26. Surah Ash-Shu'araa
الشعراءThe Poets · 227 ayahsتفہیم القرآن انگلش
وَ الَّذِیْ یُمِیْتُنِیْ ثُمَّ یُحْیِیْنِۙ Open ayah 26:81 in the Quran reader
Who will cause me to die and then will give me life again,
وَ الَّذِیْۤ اَطْمَعُ اَنْ یَّغْفِرَ لِیْ خَطِیْٓئَتِیْ یَوْمَ الدِّیْنِؕ Open ayah 26:82 in the Quran reader
and of Whom l expect that He will forgive me my errors on the Day of Judgment." 59
59 The third reason for worshipping none but Allah is that man's relation with his God is not merely confined to this worldly life, which will end at death, but extends to life-after-death also. The same God Who brought him into existence, recalls him and there is no power which can stop his return froth the world. No remedy, no physician no god or goddess has ever been able to catch the hand which takes man out of this world. Even all those men who were made deities and worshipped, could not ward off their own deaths. Onlv Allah judges and decides when a particular person is to be recalled from the world, and whenever somebody is recalled by Him, he has to leave this world in any case. Then it is Allah alone Who will decide as to when He should raise back to life all those people who were born in this world and died and buried here, and ask them to account for their worldly lives. Then also nobody will have the power to stop resurrection of himself or others. Every human being will have to rise on the Command of Allah and appear in His Court. Then Allah alone will be the Judge on that Day, and nobody else will be a partner in his judgment in any degree. To punish or to forgive will be entirely in Allah's hand. Nobody will have the power to get somebody forgiven if Allah would want to punish him, and punished if Allah would want to forgive him All those who are regarded as intercessors in the world, will themselves be hoping for Allah's mercy and grace for their forgiveness. In view of these facts anybody who worships others than Allah, is in fact preparing for his own doom. There can be no greater misfortune than this that man should turn away from Allah Who controls his life here as well as in the Hereafter, and should turn for help and support to those who are utterly powerless in this regard.
رَبِّ هَبْ لِیْ حُكْمًا وَّ اَلْحِقْنِیْ بِالصّٰلِحِیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:83 in the Quran reader
(After. this Abraham prayed:) "My Lord, bestow upon me knowledge and wisdom 60 and join me with the righteous, 61
60 Hukm here dces not mean "Prophethood", because at the time this prayer was made, Prophet Abraham had already been appointed a Prophet. Even if this prayer was made before that, Prophethood is not bestowed on request, but it is something which Allah Himself bestows on those He wills. That is why, hukm has been translated wisdom, knowledge, right understanding and power of judgment. The Holy Prophet is also reported to have made a similar prayer : Arinal-ashyaa' Kama hiya: "O Allah, give us the power to see and understand a thing as it really is and to form an opinion about it according to its reality."
61 "Join me with the righteous": "Give me a righteous society to live in in this world and raise me along with the righteous in the Hereafter." To be raised back to life with the righteous and to attain one's salvation have one and the same meaning. Therefore, this should be the prayer of every person who believes in the life-after-death and in reward and punishment. Even in this world a pious man cherishesthe desire that God should save him from living a life in an immoral and wicked society and should join him with the righteous people. A pious and righteous person will remain iII at ease and restless until either his own society should become clean and pure morally, or heleaves it to join another society which is practising and following the principles of truth and honesty.
وَ اجْعَلْ لِّیْ لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِی الْاٰخِرِیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:84 in the Quran reader
and grant me true renown among posterity, 62
62 "Grant me true renown among posterity": "Grant me the grace that posterity should remember me as a good and pious man after my death and not as one of the unjust people, who were not only wicked themselves, but who left nothing but wickedness behind them in the world. Enable me to perform such high deeds that my life should become a source of light for others for all times to come, and I should be counted among the benefactors of humanity." This is not a prayer for worldly greatness and renown, but for true greatness and renown, which can be achieved only as a result of solid and valuable services. A person's achieving such true renown and glory has two good aspects:
(1) The people of the world get a good example to follow, as against bad examples, which inspires them with piety and encourages them to follow the right way; and
(2) The righteous person will not only get the rewards of works done by posterity who were guided aright by the good example left and set by him, but in addition to his own good works, he will have the evidence of the millions of people in his favour that he had left behind him in the world fountains of guidance, which went on benefiting people, generation after generation, till the Day of Resurrection.
وَ اجْعَلْنِیْ مِنْ وَّرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ النَّعِیْمِۙ Open ayah 26:85 in the Quran reader
and include me among the inheritors of the blissful Garden,
وَ اغْفِرْ لِاَبِیْۤ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ مِنَ الضَّآلِّیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:86 in the Quran reader
and forgive my father, for indeed he is from among those who have strayed, 63 ;
63 Some commentators have interpreted this prayer of Prophet Abraham for his father's forgiveness to imply that he had prayed to God to grant his father the favour to accept Islam because forgiveness in any case is inter-linked with and dependent upon Faith. But this interpretation is not borne out by the other verses of the Qur'an. The Qur'an says that when Prophet Abraham left his home at the tyrannical treatment of his father, he said, "I bid farewell to you; I shall pray to my Lord to forgive you for He is very kind to me." (Maryam: 47) To fulfill this promise, he not only prayed for the forgiveness of his father, but for both his parents: "Lord, forgive me and my parents..." (Ibrahim: 41). But afterwards he himself realized that an enemy of the Truth, even if he be the father of a believer, does not deserve a prayer of forgiveness. Thus according to verse 114 of AtTaubah: "The prayer of Abraham for his father was only to fulfil a promise he had made to him, but when he realized that he was an enemy of Allah, he disowned him."
وَ لَا تُخْزِنِیْ یَوْمَ یُبْعَثُوْنَۙ Open ayah 26:87 in the Quran reader
and do not disgrace me on the Day when everybody will be raised back to life, 64
64 That is, "Do not put me to disgrace on the Day of Judgement by inflicting punishment on my father in front of all mankind, when I myself shall be witnessing his punishment helplessly."
یَوْمَ لَا یَنْفَعُ مَالٌ وَّ لَا بَنُوْنَۙ Open ayah 26:88 in the Quran reader
when neither wealth will avail anybody, nor children,
اِلَّا مَنْ اَتَى اللّٰهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِیْمٍؕ Open ayah 26:89 in the Quran reader
except that one should appear before Allah with a sound heart. " 65
65 It cannot be said with certainty whether vv. 88, 89 are a part of Prophet Abraham's prayer, or they are an addition by AIlah. In the first case, they will mean that Prophet Abraham while praying for his father had a full realization of these facts. In the second case, they will be a comment by Allah on Abraham's prayer, as if to say, "On the Day of Judgement, only a sound heart, sound in faith and free from disobedience and sin, will be of any avail to man and not wealth and children, for wealth and children can be useful only if one possesses a sound heart. Wealth will be useful if one would have spent it sincerely and faithfully for the sake of Allah, otherwise even a millionaire will be a poor man there. Children also will he of help only to the extent that a person might have educated them in Faith and good conduct to the best of his ability; otherwise even if the son is a Prophet, his father will not escape punishment, if he died in the state of unbelief, because such a father will have no share in the goodness of his children. "
وَ اُزْلِفَتِ الْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:90 in the Quran reader
(On that Day) 66 Paradise will be brought close to the righteous,
66 Verses 90-102 do not seem to be a part of Prophet Abraham's speech, but they are Allah's words.
وَ بُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِیْمُ لِلْغٰوِیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:91 in the Quran reader
and Hell will be set open before the straying ones, 67
67 That is, on the one hand, the righteous people will be shown the countless blessings which they will enjoy in Paradise by Allah's grace, and on the other, Hell will be set open with all its dreads and horrors before the straying people, when they will still be in the Plain of Resurrection.
وَ قِیْلَ لَهُمْ اَیْنَمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْبُدُوْنَۙ Open ayah 26:92 in the Quran reader
and they will be asked: "Where are those whom you worshipped
مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ١ؕ هَلْ یَنْصُرُوْنَكُمْ اَوْ یَنْتَصِرُوْنَؕ Open ayah 26:93 in the Quran reader
instead of Allah? Are they of any help to you, or even to themselves ?"
فَكُبْكِبُوْا فِیْهَا هُمْ وَ الْغَاوٗنَۙ Open ayah 26:94 in the Quran reader
Then these deities and those erring people, and the hosts of Satan, all will be hurled into it,
وَ جُنُوْدُ اِبْلِیْسَ اَجْمَعُوْنَؕ Open ayah 26:95 in the Quran reader
one upon the other. 68
68 Kubkibu in the Text has two meanings: (1) They will be hurled into Hell one upon the other; and (2) they will go on rolling down into the depths of Hell.
قَالُوْا وَ هُمْ فِیْهَا یَخْتَصِمُوْنَۙ Open ayah 26:96 in the Quran reader
Therein they will dispute with one another, and these erring people will say (to their deities):
تَاللّٰهِ اِنْ كُنَّا لَفِیْ ضَلٰلٍ مُّبِیْنٍۙ Open ayah 26:97 in the Quran reader
"By God ! We had certainly strayed
اِذْ نُسَوِّیْكُمْ بِرَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ Open ayah 26:98 in the Quran reader
when we held you equal in rank with the Lord of the worlds,
وَ مَاۤ اَضَلَّنَاۤ اِلَّا الْمُجْرِمُوْنَ Open ayah 26:99 in the Quran reader
and they were criminals indeed who led us astray. 69
69 This is how the followers will treat their religious leaders and guides, whom they served and revered like deities in the world, whose words and patterns of behaviour they took as authoritative and before whom they presented all sorts of offerings in the world. In the Hereafter when the people will find that their guides had misled them and caused their ruin as well as their own, they will hold them responsible for it and will curse them. The Qur'an has presented this horrible scene of the Hereafter at several places so as to admonish the blind followers to see and judge carefully whether their guides in this world were leading them on the right path or not. For instance: "As each generation will be entering Hell, it will curse its preceding generation till all generations shall be gathered together there; then each succeeding generation will say regarding the preceding one, `O Lord, these were the people who led us astray; therefore give them a double chastisement of the Fire.' Allah will reply, `There is a double chastisement for every one but you know it not'." (Al-A`raf: 38). "And the disbelievers will say, `Our Lord, bring those jinns and men before us, who led us astray so that we may trample them under our feet and put them to extreme disgrace'." (Ha Mim Sajdah: 29). "And they will say, `Our Lord, we obeyed our chiefs and our great men and they misled us from the right path; our Lord, give them a double chastisement and curse them with a severe curse'." (Al-Ahzab: 67-68).
فَمَا لَنَا مِنْ شَافِعِیْنَۙ Open ayah 26:100 in the Quran reader
Now we have neither any intercessor 70
70 That is, "Those whom we regarded as our intercessors in the world and who, we believed, would take us safely into Paradise, are utterly helpless today and of no avail to us."
وَ لَا صَدِیْقٍ حَمِیْمٍ Open ayah 26:101 in the Quran reader
nor any true friend. 71
71 That is, "We have no sympathizer either who could feel for us and console us." The Qur'an says that in the Hereafter only the believers will continue to be friends; as for the disbelievers, they will turn enemies of one another even though they had been sworn friends in the world. Each will hold the other as responsible for the doom and try to get him maximum punishment. "Friends on that Day will become enemies of one another except the righteous (who will continue to be friends)." (Az-Zukhruf: 67) .
فَلَوْ اَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَكُوْنَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ Open ayah 26:102 in the Quran reader
Would that we were given a chance to return (to the world) so that we became believers. 72
72 That Qur'an has given an answer to this kind of longing and desire as well:".. evenif they be sent back to the earthly life, they would do all that they had beenforbidden to do." (Al-An`am: 28). As for the reasons why they will not be allowed to return to the world, please see E.N.'s 90-92 of Al-Mu'minun above.
اِنَّ فِیْ ذٰلِكَ لَاٰیَةً١ؕ وَ مَا كَانَ اَكْثَرُهُمْ مُّؤْمِنِیْنَ Open ayah 26:103 in the Quran reader
Indeed there is a great Sign in this, 73 but most of these people would not believe.
73 There are two aspects of the Sign in the story of Prophet Abraham: (I) On the one hand, the mushriks of Arabia, especially the Quraish, claimed that they were the followers of Prophet Abraham and were proud of being his descendents, but on the other, they were involved in shirk against which Prophet Abraham had been engaged in a relentless struggle throughout his life. Then these people were opposing and treating the Prophet who was inviting them towards the religion brought by Prophet Abraham in the like manner as Prophet Abraham himself had been opposed and treated by his people. They have been reminded that Abraham was an enemy of shirk and an upholder of Tauhid which they themselves admitted, and yet they persisted in their obduracy to follow the creed of shirk. (2) The people of Abraham were eliminated from the world: 'if any of them survived, it was the children of Prophet Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac (thay Allah's peace be upon them). Though the Qur'an dces not mention the torment that descended on Abraham's people after he had left them, it has included them among the tormented tribes: "Has not the story reached them of those who had gone before them: the people of Noah, the tribes of `Ad and Thamud, the people of Abraham, and the inhabitants of Midian and of the overturned cities ?" (AtTaubah: 70).
وَ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِیْزُ الرَّحِیْمُ۠ Open ayah 26:104 in the Quran reader
The fact is that your Lord is Mighty as well as Merciful .
كَذَّبَتْ قَوْمُ نُوْحِ اِ۟لْمُرْسَلِیْنَۚۖ Open ayah 26:105 in the Quran reader
Noah's people 74 rejected the Messengers. 75 .
74 For comparison, see AI-A`raf: 59-64, Yunus: 71-73, Hud: 25-48, Bani Isra'il: 3, Al-Anbiya' 76-77, AI-Mu'minun:: 23-30, and Al-Furqan: 37. For the details of the story of Prophet Noah, see AI-'Ankabut:15, As-Saffat: 75-82, AIQamar: 9-15 and Surah Nuh itself.
75 Though they had rejected only one Messenger, it amounted to rejecting all the messengers because all of them had brought one and the same message from Allah. This is an important fact which the Qur'an has mentioned over and over again in different ways. Thus, even those people who rejected just one Prophet have been regarded as unbelievers though they believed in all other Prophets, for the simple reason that the believer in the truth of one Messenger cannot deny the same truth in other cases unless he dces so on account of racial prejudice, imitation of elders, etc.
اِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ اَخُوْهُمْ نُوْحٌ اَلَا تَتَّقُوْنَۚ Open ayah 26:106 in the Quran reader
Remember the time when their brother Noah said to them: "Do you not fear? 76
76 The initial address of Prophet Noah to his people, as mentioned at other places in the Qur'an, was as follows: "O my people, worship Allah alone: you have no other deity than Him. Are you not afraid (of Him)?" (Al-Mu'minun: 23); and "Warship Allah and fear Him and obey me." (Nuh: 3). That is, "Are you not afraid of the consequences of adopting an attitude of rebellion against AIIah and worshipping others than Him?
اِنِّیْ لَكُمْ رَسُوْلٌ اَمِیْنٌۙ Open ayah 26:107 in the Quran reader
I am a Messenger to you worthy of full trust: 77
77 It has two meanings: (1) "1 present before you nothing but what Allah reveals to me;" and (2) "I am a Messenger whom you have already known to be a trustworthy and honest and righteous man. When I have been honest and true in my dealings with you, how can 1 be dishonest and untrustworthy in conveying the Message of God'? Therefore, you should rest assured that whatever I am presenting is the Truth. "
فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَ اَطِیْعُوْنِۚ Open ayah 26:108 in the Quran reader
so fear Allah and obey me: 78
78 That is, "When I am a truthiui and trustworthy Messenger, you are duty-bound to obey me alone as against all other patrons, and carry out my commands and instructions, because I represent the will of God: obedience to me is in fact obedience to God and disobedience to me is disobedience to Him." In other words, the people are not only required to accept a Messenger as a true Messenger sent by Allah, but it inevitably implies that they have to obey him and follow his Law against all other laws. To reject a Prophet, or to disobey him after accepting him as a Prophet, is tantamount to rebellion against God, which inevitably leads to His wrath. The words "fear AIlah" are, therefore, a warning that every heater should clearly understand the consequences of rejecting the message of a Messenger or of disobeying his commands.
وَ مَاۤ اَسْئَلُكُمْ عَلَیْهِ مِنْ اَجْرٍ١ۚ اِنْ اَجْرِیَ اِلَّا عَلٰى رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَۚ Open ayah 26:109 in the Quran reader
I do not ask of you any reward for this duty, for my reward is with the Lord of the worlds; 79
79 This is the second of the two arguments of Prophet Noah about the truth of his message, the first being that they had known him as a trustworthy man during his earlier life, which he had lived among them. This second argument unplies this: "I do not have any selfish motive or personal interest in conveying the message which I am propagating day and night in spite of all sorts of opposition and antagonism from you. At least you should understand this that 1 am sincere in my invitation, and am presenting honestly only that which I believe to be the truth and in following which I see the true success and well-being of humanity at large. I have no personal motive in this that I should fabricate falsehood to fool the people. "
These two arguments are among the most important arguments which the Qur'an has advanced repeatedly as proofs of the truthfulness of the Prophets, and which it presents as criterion for judging Prophethood. A man who before Prophethood has lived a life in a society and has always been found to be honest, truthful and righteous, cannot be doubted even by a prejudiced person that he would suddenly start fabricating falsehood in the name of Allah and making people believe that he has been appointed a Prophet by Him, whereas he has been not. More important than that: such a lie cannot be fabricated with a good intention unless somebody has a selfish motive attachedto this kind of fraud. And even whena person indulges in this sort of fraud, he cannot hide it completely from the people. The foul means and devices adopted by him to promote his "business" become known and aII the various selfish interests and gains become all too apparent. Contrary to this, the personal life of a Prophet is full of moral excellencies: it has no trace of the employment of foul means and devices. Not to speak of any personal interest, he expends whatever he has for the cause of a mission which to aII appearances is fruitless. No person who possesses any common sense and also has a sense of justice, can ever imagine that a sensible man who was leading a perfectly peaceful life, would come out all of a sudden with a false claim, when such a false claim dces not do him any good, but on the contrary, demands alI his money, time and energy and earns him nothing in return but the antagonism and hostility of the whole world. Sacrifice of personal interests is the foremost proof of a man's sincerity; therefore, doubting the intentions and sincerity of a person who has been sacrificing his personal interests for years and years can only be the pastime of the one who himself is selfish and insincere. 'Please also see E.N. 70 of AI-Mu'minun above.
فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَ اَطِیْعُوْنِؕ Open ayah 26:110 in the Quran reader
therefore, you should fear Allah and obey me (without hesitation)." 80
80 Repetition of this sentence is not without reason. In the first case Iv. I U8), it implied this: "You should fear Allah if you treat as false a true and trustworthy Messenger from Him, whom you yourselves have been regarding as a true and trustworthy tnan in the past." Here it means: "You should fear Allah if you doubt the intention of a person who is working sincerely only for the reformation of the people without any personal interest." This thing has been stressed because the chiefs of Prophet Noah's people, in order to find fault with his message of Truth, accused him of struggling merely for his personal superiority: "He merely intends to obtain superiority over you." (Al-Mu'minun: 24)
قَالُوْۤا اَنُؤْمِنُ لَكَ وَ اتَّبَعَكَ الْاَرْذَلُوْنَؕ Open ayah 26:111 in the Quran reader
They replied, "Should we believe in you, whereas the meanest of the people have become your followers? " 81
81 This answer to Prophet Noah's message of Truth was given by the chiefs, elders and nobles of his people as mentioned in Hud: 27: "In answer to this, those chiefs of his people, who had rejected his message, said, 'We see that you are no more than a mere man like ourselves, and we also see that only the meanest from among us have become your followers without due consideration, and we find nothing in you that might give you superiority over us'." This shows that those who believed in Prophet Noah were mostly the poor people, and ordinary workmen, or some youth who enjoyed no position in society. As for the influential and rich people, they had become his bitter opponents, and were trying by every trick and allurement to keep the common man behind them. One of the arguments they advanced against Prophet Noah was this: "Had there been some weight and substance in Noah's message, the rich people, scholars, religious divines, nobles and wise people of the community should have accepted it, but none of them has believed in him; the only people to follow him are the foolish people belonging to the lowest stratum of society, who have no common-sense. Now how can the noble and high ranking people like us join the company of the common people?" Precisely the same thing was being said by the unbelieving Quraish about the Holy Prophet and his followers. Abu Sufyan in reply to the questions asked by Heraclius had said: "Muhammad (Allah"s peace be upon him) has been followed by the poor and weak of our people." What they seemed to be thinking was that Truth was that which was considered as Truth by the chiefs and elders of the community, for only they had the necessary common-sense and power of judgment. As for the common people, their being common was a proof that they lacked sense and judgment. As such, if a thing was accepted by them but rejected by the chiefs, it meant that the thing itself was without worth and value. The disbelievers of Makkah even went further. They argued that a Prophet could not be a common man: if God had to appoint a Prophet, He would have appointed a great chief to be a Prophet: "They say: why has not the Qur'an been sent down to a prominent man of our two cities (Makkah and Ta'if)?" (Az-Zukhruf: 31).
قَالَ وَ مَا عِلْمِیْ بِمَا كَانُوْا یَعْمَلُوْنَۚ Open ayah 26:112 in the Quran reader
Noah said, "I have no knowledge of what they do:
اِنْ حِسَابُهُمْ اِلَّا عَلٰى رَبِّیْ لَوْ تَشْعُرُوْنَۚ Open ayah 26:113 in the Quran reader
their account is the concern of my Lord : would that you had used some common-sense! 82
82 This is the first answer to their objection, which was based on the assumption that the poor people belonging to the working classes and lower social strata who performed humble duties, did not possess any mental maturity and were without intelligence and common sense. Therefore, their belief was without any rational basis, and so unreliable, and their deeds were of na value at all. To this Prophet Noah replies, "I have no means of judging the motives and assessing the worth of the deeds of the people who accept my message and act accordingly. This is not my concern but the responsibility of God".
وَ مَاۤ اَنَا بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَۚ Open ayah 26:114 in the Quran reader
I am not here to drive away those who believe;
اِنْ اَنَا اِلَّا نَذِیْرٌ مُّبِیْنٌؕ Open ayah 26:115 in the Quran reader
I am only a plain Warner. " 83
83 This is the second answer to their objection, which implied that since those who were gathering around Noah as believers, belonged to the lowest social strata, none of the nobles would like to join them, as if to say, "O Noah, should we believe in you in order to be counted among the low-ranking people like the slaves and servants and workmen?" To this Prophet Noah answers, "How can I adopt this irrational attitude that I should attend earnestly to those who do not like to listen to me, but drive away those who have believed and followed me? I am simply, a warner, who has declared openly that the way you are following is wrong and will lead you to ruin, and the way that I am inviting to is the way of salvation far all. Now it is up to you whether you heed my warning and adopt the right path, or go on following blindly the way to your ruin. It dces not behove me that I should start inquiring into the castes and ancestry and trades of the people who have heeded my warning and adopted the right path. They might be "mean" in your sight, but I cannot drive them away and wait to see when the "nobles" will' give up the path of destruction and adopt the way of salvation and success instead."
Precisely the same thing was going on between the Holy Prophet and the disbelievers of Makkah when these verses were revealed, and one can fully understand why the dialogue between Prophet Noah and the chiefs of his people, has been related here. The chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah thought exactly the same way. They said how they could sit side by side with the slaves like Bilal, 'Ammar and Suhaib and other men of the working class, as if to say, "Unless these poor people areturned out, there can be no possibility that the nobles may consider to become believers; it is impossible that the master and the slave should stand shoulder to shoulder with each other." In answer to this the Holy Prophet was commanded by Allah to tell the vain and arrogant disbelievers plainly that the poor believers could not be driven out of Islam just for their sake: "O Muhammad, you attend earnestly to him who has shown indifference (to your message), whereas you have no responsibility if he dces not reform himself; and the one who comes to you earnestly, fearing Allah, to him you pay no attention. Nay! this indeed is an Admonition, so let him who wills, accept it." (`Abasa :5-12).
"And do not drive away those who invoke their Lord morning and evening and are engaged in seeking His favour. You are not in any way accountable for them, nor are they inany way accountable for you: so, if you should drive them away, you shall be counted among the unjust. As a matter of fact, in this way We have made some of them a means of test for others, so that, seeing them, they should say, `Are these the people from among us upon whom AIlah has showered His blessings?' --Yes: dces not Allah know His grateful servants better than they?" (AI-An'am: 52-53)
قَالُوْا لَئِنْ لَّمْ تَنْتَهِ یٰنُوْحُ لَتَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَ الْمَرْجُوْمِیْنَؕ Open ayah 26:116 in the Quran reader
They said, "O Noah, if you do not desist from this, you will surely become one of the accursed." 84
84 ' The words in the Text may have two meanings: (1) "You will be stoned to death"; and (2) "You will be showered with abuses from all sides, and cursed and reviled wherever you go. "
قَالَ رَبِّ اِنَّ قَوْمِیْ كَذَّبُوْنِۚۖ Open ayah 26:117 in the Quran reader
Noah prayed: "My Lord, my people have treated me as a liar: 85
85 That is, "They have rejected me completely and absolutely and now there is no hope of their becoming believers." Here nobody should have the misunderstanding that just after this conversation between Prophet Noah and the chiefs of his people, and the rejection of his message by them, the Prophet submitted a report to AIIah that his people had rejected him and now He should settle the accounts between them. The Qur'an has mentioned at different places the details of the long struggle that went on for centuries between Prophet Noah and his people, who persisted in unbelief. According to verse 14 of Surah AI'Ankabut, the struggle continued for 950 years: "He (Noah) remained among them for a thousand years save fifty years." Prophet Noah during this long period studied their collective behaviour, generation after generation, and came to the conclusion that they had no inclination to accept the Truth, and formed the opinion that in their future generations also there was no hope of anybody's becoming a believer and adopting the righteous attitude: "My Lord, if You should leave them, they will lead Your servants astray, and they will bear as children none but sinners and disbelievers." (Nuh: 27). AIlah Himself confirmed this opinion of Noah, saying, "No more of your people will believe in you now than those who have already believed. So do not grieve at their misdeeds." (Hud: 36)
فَافْتَحْ بَیْنِیْ وَ بَیْنَهُمْ فَتْحًا وَّ نَجِّنِیْ وَ مَنْ مَّعِیَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ Open ayah 26:118 in the Quran reader
now settle the accounts between us, and deliver me and the believers with me to safety. " 86
86 "Deliver me and the believers with me to safety": "You should not only give Your judgment as to who is in the right and who is in the wrong, but deliver Your Judgment in such a manner that the followers of the Truth are saved and the followers of falsehood are completely annihilated from the earth.
فَاَنْجَیْنٰهُ وَ مَنْ مَّعَهٗ فِی الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُوْنِۚ Open ayah 26:119 in the Quran reader
At last, We rescued him and his companions in a laden Ark, 87
87 "Laden Ark", because the Ark became full with the believers and the pairs of animals from every species. For further details, see Hud: 40.