Tafsir of Surah Al-Anbiya' - Verse 43

The Lessons to be learned from Those Who mocked the Messengers in the Past

Allah says consoling His Messenger for the pain and insult caused by the mockery and disbelief of the idolators,

وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِىءَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِينَ سَخِرُواْ مِنْهُمْ مَّا كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ

(Indeed (many) Messengers were mocked before you, but the scoffers were surrounded by what they used to mock.) meaning, the punishment which they thought would never come to pass. This is like the Ayah:

وَلَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَصَبَرُواْ عَلَى مَا كُذِّبُواْ وَأُوذُواْ حَتَّى أَتَـهُمْ نَصْرُنَا وَلاَ مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَـتِ اللَّهِ وَلَقدْ جَآءَكَ مِن نَّبَإِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(Verily, Messengers were denied before you, but with patience they bore the denial, and they were hurt; till Our help reached them, and none can alter the Words of Allah. Surely, there has reached you the information (news) about the Messengers (before you)) 6:34. Then Allah menitons His favor for His creatures; He protects them by night and by day, taking care of them and watching over them with His Eye that never sleeps.

قُلْ مَن يَكْلَؤُكُم بِالَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ مِنَ الرَّحْمَـنِ

(Say: "Who can guard and protect you in the night or in the day from the Most Gracious") means, other than the Most Gracious Himself

بَلْ هُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ رَبِّهِمْ مُّعْرِضُونَ

(Nay, but they turn away from the remembrance of their Lord.) means, they do not recognize the blessings and favor of Allah towards them; they turn away from His signs and blessings.

أَمْ لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ تَمْنَعُهُمْ مِّن دُونِنَا

(Or have they gods who can guard them from Us) This is a rhetorical question aimed at denouncing and rebuking. The meaning is, do they have any gods who can protect them and take care of them other than Us It is not as they imagine or as they claim. Allah says:

لاَ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ

(They have no power to help themselves,) these gods on whom they rely instead of Allah cannot even help themselves.

وَلاَ هُمْ مِّنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ

(nor can they be protected from Us.) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas,"Nor can they be guarded from Us."

Haste is undesirable

خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ (Man is made of haste. - 21:37). عَجَل ('ajal) means haste or hurry. The word is used in situations when one desires things to happen before their time, and this trait is bad by its very nature. In another place also the word is used to denote human weakness. For instance وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا i.e. Man is prone to haste - 17:11, meaning that he is very impatient. When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) went to the mount Tur in a hurry leaving his people behind, he was censured by Allah Ta` ala.

Prophets (علیہم السلام) and the devout people who try to excel each other in the performance of righteous deeds have been commended and their zeal to do good deeds does not constitute haste and hurry because they do not try to do these deeds before their time. In fact they do the deeds on time, but try to excel each other in quantity and quality.

Here خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ (Man is made of haste - 21:37) means that haste and hurry is one of the many weaknesses which are inherent in human nature. When a man is identified by some intrinsic trait of his character, me Arabs used to say that he is 'made of that trait. For instance a short tempered man would be called a 'man made of anger'.

سَأُرِ‌يكُمْ آيَاتِي فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ (I shall show you my signs -.21:37) Here the word آیات (signs) refers to those miracles and events which bear evidence to the honesty of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the truth of his message. (Qurtubi)

These miracles also occurred during the battle of Badr (غزوہ بدر) when the Muslims who were considered weak and worthy of contempt gained a great victory over their enemies.

God’s reckoning is not something which belongs to a distant future. It is latent in this very diurnal routine in which man feels so secure and protected. For instance, if the distance between the sun and the earth were to be reduced by half, our days would become so hot that we would be roasted as if by the flames of a fire. On the contrary, if the distance between the sun and the earth were doubled, our nights would become so cold that we would be frozen like ice. The Being who has established such a highly favourable system of the earth and the heavens deserves to have homage paid to Him, to be worshipped and offered total loyalty, instead of false gods who are not capable of giving people anything.