Page 367
ʾin nashaʾ nunazzil ʿalayhim mina s-samāʾi ʾāyatan fa-ẓallat ʾaʿnāquhum lahā khāḍiʿīna
If We wish We will send down to them a sign from the sky before which their heads will remain bowed in humility.
— Ali Quli Qarai
26Ash-Shu'arā’الشعراءVerse 4 of 227
The Poets26. Ash-Shu'arā’الشعراء
Al Shu‘arā’
The Poets
MeccanVerse 4 of 227
Surah Ash-Shu‘ara - Verses 4-6
4. “If We please, We should send down upon them a sign from the heaven to which they would bend their necks in humility.”
5. “And never comes there to them a new reminder from the Beneficent (Allah), but they turn away from it.”
6. “So they have indeed rejected (it), therefore the news of that which they used to mock shall soon come to them.”
Allah’s way of treatment and law is to provide people choice, options and opportunities of respite. Faith must be voluntary and optional not compulsory. In these verses three attributes of pagans are mentioned: aversion, denial, and derision. Yes, man gradually and step by step falls in pitfall; first he ignores and dislikes the Truth, then he denies it, and finally he scoffs at it. The worst attribute and mood of man is to ridicule the truth. Therefore, this verse says:
And it does not say that they will be punished because of their denial and aversion. Anyway, in order to prove that Allah is omnipotent, and even He can forces all people to believe in Him, through the first verse He says:
The verse refers to this matter that Allah can present them a surprising miracle or impose a severe punishment on them so that they involuntarily bow down before Him and yield it, but this compulsory faith is worthless. What is important is that they yield to the Truth willingly, thoughtfully, intentionally and consciously. It is clear that the purpose of ‘they would bend their necks in humility’ is that the owner of necks would bow down before it. But because the neck, which is /raqabah/ and /‘unuq/ in Arabic, is the most important limb of man's body is mentioned ironically as man himself.
Then, in the next holy verse the position of pagans and polytheists against the holy Qur’an is mentioned, where it says:
Using the Qur’anic word /ǒikr/ (reminder) refers to the fact that all verses and Suras of the holy Qur’an are striking man’s conscience and give him awareness, but this group turns away from vigilance and awareness.2 Using the Qur’anic word ‘Ar-Rahman’ (the Beneficent) refers to the matter that the verses are sent down out of His general mercy and He calls all people, without exception, to happiness and perfection. It is also likely that it is for motivating people to thank
Allah, for these words are said by Allah Whose blessings embrace people. How they turn away from Him, their Benefactor, and if He does not hurry to punish them, it is because of His mercy, too. The Arabic word ‘Muhaddith’ (new and fresh) is used to refer to the matter that the verses of the holy Qur’an are sent down one after the other one and each of them has a new concept. However, what benefit it has that they are against these fresh truths, as if they have had perpetual relationship with those superstitions of the ancestors and they do not want to say farewell to ignorance superstitions, and misleading at any price.
Essentially bias, stubborn, unwise persons are always against any new thing, though it may guide, inform, and save them. In verse 68 of Surah Al-Muminun we read:
(They struggle with it for it is new!) Then in the next verse it adds implying that they do not get satisfied with aversion, and they begin to deny and then they start to do something worse than that which is scoffing at the revelations. It says:
The Qur’anic word /’anba’/ is the plural form of the word /naba’/ that means ‘important news’. Its purpose here is those severe punishments which will be imposed on them both in this world and the other world. Although some commentators, such as Shaykh Tusi in the book Tibyan, believe that these punishments are limited to those in the Hereafter, and most of commentators believe that the concept of the verse is general and in fact this is true, for the verse is absolute and, moreover, paganism and denial of the truth has got an extensive terrible effect on the entire life of man. How can it be ignored?
Studying this verse and the former verse shows that when man is on deviated paths, he gets increasingly far away from the Truth. First it is the phase of aversion and turning away from the Truth and being heedless to it. Then gradually man begins to deny and reject it and even he gets further than this stage and he starts to mock the Truth. Then divine punishment will come.3
Footnotes
tafsir-i-Qummi, we read that Imam Sadiq (as) said about the commentary of verse 4:
“The purpose is the rebels of Umayyads who would yield when they see heavenly signs
at the time of the rising of Imam Mahdi (as).”
(Al-Mizan and Nur uth-Thaqalayn)
It is clear that the purpose of these narrations is to state an extension of the extensive: concept of the verse, that finally when Imam Mahdi (as), the leader of universal government, comes, all tyrannical regimes which follow the approach of Umayyads, surrender and bow down before the power of Imam Mahdi (as) and his divine support.