وَ قَالَ And said الْمَلَاُ the chiefs مِنْ of قَوْمِهِ his people الَّذِیْنَ who كَفَرُوْا disbelieved وَ كَذَّبُوْا and denied بِلِقَآءِ (the) meeting الْاٰخِرَةِ (of) the Hereafter وَ اَتْرَفْنٰهُمْ while We had given them luxury فِی in الْحَیٰوةِ the life الدُّنْیَا ۙ (of) the world مَا Not هٰذَاۤ (is) this اِلَّا but بَشَرٌ a man مِّثْلُكُمْ ۙ like you یَاْكُلُ He eats مِمَّا of what تَاْكُلُوْنَ you eat مِنْهُ [from it] وَ یَشْرَبُ and he drinks مِمَّا of what تَشْرَبُوْنَ۪ۙ you drink وَ لَىِٕنْ And surely if اَطَعْتُمْ you obey بَشَرًا a man مِّثْلَكُمْ like you اِنَّكُمْ indeed you اِذًا then لَّخٰسِرُوْنَۙ surely (will be) losers اَیَعِدُكُمْ Does he promise you اَنَّكُمْ that you اِذَا when مِتُّمْ you are dead وَ كُنْتُمْ and you become تُرَابًا dust وَّ عِظَامًا and bones اَنَّكُمْ that you مُّخْرَجُوْنَ۪ۙ (will be) brought forth هَیْهَاتَ Far-(fetched) هَیْهَاتَ far-(fetched) لِمَا is what تُوْعَدُوْنَ۪ۙ you are promised! اِنْ Not هِیَ it اِلَّا (is) but حَیَاتُنَا our life الدُّنْیَا (of) the world نَمُوْتُ we die وَ نَحْیَا and we live وَ مَا and not نَحْنُ we بِمَبْعُوْثِیْنَ۪ۙ (will be) resurrected اِنْ Not هُوَ (is) he اِلَّا but رَجُلُ a man فْتَرٰی who (has) invented عَلَی about اللّٰهِ Allah كَذِبًا a lie وَّ مَا and not نَحْنُ we لَهٗ (in) him بِمُؤْمِنِیْنَ (are) believers قَالَ He said رَبِّ My Lord! انْصُرْنِیْ Help me بِمَا because كَذَّبُوْنِ they deny me قَالَ He said عَمَّا After a little while قَلِیْلٍ After a little while لَّیُصْبِحُنَّ surely they will become نٰدِمِیْنَۚ regretful فَاَخَذَتْهُمُ So seized them الصَّیْحَةُ the awful cry بِالْحَقِّ in truth فَجَعَلْنٰهُمْ and We made them غُثَآءً ۚ (as) rubbish of dead leaves فَبُعْدًا So away لِّلْقَوْمِ with the people الظّٰلِمِیْنَ the wrongdoers ثُمَّ Then اَنْشَاْنَا We produced مِنْۢ after them بَعْدِهِمْ after them قُرُوْنًا a generation اٰخَرِیْنَؕ another 23. Al-Mu'minun Page 345 مَا Not تَسْبِقُ can precede مِنْ any اُمَّةٍ nation اَجَلَهَا its term وَ مَا and not یَسْتَاْخِرُوْنَؕ they (can) delay (it) ثُمَّ Then اَرْسَلْنَا We sent رُسُلَنَا Our Messengers تَتْرَا ؕ (in) succession كُلَّ Every time مَا Every time جَآءَ came اُمَّةً (to) a nation رَّسُوْلُهَا its Messenger كَذَّبُوْهُ they denied him فَاَتْبَعْنَا so We made (them) follow بَعْضَهُمْ some of them بَعْضًا others وَّ جَعَلْنٰهُمْ and We made them اَحَادِیْثَ ۚ narrations فَبُعْدًا So away لِّقَوْمٍ with a people لَّا not یُؤْمِنُوْنَ they believe ثُمَّ Then اَرْسَلْنَا We sent مُوْسٰی Musa وَ اَخَاهُ and his brother هٰرُوْنَ ۙ۬ Harun بِاٰیٰتِنَا with Our Signs وَ سُلْطٰنٍ and an authority مُّبِیْنٍۙ clear اِلٰی To فِرْعَوْنَ Firaun وَ مَلَاۡىِٕهٖ and his chiefs فَاسْتَكْبَرُوْا but they behaved arrogantly وَ كَانُوْا and they were قَوْمًا a people عَالِیْنَۚ haughty فَقَالُوْۤا Then they said اَنُؤْمِنُ Shall we believe لِبَشَرَیْنِ (in) two men مِثْلِنَا like ourselves وَ قَوْمُهُمَا while their people لَنَا for us عٰبِدُوْنَۚ (are) slaves فَكَذَّبُوْهُمَا So they denied them فَكَانُوْا and they became مِنَ of الْمُهْلَكِیْنَ those who were destroyed وَ لَقَدْ And verily اٰتَیْنَا We gave مُوْسَی Musa الْكِتٰبَ the Scripture لَعَلَّهُمْ so that they may یَهْتَدُوْنَ be guided وَ جَعَلْنَا And We made ابْنَ (the) son مَرْیَمَ (of) Maryam وَ اُمَّهٗۤ and his mother اٰیَةً a Sign وَّ اٰوَیْنٰهُمَاۤ and We sheltered them اِلٰی to رَبْوَةٍ a high ground ذَاتِ of tranquility قَرَارٍ of tranquility وَّ مَعِیْنٍ۠ and water springs
(23:33) The notables among his people who had refused to believe and who denied the meeting of the Hereafter, and those whom We had endowed with ease and comfort in this life,35 cried out: "This is no other than a mortal like yourselves who eats what you eat and drinks what you drink.
(23:34) If you were to obey a human being like yourselves, you will certainly be losers.36
(23:35) Does he promise you that when you are dead and are reduced to dust and bones, you will be brought forth to life?
(23:36) Far-fetched, utterly far-fetched is what you are being promised.
(23:37) There is no other life than the life of the world. We shall live here and here shall we die; and we are not going to be raised again.
(23:38) This man has forged a mere lie in the name of Allah and we shall never believe what he says."
(23:39) The Messenger said: "My Lord! Come to my help at their accusing me of lying."
(23:40) He answered: "A short while, and they shall be repenting."
(23:41) Then a mighty blast quite justly overtook them, and We reduced them to a rubble.37 So away with the wrong-doing folk!
(23:42) Then, after them, We brought forth other generations.
(23:43) No nation can outstrip its term, nor can it put it back.
(23:44) Then We sent Our Messengers in succession. Whenever a Messenger came to his people they rejected him, calling him a liar. Thereupon, We made each people to follow the other (to its doom), reducing them to mere tales (of the past). Scourged be the people who do not believe!38
(23:45) Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our Signs and a clear authority39
(23:46) to Pharaoh and to his chiefs, but they behaved superciliously and they were haughty.40
(23:47) They said: "Shall we put faith in two mortals like ourselves40a when their people are slaves to us?"41
(23:48) So they rejected them, calling them liars, and they too eventually became of those that were destroyed.42
(23:49) And We gave Moses the Book that people might be guided by it.
(23:50) And We made Mary's son, and his mother, a Sign,43 and We gave them refuge on a lofty ground, a peaceful site with springs flowing in it.44
35. This characterization of the opponents being significant. The ringleaders opposing the Prophet (peace be on him) were those who held the leadership of their people. The error into which all of them had fallen was their denial we Life after Death. Hence, they had no notion of being accountable or pane to God. This, in turn, was because of their excessive infatuation we worry life and their refusal to believe in any value above material well-being. The fact that at that time they enjoyed a considerable degree of prosperity totally swamped them in this erroneous belief. They were so deeply engrossed; worldliness that they considered themselves to be right merely because they thrived materially. They were, thus, in no mood to accept that their beliefs, morality and way of life, which they thought to be the main cause of their success in this world could be mistaken. Human history was repeatedly provided evidence of the fact that the opponents of the truth have a ways held these three features in common. Little wonder, then, that the same seen obtained in Makka at the time when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be o: him) embarked on his reform movement.
36. Some people have misunderstood this verse to mean that the unbelievers made such statements to one another in their private conversations. The fact is, however, that such things were said by the notables of society to the common people. The notables had begun to sense ‘the danger that the commoners might be swayed by the distinctly noble character and appealing discourse of the Prophet (peace be on him). They considered this possibility: a serious threat to their vested interests, to their positions of power, to their privileges and leadership. It was this realization which prompted them to resort to the vicious propaganda campaign of the kind mentioned earlier, a propaganda deliberately aimed at misleading people.
This represents another aspect of the attitude mentioned earlier with regard to the notables among Noah’s people who hurled similar accusations at him (see verse 24 above — Ed.). The notables virtually said that all his claims to be God’s Messenger [on the part of Hid) were merely designed to hood-wink people. All that he was really motivated by was a lust for power. They also claimed that he was in no way different from other people. After all, they said, he too was made of the. same flesh and bone as they were. So what justification was there for his wanting to have a position higher than that of anyone else? What was the rationale behind the requirement that others should obey him? The underlying assumption of their argument, one which these notables took for granted, was that as far as they were concerned, their position of leadership was not open to question. They enjoyed an incontestable status and, hence, no one could raise any question about their authority on the grounds that they were, like everyone else, made of the same flesh and bone.
What agitated them was the emerging authority of the Prophet’s leadership which seemed to pose a threat to their position. In sum, their arguments were no different from those marshalled by the notables of Noah’s community.
They too resorted to charging their Prophet with a hunger for power in total disregard of the fact they themselves had not only fully satisfied that hunger, but had stuffed themselves with power well beyond the limit of satiety and were prone to indigestion!
36a. These words once again clearly indicate that these people, i.e. the ‘Ad, like others before them, did not deny the existence of God. Their main ‘error lay in their succumbing to polytheism. The Qur’an speaks of this fault on several occasions. (See al-A ‘raf 7: 70, Hud 11: 53-4; Fussilat 41: 14; al- Ahqaf? 46: 21-2.)
37. The word used here which donates the rubble which accompanies the flood and which accumulates and lies rotting on the coast once the water recedes. (See g-h-t-h in Lisan al-‘Arab — Ed.)
38. Or to put it differently, they refuse to accept the teachings of the Messengers.
39. The expression ‘clear authority’ which follows the word ‘Signs’ signifies that the ‘Signs’ which had been bestowed upon Moses were sufficient to prove that he indeed was a Messenger who had been raised by God. It is also possible that the word ‘Signs’ here refers to all Moses’ other miracles that were witnessed in Egypt with the exception of the miracle of the rod. As for ‘clear authority’, this refers to that miracle, i.e. of the rod. Such an expression is understandable because after this miracle it became clear beyond all doubt that the two brothers, Moses and Aaron, had surely been designated by God. (For details see al-Zukhruf 43, nn. 43-4.)
40. The words used here, mean two things. One is that they were arrogant, iniquitous and oppressive, and the other that they were extremely vain and boastful.
40a. For an explanation, see n. 26 above.
41. In this part of the verse the word which is used to characterize the people in question is ‘bid. In Arabic usage, to accept someone as an object - of unquestioned obedience and to worship him are almost synonymous. So whoever unreservedly obeys and serves someone appears as though he worships him.
This sheds significant light on the connotation of the term ‘ibddah (worship). It also highlights the full significance of the teaching of the Prophets to people: that they should shun the ‘ibadah of any other than God and to bind themselves to the ‘ibadah of the One True God alone. This also clearly indicates that ‘ibddah, as conceived by the Prophets, did not merely consist of consecrating the rituals of worship for God alone. Instead, the Prophets also wanted people to become fully devoted to God alone; devoted to Him in worship as well as servitude. It is in this pervasive sense of ‘ibadah that they denied the appropriateness of the ‘ibadah of anyone other than the One True God. (For further elaboration see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. V, al-Kahf 18, n. 50, p. 113.
42, For a more elaborate narration of the story of Moses and Pharaoh see al-Baqarah 2: 49-50; al-A ‘raf 7: 103-36; Yunus 10: 75-92; Hud 11: 96-9; Bani Isra’il 17: 101-4; and Ta Ha 20: 9-80.
43. What is said here is not that the son of Mary was a sign of God and that another of His signs was Mary herself. Nor is it being said that Mary and the son of Mary were two signs of God. What is rather said here is that the two of them, taken together, constitute, a sign of God. In other words, what is clearly suggested is that it is the extraordinary manner of Jesus’ birth, who was born without a father, and the extraordinary way in which Mary conceived him without contact with any male, which combine to make them both a sign of God. All those who, while believing in the Qur’an, deny the immaculate birth of Jesus, i.e. his birth without a father, would be hard put to explain the Qur’anic contention that the mother and the son were a sign of God. (For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. I, Al ‘Imran 3, nn. 44 and 53, pp. 252-4 and 260; vol. II, al-Nisa’ 4, nn. 190 and 212-13, pp. 105 and 116-17; vol. V, Maryam 19, nn. 15-22, pp. 152-7 and al-Anbiya’ 21, nn. 89-90, pp. 294-5.) Two other points seem to merit attention. First, that this account of Jesus and his venerable mother betrays another weakness of those steeped in ignorance. The Prophets who have been mentioned earlier were rejected on the grounds that they were mere human beings, and human beings could not be Prophets. By contrast, the followers of Jesus and Mary developed an exaggerated sense of devotion to them so much so that they ended up elevating them from their human status to one of Godhead. Second, there were also others who refused to believe in Jesus even after they had witnessed his miraculous birth and his ability to speak from his cradle. They even went to the extent of calumniating Mary. No wonder God inflicted a severe punishment on them which became an example for all time to come.
44. This place has. variously been identified by scholars as Damascus, Ramlah, Jerusalem, and Egypt. According to Christian traditions, Mary had to leave home twice after the birth of Jesus in order to protect him from harm.
First she took him to Egypt during the reign of Herod and stayed there until Herod died. Then, in the days of Archelaus, she took Jesus to Nazareth in Galilee (Matthew 2: 13-23). It can hardly be stated with any reasonable degree of certitude which place is alluded to by the Qur’an here. The word rabwah literally means an elevated piece of land which has an even surface and stands out in the surrounding area as a result of its height. Now, since this place is described as dhat qarar (endowed with sedentariness), the place must be one where all necessities of life are found in abundance, such that it is possible for people to live there comfortably. As for the word ma‘in, it signifies flowing water or a running stream.