Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 60

(Ayah 60) ➊ By { وَ اِذْ قُلْنَا لَكَ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ اَحَاطَ بِالنَّاسِ :}, the people meant are the disbelievers of Makkah, and by encompassing them, it means that despite exerting all their strength, they could not harm Muhammad (peace be upon him) in any way, nor could they prevent your message from spreading. The purpose of this is to encourage you (peace be upon him) that you should continue to present your message without fear or danger, and do not worry about the opposition of these people; they cannot harm you in the least, because all of them are completely within Our grasp.

➋ {وَ مَا جَعَلْنَا الرُّءْيَا الَّتِيْۤ اَرَيْنٰكَ اِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِّلنَّاسِ: ’’ الرُّءْيَا ‘‘ ’’رَأَي يَرَي‘‘} is the verbal noun of (ف), and by {’’ الرُّءْيَا ‘‘} mentioned in the verse, it means those strange and wondrous things of the earth and heavens that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw with his own eyes on the night of Isra and Mi'raj. The meaning is that whatever you saw on the night of Isra and Mi'raj, We made it a trial and test for the people, so that it may be determined who is strong in faith and sound of heart, and who is weak in faith and diseased of heart. Thus, those with strong faith had no hesitation in accepting it, and so they succeeded in the test, while the weak in faith and those deprived of faith said, "How is it possible that you (peace be upon him) could go from Makkah to Bayt al-Maqdis and see the wonders of the seven heavens and return in a single night? This is impossible." So they failed the test.

➌ The word {’’ الرُّءْيَا ‘‘} is often used in the meaning of seeing in a dream, and sometimes also in the meaning of seeing with the eyes. Here, seeing with the eyes while awake is meant, and the evidence for this is the verse itself. Because if you (peace be upon him) had said that you saw all this in a dream, then no one would have been surprised, nor would there have been any trial or test, because in dreams everyone can see impossible and improbable things. The test was precisely that only those with strong faith could accept that Allah Almighty is able to show His Prophet all this in a small part of the night. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) explicitly stated: [ هِيَ رُؤْيَا عَيْنٍ أُرِيَهَا رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَيْلَةَ أُسْرِيَ بِهِ إِلٰی بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ ] [ بخاری، المناقب، باب المعراج… : ۳۸۸۸ ] "This was a vision seen with the eyes, which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was shown that night when he was taken overnight to Bayt al-Maqdis."

➍ { وَ الشَّجَرَةَ الْمَلْعُوْنَةَ فِي الْقُرْاٰنِ :} In the narration of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), which was mentioned in the previous benefit, he interpreted it as the tree of Zaqqum. In the Quran, the mention of {’’شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُّوْمِ‘‘} occurs in two places: Surah As-Saffat (62 to 66) and Surah Ad-Dukhan (43 to 46). In the Quran, its mention is made as a trial for the people, because those deprived of faith cannot accept that a tree can grow in the midst of blazing fire, whereas the people of faith have no hesitation in accepting it, because their faith is that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), Jibreel Amin, and the Lord of the worlds never speak falsely, and for Allah Almighty, creating a tree in fire or making the fire cool and safe for Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is a minor demonstration of His power. Here, Zaqqum is called the "accursed tree," meaning the condemned tree, that is, it has been condemned in the Quran.

➎ { وَ نُخَوِّفُهُمْ فَمَا يَزِيْدُهُمْ … :} That is, We warn the disbelievers in various ways, but this only increases them in great rebellion.