Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara' - Verse 210

The Qur'an was brought down by Jibril, not Shaytan

Allah tells us about His Book, which falsehood cannot approach from before or behind it, sent down by the All-Wise, Worthy of all praise. He states that it has been brought down by the trustworthy Ruh (i.e., Jibril) who is helped by Allah,

وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَـطِينُ

(And it is not the Shayatin who have brought it down.) Then He tells us that it could not be the case for three reasons that the Shayatin brought it down. One is that it would not suit them, i.e., they have no desire to do so and they do not want to, because their nature is to corrupt and misguide people, but this contains words enjoining what is right and forbidding what is evil, and light, guidance and mighty proofs. There is a big difference between this and the Shayatin, Allah says:

وَمَا يَنبَغِى لَهُمْ

(Neither would it suit them)

وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ

(nor are they able.) meaning, even if they wanted to, they could not do it. Allah says:

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَـذَا الْقُرْءَانَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَـشِعاً مُّتَصَدِّعاً مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ

(Had We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbling itself and rent asunder by the fear of Allah) (59:21). Then Allah explains that even if they wanted to and were able to bear it and convey it, they still would not be able to achieve that, because they were prevented from hearing the Qur'an when it was brought down, for the heavens were filled with guardians and shooting stars at the time when the Qur'an was being revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so none of the Shayatin could hear even one letter of it, lest there be any confusion in the matter. This is a part of Allah's mercy towards His servants, protection of His Laws, and support for His Book and His Messenger . Allah says:

إِنَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ

(Verily, they have been removed far from hearing it.) This is like what Allah tells us about the Jinn:

وَأَنَّا لَمَسْنَا السَّمَآءَ فَوَجَدْنَـهَا مُلِئَتْ حَرَساً شَدِيداً وَشُهُباً - وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَـعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ فَمَن يَسْتَمِعِ الاٌّنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَاباً رَّصَداً

(And we have sought to reach the heaven; but found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. And verily, we used to sit there in stations, to (steal) a hearing, but any who listens now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.) until;

أَمْ أَرَادَ بِهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ رَشَداً

(or whether their Lord intends for them a right path) 72:8-10.

أَفَرَ‌أَيْتَ إِن مَّتَّعْنَاهُمْ سِنِينَ ﴿205﴾

So tell me, If We give them enjoyment for years, - 26:205.

There is a hint in this verse that those who are bestowed with long life in this world by Allah Ta’ ala, it is His grace on them. But those who show ingratitude for this grace and do not submit to Islam, to them this respite and grace will not be of any avail. Imam Zuhri (رح) has related that Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul Aziz (رح) used to recite this verse every morning by holding his beard and addressing his Self:

نھارک یا مغرور سھو و غفلۃ ولیلک نوم والرّدیٰ لک لازم

فلا انت فی الایقاظ یقظان حازم ولا انت فی النّوّام ناجِ و سالم

وتعٰی الٰی ما سوف تکرہ غبّہ کذٰلک فی الدّنیا تعیش البھایٔم

` O the duped one! Your whole day is spent in negligence and the night in sleep, while death is inevitable for you. Neither you are awake among the alert and woken nor are you the one who will get salvation from among the sleepers. You keep endeavoring for things which will soon bring you unpleasant results. Cattle and animals live like this in the world'.

When, on behalf of God, the call for Truth appears at the level of a prophet, it appears in its final and perfect shape. That is why it becomes necessary for God’s punishment to visit any community which denies the prophet. However, until this punishment is actually administered, man considers himself safe from it. In order to prove the divine call baseless, he adopts various tactics. Sometimes he derides the prophet’s personality and sometimes he calls the Divine revelation brought by him spurious. Sometimes he says that if God is against them, why does He not punish them? The only responsibility of the prophet, or the preacher acting on behalf of the prophet, is that he should make the people aware of the Truth. All matters over and above that are the responsibility of God and He shows them this when He wills.