10:12 Yunus (Jonas)

وهذا إخبار عن طبيعة الإنسان من حيث هو، وأنه إذا مسه ضر، من مرض أو مصيبة اجتهد في الدعاء، وسأل الله في جميع أحواله، قائما وقاعدا ومضطجعا، وألح في الدعاء ليكشف الله عنه ضره‏.‏ ‏{‏فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ ضُرَّهُ مَرَّ كَأَنْ لَمْ يَدْعُنَا إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَسَّهُ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ استمر في غفلته معرضا عن ربه، كأنه ما جاءه ضره، فكشفه الله عنه، فأي ظلم أعظم من هذا الظلم‏؟‏‏\"‏ يطلب من الله قضاء غرضه، فإذا أناله إياه لم ينظر إلى حق ربه، وكأنه ليس عليه لله حق‏.‏ وهذا تزيين من الشيطان، زين له ما كان مستهجنا مستقبحا في العقول والفطر‏.‏ ‏{‏كَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ المتجاوزين للحد ‏{‏مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ‏}‏

يخبر تعالى عن الإنسان وضجره وقلقه إذا مسه الشر "وإذا مسه الشر فذو دعاء عريض" أي كثير وهما في معنى واحد وذلك لأنه إذا أصابته شدة قلق لها وجزع منها وأكثر الدعاء عند ذلك فدعا الله في كشفها ورفعها عنه في حال اضطجاعه وقعوده وقيامه وفي جميع أحواله فإذا فرج الله شدته وكشف كربته أعرض ونأى بجانبه وذهب كأنه ما كان به من ذلك شيء "مر كأن لم يدعنا إلى ضر مسه" ثم ذم تعالى من هذه صفته وطريقته فقال "كذلك زين للمسرفين ما كانوا يعملون" فأما من رزقه الله الهداية والسداد والتوفيق والرشاد فإنه مستثنى من ذلك كقوله تعالى "إلا الذين صبروا وعملوا الصالحات" وكقول رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم "عجبا لأمر المؤمن لا يقضي الله له قضاء إلا كان خيرا له: إن أصابته ضراء فصبر كأن خيرا له وإن أصابته سراء فشكر كان خيرا له وليس ذلك لأحد إلا للمؤمن".

Man remembers Allah at Times of Adversity and forgets Him at Times of Prosperity

Allah tells us about man and how he becomes annoyed and worried when he is touched with distress.

وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَآءٍ عَرِيضٍ

(but when evil touches him, then he has recourse to long supplications.)41:51 `Long supplications' also means many supplications. When man suffers adversity he becomes worried and anxious. So he supplicates more. He prays to Allah to lift and remove the adversity. He prays while standing, sitting or laying down. When Allah removes his adversity and lifts his distress, he turns away and becomes arrogant. He goes on as if nothing were wrong with him before.

مَرَّ كَأَن لَّمْ يَدْعُنَآ إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَّسَّهُ

(He passes on as if he had never invoked Us for a harm that touched him!) Allah then criticized and condemned those who have these qualities or act this way, so He said:

كَذلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(Thus it is made fair seeming to the wasteful that which they used to do.) But those on whom Allah has bestowed good guidance and support are an exception.

إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ

(Except those who have patience believe and do righteous good deeds.) 11:11 The Prophet said:

«عَجَبًا (لِأَمْرِ) الْمُؤْمِنِ لَا يَقْضِي اللهُ لَهُ قَضَاءً إِلَّا كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ فَصَبَرَ كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ فَشَكَرَ كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَلَيْسَ ذَلِكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِن»

(How wonderful is the case of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this is not the case with anyone except a believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah, and that is good for him. And if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is also good for him.)

If misfortune illness or poverty should befall a disbelieving man he calls upon Us on his side that is lying down or sitting or standing in other words in every state; but when We have relieved him of his misfortune he passes on in his unbelief as if ka-an is softened its subject omitted in other words read as ka-annahu he had never called upon Us because of a misfortune that befell him. So in the same way that supplication during misfortune and abstention from supplication in times of comfort were adorned for him is adorned for the prodigal the idolaters that which they do.

An eloquent approach has been made in the second verse (12) to convince those who denied that Allah was One (Tauhid) and that there was a life to come ('Akhirah). It was said: When conditions are normal, people would find time to engage in debating the nature and existence of God and the Hereafter. They would feel free to ascribe all sorts of partners and associates to His pristine divinity and look forward to them in the hope that they would respond at their hour of need. But, as soon as some major distress overtakes them, even these very people, disappointed by the entire range of their false gods they pinned their hopes on, do nothing but call Allah for help, not simply once but repeatedly, lying, sitting, standing. They have no choice. They must invoke Him for help. However, along with this attitude, certainly terrible is their ingratitude. When Allah Ta` ala removes their distress, they forget all about Him becoming so disconnected and indifferent to Him as if they had never called Him and never sought His help in their hour of need. This tells us that those who associate anyone or anything else with Allah Ta` ala in His exclusive domain as the Dispenser of all that is needed by His creation do themselves get to experience the demolition of this belief of theirs. But, because of their hostility and obstinacy, they keep glued to their false notion.