وَ مَا And what مَنَعَ prevented النَّاسَ the people اَنْ that یُّؤْمِنُوْۤا they believe اِذْ when جَآءَهُمُ came to them الْهُدٰۤی the guidance اِلَّاۤ except اَنْ that قَالُوْۤا they said اَبَعَثَ Has Allah sent اللّٰهُ Has Allah sent بَشَرًا a human رَّسُوْلًا Messenger قُلْ Say لَّوْ If كَانَ (there) were فِی in الْاَرْضِ the earth مَلٰٓىِٕكَةٌ Angels یَّمْشُوْنَ walking مُطْمَىِٕنِّیْنَ securely لَنَزَّلْنَا surely We (would) have sent down عَلَیْهِمْ to them مِّنَ from السَّمَآءِ the heaven مَلَكًا an Angel رَّسُوْلًا (as) a Messenger قُلْ Say كَفٰی Sufficient is بِاللّٰهِ Allah شَهِیْدًۢا (as) a witness بَیْنِیْ between me وَ بَیْنَكُمْ ؕ and between you اِنَّهٗ Indeed He كَانَ is بِعِبَادِهٖ of His slaves خَبِیْرًۢا All-Aware بَصِیْرًا All-Seer 17. Al-Isra Page 292 وَ مَنْ And whoever یَّهْدِ Allah guides اللّٰهُ Allah guides فَهُوَ then he (is) الْمُهْتَدِ ۚ the guided one وَ مَنْ and whoever یُّضْلِلْ He lets go astray فَلَنْ then never تَجِدَ you will find لَهُمْ for them اَوْلِیَآءَ protectors مِنْ besides Him دُوْنِهٖ ؕ besides Him وَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ And We will gather them یَوْمَ (on) the Day الْقِیٰمَةِ (of) the Resurrection عَلٰی on وُجُوْهِهِمْ their faces عُمْیًا blind وَّ بُكْمًا and dumb وَّ صُمًّا ؕ and deaf مَاْوٰىهُمْ Their abode جَهَنَّمُ ؕ (is) Hell كُلَّمَا every time خَبَتْ it subsides زِدْنٰهُمْ We (will) increase (for) them سَعِیْرًا the blazing fire ذٰلِكَ That جَزَآؤُهُمْ (is) their recompense بِاَنَّهُمْ because they كَفَرُوْا disbelieved بِاٰیٰتِنَا in Our Verses وَ قَالُوْۤا and said ءَاِذَا When كُنَّا we are عِظَامًا bones وَّ رُفَاتًا and crumbled particles ءَاِنَّا will we لَمَبْعُوْثُوْنَ surely (be) resurrected خَلْقًا (as) a creation جَدِیْدًا new اَوَ لَمْ Do not یَرَوْا they see اَنَّ that اللّٰهَ Allah الَّذِیْ the One Who خَلَقَ created السَّمٰوٰتِ the heavens وَ الْاَرْضَ and the earth قَادِرٌ (is) Able عَلٰۤی [on] اَنْ to یَّخْلُقَ create مِثْلَهُمْ the like of them وَ جَعَلَ And He has made لَهُمْ for them اَجَلًا a term لَّا no رَیْبَ doubt فِیْهِ ؕ in it فَاَبَی But refused الظّٰلِمُوْنَ the wrongdoers اِلَّا except كُفُوْرًا disbelief قُلْ Say لَّوْ If اَنْتُمْ you تَمْلِكُوْنَ possess خَزَآىِٕنَ the treasures رَحْمَةِ (of) the Mercy رَبِّیْۤ (of) my Lord اِذًا then لَّاَمْسَكْتُمْ surely you would withhold خَشْیَةَ (out of) fear الْاِنْفَاقِ ؕ (of) spending وَ كَانَ And is الْاِنْسَانُ man قَتُوْرًا۠ stingy
(17:94) Whenever Guidance came to people, nothing prevented them from believing except that they said: "Has Allah sent a human being as a Messenger?"107
(17:95) Say: "Had angels been walking about in peace on the earth, We would surely have sent to them an angel from the heavens as Messenger."108
(17:96) Tell them, (O Prophet): "Allah suffices as a witness between me and you. Allah is well aware and fully observes everything pertaining to His servants."109
(17:97) Whomsoever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whomsoever Allah lets go astray, you shall find none - apart from Him110 - who could protect him. We shall muster them all on the Day of Resurrection, on their faces - blind and dumb and deaf.111 Hell shall be their refuge. Every time its Fire subsides, We will intensify for them its flame.
(17:98) That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our Signs and said: "What, when we shall be reduced to bones and particles (of dust), shall we be raised again as a new creation?"
(17:99) Have they not perceived that Allah, Who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create the like of them? He has fixed a term for them about which there is no doubt. And yet the wrong-doers obstinately persist in unbelief.
(17:100) Tell them, (O Prophet): "Even if you owned the treasures of my Lord's Mercy you would have held them back for fear of spending them." Man is indeed ever niggardly.112
107. Throughout the ages, ignorant ' people have entertained the misconception that it is impossible for a human being to be God’s Prophet. Hence, whenever a Prophet came and people saw him living a normal human life — that he ate and drank, married, and was found to be made of the same flesh and bone as themselves. — they instantly declared that he could not possibly be a Prophet for the simple reason that he too was a human being. Ironically enough, it was not unusual that with the passage of time some of the immoderate admirers of a Prophet would reject the idea of his being human. They did so by resorting to the strange argument that since he was a Prophet, he could not possibly then be human! Hence, at times such a person has been declared by some people to be God, the Son of God, or the incarnation of God. In short, the combination of humanity and prophethood in one person always appears enigmatic to those who are ignorant of the truth. (For further elaboration, see Ya Sin 36, n. 11.)
108. The Messenger’s task does not merely consist in transmitting his Message. He is also required to reform human life in the light of his Message, and is required to apply the principles of that message to human life, including his own. In addition, a Messenger also has to concern himself with solving the intellectual problems faced by people in their effort to grasp his Message, and to organize and train those who accept his Message so as to bring into existence a society in conformity with his teachings. Furthermore, he is required to struggle against those who reject, oppose and attempt to subvert his cause. He has to do all this in order to overwhelm the forces of evil and corruption and bring about the reform for which he has been raised. Now, if all these tasks are to be performed in a human milieu, it is obvious that only a human being, rather than someone belonging to a different species — say an angel — can perform them.
109. God was well aware of the efforts of the Prophet (peace be on him) to make people see the truth and reform their lives. God was equally aware of the hostile campaign launched by the Prophet’s opponents. And since it is God Who is the ultimate judge of all people should remember that it is sufficient that God is aware of all the facts needed to make such judgements.
110. If the door to guidance has been shut against someone by God on account of his love for error and his adamant opposition to the truth, and if God has allowed him to proceed along the path of error and evil which he himself wanted to pursue in the first place, then it will be impossible for anyone else to bring him back to the right path. When someone turns away from the truth and feels satisfied with falsehood, God creates the circumstances which make it possible for his hatred for truth and his satisfaction with falsehood to mount. For God does not compel those who intentionally seek error to embrace the truth. Furthermore, it is beyond the power of anyone else to change their hearts.
111. The unbelievers’ lives were characterized by their refusal to perceive, heed or speak the truth. They will be raised on the Day of Resurrection with their erstwhile attitude to the truth.
112. This alludes to a statement made in the earlier part of this surah (see verse 55 above): ‘Your Lord knows all who dwell in the heavens and the earth.’ One of the psychological reasons why the Makkan polytheists were unable to affirm the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be on him) was that such an affirmation clearly implied an acceptance of the Prophet’s greatness. Such an attitude is understandable since people are generally disinclined to recognize the greatness of their contemporaries. In view of this common shortcoming, it is being pointed out here that those who are so predisposed to niggardliness will hardly act with liberality if they are given the keys to God’s infinite treasure.