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wa-ʿajibū ʾan jāʾahum mundhirun minhum wa-qāla l-kāfirūna hādhā sāḥirun kadhdhābun
They consider it odd that there should come to them a warner from among themselves, and the faithless say, ‘This is a magician, a mendacious liar.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Sad - Verse 4
4. “And they did wonder that a Warner from among themselves came to them, and the disbelievers said: ‘This is a lying sorcerer’.”
The Occasion of Revelation
There has been cited an occasion of revelation for these verses similar to what was stated upon the previous verses, but since this one contains some new matters, we narrate it from the commentary written by Ali-ibn-’Ibrahim, as follows: When the Messenger of Allah (S) announced his invitation openly, the chiefs of Quraysh came to Abutalib and said:
“O Abutalib! Your brother’s son calls us feeble-minded, and abuses our gods. He has made our youths corruptible and has dispersed our community. If this action is because of financial deficiency, we will gather so much money for him that he can be the wealthiest man among Quraysh, and we are even ready to choose him as a chief.”
Abutalib conveyed this message to the Messenger of Allah (S). The Prophet (S) said:
“If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I would not intend it; but (instead of these promises) they may agree with me in one sentence so that by which they govern over Arab and also non-Arab come into their religion, and they will be kings in Paradise.”
Abutalib sent this message to them, and they said they were ready to accept ten sentences instead of one sentence. The Prophet (S) told them:
“You may testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah.”
They terrified very much (from this statement) and said:
“Do we leave three hundred and sixty gods and go to only one God? What a surprising thing is this? (That God Who can never be seen).”
It was here that the following verse was revealed, saying:
This very meaning, with a slight difference, has been narrated in Majma‘-ul-Bayan, and at the end of it there has been added:
“While tears were flowing from the Prophets eyes, he said:
‘O’ my uncle! If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in order that I abandon this statement, I would never do so; except that I cause this word to penetrate in the society, or that I would be killed in its path.”
When Abutalib heard this statement, he said:
“You may follow your program. By Allah! I will never leave helping you.” 6
The most important duty of the Divine prophets is to warn people, but the proud and self-loving ones are both impenetrable and absolutist. They do not formally assume anything save what they have perceived by their own limited and deficient thoughts and they take the same things as the criterion of the values. That was why when the holy Prophet of Islam (S) announced Islam in Mecca and stood against the small and big idols, the number of which was around 360 idols, sometimes they wondered why the Divine prophet, the Warner, had appeared from among them, and their surprise was because of this that Muhammad (S) was one person from themselves.
The verse says:
They used to say why there had not been sent an angel from the heaven. They imagined this great point of strength as a point of weakness. The one who had come out from among the mass of people, who was aware of their needs and pains, and was acquainted with their difficulties and the problems of their lives, could be an example in all things for them. They considered this great privilege as a dark point in the invitation of the Prophet (S) and wondered upon it. And sometimes they went beyond this stage, too.
The verse continues saying:
We have repeatedly said that attributing sorcery to the Prophet (S) was for observing the undeniable miracles and his extraordinary penetration in the people’s thoughts; and attributing falsehood to him was for the sake that he stood against the superstitious customs and deviated ideas which were counted as the certain things of that environment, and he spoke against them in his claim as a prophet from the side of Allah.
Footnotes