بَلْ Nay اِیَّاهُ Him Alone تَدْعُوْنَ you call فَیَكْشِفُ and He would remove مَا what تَدْعُوْنَ you call اِلَیْهِ upon Him اِنْ if شَآءَ He wills وَ تَنْسَوْنَ and you will forget مَا what تُشْرِكُوْنَ۠ you associate (with Him) وَ لَقَدْ And certainly اَرْسَلْنَاۤ We sent (Messengers) اِلٰۤی to اُمَمٍ nations مِّنْ from قَبْلِكَ before you فَاَخَذْنٰهُمْ then We seized them بِالْبَاْسَآءِ with adversity وَ الضَّرَّآءِ and hardship لَعَلَّهُمْ so that they may یَتَضَرَّعُوْنَ humble themselves فَلَوْ لَاۤ Then why not اِذْ when جَآءَهُمْ came to them بَاْسُنَا Our punishment تَضَرَّعُوْا they humbled themselves وَ لٰكِنْ But قَسَتْ became hardened قُلُوْبُهُمْ their hearts وَ زَیَّنَ and made fair-seeming لَهُمُ to them الشَّیْطٰنُ the Shaitaan مَا what كَانُوْا they used to یَعْمَلُوْنَ do فَلَمَّا So when نَسُوْا they forgot مَا what ذُكِّرُوْا they were reminded بِهٖ of [it] فَتَحْنَا We opened عَلَیْهِمْ on them اَبْوَابَ gates كُلِّ (of) every شَیْءٍ ؕ thing حَتّٰۤی until اِذَا when فَرِحُوْا they rejoiced بِمَاۤ in what اُوْتُوْۤا they were given اَخَذْنٰهُمْ We seized them بَغْتَةً suddenly فَاِذَا and then هُمْ they مُّبْلِسُوْنَ (were) dumbfounded 6. Al-An'am Page 133 فَقُطِعَ So was cut off دَابِرُ (the) remnant الْقَوْمِ (of) the people الَّذِیْنَ [those] who ظَلَمُوْا ؕ did wrong وَ الْحَمْدُ And all praises and thanks لِلّٰهِ (be) to Allah رَبِّ Lord الْعٰلَمِیْنَ (of) the worlds قُلْ Say اَرَءَیْتُمْ Have you seen اِنْ if اَخَذَ took away اللّٰهُ Allah سَمْعَكُمْ your hearing وَ اَبْصَارَكُمْ and your sight وَ خَتَمَ and sealed عَلٰی [on] قُلُوْبِكُمْ your hearts مَّنْ who اِلٰهٌ (is the) god غَیْرُ other than اللّٰهِ Allah یَاْتِیْكُمْ to bring [back] to you بِهٖ ؕ with it اُنْظُرْ See كَیْفَ how نُصَرِّفُ We explain الْاٰیٰتِ the Signs ثُمَّ yet هُمْ they یَصْدِفُوْنَ turn away قُلْ Say اَرَءَیْتَكُمْ Have you seen اِنْ if اَتٰىكُمْ comes to you عَذَابُ punishment اللّٰهِ (of) Allah بَغْتَةً suddenly اَوْ or جَهْرَةً openly هَلْ will یُهْلَكُ (any) be destroyed اِلَّا except الْقَوْمُ the people الظّٰلِمُوْنَ the wrongdoers وَ مَا And not نُرْسِلُ We send الْمُرْسَلِیْنَ the Messengers اِلَّا except مُبَشِّرِیْنَ (as) bearer of glad tidings وَ مُنْذِرِیْنَ ۚ and (as) warners فَمَنْ So whoever اٰمَنَ believed وَ اَصْلَحَ and reformed فَلَا then no خَوْفٌ fear عَلَیْهِمْ upon them وَ لَا and not هُمْ they یَحْزَنُوْنَ will grieve وَ الَّذِیْنَ And those who كَذَّبُوْا denied بِاٰیٰتِنَا [in] Our Verses یَمَسُّهُمُ will touch them الْعَذَابُ the punishment بِمَا for what كَانُوْا they used to یَفْسُقُوْنَ defiantly disobey قُلْ Say لَّاۤ Not اَقُوْلُ (do) I say لَكُمْ to you عِنْدِیْ (that) with me خَزَآىِٕنُ (are the) treasures اللّٰهِ (of) Allah وَ لَاۤ and not اَعْلَمُ (that) I know الْغَیْبَ the unseen وَ لَاۤ and not اَقُوْلُ I say لَكُمْ to you اِنِّیْ that I (am) مَلَكٌ ۚ an Angel اِنْ Not اَتَّبِعُ (do) I follow اِلَّا except مَا what یُوْحٰۤی is revealed اِلَیَّ ؕ to me قُلْ Say هَلْ Can یَسْتَوِی be equal الْاَعْمٰی the blind وَ الْبَصِیْرُ ؕ and the seeing one اَفَلَا Then will not تَتَفَكَّرُوْنَ۠ you give thought
(6:41) Lo, it is to Him alone that you cry and then, if He so wills, He removes the distress for which you had cried to Him. Then you forget the partners you had set up with Allah.29
(6:42) And We did indeed send Messengers to other nations before you and then We seized those nations with misfortune and hardship so that they might humble themselves (before Us).
(6:43) But when misfortune befell them from Us why did they not humble themselves? Their hearts had hardened and Satan had made their deeds seem fair to them.
(6:44) So, when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We opened the gates of all things so that while they rejoiced in what they had been granted We seized them suddenly and they were plunged into utter despair.
(6:45) Thus the last remnant of those wrongdoing people was cut off. All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the entire universe, (for having punished them so).
(6:46) Say (O Muhammad!): What do you think? If Allah should take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts30 - who is the god, other than Allah, who could restore them to you? Behold, how We put forth Our signs in diverse forms, and yet they turn away from them.
(6:47) Say: 'If the chastisement of Allah were to overtake you unawares or openly shall any except the wrong-doing people be destroyed?'
(6:48) We do not send Messengers except as bearers of glad tidings and warners. So, he who believes in their message and mends his conduct need have no fear and need not grieve;
(6:49) whereas those who give the lie to Our signs, chastisement will visit them for their transgression.
(6:50) (O Muhammad!) Say: 'I do not say to you I have the treasures of Allah. Nor do I have knowledge of what is beyond the reach of human perception. Nor do I say to you: I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me.'31 Then ask them: 'Are the blind and the seeing alike?'32 Do you not then reflect?
29. Attention is now drawn towards another sign - one observable even in the lives of those who deny the Truth. When either some great calamity befalls a man or when death starkly stares him in the face, it is only to God that he turns for refuge. On such occasions even the staunchest polytheists forget their false gods and cry out to the One True God, and even the most rabid atheists stretch out their hands in prayer to Him. This phenomenon is mentioned here in order to draw an instructive lesson. It shows that devotion to God and monotheism are ingrained in the human soul. No matter how overlaid this truth might be, some day it shakes off man's heedlessness and ignorance and manifests itself fully. It was the observation of this sign which had led 'Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, to the true faith. For when Makka was conquered at the hands of the Prophet (peace be on him), 'Ikrimah fled to Jeddah and sailed from there towards Abyssinia. During the voyage the boat ran into a severe storm which threatened to capsize it. At first people began calling on their gods and goddesses. Later on, when the storm grew even worse and the passengers were sure that the boat would sink, they began to feel it was time to call on God alone, for He alone could save them. This opened the eyes of 'Ikrimah, whose heart cried out to him that if there was no effective helper for them in that situation, how could there he one elsewhere? He also recalled that this was precisely what the Prophet (peace be on him) had constantly told people, and that it was precisely because of this preaching that they had been engaged in unnecessary violent conflict with him. This was a turning-point in 'Ikrimah's life. He instantly made up his mind that if he survived the storm he would go straight to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and place his hand in his, binding himself in allegiance. Thereafter he not only remained true to his word by becoming a Muslim, but spent the rest of his life struggling in the cause of Islam.
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31. Feeble-minded people have always entertained the foolish misconception that the more godly a man is, the more liberated he should be from the limitations of human nature. They expect a godly person to be able to work wonders. By a mere sign of his hand, whole mountains should be transmuted into gold. At his command, the earth should begin to throw up all its hidden treasures. He should have miraculous access to all relevant facts about people. He should be able to point out the locations of things which have been lost, and show how they can be retrieved. He should be able to predict whether or not a patient will survive his disease; whether a pregnant woman will deliver a boy or a girl. Moreover, he should be above all human disabilities and limitations. How can a genuinely godly person feel hunger or thirst? How can he be overcome by sleep? How can he have a wife and children? How can he engage in buying and selling to meet his material requirements? How can he be impelled by force of circumstances to resort to such mundane acts as making money? How can he feel the pinch of poverty and paucity of resources? False conceptions such as these dominated the minds of the contemporaries of the Prophet (peace be on him). When they heard of his claim, in order to test his veracity they asked him regarding things that lie beyond the ken of human perception and to work wonders, and blamed him when they saw him engaged in such acts as eating and drinking, and taking care of his wife and children, and walking about the bazaars like other ordinary human beings. It is misconceptions such as these that this verse seeks to remove.
32. The statement of a Prophet in such matters amounts to a testimony based on first-hand observation. For the truths which a Prophet propounds are those which he himself has observed and experienced and which have been brought within the range of his knowledge by means of revelation. On the contrary, those who are opposed to the truths propounded by the Prophets are blind since the notions they entertain are based either on guess-work and conjecture or on blind adherence to ideas hallowed by time. Thus the difference between a Prophet and his opponents is as that between a man who has sound vision and a man who is blind. Obviously the former is superior, by dint of this gift of knowledge from God rather than because he has access to hidden treasures, because of his knowledge of the unseen world, and because of his freedom from physical limitations.