The Reality, The Inevitable — Verse 49

And assuredly We know that some of you O people are deniers of the Qur’ān and some of you are believers in it.

إنا لَنعلم أنَّ مِنكم مَن يكذِّب بهذا القرآن مع وضوح آياته، وإن التكذيب به لندامة عظيمة على الكافرين به حين يرون عذابهم ويرون نعيم المؤمنين به، وإنه لحق ثابت ويقين لا شك فيه. فنزِّه الله سبحانه عما لا يليق بجلاله، واذكره باسمه العظيم.

قال الربيع: بالقرآن.

وقوله - سبحانه - : ( وَإِنَّهُ لَحَسْرَةٌ عَلَى الكافرين ) بيان لما يكون عليه الكافرون من ندم شديد ، عندما يرون حسن مصير المؤمنين ، وسوء مصير المكذبين .والحسرة : هى الندم الشديد المتكرر ، على أمر نافع قد مضى ولا يمكن تداركه .أى : وإن هذا القرآن الكريم ، ليكون يوم القيامة ، سبب حسرة شديدة وندامة عظيمة ، على الكافرين ، لأنهم يرون المؤمنين به فى هذا اليوم فى نعيم مقيم ، أما هم فيجدون أنفسهم فى عذاب أليم .

قوله: ( وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُكَذِّبِينَ ) يقول تعالى ذكره: وإنا لنعلم أن منكم مكذّبين أيها الناس بهذا القرآن،

"وإنا لنعلم أن منكم مكذبين".

وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُكَذِّبِينَ (49) هاتان جملتان مرتبطتان ، وأولاهما تمهيد وتوطئة للثانية ، وهي معترضة بين التي قبلها والتي بعدها ، والثانية منهما معطوفة على جملة { وإنه لتذكرة للمتقين } [ الحاقة : 48 ] ، فكان تقديم الجملة الأولى على الثانية اهتماماً بتنبيه المكذبين إلى حالهم وكانت أيضاً بمنزلة التتميم لِجملة { وإنه لتذكرة للمتقين } [ الحاقة : 48 ] .والمعنى : إنا بعثنا إليكم الرسول بهذا القرآن ونحن نعلم أنه سيكون منكم مكذبون له وبه ، وعلمنا بذلك لم يصرفنا عن توجيه التذكير إليكم وإعادتِه عليكم { ليهلك من هلك عن بينة ويحيى من حيَّى عن بينة } [ الأنفال : 42 ] ، فقوبلت صفة القرآن التي تنفع المتقين بصفته التي تُضر بالكافرين على طريقة التضاد ، فبين الجملتين المتعاطفتين مُحسّن الطباق .

{ وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُكَذِّبِينَ } به، وهذا فيه تهديد ووعيد للمكذبين، فإنه سيعاقبهم على تكذيبهم بالعقوبة البليغة.

قال الربيع : بالقرآن .

It literally means, ‘whatever you see and whatever you do not see bear testimony to the veracity of this discourse’ that is, whatever knowledge was at the command of humanity at the time the Quran was revealed and whatever was going to come within its reach thereafter, both go to prove the truth of the messenger’s utterances. Neither the present available knowledge contradicts the Quran being the Truth, nor will future knowledge be able to do so. In spite of this, those who do not accept it simply prove that they are not serious about Truth and Untruth.

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ ﴿44﴾ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ ﴿45﴾ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ ﴿46﴾ And had he forged some statements in Our name, We would have certainly seized him by the right hand, and then severed his life-astery,…(69:44-46) The word taqawwul means 'to forge, fabricate or concoct' and the word watin refers to 'aorta or life-artery'. This is the main artery that carries blood from the heart to other parts of the body. Once this artery is cut off, death occurs instantly. The foregoing verses refute the outrageous thoughts of the disbelievers. They used to accuse the Prophet o ﷺ of being a poet and a soothsayer. They said that the Qur'an was the word of a poet or the word of a soothsayer. The Qur'an denounces their argument - it is not the word of a poet nor the word of a soothsayer; it is a revelation from Allah to His Messenger ﷺ . In other words, in verses [ 37-38] it was claimed that all visible and invisible things prove that the Prophet is Allah's true Messenger and that the Qur'an is Allah's revealed Word and not the imaginary flight of a poet's mind or the wild conjectures of a diviner. In this and the preceding three verses another invincible argument is given in support of his claim. The argument is to the effect that if the Prophet ﷺ had been a forger of lies against Allah, Allah's strong hand would have seized him by the throat and cut off his life-artery and he would have certainly met with a violent death. The invincible argument is put forward in a strong language - assuming the impossible - to make the ignorant realise the worst-case scenario. The expression 'right hand' is used probably because when a convicted criminal is to be executed, the executioner stands in front facing the condemned person. The executioner's left hand faces the guilty person's right hand. The executioner holds the condemned person with his left hand and attacks him with his right hand. A Cautionary Note This verse refers to a theoretical situation relating to the Apostle of Allah in particular that lest, God forbid, if he were to concoct a word and impute it to Allah, this is the way he would have been dealt with. A hypothetical situation is a possible situation, not an actual situation. Thus this does not necessarily set down a universal principle that any and every impostor, who lays claim to prophethood, would be destroyed as a matter of general rule. History records that many impostors laid claim to prophethood, but no such destructive punishment was ever imposed on them.

(And lo! We know that some among you will deny (it)) We know that some among you disbelieve in the Qur'an while others believe in it.

If the Prophet forged anything against Allah, then Allah would punish Him Allah says, وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا (And if he had forged a false saying concerning Us,) meaning, `if Muhammad forged something against Us, as they claim, and added or removed anything from the Message, or said anything from himself while attributing it to Us, then We would surely be swift in punishing him. And of course, Muhammad ﷺ did not do any of this (as the disbelievers claimed).' Thus, Allah says, لأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ (We surely would have seized him by his right hand,) It has been said that this means, `We would seize him by the right hand because it is more stronger in grabbing.' ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ (And then We certainly would have cut off Al-Watin from him,) Ibn `Abbas said, "It (Al-Watin) refers to the artery of the heart, and it is the vein that is attached to the heart." This has also been said by `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hakim, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Muslim Al-Batin and Abu Sakhr Humayd bin Ziyad. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, "It (Al-Watin) is the heart, its blood, and whatever is near it." Concerning Allah's statement, فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَـجِزِينَ (And none of you could have prevented it from him.) means, `none of you would be able to come between Us and him if We wanted to do any of this to him.' The meaning behind all of this is to say that he (Muhammad ﷺ) is truthful, righteous and guided because Allah determined what he is to convey from Him, and Allah helps him with fantastic miracles and definite proofs. Then Allah says, وَإِنَّهُ لَتَذْكِرَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (And verily, this (Qur'an) is a Reminder for those who have Taqwa.) meaning, the Qur'an. This is just as Allah says, قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ هُدًى وَشِفَآءٌ وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ فِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى (Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and it (the Qur'an) is blindness for them.") Then Allah says, وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنكُم مُّكَذِّبِينَ (And verily, We know that there are some among you that deny (this Qur'an). ) meaning, with this explanation and clarification, there will still be among you those who reject the Qur'an. Then Allah says, وَإِنَّهُ لَحَسْرَةٌ عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ (And indeed it (this Qur'an) will be an anguish for the disbelievers (on the Day of Resurrection).) Ibn Jarir said, "And verily this rejection will be anguish for the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement." He (Ibn Jarir) also mentioned a similar statement from Qatadah. It is possible that the meaning of the pronoun (it) may also refer to the Qur'an, in which case the verse would mean that the Qur'an and belief in it are a cause of anguish for the disbelievers. This is as Allah says, كَذَلِكَ سَلَكْنَاهُ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ (Thus have We caused it (the denial of the Qur'an) to enter the hearts of the criminals. They will not believe in it.) (26:200,201) And Allah said, وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ (And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire) (34:54). Therefore, Allah says here, وَإِنَّهُ لَحَقُّ الْيَقِينِ (And verily, it (this Qur'an) is an absolute truth with certainty.) meaning, the right and truthful news in which there is no doubt, suspicion or confusion. Then Allah says, فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ (So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great.) meaning, He Who sent down this magnificent Qur'an. This is the end of the explanation (Tafsir) of Surat Al-Haqqah. And to Allah belong all praise and blessings.