Surah Ash-Shura (42) — Ayah 33

(Ayah 34,33) ➊ { اِنْ يَّشَاْ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيْحَ … : ’’ رَوَاكِدَ ‘‘ ’’رَكَدَ يَرْكُدُ رُكُوْدًا‘‘} (n) is the plural of the active participle {’’رَاكِدَةٌ‘‘}. At the time of the Quran’s revelation, sailing boats and ships used to travel in the sea, whose movement or stillness and speed depended on the wind. Here Allah Almighty has described three states of the winds that drive ships in the seas: one is that Allah makes the wind still and the ships remain where they are, then who besides Allah can set that wind in motion?
➋ { اَوْ يُوْبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوْا:} is connected to {’’ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيْحَ ‘‘}, as if the phrase is: {’’إِنْ يَّشَأْ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيْحَ أَوْ إِنْ يَّشَأْ يُوْبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوْا ‘‘} meaning, “If He wills, He can make the wind still, or if He wills, He can destroy them with a violent stormy wind because of their evil deeds.” This is the second state of the wind, which is detailed in another verse, where He said: « حَتّٰۤى اِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ وَ جَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ بِرِيْحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ وَّ فَرِحُوْا بِهَا جَآءَتْهَا رِيْحٌ عَاصِفٌ » [ یونس:۲۲] “Until, when you are in the ships and they sail with them with a good wind and they rejoice in it, then there comes upon them a strong, violent wind.”
➌ {وَ يَعْفُوْا عَنْ كَثِيْرٍ:} is also connected to {’’ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيْحَ ‘‘}: {’’ أَيْ وَ إِنْ يَّشَأْ يَعْفُ عَنْ كَثِيْرٍ فَلَا يُعَاقِبُهُمْ بِإِسْكَانِ الرِّيْحِ أَوْ بِإِرْسَالِهَا عَاصِفَةً‘‘} This is the third state, that if He wills, He can pardon many people, then neither punish them by stopping the wind nor destroy them with a violent storm, but rather bring them safely to their intended destination. {’’ يُسْكِنِ ‘‘، ’’ يُوْبِقْهُنَّ ‘‘} and {’’ يَعْفُ ‘‘}—all three—are in the jussive case because they are the result of the conditional {’’ اِنْ يَّشَاْ ‘‘}.
➍ In these verses, where arguments for Allah’s oneness are presented for the polytheists, there is also a refutation of materialist communists and atheists, because from these verses it is clear that the wind neither moves nor stops by its own will, nor does it blow as a favorable wind or take the form of a violent storm by its own will, but all this happens by the command of Allah Almighty. If the movement of the wind were its natural act, then just as fire burns and ice is cold, the wind would either always remain still and never move, or it would always blow and always take the form of a violent storm. It is clear that the movement of the wind is not its own act, but it is in the hand of the Owner and Controller who created it.
➎ { اِنَّ فِيْ ذٰلِكَ لَاٰيٰتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُوْرٍ:} This is the answer to the question: despite such clear and great signs, why do the polytheists and atheists not benefit from them? For a detailed answer, see the commentary of Surah Luqman, verse (31).
➏ Here the question arises that nowadays ships do not move by wind but by the power of engines, so what effect does the stopping of the wind have on them? The answer is that engines also move the ships forward by pushing water backward with air at the rear. The word {’’الرِّيْحَ ‘‘} includes this wind as well, and if Allah wills, He can create such a fault in these engines that they remain stationary in one place. (Tafsir Thanai, with adaptation)

The explanation of this verse has been given along with the previous verse.

33. If He wills, He can still the wind, and the ships would remain motionless on the surface of the sea [47]. Surely, in this are signs for every steadfast and grateful person [48].

[47] In many places in the Quran, the movement of ships is counted among the signs of Allah. This is because the Quraysh of Makkah, in their trade relations, often had to travel by the Red Sea to trade with the coastal regions of Africa. In that era, there were sailing ships whose movement and speed depended on a favorable wind and its strength. They are being told that your helplessness is such that when your ship reaches the middle of the sea and Allah makes the wind still, then tell, what can you do at that time?

[48] Both "Sabbar" and "Shakoor" are intensive forms, and these two words together depict the entire life of a believer. That is, whenever a believer faces any calamity or hardship, he acts with patience and endurance. And whenever he receives any blessing from Allah or any good reaches him, he becomes grateful to Allah and begins to thank Him. In contrast, the habit of a disbeliever and a worldly person is that when afflicted by hardship, he panics and despairs of Allah’s mercy, even going so far as to curse Him. And when he attains any good or a period of prosperity comes, then he forgets Allah altogether. Thus, a believer often gets the opportunity to show patience and gratitude during a sea journey. In favorable conditions, he thanks Allah, and if the wind stops, his gaze remains fixed on Allah alone and he demonstrates patience.