21:39 Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

{ لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ْ} حالهم الشنيعة حين لا يكفون عن وجوههم النار ولا عن ظهورهم، إذ قد أحاط بهم من كل جانب وغشيهم من كل مكان { وَلَا هُمْ يُنْصَرُونَ ْ} أي: لا ينصرهم غيرهم، فلا نصروا ولا انتصروا.

قال الله تعالى " لو يعلم الذين كفروا حين لا يكفون عن وجوههم النار ولا عن ظهورهم " أي لو تيقنوا أنها واقعة بهم لا محالة لما استعجلوا به ولو يعلمون حين يغشاهم العذاب من فوقهم ومن تحت أرجلهم " لهم من فوقهم ظل من النار ومن تحتهم ظلل " " لهم من جهنم مهاد ومن فوقهم غواش " وقال في هذه الآية " حين لا يكفون عن وجوههم النار ولا عن ظهورهم" وقال: " سرابيلهم من قطران وتغشى وجوههم النار " فالعذاب محيط بهم من جميع جهاتهم " ولا هم ينصرون أي لا ناصر لهم كما قال " ومالهم من الله من واق ".

The Idolators seek to hasten on the Punishment

Allah also tells us how the idolators seek to hasten punishment upon themselves, out of denial, rejection, disbelief, stubbornness and a belief that it will never happen. He says:

وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هَـذَا الْوَعْدُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ

(And they say: "When will this promise (come to pass), if you are truthful".) And Allah says:

لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ حِينَ لاَ يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلاَ عَن ظُهُورِهِمْ

(If only those who disbelieved knew (the time) when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs,) meaning, if only they knew for certain that it will inevitably come to pass, they would not seek to hasten it. If only they knew how the torment will overwhelm them from above them and from beneath their feet.

لَهُمْ مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ ظُلَلٌ مِّنَ النَّارِ وَمِن تَحْتِهِمْ ظُلَلٌ

(They shall have coverings of Fire, above them and coverings (of Fire) beneath them) 39:16

لَهُم مِّن جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ وَمِن فَوْقِهِمْ غَوَاشٍ

(Theirs will be a bed of Hell (Fire), and over them coverings (of Hellfire)) 7:41. And in this Ayah Allah says:

حِينَ لاَ يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلاَ عَن ظُهُورِهِمْ

(when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs,) And Allah says:

سَرَابِيلُهُم مِّن قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمْ النَّارُ

(Their garments will be of tar, and fire will cover their faces) 14:50. The torment will surround them on all sides,

وَلاَ هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

(and they will not be helped.) means, and they will have no helper. This is like the Ayah:

وَمَا لَهُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ مِن وَاقٍ

(And they have no guardian against Allah) 13:34.

بَلْ تَأْتِيهِم بَغْتَةً

(Nay, it will come upon them all of a sudden) means, the Fire will come upon them suddenly, i.e., it will take them by surprise.

فَتَبْهَتُهُمْ

(and will perplex them,) means, it will scare them, and they will succumb to it in confusion, not knowing what they are doing.

فَلاَ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ رَدَّهَا

(and they will have no power to avert it) means, they will have no means of doing so.

وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

(nor will they get respite. ) means, it will not be delayed for them even for an instant.

God exalted be He says If those who disbelieved only knew of the time when they shall not be able to ward off repel the Fire from their faces nor from their backs nor shall they be helped nor shall they be protected from it at the Resurrection the response to the conditional particle law ‘if only’ is something along the lines of ‘they would not have said that’.

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.