Surah At-Tur, Ayah 46

The Stubbornness of the Idolators; Their Punishment

Allah the Exalted reaffirms the stubbornness of the idolators and their ignorance of what goes around them,

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كِسْفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ سَـقِطاً

(And if they were to see a piece of the heaven falling down,) meaning, on them as punishment, they would not believe it is coming their way, saying that, these are layers of clouds on top of each other. Allah the Exalted said in other Ayat,

وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَاباً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّواْ فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ - لَقَالُواْ إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَـرُنَا بَلْ نَحْنُ قَوْمٌ مَّسْحُورُونَ

(And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they were to keep on ascending thereto (all day long), they would surely say (in the evening): "Our eyes have been dazzled. Nay, we are a people bewitched.")(15:14-15) Allah the Exalted said,

{ 1} It refers to the punishments faced by the disbelievers right in this world, like famines and the deterrent defeat in the battle of Badr. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani).

The addressees of a preacher invariably exist on the level of materialism. In view of this, if they have the feeling that the preacher of Truth wants to take some material thing from them, they immediately shy away from him. That is why a preacher of Truth never allows any material demand to crop up between his addressees and himself. To the very end, he maintains an atmosphere of selflessness between his addressees and himself. In so doing he may have to bear some material loss. When a preacher proves his seriousness to this extent with regard to his call for Truth, he then becomes entitled to God’s help, so much so that the unbelievers find all their tricks and devices recoiling on them, rendering them unsuccessful in gaining the upper hand.