In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
He says: “My Lord knows whatever is spoken in Heaven and Earth. He is the one who hears all and knows all.”
“Nay,” they say, “it is but a medley of dreams!” — “Nay, he has invented it himself!” — “Nay, he is only a poet!” — “Let him, then, bring us some sign, as the prophets of old were sent with.”
Not one of the communities whom We destroyed in bygone days would ever believe. Will these, then, believe?
Before your time, We never sent (as Our messengers) any but men whom We inspired. Hence, ask the followers of earlier revelations if you do not know this.
Neither did We give them bodies that could dispense with food, nor were they immortal.
In the end, We fulfilled Our promise to them, and We saved them and all whom We willed (to save), and We destroyed those who transgressed beyond bounds.
(The Prophets: 21: 4-9)
As we began our commentary on this Surah, we explained how the unbelievers turned their backs on God’s message, accusing God’s messenger of practicing sorcery, and wondering how a messenger from God could be a human being. The Prophet is instructed to leave the whole matter between him and the unbelievers to God, making it clear that He knows what they say among themselves in secret. He also informs him of their scheming by which they tried to divert the effect of the Qur’an on themselves and on other people.
“He says: My Lord knows whatever is spoken in Heaven and Earth. He is the one who hears all and knows all.” Whatever people may say in private is known to God, because He knows everything that takes place in Heaven and Earth. When they conspire and scheme, He is fully aware of their scheming. Nothing escapes His knowledge. They were at a loss as to how they should describe the Qur’an in order to neutralize its appeal. Hence, they alleged that it was sorcery, and they described it as confused dreams related by Muhammad, and they claimed that it was poetry, and that it was all fabrication.
The Qur’an reports their claims as they utter them. They say: “Nay, it is but a medley of dreams! — Nay, he has invented it himself! — Nay, he is only a poet!” They could not agree to any one view and description, because they merely try to concoct something by which they could explain the very strong effect the Qur’an has on people. But none of their allegations and justifications has any value. Hence, they move from one claim to another, discarding their own views, betraying their puzzlement. Feeling themselves at a terrible loss, they decide to get round the whole question by demanding a miracle similar to those given to some early prophets: “Let him, then, bring us some sign, as the prophets of old were sent with.”
Miraculous signs and events were given in the past, but the communities to which they were shown did not believe as a result. Hence, they were destroyed in accordance with God’s law which seals the fate of any community which continues to reject the truth after having been given a miraculous sign of it. “Not one of the communities whom We destroyed in bygone days would ever believe.” When stubborn rejection of the truth reaches a point that it continues even after a tangible, physical, miraculous sign is given, then all excuses are invalid. People who continue with such rejection seal their own fate and they are destroyed as a result.
Miracles were given in plenty, but people continued to reject the truth, and they were destroyed, one community after another.
Is it to be expected that those Arabs, similar as they are to the earlier communities, would submit to the miraculous evidence and accept the truth: “Will these, then, believe?”
“Before your time, We never sent (as Our messengers) any but men whom We inspired. Hence, ask the followers of earlier revelations if you do not know this. Neither did We give them bodies that could dispense with food, nor were they immortal.” In His infinite wisdom, God chose His messengers from among human beings. They received His revelations and called on people to believe in Him on the basis of such revelations.
Those noble messengers of God were men with human bodies. God has not made them of a special type, so as not to eat food. Eating is necessary for a human body, and having a body is necessary for every human being. And as humans, they were not immortal. Such is the law God has set, and if those Arabs were unaware of it, they could ask the people who received earlier revelations, because they knew earlier prophets.
Moreover, God chose His messengers from among human beings because He wanted them to experience human life. Thus, their own practical life will show the practicality of divine law, and their daily actions set the example of what they call for.
When words are confirmed by practice, they are far more effective, because people see their effect as they are implemented. Had God’s messengers been of a different species, needing no food to eat, no going about in the markets to get their needs, and no intimacy with women, and had they had no experience of human emotions, they would have had no empathy with other people, and no understanding of their feelings and motives. This means, by contrast, that people would not find in them a relevant example to follow.
Any advocate of a cause who does not interact with the people he addresses, neither sharing their feelings, nor letting them share his, will remain on the margin of their life, experiencing no mutual sympathy with them.
Whatever he may say to them, he will not be able to motivate them in any way, because of their mutual isolation. Likewise, an advocate whose actions do not endorse his words will not be able to reach people’s hearts, no matter how lucid and eloquent he may be. Indeed a simple word that is felt to be genuine and endorsed by action is the effective one that motivates people to act.
Those who in old days suggested that God’s messenger should be an angel, like their successors who today suggest that a messenger from God should be far above human earthly feelings, indulge in a futile argument. Furthermore, they are all oblivious to the fundamental fact that angels do not, by their very nature, experience human life.
They can experience neither the physical needs and interactions of the human body, nor human feelings, emotions or concerns.
A messenger from God must know all such feelings and motives, experiencing them in his own daily life so that he is able to provide those who respond to his message with practical guidance concerning all issues of human life.
Another consideration that must be taken into account is that when people realize that the messenger they receive is an angel, they have no motivation to follow his example in their life’s details. They feel that as he belongs to a different race and has a different nature, they will remain unable to follow his suit in his daily life. Needless to say, God’s messengers have always provided their peoples with a good example to follow.
We will pick up our commentary on this verse next week, God willing.