38:12 Saad (The letter Saad)

يحذرهم تعالى أن يفعل بهم ما فعل بالأمم من قبلهم، الذين كانوا أعظم قوة منهم وتحزبا على الباطل، { قَوْم نُوحٍ وَعَاد } قوم هود { وَفِرْعَوْنُ ذُو الْأَوْتَادِ } أى: الجنود العظيمة، والقوة الهائلة.

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن هؤلاء القرون الماضية وما حل بهم من العذاب والنكال والنقمات في مخالفة الرسل وتكذيب الأنبياء عليهم الصلاة والسلام وقد تقدمت قصصهم مبسوطة في أماكن متعددة وقوله تعالى "أولئك الأحزاب" أي كانوا أكثر منكم وأشد قوة وأكثر أموالا وأولادا فما دافع ذلك عنهم من عذاب الله من شيء لما جاء أمر ربك ولهذا قال عز وجل "إن كل إلا كذب الرسل فحق عقاب" فجعل علة إهلاكهم هو تكذيبهم بالرسل فليحذر المخاطبون من ذلك أشد الحذر.

A Reminder of Those Who were destroyed among the Previous Nations

Allah tells us about those past nations and the punishment and vengeance that struck them for their going against the Messengers and disbelieving in the Prophets, peace be upon them. We have already seen their stories in detail in numerous places (in the Qur'an). Allah says:

أُوْلَـئِكَ الاٌّحْزَابُ

(such were the Confederates.) meaning, `they were greater and stronger than you, they had more wealth and children, but that did not protect them from the punishment of Allah at all when the command of your Lord came to pass.' Allah says:

إِن كُلٌّ إِلاَّ كَذَّبَ الرٌّسُلَ فَحَقَّ عِقَابِ

(Not one of them but denied the Messengers; therefore My torment was justified.) `The reason for their destruction was their disbelief in the Messengers, so let those who are addressed here beware and be afraid.'

وَمَا يَنظُرُ هَـؤُلآءِ إِلاَّ صَيْحَةً وحِدَةً مَّا لَهَا مِن فَوَاقٍ

(And these only wait for a single Sayhah there will be no pause or ending thereto.) Malik narrated from Zayd bin Aslam; "There will none who can avert it," i.e., they will only wait for the Hour that it shall come upon them suddenly while they perceive not. But some of its portents have already come, i.e., it has drawn nigh. This Sayhah is the blast on the Trumpet when Allah will command Israfil to sound a long note, and there will be no one in the heaven or on earth but will be terrified, except those whom Allah spares.

وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَا عَجِّل لَّنَا قِطَّنَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ

(They say: "Our Lord! Hasten to us Qittana before the Day of Reckoning!") Here Allah denounces the idolators for calling for the punishment to be hastened upon themselves. Qitt refers to a book or record, or it was said that it means one's allotted share or fortune. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan and others said, "They asked for the punishment to be hastened." Qatadah added, this is like when they said: e

اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

("O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment.") (8:32). It was also said that they asked for their share of Paradise to be hastened, if it really existed, so that they might have their share in this world; they said this because they thought it unlikely to exist and they disbelieved in it. Ibn Jarir said, "They asked for whatever they deserved, good or bad, to be hastened for them in this world." What he said is good, and A-Dahhak and Isma`il bin Abi Khalid based their views on it. And Allah knows best. They said this by way of mockery and disbelief, so Allah commanded His Messenger to be patient in the face of their insults, and He gave him the glad tidings that his patience would be rewarded with victory and success.

Before them the people of Noah denied the inflection of the verb kadhdabat ‘denied’ that is governed by qawmu ‘people’ is in the feminine person because of the implicit sense and so did those of ‘Ād and Pharaoh he of the stakes — he used to fix four stakes for the person who incurred his wrath and tie to these stakes that person’s hands and feet and then torture him —

وَفِرْ‌عَوْنُ ذُو الْأَوْتَادِ (and Fir'aun, the man of the stakes - 12). The literal meaning of this expression appearing in verse 12 is 'Pharaoh of the stakes or pegs'. The commentators have explained this phrase in different ways. Some of them have said that this phrase refers to the stability of his dominion, and the sense is that the stakes or pegs of his kingdom were well-rooted in his country. Maulana Thanavi (رح) has translated the phrase according to this explanation. Some others have said that he used to punish people by making them lie flat on the ground and driving stakes or pegs through their hands and feet, and on top of that, he would have snakes and scorpions released over the victim's body. Still others have said that he used to play some kind of a game with ropes and pegs and then, there are those who say that 'al-autad' or pegs means buildings fox he had set up very strong structures (Tafsir Qurtubi). Pure is Allah who knows best.