36:46 Yaseen (Yaseen)

{ وَمَا تَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ آيَةٍ مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَّا كَانُوا عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ } وفي إضافة الآيات إلى ربهم، دليل على كمالها ووضوحها، لأنه ما أبين من آية من آيات اللّه، ولا أعظم بيانا.وإن من جملة تربية اللّه لعباده، أن أوصل إليهم الآيات التي يستدلون بها على ما ينفعهم، في دينهم ودنياهم.

واكتفى عن ذلك بقوله تعالى: "وما تأتيهم من آية من آيات ربهم" أي على التوحيد وصدق الرسل "إلا كانوا عنها معرضين" أي لا يتأملونها ولا يقبلونها ولا ينتفعون بها.

The Misguidance of the Idolators

Allah tells us how the idolators persisted in their misguidance and in not paying attention to the sins that they had committed in the past or what was to happen to them in the future, on the Day of Resurrection.

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُواْ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ

(And when it is said to them: "Fear of that which is before you, and that which is behind you...") Mujahid said, "This refers to sins." Others said it is the opposite.

لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

(in order that you may receive mercy.) means, `so that, if you fear such things Allah will have mercy on you and will save you from His punishment.' The wording implies that they would not respond. Rather that they would turn away and ignore that, as Allah says:

وَمَا تَأْتِيهِم مِّنْ ءَايَةٍ مِّنْ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ

(And never came an Ayah from among the Ayat of their Lord to them,) meaning, signs of Tawhid and the truth of the Messengers,

إِلاَّ كَانُواْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ

(but they did turn away from it,) means, they did not accept it or benefit from it.

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنفِقُواْ مِمَّا رِزَقَكُمُ الله

(And when it is said to them: "Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,") means, when they are told to spend of that which Allah has provided to them on the poor and needy among the Muslims,

قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ

(those who disbelieve say to those who believe) means, about the believers who are poor, i.e., they say to those believers who tell them to spend on the needy,

أَنُطْعِمُ مَن لَّوْ يَشَآءُ اللَّهُ أَطْعَمَهُ

(Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed) meaning, `those whom you are telling us to spend on, if Allah had wanted to, He would have made them independent and fed them from His provision, so we are in accordance with the will of Allah with regard to them.

إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(You are only in a plain error.) means, `by telling us to do that.'

And never did a sign of the signs of their Lord come to them but that they turned away from it.

Commentary

In the previous verses, through a description of Divine manifestations of power and wisdom in the creation of the heavens and the earth, people were invited to recognize their creator and believe that He alone is worthy of worship and, on the acceptance of this invitation, a promise of everlasting blessings was made along with a warning of severe punishment on its rejection. In the present verses and in the verses following these, there is a description of the disbelieving people of Makkah who were their direct addressees and who remained unmoved and unaffected either when persuaded to do something reward worthy, or when warned against some likely punishment.

In this connection, two dialogues between believers and disbelievers have been narrated. Believers invite them to fear the punishment of Allah that can come before them even in this mortal world while, after their death, it has to come to them in the Hereafter after all. If they, it is said to them, were to believe in fear of this punishment, it would be better for them. But, the disbelievers show their aversion despite having heard all that. This aversion of theirs has not been expressly mentioned here in the words of the Qur'an, because the 'I` rad' or aversion mentioned in the next verse automatically proves their aversion here too. And in accordance with the rule of syntax, the apodosis or principal clause of the condition:إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ (idha gila lahum: When it is said to them) remains elided. The word of the next verse (46) bear witness to this elision, that is, whenever a verse or sign from their Lord comes to them, they show nothing but their aversion to it. (And that is why the words "they pay no heed" are added in brackets in the translation of this verse above.)

The wisdom behind some people receiving their sustenance indirectly

In the second dialogue, believers exhort the disbelievers to help the poor and needy and feed the hungry and prompt them to give to the destitute from what Allah had given to them. In their sarcastic response, the disbelievers say: You say that Allah is the provider and sustainer of the entire creation, yet He did not give them anything. Why should we? As for your words of advice to us that we should provide for them, this is nothing but that you have gone astray. Do you want to make us their Razzaq: Provider? These disbelievers too confessed that Allah Ta’ ala was the Provider as in the Qur'an: وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّن نَّزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْ‌ضَ مِن بَعْدِ مَوْتِهَا لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّـهُ (And if you ask them "as to who sends down water from the sky, then revives the land with it, they will certainly say, "Allah". - Al-Ankabut, 29:63)

This tells us that they too regarded Allah Ta’ ala as the ultimate Razzaq or Provider, but when in confrontation with believers, they sarcastically remarked: When Allah is the Razzaq, the Provider, let Him provide for them too - why should we? This was as if these dim-witted people thought that giving in the way of Allah and providing for the poor was contrary to Allah's attribute in being the Master-Provider of all sustenance! They just did not understand that as the absolute Giver and Provider, He has His own wise law operating in this world. By giving to one person, He makes that person a conduit for others and thus gives them indirectly - although, he is perfectly and certainly capable of having everyone's sustenance delivered personally and directly, as is the case with animals and insects where everyone in that kingdom receives sustenance directly. There is no one rich and no one, poor. No one gives to anyone. Everyone dines from nature's own food spread. But, human beings are different. It is to make their system of social living just and to inculcate in them the spirit of mutual help and cooperation, that He makes some of them the medium of delivering sustenance to some others, so that the one who spends gets its reward, and the one who receives becomes grateful to the giver. The reason is that this whole phenomenon of mutual human cooperation and help on which depends the entire functional order of the world can survive only when one person needs the other. A poor person needs the money a rich person has, and a rich person needs the labor of a poor person. Neither of the two is free of the need for the other - and a little reflection would reveal that nobody is doing a favor to anybody. Whatever a person gives to the other person gives, in the ultimate analysis, in one's own interest and for one's own good.

Now, there remains the question: On which basis, did the believers ask the disbelievers to spend in the way of Allah, particularly when they simply did not have the very faith in Allah and, as the jurists maintain, they were no addressees of the subsidiary injunctions of the Shari` ah? The answer to that is clear. When the believers said that, they had no intention to have disbelievers implement some religious injunction, it was said on the basis of the accepted norm of human good will, sympathy and gentleness.