities and a storm of false gods, the Prophet's was a single voice that condemned them outright. He was surrounded by the multitudes. One here ridiculed him; another there abused him, a third called him a magician, a fourth poked fun at him, and, if anyone could, took a step further and physically molested him. (Ahmad has recorded Anas as saying that one night Jibril visited the Prophet. He found him bleeding, sad. Some Makkans had beaten him up. Jibril asked him, “What happened?” The Prophet answered that so and so, and so and so had beaten him: Au.). Imagine the Prophet in that situation and imagine the courage of that Great Preacher. He is alone. He has no one to turn to. Finding himself up against a band of powerful enemies totally opposed to his message and his mission, and faced up with walls of hatred and rejection, he sits down in desperation every time he is too tired to carry on. He appeals to Allah. Allah consoles him. His consolation renews his energies. He rises up again to face the challenge of the waves of rejectionists. It is in such a situation, under those pressures, following the thoughts that any mind will suggest, that the above verse was revealed (expanded on a point from Shabbir).

Yusuf `Ali has a sweetish way of solving a ticklish question that the verse may give rise to in some minds. He writes, “Every prophet of Allah, when he not only encounters opposition, but is actually accused of falsehood and those very evils which he is protesting against, may feel inclined, in his human weakness, to ask himself the question, ‘Supposing I omit this little point, will Allah's Truth then be accepted more readily?’ Or he may think to himself, ‘If I had only more money to organize my campaign, or something which will draw people's attention, like the company of an angel, how much better can I push my Message?’ He is told that truth must be delivered as it is revealed, even though portions of it may be unpalatable, and that, resources and other means to draw people to him are beside the point. He must use just such resources and opportunities as he has, and leave the rest to Allah.”

The verse and Yusuf Ali's explanation might be kept in sight by every sincere, learned caller to Islam, speaker or writer, who discovers that in contrast to the material he presents, so accurately reflecting the truth, it is actually the peddlers of questionable ideas, under holy banners, that seem to score the hearing both of the audiences as well as the financiers. What they have to realize is that it is the Truth which has the upper hand, even if followed by a few. If an idea gains a quick popularity, its depth of commitment to the truth needs careful scrutiny (Au.).

26. Classical scholars have said that there was an order in the Qur'anic challenge. It first asked the unbelievers to produce something equal to the whole of the Qur'an. Then it reduced the quantity to ten chapters. Next it came down to one chapter. Many of the later generation commentators however have disagreed with them on grounds that the order of revelation does not allow for such an assumption. Alusi tried to explain that the challenge earlier (in Surah Yunus, v. 38) was to produce a single chapter. Here it is for ten chapters. It is probable that the demand was for one chapter equal to that of the Qur'an in the beauty of the language as well as in meaning. Then, when they failed to do it, they were challenged to produce ten chapters equal in beauty of language alone, without the requirement of the kind of meaning that the Qur'an carries. In simpler words, the earlier challenge was to produce one chapter equal in both the form as well as the content of the Qur'an. When they failed to produce, they were told to produce ten chapters equal to Qur'an in form alone, if not content.

Incidentally, this challenge to produce ten chapters of its like, comes after ten chapters, this one being the eleventh; and, further to the challenge to produce one or ten chapters, the challenge was reduced to producing any amount, not necessarily a whole Surah. It said (52: 33, 34):

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ تَقَوَّلَهُ بَلْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (33) فَلْيَأْتُوا بِحَدِيثٍ مِثْلِهِ إِنْ كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ [الطور : 33 ، 34]

“Or, do they say he has forged it? So, let them bring a speech similar to this if they are true” (Au.).

Rashid Rida thought that the challenge to produce ten chapters was to produce similar stories as in the Qur'an. These stories numbered ten, counting in chapters revealed till the revelation of this Surah. Sayyid Qutb holds that there is no need for complicated explanations. Rather, the Qur'an was facing different situations at different times. In some situation it addressed its adversaries to produce a single chapter. At another time it was addressing a different set of people, in a situation different from the earlier situation and so challenged them to produce ten chapters. In another situation it challenged them simply to produce something equal to the Qur'an. In every case, the challenge was to produce the “kind” and not the “quantity.”

27. Majid quotes, “The best of Arab writers has never succeeded in producing anything equal in merit to the Qur'an” (Palmer, The Qur'an, Introduction, p. LV). And, “We find even so bigoted an opponent of Islam as Alvar acknowledging that the Qur'an was composed in such eloquent and beautiful language that even Christians could not help reading and admiring it.”

28. That is, whoever intends this worldly rewards, he is rewarded for his works in this world itself. There is nothing in store for them in the next. Many of the classical scholars have added that the rule also applies to the good deeds of a believer, which, either done with this world in sight, or done badly, are rewarded for in this world itself (Ibn Jarir).

29. Shufay b. Maati` says he entered Madinah and found a man surrounded by a crowd. He asked, ‘Who is this man?' They said, ‘Abu Hurayrah.'

فدنوت منه حتى قعدت بين يديه وهو يحدث الناس فلما سكت وخلا قلت له : أنشدك بحقي لما حدثتني حديثا سمعته عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم عقلته وعلمته فقال أبو هريرة : أفعل لأحدثنك حديثا حدثنيه رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم عقلته وعلمته ثم نشغ أبو هريرة نشغة فمكث قليلا ثم أفاق فقال : لأحدثنك حديثا حدثنيه رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم وأنا وهو في هذا البيت ما معنا أحد غيري وغيره ثم نشغ أبو هريرة نشغة أخرى فمكث كذلك ثم أفاق فمسح عن وجهه فقال : أفعل لأحدثنك حديثا حدثنيه رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم وأنا وهو في هذا البيت ما معه أحد غيري وغيره ثم نشغ نشغة شديدة ثم مال خارا على وجهه واشتد به طويلا ثم أفاق فقال : حدثني رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : ( أن الله تبارك وتعالى إذا كان يوم القيامة ينزل إلى العباد ليقضي بينهم وكل أمة جاثية

فأول من يدعو به رجل جمع القرآن ورجل يقتل في سبيل الله ورجل كثير المال فيقول الله تبارك وتعالى للقارىء : ألم أعلمك ما أنزلت على رسولي صلى الله عليه و سلم ؟ قال : بلى يا رب قال : فماذا عملت فيما علمت ؟ قال : كنت أقوم به آناء الليل وآناء النهار فيقول الله تبارك وتعالى له : كذبت وتقول له الملائكة : كذبت ويقول الله : بل أردت أن يقال : فلان قارىء فقد قيل ذاك

ويؤتى بصاحب المال فيقول الله له : ألم أوسع عليك حتى لم أدعك تحتاج إلى أحد ؟ قال : بلى يا رب قال : فماذا عملت فيما آتيتك ؟ قال : كنت أصل الرحم وأتصدق ؟ فيقول الله له : كذبت وتقول الملائكة له : كذبت ويقول الله : بل إنما أردت أن يقال : فلان جواد فقد قيل ذاك

ويؤتى بالذي قتل في سبيل الله فيقال له : في ماذا قتلت ؟ فيقول : أمرت الجهاد في سبيلك فقاتلت حتى قتلت فيقول الله له : كذبت وتقول له الملائكة : كذبت ويقول الله : بل أردت أن يقال : فلان جريء فقد قيل ذاك

ثم ضرب رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ركبتي فقال : يا أبا هريرة أولئك الثلاثة أول خلق الله تسعر بهم النار يوم القيامة

ASo,” says Shufay, “I closed in on him and sat close to him. When the crowd had dispersed I said, ‘I implore you by the Truth, and by the Truth you spoke, narrate to me something that you heard directly from the Prophet and understood it well.' Abu Hurayrah said, ‘I will. I will narrate a hadith that I heard directly from the Prophet and understood it well enough.'

But, before he could say anything he swooned. When he recovered in a short while, he said, ‘I will narrate you a narration that the Prophet spoke to me in this house when there was no one else around.' Then he swooned again. When he recovered, he said, ‘I will narrate you a narration that the Prophet spoke to me in this house when there was no one else around.' Then he swooned again and fell on his face. He was in that condition for a long while. When he recovered, he said, ‘The Prophet told me that when Allah would have gathered mankind on the Day of Judgment, He will come down to judge between them. And everyone will be on his knees. The firsts to be called will be: a man who had learnt the Qur'an, a man who was killed in the way of Allah, and a man given wealth.

Allah will ask the Qur'anic scholar, ‘Did I not teach you what I revealed to My Messenger?' The man will reply, ‘Indeed, my Lord.' Allah will ask: ‘So, how did you use the knowledge of what you had learnt?' The man will reply, ‘Well, I stood reciting it the whole of the night and day.' Allah will say, ‘You have lied.' And the angels will say, ‘You have lied.' Allah will say, ‘Rather, you wished to hear that so and so is a scholar. And that has been said about you.'

Then the man of wealth will be brought forth. Allah will ask him, ‘Did I not give you so much that you did not need to ask anyone?' He will reply, ‘Indeed, my Lord.' He will ask, ‘What did you do with what I gave you?' He will reply, ‘Well, I used to join the kin (by spending on them), and spend in charity.' Allah will say, ‘You have lied.' And the angels will say, ‘You have lied.' Allah will say, ‘You wished that you be called generous. And you have been called that.'

Then the man who died in the way of Allah will be brought forth. Allah will ask him, ‘In what connection were you killed?' The man will reply, ‘You ordered me to fight in Your way. So I fought until I was killed.' He will be told, ‘You have lied.' And the angels will say, ‘You have lied.' Allah will say, ‘Rather you wished that it be said, so and so is so courageous.'

At this point the Prophet (saws) hit me on my knee, continued Abu Hurayrah, and said, ‘Those three would be the first to be sent to the Fire as its fuel.'“

Ibn Hibban followed with the following report (Au):

قال أبو عثمان الوليد : وحدثني العلاء بن أبي حكيم أنه كان سيافا لمعاوية قال : فدخل عليه رجل فحدثه بهذا عن أبي هريرة فقال معاوية : قد فعل بهؤلاء مثل هذا فكيف بمن بقي من الناس ؟ ثم بكى معاوية بكاء شديدا حتى ظننا أنه هالك وقلنا : قد جاءنا هذا الرجل بشر ثم أفاق معاوية ومسح عن وجهه فقال : صدق الله ورسوله - من كان يريد الحياة الدنيا وزينتها نوف إليهم أعمالهم فيها وهم فيها لا يبخسون

(صحيح ابن حبان بتحقيق الأرناؤوط - قال شعيب الأرنؤوط : إسناده صحيح)

And `Ali b. Abu Hakim (who was Mu`awiyyah's sword bearer) reports that when this narration of Abu Hurayrah was narrated to him, Mu`awiyyah also almost swooned. When he recovered he said, “Allah spoke the truth. He said, “Whoever desires the life of this world and its splendors, We pay them in full for their works therein and they are not wronged in it (by a bit)'“ Ibn Jarir, Razi.

The above is from the Sahih of Ibn Hibban about which Shu`ayb al-Arna’ut said that it is trustworthy.

30. Majid comments, “i.e., want of right belief has rendered all their good works fruitless, and what apparent merit these works possessed has faded away in the world of stern realities, where there is no more of sham and no more of make belief.”

31. Of the several opinions available regarding the identification of the Awitness” the one nearest to being correct is that it is Jibril, although some others have said that it is Prophet Muhammad himself (Ibn Jarir).

Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Nakha`i, Dahhak, `Ikrimah, Abu Saleh and Sa`id b. Jubayr were of the opinion that the allusion is to Jibril (Baghawi). They also maintained that the “bayyinah” of the text is for the Qur'an itself (Alusi).

Razi reports (while Shawkani traces it to Ibn al Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Tabarani in Awsat and Abu al Sheikh) that Muhammad b. `Ali asked `Ali ibn abi Talib, “I hear that you are the one who is the witness, is that correct?” `Ali replied, “I wish I was. But it is the Prophet.”

32. The reference, apart from the Arab heathens, is to the Jews and Christians.

33. Sa`id ibn Jubayr said, “I have never came across a hadith of the Prophet but found its equivalent in Allah's Book. When I heard him say,

وَالَّذِى نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لاَ يَسْمَعُ بِى أَحَدٌ مِنْ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ يَهُودِىٌّ وَلاَ نَصْرَانِىٌّ ثُمَّ يَمُوتُ وَلَمْ يُؤْمِنْ بِالَّذِى أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِ إِلاَّ كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّارِ

‘No one of this Ummah who heard of me, neither a Jew nor Christian, and then did not believe in what I have been sent with, but he will enter the Fire,' when I heard this narration, I asked myself, now, where is this in Allah's Book? Until when I came across this verse saying, ‘As for those who deny it of the factions, the Fire is their promised meeting place'“ (Ibn Jarir, Razi, Ibn Kathir).

The text quoted above is in Muslim (Au.).

34. It has been reported through several sources such as Ibn `Umar, that Allah (swt) will conceal a believer's sin from others. As for the unbelievers and hypocrites, it will be announced over the heads of the witnesses, ‘Lo. These are the ones who lied against their Lord. Lo. Allah's curse upon the wrong doers' (Ibn Jarir).

35. Since, for the want of a suitable word in English, the term “curse” is employed for expressing the word la`nah of Arabic, Asad offers a useful point, “The term la`nah which is usually, but inexactly, translated as “curse” is in its primary meaning, synonymous with ib`ad (“alienation”, “estrangement” or “banishment”) in the moral sense; hence it denotes Arejection from all that is good” (Lisan al `Arab) and, with reference to God, the sinner's “exclusion from His grace” (Manar ii, 50).”

36. Asad offers a deeper than obvious meaning, which relates the verse to the modern situation too. He comments on Awhat they were forging” in words: “..a phrase which implies not merely false imaginings regarding the existence of any real ‘power’ apart from God (i.e., the existence of supposedly divine or semi divine beings) but also deceptive ideas and ‘glittering half truths meant to delude the mind’ .. such as luck, wealth, personal power, nationalism, deterministic materialism, etc. all of which cause men to lose sight of spiritual values and thus to ‘squander their own selves.’”

37. The textual word “akhbata ila rabbihi” is literally for someone who has found repose in his Lord having cut himself of every encumbrance that acts as a barrier to his devotion to Him - in submission and humility (Zamakhshari). Other meanings that have been given are, “to be satisfied” (Mujahid), and “humble devotion” (Qatadah) Ibn Jarir.

Yusuf Ali offers us his usual balancing act: “Note that the humility is to be ‘before their Lord,’ i.e., in Allah's sight. There is no virtue, quite the contrary, in rubbing our noses to the ground before men. We are not to be arrogant even before men because we are humble as in Allah's sight. Nor does true humility lose self confidence; for that self confidence arises from confidence in the support and help of Allah.”