In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful
Sad. By the Qur’an, full of admonition. But the unbelievers are steeped in arrogance and hostility. How many a generation have We destroyed before their time? They all cried out (for mercy), but it was too late to escape. (SAD: 38: 1-3)
This Surah may be divided into four parts, but throughout, it depicts the destruction of earlier communities when they resorted to arrogance, accusing God’s messengers of lying and holding the believers in contempt.
In short, they themselves sealed their own defeat and humiliation: “Whatever hosts, of any affiliation, may be raised will suffer defeat. Before their time, the truth was rejected by Noah’s people, the Ad, Pharaoh of the tent-pegs, the Thamud, Lot’s people and the dwellers of the wooded dales: These were different groupings; yet each one of them accused God’s messengers of lying. Therefore, My retribution fell due.” (Verses 11-14)
The Surah contrasts this with the favors God bestows on His chosen servants, giving them power and taking good care of them. This is made abundantly clear in the stories about David, Solomon and Job.
The Surah also takes us on a round in which we see what lies in store beyond the Day of Judgment, giving us images of happiness and bliss on the one hand, and torment on the other. The last round in the Surah gives the story of the first human being and the hostility shown by his first enemy, the one who deliberately leads people astray, and who they follow unaware of his designs.
The Surah also includes a special touch that is meant to alert hearts to the truth reflected in the creation of the heavens and earth. This is the truth that God wants to establish on earth through the messengers He sends. The two are interrelated: “We have not created heaven and earth and all that is between them without a purpose.” (Verse 27)
As the Surah opens, God states an oath by an Arabic letter of the alphabet, Sad, as well as by the Qur’an, which He describes here as “full of admonition.”
This letter is made by God, who created it as a sound when it is spoken by people. It is also one letter of the alphabet that makes up the Qur’anic style and address. The complete alphabet has always been available to people, but the Qur’an has never been within their ability to produce, because it is God’s book, which He made.
Humans are incapable of producing anything like that which God makes, be that with regard to the Qur’an or to anything else. The sound symbolized by the letter Sad is vocalized by people without effort, but it is also by God’s will. For it is He who made the larynx tract and all the sounds it voices. If people only contemplated this one small but miraculous aspect of their own creation they would realize there is nothing unusual in God choosing one of their own number to receive His revelations. To reveal a message from on high is no more amazing than giving them such miracles as are contained within themselves.
“Sad. By the Qur’an, full of admonition.” The Qur’an includes admonition as well as other things, such as legal provisions, stories, and instruction on how to refine manners. Admonition as well as reminding people of their need to turn to God and seek His favors are the primary purposes of the Qur’an. Indeed, the stories and legal provisions are part of the admonition and the remembrance of God. It should be said that the Arabic text uses the word dhikr, which is rendered in the translation as “full of admonition”. However, the word also means “to be well known”. The Verse could then be rendered as “Sad, By the Qur’an, a widely known divine Book.” This is also a true description of the Qur’an.
“But the unbelievers are steeped in arrogance and hostility.” (Verse 2) The Verse begins with the word, “but”, which suggests that there is a move away from the initial subject matter: the oath by the letter Sad and the Qur’an. The oath sounds incomplete because what it intends to affirm is not mentioned. The Surah simply states the oath and talks about the idolaters and their profound hostility.
Yet this very departure from the initial issue heightens our interest in the next. The very fact that an oath by the letter Sad and the Qur’an is made indicates the intention to discuss something of great importance, one that merits an oath by God Almighty. Yet next to this, the Surah mentions the idolaters’ arrogance and hostility to the Qur’an, indicating that the issue remains the same both before and after the conjunction, “but.” This departure in the mode of address focuses our attention on the great gulf that lies between the immense status God attaches to the Qur’an and the idolaters’ arrogance and hostility to it.
Mention of the fate of those before them who held a similar attitude then follows. It shows such people appealing for help, but none was forthcoming. Their cries mark a radical change in their attitude, but it is all too late to be of any significance: “How many a generation have We destroyed before their time? They all cried out (for mercy), but it was too late to escape.” (Verse 3) Their end is shown to the new unbelievers so that they may change their attitude of hostility and arrogance while there is still time for them to do so. Otherwise, they will end up in the same position: appealing for mercy, but none will be shown.