Surah At-Talaq, Ayah 10

Punishment for defying Allah's Commandments

Allah the Exalted threatens those who defy His commands, deny His Messengers and contradict His legislation, by informing them of the end that earlier nations met who did the same,

وَكَأِيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ عَتَتْ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهَا وَرُسُلِهِ

(And many a town revolted against the command of its Lord and His Messengers;) meaning, they rebelled, rejected and arrogantly refused to obey Allah and they would not follow His Messengers,

فَحَاسَبْنَـهَا حِسَاباً شَدِيداً وَعَذَّبْنَـهَا عَذَاباً نُّكْراً

(and We called it to a severe account, and We shall punish it with a horrible torment.) meaning, horrendous and terrifying,

قَدْ أَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ إِلَيْكُمْ ذِكْرً‌ا رَّ‌سُولًا (Allah has sent down to you a Reminder, a messenger...65:10-11). The verb arsala 'sent' needs to be understood preceding the object rasulan 'a messenger' which appears at the commencement of verse [ 11]. The simplest way in which these verses can be interpreted is to translate them thus: 'Allah has sent down to you a Reminder, (the Qur'an and He has also sent to you) a messenger...65:11) Other commentators have preferred other interpretations. For instance some say that the word dhikr ('Reminder' ) refers to the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself, and the word 'messenger' is an explanatory complement to the word 'dhikr', because abundance of his remembering Allah made him a personified Remembrance of Allah. [ Ruh ] 1

[ 1] This explanation is based on the premise that 'dhikr' in this verse means 'Allah's remembrance'. However, it also means 'reminder'. Taken in this sense, the word 'messenger' in the verse can be easily interpreted as an explanatory complement to the word 'dhikr', because the Holy Prophet is a 'Reminder' to the entire mankind. Our translation in the text is based on this connotation. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

‘So, fear God, O men of understanding.’ This statement indicates that the fountainhead of piety (taqwa) is the mind. Only by using his wisdom and consciousness does a man achieve that status which is called (taqwa) in the Islamic law.