Surah Al-Hadid (57) — Ayah 16

(Ayah 16) ➊ {اَلَمْ يَاْنِ لِلَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا …:’’ اَلَمْ يَاْنِ ‘‘ ’’أَنٰي يَأْنِيْ أَنْيًا وَ إِنًي‘‘} (ض) From the defective yaa, it is a known jussive form of negation, the arrival of the time of something, as He said: « غَيْرَ نٰظِرِيْنَ اِنٰىهُ » [ الأحزاب : ۵۳ ] “Those who do not wait for the (food) at its (cooking) time.” In the previous verse, the condition of believing men and women and hypocrite men and women on the Day of Resurrection was mentioned, upon hearing which hearts tremble and, being fearful, humble themselves before their Lord. Despite this, for not being affected as they should, the believers are warned: Has not the time come yet for their hearts to humble themselves before Allah due to His remembrance and admonition, and because of the truth that has been sent down from Him? By “believers” is meant all those believers who were previously commanded to believe, spend in the way of Allah, and fight, and for being lazy and negligent in this, they were reproached. The purpose is: After hearing so much reproach in Allah’s verses and hearing about the evil end of the hypocrites on the Day of Resurrection, has the time not come for the believers to humble themselves before Allah and act diligently upon His commands? Whereas the demand of faith is that upon hearing Allah’s verses, the heart becomes soft and, remembering Allah, immediately accepts the admonition, because this is the characteristic of the believers, as He said: « اِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ الَّذِيْنَ اِذَا ذُكِرَ اللّٰهُ وَ جِلَتْ قُلُوْبُهُمْ وَ اِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ اٰيٰتُهٗ زَادَتْهُمْ اِيْمَانًا وَّ عَلٰى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُوْنَ» [ الأنفال : ۲ ] “The (true) believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and upon their Lord they rely.” And He said: «اَللّٰهُ نَزَّلَ اَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيْثِ كِتٰبًا مُّتَشَابِهًا مَّثَانِيَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُوْدُ الَّذِيْنَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِيْنُ جُلُوْدُهُمْ وَ قُلُوْبُهُمْ اِلٰى ذِكْرِ اللّٰهِ » [ الزمر : ۲۳ ] “Allah has sent down the best statement, a Book consistent and oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it, then their skins and their hearts soften to the remembrance of Allah.”

➋ {وَ لَا يَكُوْنُوْا كَالَّذِيْنَ اُوْتُوا الْكِتٰبَ … : ’’قَسَتْ‘‘} Originally {’’قَسَوَتْ‘‘}, its form in the verb is {’’ قَسَا يَقْسُوْ قَسْوَةً وَقَسَاوَةً ‘‘}, meaning to become hard. That is, has the time not come for the believers that... and that they do not become like those who were given the Book before, that is, the Torah and after it the Gospel, that in the beginning their condition was such that upon hearing Allah’s verses, their hearts would soften and they would fear, and instead of following their desires, they would act upon Allah’s commands. Then, as the time of the prophets became more distant, they began to follow desires and the pleasures of the world, and despite knowing Allah’s commands, they abandoned acting upon them, which caused their hearts to become hard, and they knowingly made lawful what Allah had forbidden. Shirk, adultery, unjust killing, theft, usury, and other sins became common. Instead of their hearts softening and humbling upon hearing Allah’s verses, they began to distort them, as a result of which they went far astray and, in mutual opposition and enmity, split into many sects.

➌ { وَ كَثِيْرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فٰسِقُوْنَ:} That is, even now their condition is such that many of them are defiantly disobedient. In {’’ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوْبُهُمْ ‘‘} their inner state is described, and in {’’ فٰسِقُوْنَ ‘‘} their practical state is described. Elsewhere, the cause and result of this hardness of heart is explained in more detail, where along with breaking other covenants, the breaking of the covenant of giving a goodly loan is also mentioned. For details, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ma’idah, verses (13, 12).