Surah At-Taghabun, Ayah 6

A Warning delivered through mentioning the End of the Disbelieving Nations

Informing about the past nations and the torment and disciplinary lessons that they suffered because of opposing the Messengers and denying the truth. Allah says;

أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَبَؤُاْ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن قَبْلُ

(Has not the news reached you of those who disbelieved aforetime) meaning, information about them and what happened to them,

فَذَاقُواْ وَبَالَ أَمْرِهِمْ

(And so they tasted the evil result of their disbelief.) They tasted the evil consequences of their denial and sinful actions. And it refers to the punishment and humiliation they received in the life of the world,

وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(and theirs will be a painful torment.) in the Hereafter, added to the torment they received in this life. Allah explained why;

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُ كَانَت تَّأْتِيهِمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ

(That was because there came to them their Messengers with Bayyinat,) supporting arguments, evidence, and clear proofs,

فَقَالُواْ أَبَشَرٌ يَهْدُونَنَا

(but they said:"Shall mere men guide us") They discounted and dismissed the possibility that the Message would be sent to a human and that their guidance would come by the hands of a man like themselves,

فَكَفَرُواْ وَتَوَلَّواْ

(So they disbelieved and turned away.) they denied the truth and turned away from abiding by it,

وَّاسْتَغْنَى اللَّهُ

(But Allah was not in need.) of them,

وَاللَّهُ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ

(And Allah is not need, Worthy of all praise.)

فَقَالُوا أَبَشَرٌ‌ يَهْدُونَنَا (…but they said, “ Shall some mortals give us guidance?”…64:6). Though the word basher [ mortal (s)] is singular, but in meaning it is plural. Therefore, the verb يَهْدُونَنَا ‘give us guidance’ is plural. All unbelievers held the notion that prophets and messengers cannot be human beings. The Qur’ an has time and again falsified and refuted this notion of the unbelievers. Alas, there is also a group of Muslims who denies the mortality of the Allah’ s Messenger. They need to think in which direction they are moving. His mortality is not contradictory to his prophet-hood, nor is it incompatible with his high station of messenger-ship, nor is his being a Messenger inconsistent with his being a Nur (light). He is Nur (light) as well as a mortal. It is a false analogy to compare his light with that of a lamp or of the sun or the moon.

The history made by the prophets in ancient times is an eternal source of admonition. For example, prophets appeared among the ‘Ad, the Thamud, the people of Madyan, and the community of Lot. These prophets did not possess any supernatural powers to prove their veracity. They had only reasoning in their favour. Rejection of the Truth in spite of its being backed by reasoning made the doubters liable for punishment. This shows that in this world a man is tested by his ability to recognise the Truth on the basis of reasoning. One who fails to do so will always remain deprived of the Truth.