سُوْرَةُ الإِسۡرَاءِ
Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 67
وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ ٱلضُّرُّ فِى ٱلْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا نَجَّىٰكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ كَفُورًا ﴿67﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him (Allâh Alone). But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away (from Him). And man is ever ungrateful.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَإِذَا
wa-idhā
And when
مَسَّكُمُ
massakumu
touches you
ٱلضُّرُّ
l-ḍuru
the hardship
فِى
fī
in
ٱلْبَحْرِ
l-baḥri
the sea
ضَلَّ
ḍalla
lost
مَن
man
(are) who
تَدْعُونَ
tadʿūna
you call
إِلَّآ
illā
except
إِيَّاهُ ۖ
iyyāhu
Him Alone
فَلَمَّا
falammā
But when
نَجَّىٰكُمْ
najjākum
He delivers you
إِلَى
ilā
to
ٱلْبَرِّ
l-bari
the land
أَعْرَضْتُمْ ۚ
aʿraḍtum
you turn away
وَكَانَ
wakāna
And is
ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ
l-insānu
man
كَفُورًا
kafūran
ungrateful
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
(Ayah 67) { وَ اِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فِي الْبَحْرِ …:} Despite the idol worship of the disbelievers of the Age of Ignorance and the era of Prophethood, the innate monotheism placed in their nature is being mentioned as evidence: when a storm arises at sea, and the ship is surrounded by waves like mountains, and death becomes clearly visible, you forget all your gods, benefactors, problem-solvers, and need-fulfillers, and due to the monotheism placed in your nature, you call upon only one Allah. Then, when He saves you and brings you to dry land, you turn away, as if you had no acquaintance with your Lord, and then you begin to call upon your self-made gods and acknowledge only their favor. How ungrateful and thankless this is! And the reality is that the polytheist human has always been extremely ungrateful. In {’’ الْاِنْسَانُ ‘‘}, the alif-lam is for specification, so it refers to the disbelievers, because the believers are grateful, even though they are few in number, as He said: «وَ قَلِيْلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُوْرُ » [ سبا : ۱۳ ] "And very few among My servants are truly grateful." Allah Almighty has mentioned this attitude of the disbelievers in several places; for details, see Surah Yunus (22, 23), Ankabut (65), Luqman (32), and Zumar (8). This was the condition of those people of the Age of Ignorance who were polytheists, and Allah and His Messenger declared them polytheists, even though in severe distress they called only upon Allah. But the excellence of some who call themselves Muslims in our time is that even in the most severe distress, they do not forget to call upon others for help along with Allah or besides Allah, yet neither is their monotheism affected, nor is their Islam harmed in any way.
