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wa-qad makara lladhīna min qablihim fa-li-llāhi l-makru jamīʿan yaʿlamu mā taksibu kullu nafsin wa-sa-yaʿlamu l-kuffāru li-man ʿuqbā d-dāri
Those who were before them [also] schemed; yet all devising belongs to Allah. He knows what every soul earns. Soon the faithless will know in whose favour the outcome of that abode will be.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Ra‘d – Verse 42
42. “And indeed those before them devised, but the devising altogether is Allah’s; He knows what every soul earns, and the unbelievers soon will know for whom is the Ultimate abode.”
The Qur’an closes ranks with whatever is other than Allah in order to enable all to concentrate on Him and on Him alone, despairing from others. For instance, it says:
“…Verily the glory is wholly Allah’s…” 26
Once you appeal to others for the sake of acquiring prestige and good reputation, beware that all prestige and honour is for Him alone. Elsewhere, the Holy Qur’an says:
“…that the Power is wholly Allah’s…” 27
All powers are His. And in this verse, it says:
“but the devising altogether is Allah’s”,
in order that man would not tend to others for obtaining prestige, power, and politics. One of the best examples of Allah’s devising is His offering of a respite to the deviants in such a manner that they feel that they are on the right track. However, Allah has repeatedly said in the Qur’an that the pagans must not think that their respite signifies Allah’s love unto them. On the contrary, He respites them to fill their pot to the fullest. Anyway, the pagans who were before them, played tricks on the believers, mixing their paganism with tricks and they did all this to refute the prophets.
As Allah obliterated all their tricks, He will do the same with this lot as well. The verse says:
“And indeed those before them devised, but the devising altogether is Allah’s…”
Therefore, Allah returns their tricks to themselves and He will provide clear evidences for His servants. No one’s traits are hidden from Allah whether they are good or bad, as he is knowledgeable unto all that there is to be known. The verse continues saying:
“…He knows what every soul earns…”
That is, Allah is aware of all tricks which are played on the Prophet (S), and he obliterates them all, revealing His religion. Here, Allah threatens them by saying that they will soon learn as whose will be the Paradise. And this happens when the believers will enter the Paradise and the pagans will be sent into Hell. That is, the pagans will realize whether the ultimate happy ending is yours or theirs, which case reveals when Allah makes His religion manifest.
The verse continues saying:
“…and the unbelievers soon will know for whom is the Ultimate abode.”
Footnotes