Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 18

(Ayah 18) ➊ The meaning of {بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ …: ’’ قَذَفَ يَقْذِفُ‘‘} (ض) is to throw something forcefully. {’’ فَيَدْمَغُهٗ ‘‘ ’’ دَمَغَ يَدْمَغُ ‘‘} (ف) means to break the brain of something, to the extent that its membrane bursts, and with its bursting, the soul departs. The meaning of {’’زَاهِقٌ ‘‘ ’’زُهُوْقٌ‘‘} is for something to be completely annihilated. That is, We have not created this universe without purpose, rather, there is a constant battle between truth and falsehood in it, and We have established its system in such a way that whenever falsehood has raised its head, truth has struck a decisive blow and annihilated it. In the same way, even now, ultimately falsehood will perish and truth will remain established and everlasting.
➋ In {’’ فَاِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ ‘‘}, {’’إِذَا‘‘} is in the sense of suddenness, and { ’’ هُوَ زَاهِقٌ ‘‘} is a nominal sentence which is for continuity, and from which it is evident that falsehood is erased with great speed and its erasure is not temporary but permanent. (Alusi)
➌ { وَ لَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُوْنَ :} That is, if you say that Allah Almighty has made this world a plaything, and resurrection, reckoning, Paradise and Hell are all imaginary tales, then the result of your statement will manifest in the form of your destruction, both in this world and in the Hereafter.

18. 1. That is, one of the important purposes of the creation of the universe is that in the conflict between truth and falsehood and the clash between good and evil here, We make truth and good prevail and falsehood and evil subdued. Thus, We strike truth against falsehood, or truth against lies, or good against evil, by which the brains of falsehood, lies, and evil are dashed out, and in the blink of an eye, they are annihilated.

18. 2. That is, the baseless things you attribute to your Lord or make people believe about Him, (for example, that this universe is a game, the futile hobby of a playful one, etc.) this will be the cause of your destruction. Because by considering it a play and amusement, you do not hesitate or fear to avoid the truth and adopt falsehood, the result of which is ultimately your ruin and destruction.

Rather, We hurl the truth against falsehood [15], and it crushes its head, so it vanishes. And woe to you for what you describe.

[15]
The Purpose of the Creation of the Universe:

Rather, the real purpose of the creation of the universe is that here the battlefield should be heated. The conflict between truth and falsehood should continue. Truth should attack falsehood and crush it, forcing it to flee. Then those who supported the truth, Allah will reward them with His blessings, and He will destroy and ruin the people of falsehood.

How is Falsehood Defeated? When Often Falsehood Seems to Prevail:

Here a confusion arises that we often see that forces of falsehood seem to prevail and truth remains suppressed. Prophets or some other reformers come, the battle between truth and falsehood takes place, and truth prevails, but after a short while, falsehood raises its head again and truth is suppressed. The answer to this is that the path of truth is only one, and that is the oneness of Allah and His complete authority and control over this universe. Whereas the paths of falsehood are countless. They keep changing its forms and its deities as well. When truth comes, it wipes out the paths of falsehood, then falsehood is reborn in some new form. Sometimes idols are considered to be deities, sometimes the sun and the moon, sometimes stars, sometimes angels, sometimes jinn, sometimes humans, sometimes their shrines and tombs, and sometimes trees and stones, etc. So all these paths have always remained subdued in comparison to the truth, and the first proof of this is that from Hazrat Adamؑ till today, the path of truth has remained the same and has always existed. It exists even today and will remain until the Day of Judgment. The worshippers of monotheism will remain until the Day of Judgment, no matter how few their numbers may be. Whereas all the paths of falsehood have always been deteriorating and have always suffered defeat from the truth. And even though truth remains suppressed most of the time, it still remains established and persistent. In other words, the perseverance that is available to truth is never granted to falsehood.