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ʾulāʾika lladhīna yadʿūna yabtaghūna ʾilā rabbihimu l-wasīlata ʾayyuhum ʾaqrabu wa-yarjūna raḥmatahū wa-yakhāfūna ʿadhābahū ʾinna ʿadhāba rabbika kāna maḥdhūran
They [themselves] are the ones who supplicate, seeking a recourse to their Lord, whoever is nearer [to Him], expecting His mercy and fearing His punishment.’ Indeed your Lord’s punishment is a thing to beware of.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verse 57
57. “Those whom they call upon, themselves search for means of approaching their Lord which of them is nearer, and they hope for His mercy, and fear His punishment. Verily, the punishment of your Lord is to be dreaded of.”
Some commentators are of the opinion that the prophets who call the people to the path of the truth, they themselves seek some means of support, especially the ones who can make them nigh to Allah closer and in a speedier manner, or the mediation of every prophet who is in closer proximity to Allah. In numerous quotations, we have it under this verse that the two sides of the balance between fear and hope must be paralleled, otherwise, the person who is being involved, will either become desperate or arrogant (as a result of being unduly hopeful).
Anyway, this verse in fact provides justification for what was mentioned in the previous verse. It implies whether you know why they are unable to solve your problem without the Lord’s permission. The reason why they do such a thing is that they invocate to the Lord for solving their own difficulties. They try to approach His Pure Essence, asking Him for whatever they wish. The verse says:
“Those whom they call upon, themselves search for means of approaching their Lord…”
“…which of them is nearer…”
“…and they hope for His mercy…”
“…and fear His punishment…”
The reason why it is so is that the punishment inflicted by Him is so grave in intensity that it is always to be avoided. The verse continues saying:
“…Verily, the punishment of your Lord is to be dreaded of.”
In other words, the verse means: those prophets and angels, whom you call gods, try to find access to Allah through praying and worshipping to be might to Allah so that it becomes transparent that whose position would be ranked as higher before the Lord. That is, when the prophets, with the high rank and honour that they have with Him and are nearer to Him than you do not worship any one but Allah, and seek for a mean to approach Him, then why should you not be as such, you that are not nearer to Allah?
Therefore, the worship of the Lord alone, and the abandoning of polytheism and dualism in matters of worship are all more indispensable for you. Thus, the Lord seeks to urge the people to imitate the prophets. Some, however, claim that the angels and Hadrat Massih etc, whom you are regarding as god, are only subservient to the Lord themselves and seek to approach Him and come into closer proximity to Allah through their acts of worship, thus coming into closer contact with His Mercy. Or else, they yearn to know which of them is in closer proximity to the Allah’s grace.
Nevertheless, they try to seek forgiveness from the Lord, hoping for His mercy and grace through their obedience, and fearing His reappraisals because of unruly. Just like all of the servants of Allah, they, too, follow the path of worship. Yes, the punishment of your Lord is too hard for you to bear, and all must avoid it.