وَ لَقَدْ And verily بَوَّاْنَا We settled بَنِیْۤ (the) Children اِسْرَآءِیْلَ (of) Israel مُبَوَّاَ (in) a settlement صِدْقٍ honorable وَّ رَزَقْنٰهُمْ and We provided them مِّنَ with الطَّیِّبٰتِ ۚ the good things فَمَا and not اخْتَلَفُوْا they differ حَتّٰی until جَآءَهُمُ came to them الْعِلْمُ ؕ the knowledge اِنَّ Indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord یَقْضِیْ will judge بَیْنَهُمْ between them یَوْمَ (on) the Day الْقِیٰمَةِ (of) the Resurrection فِیْمَا concerning what كَانُوْا they used (to) فِیْهِ [in it] یَخْتَلِفُوْنَ differ فَاِنْ So if كُنْتَ you are فِیْ in شَكٍّ doubt مِّمَّاۤ of what اَنْزَلْنَاۤ We have revealed اِلَیْكَ to you فَسْـَٔلِ then ask الَّذِیْنَ those who یَقْرَءُوْنَ (have been) reading الْكِتٰبَ the Book مِنْ before you قَبْلِكَ ۚ before you لَقَدْ Verily جَآءَكَ has come to you الْحَقُّ the truth مِنْ from رَّبِّكَ your Lord فَلَا so (do) not تَكُوْنَنَّ be مِنَ among الْمُمْتَرِیْنَۙ the doubters وَ لَا And (do) not تَكُوْنَنَّ be مِنَ of الَّذِیْنَ those who كَذَّبُوْا deny بِاٰیٰتِ (the) Signs of Allah اللّٰهِ (the) Signs of Allah فَتَكُوْنَ then you will be مِنَ among الْخٰسِرِیْنَ the losers اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those [whom] حَقَّتْ has become due عَلَیْهِمْ on them كَلِمَتُ (the) Word رَبِّكَ (of) your Lord لَا will not یُؤْمِنُوْنَۙ believe وَ لَوْ Even if جَآءَتْهُمْ comes to them كُلُّ every اٰیَةٍ Sign حَتّٰی until یَرَوُا they see الْعَذَابَ the punishment الْاَلِیْمَ the painful 10. Yunus Page 220 فَلَوْ لَا So why not كَانَتْ was قَرْیَةٌ any town اٰمَنَتْ that believed فَنَفَعَهَاۤ and benefited it اِیْمَانُهَاۤ its faith اِلَّا except قَوْمَ the people یُوْنُسَ ؕ (of) Yunus لَمَّاۤ When اٰمَنُوْا they believed كَشَفْنَا We removed عَنْهُمْ from them عَذَابَ (the) punishment الْخِزْیِ (of) the disgrace فِی in الْحَیٰوةِ the life الدُّنْیَا of the world وَ مَتَّعْنٰهُمْ and We granted them enjoyment اِلٰی for حِیْنٍ a time وَ لَوْ And if شَآءَ (had) willed رَبُّكَ your Lord لَاٰمَنَ surely (would) have believed مَنْ who فِی (are) in الْاَرْضِ the earth كُلُّهُمْ all of them جَمِیْعًا ؕ together اَفَاَنْتَ Then will you تُكْرِهُ compel النَّاسَ the mankind حَتّٰی until یَكُوْنُوْا they become مُؤْمِنِیْنَ believers وَ مَا And not كَانَ is لِنَفْسٍ for a soul اَنْ to تُؤْمِنَ believe اِلَّا except بِاِذْنِ by (the) permission اللّٰهِ ؕ (of) Allah وَ یَجْعَلُ And He will place الرِّجْسَ the wrath عَلَی on الَّذِیْنَ those who لَا (do) not یَعْقِلُوْنَ use reason قُلِ Say انْظُرُوْا See مَا ذَا what فِی (is) in السَّمٰوٰتِ the heavens وَ الْاَرْضِ ؕ and the earth وَ مَا But not تُغْنِی will avail الْاٰیٰتُ the Signs وَ النُّذُرُ and the warners عَنْ to قَوْمٍ a people لَّا (who do) not یُؤْمِنُوْنَ believe فَهَلْ Then do یَنْتَظِرُوْنَ they wait اِلَّا except مِثْلَ like اَیَّامِ the days الَّذِیْنَ (of) those who خَلَوْا passed away مِنْ before them قَبْلِهِمْ ؕ before them قُلْ Say فَانْتَظِرُوْۤا Then wait اِنِّیْ indeed, I (am) مَعَكُمْ with you مِّنَ among الْمُنْتَظِرِیْنَ the ones who wait ثُمَّ Then نُنَجِّیْ We will save رُسُلَنَا Our Messengers وَ الَّذِیْنَ and those who اٰمَنُوْا believe كَذٰلِكَ ۚ Thus حَقًّا (it is) an obligation عَلَیْنَا upon Us نُنْجِ (that) We save الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ۠ the believers
(10:93)We settled the Children of Israel in a blessed land,94 and provided them with all manner of good things. They only disagreed among themselves after knowledge (of the truth had) come to them.95 Surely your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their disagreements.
(10:94) Now, if you are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Book before you. It is the truth that has come to you from your Lord, so do never become one of those who doubt,
(10:95) or reject the signs of Allah as false, for then you shall be among those who will be in utter loss.96
(10:96) Surely those against whom the word of your Lord has been fulfilled97 will not believed
(10:97) even if they witness every single sign that might come to them until they are face to face with the painful chastisement,
(10:98) Did it ever happen that the people of a town believed on seeing God's chastisement and its believing profited them? (There is no such instance) except of the people of Yunus.98 When they believed We granted them reprieve from humiliating chastisement in this world,99 and We let them enjoy themselves for a while.100
(10:99) Had your Lord so willed, all those who are on the earth would have believed.101 Will you, then, force people into believing?102
(10:100) No one can believe except by Allah's leave,103 and Allah lays abomination on those who do not use their understanding.104 and conduct.
(10:101) Tell them: 'Observe carefully all that is in the heavens and the earth.' But no signs and warnings can avail those who are bent on not believing.105
(10:102) What are they waiting for except to witness the repetition of the days of calamity that their predecessors witnessed? Tell them: 'Wait; I too am waiting with you.
(10:103) Then, (when Allah's wrath falls upon the wicked) We save our Messengers and also those who believe. It is incumbent on Us to deliver the believers.
94. That is, God provided an abode for them in Palestine for their exodus from Egypt.
95. Here reference is made to the schisms and dissensions which the Israelites caused and the ever new religious cults which they invented. It is pointed out here that they had not acted in ignorance of the truth; their actions rather emanated from mischievous designs. For they had been provided by God with the true religion and they knew its fundamental principles, its requirements, and the features which distinguish the true faith from the false ones. They were also well-aware of what constitutes disobedience, on what matters man will be held to account by God, and on what principles man should fashion his life. Despite these clear directives the Israelites transformed their true faith into a multitude of religious cults, and developed them all on foundations altogether divergent from those provided by God.
96. Though this admonition is apparently addressed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), in point of fact it is directed to those who entertained doubts about the Prophet’s message. Reference is made to the People of the Book because the common Arabs were not conversant with the Scriptures. But so far as the People of the Book were concerned, there were doubtlessly some pious religious scholars among them who were in a position to corroborate the fact that the Qur’anic message was essentially the same as that delivered by the earlier Prophets.
97. The statement ‘the word of your Lord has been fulfilled’ refers to those who are not interested in seeking truth; who, by dint of their apathy, bigotry, stubbornness, excessive worldliness and total unconcern about the After-life, make their hearts immune to the truth. God’s judgement about such persons is that they will not be blessed with faith.
98. Even though the Prophet Yunus, called Jonah in the Bible (860-784 BC), was of Israeli descent, he was sent to Iraq in order to guide the Assyrians.
The Assyrians are, therefore, called here ‘the people of Yinus’. Ninevah, the famous ancient town, was their capital, a great many ruins of which are still to be found on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite the present city of Mosul. One of the mounds in this area is still named after the Prophet Jonah. The splendor of the Assyrians may be gauged from the fact that their capital, Ninevah, spread over a radius of sixty miles.
99. Although there are allusions to this incident in three places in the Qur’4n, there is no mention of any detail. (See al-Anbiya’, 21: 87-8; al-Saffat 37: 139-48; and al-Qalam 68: 48-50.) In view of the above, it cannot be stated with confidence why the Assyrians were singled out for being spared God’s punishment even though God’s Law is that if a people decide to believe after God has decided to punish them, their believing afterwards does not profit them.
The ‘Book of Jonah’ in the Bible contains some material relevant to the matter, but unfortunately that information is barely reliable. For, the ‘Book of Jonah’ is in no sense a heavenly revelation, nor was ii even authored by the Prophet Jonah (peace be on him). What actually happened is that some four or five hundred years after Jonah’s death some anonymous person produced the ‘Book of Jonah’ and had it incorporated into the Bible. Moreover, some of the contents of the ‘Book of Jonah’ are too absurd to be acceptable. However, were one to reflect on the allusions to the people of Yunus in the Qur’an and on the information provided by the ‘Book of Jonah’, one is inclined to support the view of the Qur’an-commentators, namely that since the Prophet Jonah (peace be on him) had left his station without obtaining God’s permission to do so and since the Assyrians repented and sought pardon from God as soon as they saw the signs of God’s impending punishment, God pardoned them.
One of the basic principles mentioned in the Qur’an concerning God’s punishment of the world’s nations is that He does not punish any nation until God’s Message has been fully conveyed to them so that the people are left with no justification to claim that they were not aware of His Message. (See the Qur’an, al-Nisa’ 4: 165 in conjunction with al-Isra’ 17: 15 — Ed.) Now in this case, as we can see, the admonition of the Assyrians did not continue till the very end of the period granted to them by God because Prophet Yunus (peace be on him) migrated from his station. It is presumably for this reason that God in His justice decided not to punish them since all the requisite conditions of punishment had not been fulfilled. (For details see al-Saffat 37, n. 85.)
100. When the Assyrians embraced the true faith, they were granted a fresh lease of life. However, they once again became wayward both in matters of belief and conduct. Though the Prophet Nahum (720-698 BC) warned them, it still had no effect on them. The final warning was delivered to them by the Prophet Zephaniah (709-640 BC) but that too was of no avail. Ultimately, God sent the Medes against them in 612 BC. The king of the Medes, with the assistance of the Babylonians, invaded Assyria. The Assyrian army was routed and besieged within the walls of Ninevah. Although they put up some resistance for a time, the flooded Tigris swept away the city walls, enabling the invaders to break through the defenses and capture the city. Subsequently they set fire to the whole city and its environs. The Assyrian king set his own palace ablaze and was himself burnt to death. This brought to an end the Assyrian empire and civilization. However, recent excavations in the area have brought to light many traces of massive conflagration.
101. Had it been God’s will that only those who are true believers and obey God should inhabit the earth and that there should remain no trace of unbelief and disobedience, God would have caused only the faithful and obedient ones to be born. Nor would it have been difficult for Him to providentially direct everyone to faith and obedience in such a manner that it would have been impossible for people to do otherwise. However, there is a profound wisdom underlying man’s creation which would have been totally defeated by such a compulsion. For it was God’s will to grant man the free-will to make his choice between faith and unbelief, between obedience and disobedience.
102. What has been said here does not mean that the Prophet (peace be on him) sought to compel people into believing whereas God had dissuaded him from doing so. The technique employed in the above verse is the same as employed at many places in the Qur’an, viz. that although at times certain things are addressed apparently to the Prophet (peace be on him), they are meant, in fact, for the instruction of others. What is being said here is that the Prophet (peace be on him) had been assigned the task of making the right way abundantly clear to people with the help of convincing arguments. Thus the Prophet (peace be on him) had fulfilled the task assigned to him. Now, if they have no intent to follow the right way, and they feel sure that unless they are overpoweringly compelled to they should know well that it is no part of a Prophet’s task. Had God desired that people be made to have faith compulsively, He could have done so without raising any Prophet.
103. All God’s bounties are solely at His disposal and one can neither have access to any of these without His leave, nor can one confer them on others.
The bounty of having faith and being directed to the right path is also fully contingent upon God’s leave. Hence, it is simply inconceivable that without God’s leave anyone can attain this bounty or confer it on anyone else. Even if the Prophet (peace be on him) sincerely wants people to believe, it does not lie in his power to accomplish that without God’s leave and succor.
104, This fully explains that God’s leave and succor are not bestowed on people arbitrarily. God does not capriciously permit or disallow people to embrace faith. There is a definite law — a law that is based on wisdom — according to which God disposes such matters. The law is that those who in their quest for the truth use their reason properly, and in an unbiased manner, are assisted by God. Owing to God’s concern, the means of arriving at the truth are made available to them in proportion to the extent of the sincerity of their quest for the truth and their efforts to reach it. They are also granted: the succor required for their success in grasping the truth. As for those who are not really in search of the truth, who keep their reason enmeshed in biases, or fail to make use of their reason in their search for the truth, such people are able to find nothing but the abomination of ignorance and misguidance, of false thinking and evil-doing. Their attitude makes it very clear that they merit nothing but ignorance and misguidance and, hence, that is what they are destined for.
105. This is the final and categorical response to the unbelievers. The unbelievers had asked that they be shown some convincing sign that would make them confirm the truth of the Prophet’s claim to prophethood. Here they are being told that if the unbelievers had any desire to seek and accept the truth, there are innumerable signs scattered throughout the heavens and the earth, signs that are more than sufficient to convince them about the truth of the Prophet’s message. All one needed to do was to look around with open eyes and to reflect on what one observes. Conversely, if there are some people who have no inclination to seek the truth, then no signs — howsoever extraordinary and wonder-provoking they may be will help them to have faith. For, whenever such people witness any such sign, they cry out, as did Pharaoh and his chiefs, that it-is ‘plain sorcery’ (see verse 76 above). Those who are afflicted with such a sickness, wake up to the truth only when God’s punishment befalls them in all its horror. An instance in point is Pharaoh’s realization of the truth as he faced death by drowning (see verse 90 above). But - to repent only when one is being seized by God’s wrath is of no avail.