Ibrāhīm

فَلا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ مُخْلِفَ وَعْدِهِ رُسُلَه إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انتِقَامٍ

47. “So do not think that Allah will fail in His promise to His messengers. Verily Allah is Mighty, the Lord of Retribution.”

As a man takes revenge, he does it along with hatred and instinctive satisfaction. Nevertheless, what Allah does is based on justice and wisdom. Therefore, addressing the prophet (S) once again, as to warn the oppressors and evildoers with a threatening voice, it implies that they should not imagine that Allah opposes His earlier promise and pledge which He has kept with the prophets. For, that kind of person violates his promise who is either not able to keep his promise or he has not included such words in his vocabulary as punishment or vengeance. However, Allah is both able and can take vengeance.

The verse says:

“So do not think that Allah will fail in His promise to His messengers. Verily Allah is Mighty, the Lord of Retribution.”

This noble verse is in fact complementary to the verse which we already cited, saying:

“And do not regard Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do…” ³

That is, if you notice that the oppressors have got a respite, it is not because of Allah’s negligence and overlooking of their acts, and it is not for that Allah may violate His promise. Rather, all of their accounts will be settled and cleared in a day and their just chastisement will be given to them. Incidentally, the respite given to the pagans and the oppressors is based on a practice and on wisdom, and it is not because of negligence and of going back on one’s promises.

Footnotes

1. 3. This Surah, verse 42