21:3 Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

{ لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ } أي: قلوبهم غافلة معرضة لاهية بمطالبها الدنيوية، وأبدانهم لاعبة، قد اشتغلوا بتناول الشهوات والعمل بالباطل، والأقوال الردية، مع أن الذي ينبغي لهم أن يكونوا بغير هذه الصفة، تقبل قلوبهم على أمر الله ونهيه، وتستمعه استماعا، تفقه المراد منه، وتسعى جوارحهم، في عبادة ربهم، التي خلقوا لأجلها، ويجعلون القيامة والحساب والجزاء منهم على بال، فبذلك يتم لهم أمرهم، وتستقيم أحوالهم، وتزكوا أعمالهم، وفي معنى قوله: { اقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ } قولان: أحدهما أن هذه الأمة هي آخر الأمم، ورسولها آخر الرسل، وعلى أمته تقوم الساعة، فقد قرب الحساب منها بالنسبة لما قبلها من الأمم، لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم \" بعثت أنا والساعة كهاتين \" وقرن بين إصبعيه، السبابة والتي تليها. والقول الثاني: أن المراد بقرب الحساب الموت، وأن من مات، قامت قيامته، ودخل في دار الجزاء على الأعمال، وأن هذا تعجب من كل غافل معرض، لا يدري متى يفجأه الموت، صباحا أو مساء، فهذه حالة الناس كلهم، إلا من أدركته العناية الربانية، فاستعد للموت وما بعده.ثم ذكر ما يتناجى به الكافرون الظالمون على وجه العناد، ومقابلة الحق بالباطل، وأنهم تناجوا، وتواطأوا فيما بينهم، أن يقولوا في الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم، إنه بشر مثلكم، فما الذي فضله عليكم، وخصه من بينكم، فلو ادعى أحد منكم مثل دعواه، لكان قوله من جنس قوله، ولكنه يريد أن يتفضل عليكم، ويرأس فيكم، فلا تطيعوه، ولا تصدقوه، وأنه ساحر، وما جاء به من القرآن سحر، فانفروا عنه، ونفروا الناس، وقولوا: { أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ } هذا وهم يعلمون أنه رسول الله حقا بما شاهدوا من الآيات الباهرة ما لم يشاهد غيرهم، ولكن حملهم على ذلك الشقاء والظلم والعناد، والله تعالى قد أحاط علما بما تناجوا به، وسيجازيهم عليه

وقوله " وأسروا النجوى الذين ظلموا " أي قائلين فيما بينهم خفية " هل هذا إلا بشر مثلكم " يعنون رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يستبعدون كونه نبيا لأنه بشر مثلهم فكيف اختص بالوحي دونهم ولهذا قال " أفتأتون السحر وأنتم تبصرون " أي أفتتبعونه فتكونون كمن يأتي السحر وهو يعلم أنه سحر فقال تعالى مجيبا لهم عما افتروه واختلقوه من الكذب.

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Virtues of Surat Al-Anbiya'

Al-Bukhari recorded that `Abdur-Rahman bin Yazid said that `Abdullah said, "Banu Isra'il, Al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta Ha and Al-Anbiya' - they are among the earliest and most beautiful Surahs and they are my treasure."

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Hour is at hand but People are heedless

This is a warning from Allah of the approach of the Hour, and that people are heedless of it, i.e., they are not working for it or preparing for it. An-Nasa'i recorded that Abu Sa`id reported from the Prophet :

فِى غَفْلَةٍ مُّعْرِضُونَ

(while they turn away in heedlessness), he said,

«فِي الدُّنْيَا»

(in this world.) Allah says:

أَتَى أَمْرُ اللَّهِ فَلاَ تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ

(The Event ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it)

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ وَإِن يَرَوْاْ ءَايَةً يُعْرِضُواْ

(The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder. And if they see a sign, they turn away.) 54:1,2. Then Allah states that they do not listen to the revelation (Wahy) that He sends down to His Messenger , which is addressed to the Quraysh and all disbelievers like them.

مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن ذِكْرٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ مُّحْدَثٍ

(Comes not unto them an admonition from their Lord as a recent revelation) meaning, newly-revealed,

إِلاَّ اسْتَمَعُوهُ وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

(but they listen to it while they play. ) This is like what Ibn `Abbas said, "Why do you ask the People of the Book about what they have, which has been altered and distorted, and they have added things and taken things away, when your Book is the most recently revealed from Allah, and you read it pure and unadulterated" Al-Bukhari recorded something similar to this.

وَأَسَرُّواْ النَّجْوَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ

(Those who do wrong, conceal their private counsels) meaning, what they say to one another in secret.

هَلْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ

(Is this more than a human being like you) meaning, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They did not believe that he could be a Prophet because he was a human being like them, so how could he have been singled out to receive revelation, and not them They said:

أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ

(Will you submit to magic while you see it) meaning, will you follow him and be like one who submits to magic when he knows that it is magic Allah said in response to their fabrications and lies:

قَالَ رَبِّى يَعْلَمُ الْقَوْلَ فِى السَّمَآءِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(He said: "My Lord knows what is said in the heavens and on earth...") Nothing at all is hidden from the One Who knows that, and He is the One Who reveals this Qur'an which contains news of the earliest and last generations. No one can produce the like of this except the One Who knows all the secrets of the heavens and the earth.

وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

(And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.) means, He hears all that they say and He knows all their circumstances. This is a warning and a threat to them.

The Disbelievers' Ideas about the Qur'an and the Messenger ; their demand for a Sign and the Refutation of that

بَلْ قَالُواْ أَضْغَـثُ أَحْلاَمٍ بَلِ افْتَرَاهُ

(Nay, they say: "These are mixed up false dreams! Nay, he has invented it!...") Here Allah tells us of the stubbornness and heresy of the disblievers, and the various things they said about the Qur'an, and how they were confused and misguided about it. Sometimes they described it as magic, and sometimes they described it as poetry, or mixed up false dreams, or a fabrication. As Allah says:

انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُواْ لَكَ الاٌّمْثَالَ فَضَلُّواْ فَلاَ يَسْتَطِيعْونَ سَبِيلاً

(See what examples they have put forward for you. So they have gone astray, and never can they find a way) 17:48

فَلْيَأْتِنَا بِـَايَةٍ كَمَآ أُرْسِلَ الاٌّوَّلُونَ

(Let him then bring us an Ayah like the ones that were sent before!) They were referring to the she-camel of Salih, and the signs of Musa and `Isa. And Allah says,

وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِالاٌّيَـتِ إِلاَّ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا الاٌّوَّلُونَ

(And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them.) 17:59. So Allah said here:

مَآ ءَامَنَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَآ أَفَهُمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(Not one of the towns of those which We destroyed, believed before them; will they then believe) None of the peoples to whom Messengers were sent were given a sign at the hands of their Prophet and believed. On the contrary, they disbelieved and We destroyed them as a result. Would these people believe in a sign if they saw it Not at all! In fact,

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) 10:96-97. Indeed, they witnes- sed clear signs and definitive proof at the hands of the Messen- ger of Allah , signs which were far clearer and more overwhel- ming than any that had been witnessed in the case of any other Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.

with their hearts preoccupied heedless of its meanings. And they are secret in their conference their speech they the evildoers alladhīna zalamū a substitution for the third person plural indicator wāw of wa-asarrū’l-najwā ‘and they are secret in conference’ ‘Is this namely Muhammad (s) other than a mortal human being like yourselves? and so what he produces is mere sorcery. Will you then take to sorcery will you succumb and follow it even though you are able to see?’ even though you know that it is sorcery?

أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ‌ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُ‌ونَ (Would you then go along with sorcery while you have eyes to see? - 21:3) Those people used to discuss among themselves secretly that the claim of the Holy Prophet about his prophethood should not be accepted, because he was an ordinary human being like all others and not an angel. On the other hand not even the most rigid among the unbelievers could deny the supreme charm and eloquence of the Book of Allah nor its power to influence people when it was recited before them. Therefore, in order to turn people away from the Holy Book they started calling it magic and black art. They thought that they could keep people away from Islam by labeling the Qur'an as a book of magic thereby dissuading people from going to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and listening to Qur'an. Probably they used to discuss this subject secretly among themselves lest the Muslims come to know about their foolish views and unveil their fallacy.