Surah As-Sajda (32) — Ayah 3

(Ayah 3) ➊ Before { اَمْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ افْتَرٰىهُ: ’’ اَمْ ‘‘}, there is generally a sentence present or implied which begins with the interrogative hamzah. If the implied sentence is made explicit, the phrase would be: {’’ أَهُمْ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِهِ أَمْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ افْتَرَاهُ ‘‘}, meaning, "Do these people believe in the Book sent down by Allah, free from every kind of doubt and suspicion, or do they deny it by saying that this Prophet has fabricated it himself?" Many commentators have considered this {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} as disconnected and have taken it in the meaning of {’’ بَلْ‘‘}. In that case, the meaning would be: "Rather, they say that he has fabricated it." Even before this { ’’ بَلْ ‘‘}, there is an omitted phrase that instead of believing in it, these people say that he has fabricated it himself. See Surah Al-Furqan (4, 5) and Al-Muddathir (18 to 25).

➋ { بَلْ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ:} states, their saying is not correct; rather, it is the truth from your Lord, and these people, despite fully knowing the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Muhammad (peace be upon him), are uttering a clear falsehood and absurd statement.

➌ {لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّاۤ اَتٰىهُمْ مِّنْ نَّذِيْرٍ مِّنْ قَبْلِكَ :} refers to the Arab nation, whom Allah Almighty addressed first with this Book and arranged for this message to reach the entire world through them. Although before this, Ismail, Hud, Salih, and Shu'ayb (peace be upon them) had been sent to Arabia, many ages had passed since their missions. After them, the Torah and the Gospel were revealed, but no prophet was sent to Arabia. Therefore, Allah the Exalted sent the last Prophet among them, as stated: «{ وَ هٰذَا كِتٰبٌ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ مُبٰرَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوْهُ وَ اتَّقُوْا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُوْنَ (155) اَنْ تَقُوْلُوْۤا اِنَّمَاۤ اُنْزِلَ الْكِتٰبُ عَلٰى طَآىِٕفَتَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا وَ اِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ دِرَاسَتِهِمْ لَغٰفِلِيْنَ (156) اَوْ تَقُوْلُوْا لَوْ اَنَّاۤ اُنْزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْكِتٰبُ لَكُنَّاۤ اَهْدٰى مِنْهُمْ فَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ بَيِّنَةٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّكُمْ وَ هُدًى وَّ رَحْمَةٌ فَمَنْ اَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ كَذَّبَ بِاٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ وَ صَدَفَ عَنْهَا سَنَجْزِي الَّذِيْنَ يَصْدِفُوْنَ عَنْ اٰيٰتِنَا سُوْٓءَ الْعَذَابِ بِمَا كَانُوْا يَصْدِفُوْنَ }» [ الأنعام : ۱۵۵ تا ۱۵۷ ] "And this is a great Book which We have sent down, full of blessings, so follow it and be righteous, so that you may receive mercy. Lest you say, 'The Book was only sent down to two groups before us, and indeed we were unaware of their reading and teaching.' Or lest you say, 'If the Book had been sent down to us, we would have been better guided than them.' So indeed, a clear proof, guidance, and mercy has come to you from your Lord. Then who is more unjust than one who denies the signs of Allah and turns away from them? Soon We will recompense those who turn away from Our signs with a terrible punishment for their turning away." For further details, see the commentary of the above-mentioned verses.

➍ At this point, many commentators have mentioned a period of two thousand or two and a half thousand years between Ismail (peace be upon him) and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), but they have not provided any reliable reference for this, so we have no means to determine this long period.

➎ { لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُوْنَ :} here is in the meaning of {’’لَعَلَّ‘‘ ’’كَيْ‘‘}, "so that they may be guided," and if it is in the meaning of "tarji" (hope or perhaps), that is, "it is hoped, or perhaps," then it is in reference to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), that you may warn this nation in the hope that they will be guided, because Allah Almighty knows everything, whether they will be guided or not, so there is no need to say "perhaps" or "it is hoped" for Him.