53. It is strange that the unbelievers kept asking for a sign. How else did they think thousands had embraced Islam before them (Au.)?

54. Jiba’i has said that once they made a decision to reject, Allah led them to the course of rejection. That is the meaning of “Allah does not guide the unbelievers” (Razi).

Mawdudi expands: “God does not forcibly direct to the right way those who, instead of turning to God for guidance, defiantly turn away from Him. God allows such people to stumble in the deviant ways of their choice. The same factors which direct those who seek God’s guidance to the right way are allowed to become the factors of misguidance in respect of those who seek error. Such persons are unable to benefit from the light which, rather than illuminating their path, merely serves to dazzle their vision. That is what is meant by saying that: ‘Allah lets go astray those whom He wills.’”

55. Thus, turning to Allah in penitence is the way of life of a believer. Who can stay on the path of guidance for longer than a few minutes? We keep straying away. All we can do is to pull back as soon as we become conscious of the straying (Au.).

56. Majid comments: “This state of serene tranquility and steady peace of mind, is clearly marked off from boisterous merriment the invariable concomitant of material pleasures to be inevitably followed by a sad reaction. The greater the communion of man with his Maker, the more contented, the more optimistic would he be in his outlook of life.”

Alusi and Thanwi have elaborated on the cause of “comfort” (alternatively “rest”), as, “a Light (nur) coming from Allah and descending into the hearts following true and sincere faith in Him. This Light expels the inner restlessness (wahshah) and the fear of “other than Him,” calming it down. Further, Thanwi adds, this comfort can co-exist with the fear of Allah, (which is not similar to fear of dreadfully harmful things, rather, a fear out of awe, in other words, “khashyah” and not “khawf”).

Alusi mentions a few reasons why the heart finds rest and comfort in the remembrance of Allah. When a heart remembers one of the things of the world, it wishes to indulge in it, maneuver it, and control it. That makes the heart restive. But since Allah is beyond indulgence, maneuvering, or control, the search ends with Him and the hearts find rest in Him. Again, when the heart thinks of something material, then, after a while, it wishes for something better, and, there always being something better, more attractive, the heart loses its peace. In contrast, Allah is the Ultimate Good. There is nothing better than Him to desire after. Hence the rest and comfort in remembrance of Him (slightly modified).

We can add on to what has been stated above and say that by no other means can this restiveness and anxiety of the inner self, the heart and the soul, which occupy every heart, can be got rid off, except by renewing faith through the remembrance of Allah. The unbelievers resort to games, music, drugs, films, and similar diversions only keep the heart occupied until engaged in those activities. Once those diversions are removed, the hearts are back with the feeling of emptiness and anxiety of various sorts. Recent studies conducted in the United States of America say that the immediate after-effect of watching television programs is depression and feelings of loneliness. Most of the people are less happy after shutting down the TV than they were before. As for music, it leads to such feelings of depression and other psychological disorders that the producers and listeners have to often resort to hard drugs (Au.).

57. The “tuba” of the text has been variously explained as, happiness, comfort, cool of the eye, joy, bliss, blessedness, and a tree in Paradise (Ibn Jarir). Imam Ahmad has a report coming through Abu Sa`id Khudri. Someone said to the Prophet, “Messenger of Allah, tuba (blessings) for him who saw you and believed in you.” He replied, “Tuba for him who saw me and believed in me. And tuba, and then tuba and then tuba for someone who believed in me without having seen me.” Someone asked, “What is tuba?” He replied, “It is a tree in Paradise which a rider will take a hundred years to cross. Clothes for the inhabitants of Paradise are produced from its bark” (Ibn Kathir).

The hadith is Sahih of status and is in Ahmad, Ibn Hibban and Albani’s Sahih al-Jami` (S.Ibrhim).

In other words, points out Shabbir, tuba as used here is a noun (a tree in Paradise) but also has other linguistic implications.

58. It is reported that when the Prophet’s writer began to pen the peace treaty at Hudaybiyyah, beginning with “In the name of Allah, Al-Rahman (the Kind), al-Rahim (the Merciful),” the pagans interjected saying, “Al-Rahman? Who is Al-Rahman? Rather, begin simply with, “In the name of Allah” (and drop the rest). The Prophet’s Companions said, “Let us instead fight these people O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet said, “Rather, write down as they say” (Ibn Jarir). The substance of the hadith is in Bukhari. And Muslim has a hadith that says that the most approved of names with Allah are: ‘Abdullah and ‘Abdul-Rahman” (Ibn Kathir).

59. Linguistically, the word “qur’an” is for any piece of writing, or written material. The Prophet has used it in the sense of a scripture. He said in a hadith of Bukhari,

خُفِّفَ عَلَى دَاوُدَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام الْقُرْآنُ فَكَانَ يَأْمُرُ بِدَوَابِّهِ فَتُسْرَجُ فَيَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُسْرَجَ دَوَابُّهُ وَلَا يَأْكُلُ إِلَّا مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدِهِ

“The Qur’an was made easy for Da’ud. He would order his mount readied, and would finish off his Qur’an before it could be saddled. And he never ate but from the earnings of his hands.” The allusion by the word “Qur’an” is to Zabur (Ibn Kathir).

60. That is, if any writing could achieve that, then the Qur’an was better qualified to do it.

This verse came in response to the suggestion by the pagans that they could believe in him only if he could widen their town by moving the mountains surrounding their city, make rives flow through the town, and bring back to life their ancestors. They were told that had in the past any other piece of writing moved the mountains, split the earth and quickened the dead, then this writing, the Qur’an, would have also done it (Ibn Jarir).

61. That is, if He wished, Allah could do it. But if He did not, nobody can make Him do it (Razi).

Alternatively, and in Asad’s words, “.. no ‘miraculous sign’ can ever convince those whose hearts God has ‘sealed’ in consequence of their ‘breaking their bond with Him.’”

62. The translation is literal, the meaning and purport are clear in Arabic, but the construction is difficult to analyze. Hence several interpretations have been offered. According to ‘Ali, Ibn ‘Abbas and others, the meaning is, “Is it still not apparent to the believers..?” (Ibn Jarir).

Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi and others offer poetical examples to demonstrate that the usage as in the verse was not uncommon in classical times.

63. “The meaning is that God grants man the freedom to choose between right and wrong: ‘He guides unto Himself all who turn unto Him’ (verse 27 above) and ‘are true to their bond with God’ (verse 20); on the other hand, He withholds His guidance from ‘the iniquitous, who break their bond with God’ (2: 27-27)” - Asad.

64. Our translation reflects the literal sense and Hasan’s opinion. Asad adds his comment in the same vein: “.. an unceasing succession of calamities and social catastrophes, fratricidal wars and mutual deprivation which, in consequence of their deliberate disregard of all spiritual values, will directly befall ‘those who are bent on denying the truth (alladhina kafaru),’ or will, indirectly, cause them to suffer by affecting their whole organic environment..”

However, and more correctly, the opinion of Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Ikrimah, Mujahid and several others would render the meaning as, “One or the other Muslim raiding party (sent by the Prophet) will keep attacking the pagan positions, or You, (O Prophet) will (yourself) go down for an attack, until Allah’s promise of the fall of Makkah is fulfilled.” That is, they understood the “qari`ah” as alluding to a Muslim raiding party and not as calamity, and the pronoun in “tahullu” referring to the Prophet and not to the “qari`ah” (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Alusi and others).

A rough count shows that the Prophet had sent some 80-90 sorties, to various parts of the Arabian Peninsula in eight years after Hijrah, which works out to an average of one every month. Surely, that would have kept the pagans on their edge (Au.).

Yusuf Ali writes: “Let not the unbelievers think that if they seem to prosper for a time, that is the end of the matter. They are warned of three things (1) their ill deeds must carry evil consequences for them all the time, though they may not perceive them for a certain time. (2) Their homes, their places of resort, the circles in which they move, will also be haunted by their ill deeds and their consequences. For evil makes a complex of its environment. The walls of Jericho, when they fall, must bring down all Jericho in its ruins. (3) The Ultimate Disaster, the final Reckoning, must come, for Allah never fails in His promise. True values must eventually be restored: the good to the good, and the evil to the evil.”