Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ {كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوْحٍ …:’’ الْاَحْزَابُ ‘‘ ’’حِزْبٌ‘‘} is the plural of {كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوْحٍ …:’’ الْاَحْزَابُ ‘‘ ’’حِزْبٌ‘‘}, meaning the group that is alike in its belief, action, and habit. Its connection with the previous verse is that those who are arguing to reject the signs of Allah should remember the fate of the earlier nations. Before them, the people of Noah (peace be upon him) and after them, many nations who were similar to them in belief, action, and habits, denied their respective prophets. For example, ‘Ad, Thamud, the people of the thicket, the people of Lot, and the people of Pharaoh, etc. All these nations were alike in associating partners with Allah, denying the Hereafter, and rejecting their prophet.

➋ {وَ هَمَّتْ كُلُّ اُمَّةٍۭ بِرَسُوْلِهِمْ لِيَاْخُذُوْهُ:} means that every nation did not suffice with denial alone, but they firmly resolved to capture their messenger and either exile him, kill him, or imprison him, just as the people of Noah (peace be upon him) said: «لَىِٕنْ لَّمْ تَنْتَهِ يٰنُوْحُ لَتَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَ الْمَرْجُوْمِيْنَ» [ الشعراء : ۱۱۶ ] “O Noah! Surely, if you do not desist, you will surely be among those who are stoned.” And the people of Thamud, the people of Salih (peace be upon him), said: « تَقَاسَمُوْا بِاللّٰهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهٗ وَ اَهْلَهٗ ثُمَّ لَنَقُوْلَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهٖ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ اَهْلِهٖ وَ اِنَّا لَصٰدِقُوْنَ» [ النمل : ۴۹ ] “Swear to one another by Allah that we will surely attack him and his family by night, then we will surely say to his heir, ‘We were not present at the destruction of his family, and indeed, we are surely truthful.’” And the people of Lot (peace be upon him) said to him: «لَىِٕنْ لَّمْ تَنْتَهِ يٰلُوْطُ لَتَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَ الْمُخْرَجِيْنَ» [ الشعراء:۱۶۷] “O Lot! Indeed, if you do not desist, you will surely be among those who are expelled.” And regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the disbelievers plotted similarly, as He said: « وَ اِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لِيُثْبِتُوْكَ اَوْ يَقْتُلُوْكَ اَوْ يُخْرِجُوْكَ وَ يَمْكُرُوْنَ وَ يَمْكُرُ اللّٰهُ وَ اللّٰهُ خَيْرُ الْمٰكِرِيْنَ» [ الأنفال:۳۰ ] “And when those who disbelieved were plotting against you to imprison you, or to kill you, or to expel you, and they were plotting, and Allah was plotting, and Allah is the best of plotters.”

➌ { وَ جٰدَلُوْا بِالْبَاطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوْا بِهِ الْحَقَّ: ’’أَدْحَضَ يُدْحِضُ‘‘} (af‘aal) means to cause to slip; here it means to prove the truth as falsehood, i.e., these people argued unjustly and quarreled with their messengers using false pretenses, so that they could prove the truth to be wrong. Sometimes they said, “You eat and drink and are human, so how did you become a messenger?” (See Bani Isra’il: 94) Sometimes they would present many inappropriate demands as proof of prophethood. (See Bani Isra’il: 89, 93) Sometimes they would consider the poverty of the Muslims and their own wealth as proof of being on the truth. See Surah Saba (35) and Surah An‘am (53).

➍ { فَاَخَذْتُهُمْ:} means that when these nations firmly resolved to capture their respective prophets and to imprison or kill them, I seized them. Those who made such intentions regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah also rendered them unsuccessful and delivered him safely to Madinah, then in Badr and the subsequent battles, Allah seized those who persisted in disbelief.

➎ { فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ:’’ عِقَابِ ‘‘} is originally {’’عِقَابِيْ‘‘}, the “ya” was omitted to match the endings of the verses, and the kasrah was kept on the “ba” to indicate the omission of the “ya.” Allah warned the disbelievers of Makkah with the fate of the previous nations, saying: Look at the ruins of their destroyed towns, that when I seized them, how My punishment was?