Those Who Set The Ranks, Drawn up in Ranks, The Rangers — Verse 171

The Promise of Victory and the Command to turn away from Idolators Allah says, وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ (And, verily, Our Word has gone forth of old for Our servants, the Messengers,) meaning, it has already been stated in the first decree that the Messengers and their followers will ultimately prevail in this world and the Hereafter. This is like the Ayah: كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لاّغْلِبَنَّ أَنَاْ وَرُسُلِى إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ عَزِيزٌ (Allah has decreed: "Verily, it is I and My Messengers who shall be the victorious." Verily, Allah is All-Powerful, Almighty.) (58:21), and إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الاٌّشْهَـدُ (Verily, We will indeed make victorious Our Messengers and those who believe in this world's life and on the Day when the witnesses will stand forth.) (40:51). وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ - إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنصُورُونَ (And, verily, Our Word has gone forth of old for Our servants, the Messengers, that they verily would be made triumphant,) meaning, `in this world and in the Hereafter, as We have already stated that they would prevail over their people who disbelieved in them and went against them, and how Allah destroyed the disbelievers and saved His believing servants. ' وَإِنَّ جُندَنَا لَهُمُ الْغَـلِبُونَ (And that Our hosts they verily would be the victors.) means, that they would ultimately prevail. فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ (So turn away from them for a while,) means, `bear their annoyance with patience and wait until an appointed time, when We shall cause you to prevail and will grant you victory.' وَأَبْصِرْهُمْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ (And watch them and they shall see!) means, `watch them and see what will happen to them by way of punishment for their opposition towards you and their disbelief in you.' Allah said, as a threat and a warning, فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ (and they shall see!). Then Allah says: أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (Do they seek to hasten on Our torment) meaning, `they seek to hasten on the punishment because they disbelieve in you, and Allah is angry with them because of that and will make them suffer the consequences, and because of their disbelief and stubbornness, He will hasten on the punishment.' فَإِذَا نَزَلَ بِسَاحَتِهِمْ فَسَآءَ صَبَاحُ الْمُنْذَرِينَ (Then, when it descends in their courtyard, evil will be the morning for those who had been warned!) means, when the punishment comes down to the place where they are, terrible will be the day of their punishment and destruction. As-Suddi said: فَإِذَا نَزَلَ بِسَاحَتِهِمْ (Then, when it descends in their courtyard,) means, in their homes; فَسَآءَ صَبَاحُ الْمُنْذَرِينَ (evil will be the morning for those who had been warned!) means, how terrible that morning will be for them. It was reported in the Two Sahihs that Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "On the morning of Khaybar, when the people came out with their tools (to go about their daily work) and saw the (Muslim) army, they went back and said, `Muhammad by Allah! Muhammad and the army!' The Prophet said: «اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، خَرِبَتْ خَيْبَرُ، إِنَّا إِذَا نَزَلْنَا بِسَاحَةِ قَوْمٍ فَسَاءَ صَبَاحُ الْمُنْذَرِين» (Allahu Akbar! Khaybar has been destroyed. Then, when it descends in the courtyard of any people, evil will be the morning for those who had been warned!)" وَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى حِينٍ وَأَبْصِرْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ- (So turn away from them for a while, and watch and they shall see!) This is a reiteration of the command stated above. And Allah knows best.

And verily Our Word containing the promise of victory has gone beforehand in favour of Our servants the messengers and that Word is I shall assuredly prevail I and My messengers Q. 5821 —

Already Our word has preceded to the envoys. Word here comprises three roots: knowledge, desire, and wisdom. First is the precedence of knowledge: Before the doing, He knew what He must do. Second is the precedence of desire: What He knew He must do, He wanted to do. Third is the precedence of wisdom: What He did He did rightly and properly. Know also that God has no need of duration, for duration is a cause, and His doing has no cause. For Him the not-yet-come is hard cash and the past is retained. It is you who must think about the not-yet-come, you who must remember what is past, and you who must preserve what is present. He has no need to remember the past, for it is in His knowledge. He has no need to think about the not-yet-come, for it is in His decree. He has no need to preserve what it is present, for it is in His kingdom. For Him, from the Beginningless to the Endless is less than one breath, and one hundred years is less than one instant. With Him there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow. He is constant in exaltedness and abides in His measure. This is the secret of the words of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, “With your Lord is neither day nor night.” For the equivalent of this verse, recite “those to whom the most beautiful has preceded from Us” [21:101]: “My servant, before you said that you are My servant, I said that I am your Lord: Your god is only God, other than whom there is no god [20:98]. Before you said that you are My friend, I said that I am your friend: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. My servant, you were not, but I was there for you. I was there for Myself in exaltedness, and I was there for you in mercy. 'Belong to Me as you always were, and I will belong to you as I have always been.'” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Where will I find again the day when You belonged to me and I was not? Until I reach that day again, I will be in the midst of fire and smoke. If I find that day again in the two worlds, I will profit. If I find Your Being, I will be pleased with my own nonbeing.”

Already Our word has preceded to the envoys. Word here comprises three roots: knowledge, desire, and wisdom. First is the precedence of knowledge: Before the doing, He knew what He must do. Second is the precedence of desire: What He knew He must do, He wanted to do. Third is the precedence of wisdom: What He did He did rightly and properly. Know also that God has no need of duration, for duration is a cause, and His doing has no cause. For Him the not-yet-come is hard cash and the past is retained. It is you who must think about the not-yet-come, you who must remember what is past, and you who must preserve what is present. He has no need to remember the past, for it is in His knowledge. He has no need to think about the not-yet-come, for it is in His decree. He has no need to preserve what it is present, for it is in His kingdom. For Him, from the Beginningless to the Endless is less than one breath, and one hundred years is less than one instant. With Him there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow. He is constant in exaltedness and abides in His measure. This is the secret of the words of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, “With your Lord is neither day nor night.” For the equivalent of this verse, recite “those to whom the most beautiful has preceded from Us” [21:101]: “My servant, before you said that you are My servant, I said that I am your Lord: Your god is only God, other than whom there is no god [20:98]. Before you said that you are My friend, I said that I am your friend: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. My servant, you were not, but I was there for you. I was there for Myself in exaltedness, and I was there for you in mercy. 'Belong to Me as you always were, and I will belong to you as I have always been.'” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Where will I find again the day when You belonged to me and I was not? Until I reach that day again, I will be in the midst of fire and smoke. If I find that day again in the two worlds, I will profit. If I find Your Being, I will be pleased with my own nonbeing.”

Already Our word has preceded to the envoys. Word here comprises three roots: knowledge, desire, and wisdom. First is the precedence of knowledge: Before the doing, He knew what He must do. Second is the precedence of desire: What He knew He must do, He wanted to do. Third is the precedence of wisdom: What He did He did rightly and properly. Know also that God has no need of duration, for duration is a cause, and His doing has no cause. For Him the not-yet-come is hard cash and the past is retained. It is you who must think about the not-yet-come, you who must remember what is past, and you who must preserve what is present. He has no need to remember the past, for it is in His knowledge. He has no need to think about the not-yet-come, for it is in His decree. He has no need to preserve what it is present, for it is in His kingdom. For Him, from the Beginningless to the Endless is less than one breath, and one hundred years is less than one instant. With Him there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow. He is constant in exaltedness and abides in His measure. This is the secret of the words of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, “With your Lord is neither day nor night.” For the equivalent of this verse, recite “those to whom the most beautiful has preceded from Us” [21:101]: “My servant, before you said that you are My servant, I said that I am your Lord: Your god is only God, other than whom there is no god [20:98]. Before you said that you are My friend, I said that I am your friend: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. My servant, you were not, but I was there for you. I was there for Myself in exaltedness, and I was there for you in mercy. 'Belong to Me as you always were, and I will belong to you as I have always been.'” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Where will I find again the day when You belonged to me and I was not? Until I reach that day again, I will be in the midst of fire and smoke. If I find that day again in the two worlds, I will profit. If I find Your Being, I will be pleased with my own nonbeing.”

Already Our word has preceded to the envoys. Word here comprises three roots: knowledge, desire, and wisdom. First is the precedence of knowledge: Before the doing, He knew what He must do. Second is the precedence of desire: What He knew He must do, He wanted to do. Third is the precedence of wisdom: What He did He did rightly and properly. Know also that God has no need of duration, for duration is a cause, and His doing has no cause. For Him the not-yet-come is hard cash and the past is retained. It is you who must think about the not-yet-come, you who must remember what is past, and you who must preserve what is present. He has no need to remember the past, for it is in His knowledge. He has no need to think about the not-yet-come, for it is in His decree. He has no need to preserve what it is present, for it is in His kingdom. For Him, from the Beginningless to the Endless is less than one breath, and one hundred years is less than one instant. With Him there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow. He is constant in exaltedness and abides in His measure. This is the secret of the words of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, “With your Lord is neither day nor night.” For the equivalent of this verse, recite “those to whom the most beautiful has preceded from Us” [21:101]: “My servant, before you said that you are My servant, I said that I am your Lord: Your god is only God, other than whom there is no god [20:98]. Before you said that you are My friend, I said that I am your friend: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. My servant, you were not, but I was there for you. I was there for Myself in exaltedness, and I was there for you in mercy. 'Belong to Me as you always were, and I will belong to you as I have always been.'” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Where will I find again the day when You belonged to me and I was not? Until I reach that day again, I will be in the midst of fire and smoke. If I find that day again in the two worlds, I will profit. If I find Your Being, I will be pleased with my own nonbeing.”

Already Our word has preceded to the envoys.Word here comprises three roots: knowledge, desire, and wisdom. First is the precedence of knowledge: Before the doing, He knew what He must do. Second is the precedence of desire: What He knew He must do, He wanted to do. Third is the precedence of wisdom: What He did He did rightly and properly.Know also that God has no need of duration, for duration is a cause, and His doing has no cause. For Him the not-yet-come is hard cash and the past is retained. It is you who must think about the not-yet-come, you who must remember what is past, and you who must preserve what is present.He has no need to remember the past, for it is in His knowledge. He has no need to think about the not-yet-come, for it is in His decree. He has no need to preserve what it is present, for it is in His kingdom. For Him, from the Beginningless to the Endless is less than one breath, and one hundred years is less than one instant. With Him there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow. He is constant in exaltedness and abides in His measure. This is the secret of the words of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, �With your Lord is neither day nor night.�For the equivalent of this verse, recite �those to whom the most beautiful has preceded from Us� [21:101]: �My servant, before you said that you are My servant, I said that I am your Lord: Your god is only God, other than whom there is no god [20:98]. Before you said that you are My friend, I said that I am your friend: He loves them, and they love Him [5:54]. My servant, you were not, but I was there for you. I was there for Myself in exaltedness, and I was there for you in mercy. 'Belong to Me as you always were, and I will belong to you as I have always been.'�The Pir of the Tariqah said, �Where will I find again the day when You belonged to me and I was not? Until I reach that day again, I will be in the midst of fire and smoke. If I find that day again in the two worlds, I will profit. If I find Your Being, I will be pleased with my own nonbeing.�

ولقد سبقت كلمتنا -التي لا مردَّ لها- لعبادنا المرسلين، أن لهم النصرة على أعدائهم بالحجة والقوة، وأن جندنا المجاهدين في سبيلنا لهم الغالبون لأعدائهم في كل مقام باعتبار العاقبة والمآل.

يقول تبارك وتعالى "ولقد سبقت كلمتنا لعبادنا المرسلين" أي تقدم فى الكتاب الأول أن العاقبة للرسل وأتباعهم في الدنيا والآخرة كما قال تعالى "كتب الله لأغلبن أنا ورسلي إن الله قوي عزيز" وقال عز وجل "إنا لننصر رسلنا والذين آمنوا في الحياة الدنيا ويوم يقوم الأشهاد" ولهذا قال جل جلاله "ولقد سبقت كلمتنا لعبادنا المرسلين إنهم لهم المنصورون" أي في الدنيا والآخرة كما تقدم بيان نصرتهم على قومهم ممن كذبهم وخالفهم كيف أهلك الله الكافرين ونجى عباده المؤمنين.

ثم ختم - سبحانه - السورة الكريمة ببشارة المؤمنين بنصره ، وبتسلية النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم عما أصابه من أعدائه ، فقال - تعالى - :( وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا . . . ) .المراد بكلمتنا فى قوله : ( وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا . . ) ما وعد الله - تعالى - به رسله وعباده الصالحين من جعل العاقبة الطيبة لهم .

وقوله ( وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنْصُورُونَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: ولقد سبق منا القول لرسلنا إنهم لهم المنصورون: أي مضى بهذا منا القضاء والحكم في أمّ الكتاب، وهو أنهم لهم النُّصرة والغَلبة بالحجج.

( ولقد سبقت كلمتنا لعبادنا المرسلين ) وهي قوله : " كتب الله لأغلبن أنا ورسلي " ( المجادلة - 21 ) .

وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ (171) تسلية للنبيء صلى الله عليه وسلم على ما تضمنه قوله : { فكَفرُوا به } [ الصافات : 170 ] وبيان لبعض الوعيد الذي في قوله : { فسوف يعلمون } [ الصافات : 170 ] بمنزلة بدل البعض من الكل ولكنه غلب عليه جانب التسلية فعطف بالواو عطف القصة على القصة .والكلمة مراد بها الكلامُ ، عبر عن الكلام بكلمة إشارة إلى أنه منتظم في معنى واحد دال على المقصود دلالة سريعة فشبه بالكلمة الواحدة في سرعة الدلالة وإيجاز اللفظ كقوله تعالى : { كلا إنها كلمة هو قائلها } [ المؤمنون : 100 ] وقول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم « أصدق كلمة قالها شاعر كلمة لبيد :

قد سبقت كلمة اللّه التي لا مرد لها ولا مخالف لها لعباده المرسلين وجنده المفلحين.

قوله تعالى : ولقد سبقت كلمتنا لعبادنا المرسلين قال الفراء : أي : بالسعادة . وقيل : أراد بالكلمة قوله - عز وجل - : كتب الله لأغلبن أنا ورسلي قال الحسن : لم يقتل من أصحاب الشرائع قط أحد

In ancient times, when the Arabs heard that the Jews and other peoples had rejected their prophets, they used to proudly say, ‘These people are unfortunate. If a prophet had come to us, we would have appreciated him and supported him.’ But, when God did send a prophet among them, they rejected him just as others had rejected their prophets. The Truth which affects others is readily seen by a man, but the Truth which affects him personally, seldom catches his eye. Throughout history, people have ignored the call of the preachers of Truth. They forget that the preachers of Truth endeavour to spread God’s word which will in any case reign supreme, however much the unbelievers may oppose them.

The sense of 'the victory of the people of Allah' In verses 171-173, it was said: وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْ‌سَلِينَ إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنصُورُ‌ونَ وَإِنَّ جُندَنَا لَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ (And Our Word has already gone ahead in favor of Our servants - the messengers - they are the ones who will have Allah's support, and verily it will be Our army that prevails). The sense of these verses is that it stands predetermined with Allah that His chosen servants, that is, the prophets would be the ones to prevail. This may raise a difficulty, for in the mortal world, some prophets did not. For an answer to this, it could be said that the majority of prophets consists of the noble souls whose people belied them and met their punishment while they were kept safe from it. There are only a few among the blessed prophets who, though, could not prevail outwardly and physically right up to the end of their tenure in this world, but they always enjoyed ascendancy in the field of logic and argument, and the ultimate intellectual victory remained always theirs. However, the physical traces of this ascendancy were - due to some consideration of wisdom, such as a trial, or its likes - deferred until the Hereafter. Hence, as said by sage Thanavi, it is like the case of a highway robber, who starts harassing a high appointee of the state while on his journey. But, this appointee would never, by virtue of his God-given intellectual sobriety, stoop to the low-down robber, until he reaches the capital of his state where the robber will be seized and punished. Therefore, simply due to this temporary ascendancy, neither can we call that robber an authority, nor that authority a subject. In fact, given the true state of affairs, that robber - despite this temporary ascendancy - is still a subject, while that man of authority - despite his temporary lack of ascendancy - is still the authority he had been all along. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما has expressed this more briefly and lucidly by saying: اَن لَّم یُنصَروا فِی الدُّنِیَا یُنصرُا فِی الاٰخرِۃِ (Those who' are not helped to ascend in the present world are helped to ascend in the Hereafter) - Bayan-ul- Qur’ an, the Tafsir of Surah al-Ma'idah (5). But, it should always be borne in mind that no group of people achieves this supremacy or ascendancy, whether in the present world or in the Hereafter, simply by having particular racial traits, or by belonging to a religion only in name. In fact, this actually happens only when every human being makes himself a member of 'the army of Allah.' It necessarily implies that he or she should be committed to the obedience of Allah in every department of life as the objective of his or her life. Here, the word: جُندَنَا (Our army) is telling us very clearly that the person who embraces Islam will have to enter into a solemn pledge to devote his or her entire life in waging a struggle against the forces of self and Satan - and his or her supremacy, whether material or moral, whether in this world or in the Hereafter, depends on this condition. In verse 177, it was said: فَإِذَا نَزَلَ بِسَاحَتِهِمْ فَسَاءَ صَبَاحُ الْمُنذَرِ‌ينَ (So, when it descends in their courtyard, then, evil with be the dawn of the warned). The word: سَاحَۃُ (sahah) appearing in this verse literally means a courtyard, and the expression: نَزَلِ بِسَاحَتِہٖ (nazala bisahatihi: descended in his courtyard) is an Arabic idiom that denotes the appearance of a calamity face to face, while the time of morning has been specified, as an attack would usually come at that hour among the people of Arabia. This also used to be the practice with the Holy Prophet ﷺ that, should he reach the territorial jurisdiction of some enemy at the time of night, he used to postpone his attack until the morning (Mazhari). According to Hadith narrations, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ attacked the fort of Khaibar during the morning hours, he said: اللہ اکبر، خربت حیبر، انّا اذا نزلنا قوم فساء صباح المنذرین (Allahu Akbar, Khaibar is destroyed. Verily, when we descend on the courtyard of a people, the morning of those who had been already warned is too bad).

(And verily Our word went forth of old) was enjoined that victory and the upper hand will be given (unto Our bondmen sent (to warn)