Tafsir of Surah An-Nahl - Verse 47

How the Guilty can feel Secure

Allah informs us about His patience, and how He delays the punishment for the sinners who do evil things and call others to do likewise, plotting to call others to do evil - even though He is able to make the earth swallow them or to bring His wrath upon them.

مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ

(from where they do not perceive it), meaning in such a way that they do not know where it comes from. As Allah says:

أَءَمِنتُمْ مَّن فِى السَّمَآءِ أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ فَإِذَا هِىَ تَمُورُ - أَمْ أَمِنتُمْ مِّن فِى السَّمَآءِ أَن يُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ حَـصِباً فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ كَيْفَ نَذِيرِ

(Do you feel secure that He Who is over the heaven (Allah), will not cause you to sink into the earth, when it quakes Or do you feel secure that He Who is over the heaven (Allah), will not send a storm of stones upon you Then you shall know how My warning really is.) (67:16-17).

أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ فِى تَقَلُّبِهِمْ

(Or that He may punish them in the midst of their going to and fro) meaning, when they are busy with their daily business, travel, and other distracting activities. Qatadah and As-Suddi said:

تَقَلُّبِهِمْ

(Their going to and fro) means their journeys." As Allah says:

أَفَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ الْقُرَى أَن يَأْتِيَهُم بَأْسُنَا بَيَـتاً وَهُمْ نَآئِمُونَ - أَوَ أَمِنَ أَهْلُ الْقُرَى أَن يَأْتِيَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا ضُحًى وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

(Did the people of the towns feel secure against the coming of Our punishment by night while they were asleep Or, did the people of the towns feel secure against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they were playing) (7:97-98)

فَمَا هُم بِمُعْجِزِينَ

(so that there be no escape for them (from Allah's punishment)) meaning, it is not impossible for Allah, no matter what their situation.

أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ

(Or that He may punish them where they fear it most) meaning, or Allah will take from them what they most fear, which is even more frightening, because when the thing you most fear to happen does happen, this is even worse. Hence Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said that,

أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَى تَخَوُّفٍ

(Or that He may punish them where they fear it most) means that Allah is saying: If I wish, I can take him after the death of his companion and after he has become frightened of that.' This was also reported from Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and others. Then Allah says:

فَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(Indeed your Lord is full of kindness, Most Merciful.) meaning, because He does not hasten to punish, as was reported in the Two Sahihs:

«لَا أَحَدَ أَصْبَرُ عَلَى أَذًى سَمِعَهُ مِنَ اللهِ، إِنَّهُمْ يَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ وَلَدًا وَهُوَ يَرْزُقُهُمْ وَيُعَافِيهِم»

(No one is more patient in the case of hearing offensive speech than Allah, for they attribute to Him a son, while He alone is giving them provision and good health.) And it is also recorded in Two Sahihs,

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»

(Allah will let the wrongdoer continue until, when He begins to punish him, He will never let him go.) Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited:

وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ

(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Indeed, His punishment is painful, (and) severe) (11:102) And Allah says:

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَىَّ الْمَصِيرُ

(And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then I punished it. And to Me is the (final) return (of all).) (22:48)

Even the Punishment of the World is Mercy in Disguise

In the verses cited above, after having mentioned various punishments which could seize disbelievers within this world, it was said in the end: فَإِنَّ رَ‌بَّكُمْ لَرَ‌ءُوفٌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ (So, indeed your Lord is Very Kind Very Merciful).

First of all, by using the word: رَبّ (Rabb: Lord) here, the hint given is that all these punishments which overtake human beings in this world are there to warn them as part of the dictates of Divine mercy. After that, by introducing the word: رَ‌ءُوفٌ(Ra uf: Kind) headed by the intensifying particle lam) that is, the lam of ta'kid), and thus by placing stress on the fact that Allah Ta’ ala was Very Kind and Very Merciful, the hint given was that warnings sent during the life of the world were, in reality, called for by His intrinsic Kindness and Mercy so that heedless men and women would learn from the warning and correct their deeds (before comes 'the last spasm of mass extinction' they themselves are talking about at the closing of the twentieth century, but are still not ready to learn, believe and correct).

This verse pertains to the last stage of the Makkan period when the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad were conspiring to kill him. The Prophet is God’s representative on God’s earth. Therefore, hatching such a conspiracy against a prophet must necessarily be the handiwork of such persons as are absolutely fearless of God’s retribution. The fact is that God is the Possessor of such control over man that He can cause him to be buried deep in the earth if He so desires, or He may wreak vengeance on him at the very place which he considers safe; or God may seize him in the course of his activities and he will not be able to save himself. God may even seize upon him when he is conscious of the risk and fully aware of the situation. In short, God may seize upon man at any time and in any situation. If He sees people doing mischief, yet lets them go unpunished, they should not become fearless, because His restraint is due to His consideration of ‘test’ conditions and not to His being powerless.