Tafheem ul Quran
Surah 21 Al-Anbya, Ayat 36-41
وَاِذَا رَاٰكَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡۤا اِنۡ يَّتَّخِذُوۡنَكَ اِلَّا هُزُوًا ؕ اَهٰذَا الَّذِىۡ يَذۡكُرُ اٰلِهَـتَكُمۡۚ وَهُمۡ بِذِكۡرِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ هُمۡ كٰفِرُوۡنَ
﴿21:36﴾
خُلِقَ الۡاِنۡسَانُ مِنۡ عَجَلٍؕ سَاُورِيۡكُمۡ اٰيٰتِىۡ فَلَا تَسۡتَعۡجِلُوۡنِ
﴿21:37﴾
وَيَقُوۡلُوۡنَ مَتٰى هٰذَا الۡوَعۡدُ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ صٰدِقِيۡنَ
﴿21:38﴾
لَوۡ يَعۡلَمُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا حِيۡنَ لَا يَكُفُّوۡنَ عَنۡ وُّجُوۡهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلَا عَنۡ ظُهُوۡرِهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يُنۡصَرُوۡنَ
﴿21:39﴾
بَلۡ تَاۡتِيۡهِمۡ بَغۡتَةً فَتَبۡهَتُهُمۡ فَلَا يَسۡتَطِيۡعُوۡنَ رَدَّهَا وَلَا هُمۡ يُنۡظَرُوۡنَ
﴿21:40﴾
وَلَـقَدِ اسۡتُهۡزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِكَ فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِيۡنَ سَخِرُوۡا مِنۡهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا بِهٖ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُوۡنَ
﴿21:41﴾
(21:36) When the unbelievers see you they make you an object of fun, saying:
"Is he the one who mentions your gods?"39 They say so, and yet they
reject with disdain the very mention of the Most Compassionate Lord.40
(21:37) Man is hasty by nature.41 I shall certainly show you My
Signs.42 Do not ask Me to be hasty. (21:38) They say: "(Tell us) when will the threat of punishment come to pass
if you are truthful?" (21:39) If only the unbelievers knew of the Hour when they shall not be able
to keep off the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs; nor shall they
be helped. (21:40) That will suddenly come upon them and stupefy them. They shall not
be able to ward it off, nor shall they be granted any respite. (21:41) Other Messengers before you were also mocked, but those who scoffed
at the Messengers were overtaken by the same scourge that they had scoffed at.
Notes
39. It should be noted that this sentence contains only the reason why they
scoffed at him, but does not refer to the expression of scoff itself. Obviously,
the disbelievers must have been using some other words or expressions of derision
to avenge themselves on the Prophet (peace be upon him) for his rejecting their
self-made deities.
40. This is to rebuke the disbelieves as if to say: You cherish so much love
of your self-made idols and false gods that you cannot tolerate anything against
them. So much so, that you scoff at the Messenger of Allah, and you are not
ashamed when you hear the name of the Merciful and discard His mention with
disdain.
41. This is not the literal translation of the text; its purport according
to the Arabic usage is: Man is a hasty and impatient creature by his very nature.
The same thing has been stated in (Surah Al-Isra, Ayat 11): Man is very hasty
and impatient.
42. From the succeeding sentences it is obvious that signs here stands for
the things that have been mentioned therein, the threat of the scourge of Allah,
Resurrection and Hell. They made fun of these, as if to say: This man threatens
us with the scourge of Allah and the torment of the Day of Resurrection if we
deny him and that we shall become fuel of Hell, but nothing of the sort has
befallen us. We are as strong as ever and nothing seems to be happening.