Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

Ayah by Ayah

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Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Ghafir — Ayah 78

40:78
وَلَقَدۡ أَرۡسَلۡنَا رُسُلٗا مِّن قَبۡلِكَ مِنۡهُم مَّن قَصَصۡنَا عَلَيۡكَ وَمِنۡهُم مَّن لَّمۡ نَقۡصُصۡ عَلَيۡكَۗ وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُولٍ أَن يَأۡتِيَ بِـَٔايَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِۚ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَمۡرُ ٱللَّهِ قُضِيَ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ ٱلۡمُبۡطِلُونَ ٧٨
Indeed We sent many Messengers before you: of them there are some whose account We have narrated to you and there are others whose account We have not narrated to you.1 It did not lie in any Messenger's power to bring any Sign2 except with Allah's leave. So when Allah's decree came, the matter was decided with justice, and those steeped in error courted utter loss,3 then and there.
Footnotes
  • [1] Qira’at: Ibn Kathir, Abu ʻAmr, Ibn ʻAmer and Shuʻba read it as: “Enterpl , O Pharaoh’s folk . . .”
  • [2] A new theme starts from here. The disbelievers of Makkah said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): We would not believe you to be Allah’s Messenger unless you showed us the miracle that we ask you to show us. In the following verses an answer is being given to this very demand without mentioning it. (For the type of the miracles they demanded, see (Surah Houd, Ayat 12); (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayat 7); (Surah Bani Israil, Ayats 90-93); (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 21) and the E.Ns thereof).
  • [3] That is, a miracle has never been shown for the mere fun of it. It is a decisive thing. If a nation does not believe even after a miracle has been shown, it is destroyed. You are demanding a miracle only for the sake of fun, but you have no idea that by making such a demand you are, in fact, inviting your own doom. This is the second answer to their demand. (For details, please see (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayats 8, 58-60); (Surah Bani Israil, Ayat 59); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats 5-9); (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayats 22-23);(Surah Ash- Shuara, Ayats 66-67) and the E.Ns thereof).
  • [4] Qira’at: Nafieʻ, Ibn Kathir, Abu ʻAmr, Ibn ʻAmer, Abu Jaʻfar and Yaʻqub read it as: “How little they remind themselves !”
  • [5] Frequently the Qur’an addresses the events of the Hereafter in pasttense; this grammatical shift should be pondered upon by the reader.
  • [6] That is, no Prophet ever showed a miracle by his own will and desire, nor had any Prophet the power to show a miracle by himself. Whenever a miracle was shown through a Prophet, it was shown when Allah willed it to be shown through him to the disbelievers. This is the first answer to the disbelievers' demand.