In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent

Bear with patience whatever they say, and remember Our servant David who was endowed with strength. He always turned to Us. We caused the mountains to join him in extolling Our limitless glory in the evening and at sunrise, and likewise the birds in flocks: They all would echo his praise. We strengthened his kingdom; We endowed him with wisdom and decisive judgment. (SAD: 38: 17-20)

With these verses, the surah begins a long passage that is devoted to aspects of the histories of earlier messengers so that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would remember them and disregard all the rejections, accusations, amazement and fabrications the unbelievers leveled at him. All this was certain to weigh hard on anyone, but the Prophet is told to bear it all and remain patient in adversity. At the same time, the stories present the effects of God’s grace as it was bestowed on earlier messengers. It shows how God granted them favors of all sorts, including power, authority, care and blessings. This contrasts with the amazement expressed by the Quraish at God’s favoring the Prophet with His message. He was not a unique case among God’s messengers. To some of them God granted a kingdom, in addition to their being His messengers. Among them one was favored with the mountains and birds echoing his glorification and praise of God, and to another the wind and jinn were made subservient. Such were David and Solomon. What is strange, then, for God to have chosen from among all the Quraish, Muhammad, the man of truth, upon whom to bestow His revelations?

These stories describe the care God always took of His messengers and how He instructed them so that they became worthy of their mission. Like Muhammad, they were ordinary human beings, experiencing the weaknesses all people do. God took care of them so that their weaknesses did not get the better of them. He explained things to them and gave them directives. He also tested them so that He would forgive them their errors and grant them favors. This was bound to reassure the Prophet that God would take care of him at every step.

The passage begins with this instruction given to the Prophet: “Bear with patience...” This is a reference to the road taken by all the messengers of God. It groups them together. Everyone of them took it: Everyone suffered, everyone was tested and remained patient in adversity; each at his own step in the lofty ladder of prophethood. The life of each one of them was a series of tests, each bearing much pain. Even when things were pleasant and comfortable, this represented a different form of test so as to ensure that they remained patient when life was easy in the same way as they were patient in adversity. Both situations require endurance. When we contemplate the lives of all messengers, as told to us in the Qur’an, we realize that patience was the most prominent element. In essence, their lives were a long series of trials and tests.

The lives of God’s messengers were in fact an open book for all humanity to read, with every page speaking about trials, afflictions and patience. The records show how the human soul triumphs over pain and necessity. How it rises above all that to which the present world attaches value, and how it discards desires and temptations, so as to achieve full dedication to God, and in so doing passes the test He has set. It shows the meaning of choosing Him over everything else so as to say to mankind: ‘This is the way to rise; it is the only way leading to God’s acceptance.’

“Bear with patience whatever they say.” They said much and the surah has quoted some of it such as: “This is a sorcerer telling lies.” (Verse 4); “Does he make all the gods into one God? This is indeed most strange.” (Verse 5); “Was the message given to him alone out of all of us?” (Verse 7). Indeed they said much more.

God directs the Prophet to bear their statements with patience, and tells him that in his mind and heart he should live with a different type of people: The select few, God’s messengers with whom he has a strong affinity and close relationship. Indeed, he used to refer to them as though they were his immediate relatives, saying: “May God have mercy on my brother Joseph,” and “I have a stronger bond with my brother Moses,” etc.

“Bear with patience whatever they say, and remember Our servant David who was endowed with strength. He always turned to Us.” David is referred to here as a strong person who turned to God. The surah earlier mentioned the peoples of Noah, the Ad, Thamud, Pharaoh, Lot’s people and the community that lived in the wooded dale near Madain. All of these were tyrannical, and it was such tyranny that gave them the impression of power. David, on the other hand, was a man of strength, but he always turned to God, repenting of his sins, glorifying God and worshipping Him. He did so when he was truly powerful, with a kingdom to rule.

In Surah 2, The Cow, we have an account of David in his youth, when he was a soldier in Saul’s army. At the time, which was long after Moses, the Israelites asked one of their prophets to assign one of them as king and they promised that they would fight for God’s cause under his leadership. God appointed Saul as their king and he marshaled them to face Goliath’s mighty army. It was David who killed Goliath. From that day, his standing was enhanced, such that, in turn, he became king. Yet having a throne did not lead him astray. He continued to turn to God in repentance, glorifying and worshipping Him. The larger part of the surah speaks about the nonbelievers who deny God’s blessing, prohibit what God has made lawful, violate their covenant with God and reject the faith altogether. This makes the warning more appropriate at the outset. The warning is coupled with a call to fear God and beware of incurring His displeasure.

The surah then begins to outline the aspects of creation that emphasize the oneness of the Creator, and the aspects of blessing that confirm the oneness of the One who bestows them all. All these are shown in groups that follow one another, starting with the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the creation of man: “He has created the heavens and the earth with truth; sublimely exalted above anything people may associate with Him. He creates man out of a drop of sperm; yet this same man is openly contentious.”

“He has created the heavens and the earth with truth.” The truth is at the core of their creation and their existence. Indeed the truth is an essential element in managing their affairs and the affairs of all the creation that live in both. Nothing of that is created in vain or idle play. Everything derives its existence on the basis of the truth, and leads eventually to the truth. “Sublimely exalted above anything people may associate with Him.” He is exalted above their pagan beliefs and above those of His creation whom they associate with Him. He is indeed the One who has created the heavens and the earth and all creatures living in them. No creature is worthy of being His partner. Indeed He has no partners.

“He creates man out of a drop of sperm; yet this same man is openly contentious.” The gulf is so huge between the origin and the end, between the worthless sperm and the man in open contention. He disputes with his Lord and denies Him. He argues about His existence or His oneness. Yet the way the verse runs leaves no gap between the point of origin, the drop of sperm, and the grown up man engaged in dispute and contention. That shows the contrast to be complete and the gulf too wide. These two contrasting images of man are intended to enhance the effect of expression.