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 is the opening of a surah of Makkan revelation that addresses three issues: God’s oneness, revelation, and the reckoning on the Day of Judgment. These three issues are discussed in its first part comprising 16 verses. Here the Makkan elders’ amazement at the Prophet’s call on them to believe in God’s oneness and that he was chosen by God to be His Messenger is described. “They deem it strange that one from among them has come to warn them. The unbelievers say: ‘This is a sorcerer telling lies. Does he make all the gods into one God? This is indeed most strange!’ Their leaders go about saying: ‘Walk away, and hold steadfastly to your deities: This is the only thing to do. Never did we hear of a claim like this in any faith of latter days! It is all an invention. Was the message given to him alone out of all of us?’” (Verses 4-8) In these verses we are also told how they met God’s warnings of punishment in the life to come: “They say: Our Lord! Hasten to us our share of punishment even before the Day of Reckoning.” (Verse 16)
Basically, they found it impossible to believe that God would choose one of their own number to deliver His message and moreover that this person should be Muhammad ibn Abdullah who had not held a position of authority among them. Therefore, in reply to their question about His choice, God too questions them: “Or do they own the treasures of your Lord’s grace, the Almighty, the Munificent? Or do they have control over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them? Let them, then, try to ascend by all conceivable means.” (Verses 9-10) This tells them that when God wishes to open the gates of His mercy to anyone, nothing can withhold it. They are further told that human beings own nothing in the heavens and earth; it is a matter of God’s sustenance and mercy, which He bestows on whomever He wishes. It is He who chooses those He knows to deserve His bounty and bestows on them whatever He wills, without limit or restriction.
Within this context the surah gives an account of David and Solomon and the favors God blessed them with, including prophethood, kingdom, and the fact that the mountains, birds, jinn and wind were subjected to them. Yet they were ordinary human beings afflicted by the same type of human weakness as anyone else. They too then needed God’s mercy and care to overcome such weaknesses. In this respect, their repentance is accepted and they are set on the way to God’s pleasure.
By means of both stories the Prophet is instructed to persevere in the face of all the opposition the unbelievers put up against him. He should look to God’s grace and care as demonstrated to David and Solomon: “Bear with patience whatever they say, and remember Our servant David who was endowed with strength. He always turned to Us.” (Verse 17)
The surah also gives a brief account of the Prophet Job (peace be upon him), describing how God may test His true servants with hardship and affliction. The patience Job showed in adversity provides a splendid example of how to remain steadfast. The account also describes the good end Job experienced as God bestowed His mercy on him, dispelling all his pain. The Muslims in Makkah are thus shown how to find solace amidst the constant hardship the unbelievers try to inflict on them. They are reminded that such hardship invariably opens the way to God’s mercy, which is inexhaustible.
These stories form the second and major part of the surah. It also includes a reply to the unbelievers’ hastening of God’s punishment, presenting a scene from the Day of Judgment, describing the happiness that awaits the God-fearing and the blazing fire that awaits those who reject the truth. The values of truth are well established in the life to come, providing the criterion for judgment. The arrogant Makkan chiefs will realize this when they see their fate and compare it with that of the weak elements on whom they poured their derision, claiming that God’s mercy would never be shown to those so weak. The scene so described provides contrasting images: “The God-fearing will certainly have a good place to return to: gardens of perpetual bliss, with gates wide open to them. They will be comfortably seated there, and they will call for abundant fruit and drink, having beside them well-matched mates of modest gaze.” (Verses 49-52) On the other hand, “those who transgress the bounds of what is right will have the most evil place to return to: hell will they have to endure; and how evil a resting place. Let them, then, taste this: a scalding fluid and a dark, disgusting food, and coupled with it, further (suffering) of similar nature.” (Verses 55-58) They will argue, quarrel and curse one another in hell, and they will remember how they used to ridicule the believers: “They will say: How is it that we do not see here men whom we considered to be wicked, and whom we made the target of our derision? Or is it that our eyes have missed them?” (Verses 62-63) They cannot find such people in hell, because they are the ones who belong to heaven. This then is the answer to both their hastening of God’s punishment and their ridicule of the believers. This scene forms the third part of the surah.
In reply to their disbelieving reaction to what the Prophet had told them of the revelations he received from on high, he tells them about Adam and what happened on high. The Prophet was not present when this took place; he was only told about it by God. Indeed no human being, other than Adam, was present. From this account we learn about Iblis’ condemnation and that it was his envy at God’s preference for Adam that brought about his expulsion from heaven. Since the unbelievers thought it was too big a favor for God to choose Muhammad (peace be upon him) from among them, their attitude is not dissimilar to that of Iblis. This last part of the surah concludes with a clear statement from the Prophet: “Say: No reward do I ask of you for this, and I am not one to claim what I am not. This is no less than a reminder to all the worlds, and in time you will certainly come to know its truth.” (Verses 86-88)
