Surah Sad, Ayah 68

The Message of the Messenger is a Great News

Allah tells His Messenger to say to those who disbelieved in Allah, associated others in worship with Him and denied His Messenger: `I am a warner, I am not as you claim.'

وَمَا مِنْ إِلَـهٍ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْوَحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

(and there is no God (worthy of worship) except Allah, the One, the Irresistible,) means, He Alone has subjugated and controlled everything.

رَّبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا

(The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them,) means, He is the Sovereign of all that and is in control of it.

الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ

(the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) means, He is Oft-Forgiving as well as being Almighty and All-Powerful.

قُلْ هُوَ نَبَأٌ عَظِيمٌ

(Say: "That (this Qur'an) is a great news,") means, `something very important, which is that Allah has sent me to you.

أَنتُمْ عَنْهُ مُعْرِضُونَ

(From which you turn away!) means, `you neglect it.'

مَا كَانَ لِىَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ بِالْمَـَلإِ الاٌّعْلَى إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ

(I had no knowledge of the chiefs (angels) on high when they were disputing and discussing. ) meaning, `were it not for the divine revelation, how could I have known about the dispute of the chiefs on high (the angels)' This refers to their dispute concerning Adam, peace be upon him, and how Iblis refused to prostrate to him and argued with his Lord because He preferred him (Adam) over him. This is what Allah says:

Commentary

A Gist of the Subjects of the Surah

In verse 65, it was said: قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا مُنذِرٌ‌ (Say, “ I am only a warner) At the beginning of the Surah, you have seen that the real objective of this Surah was the affirmation of the prophethood of the noble Prophet ﷺ refutation of what the disbelievers said. In this connection, events relating to blessed prophets of the past were mentioned for two reasons. Firstly, that they bring comfort to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and that he too observes patience against the absurd allegations leveled by those who disbelieved - the same patience as observed by the blessed prophets before him. Secondly, that those who were denying the credentials of a true prophet should themselves learn their lesson through these events. After that, another method was used to invite the disbelievers to Islam. For this purpose, their attention was drawn to the good end of the believers, as opposed to the severe punishment awaiting disbelievers, while they were also warned that the people they were following were the ones who were prompting them to belie the true messenger of Allah, and the same people will refuse to help you in any way on the Day of Judgment, in fact, they would paint you black and you would curse them.

After a delineation of these subjects, the text has, in the concluding part, reverted to the main purpose, that is, it takes up the confirmation of prophethood of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . In this process, along with a presentation of necessary arguments, a compassionate invitation to believe has also been given.

When the people who rejected the truth see their miserable lot in the Hereafter, they will remember those who had taken the side of the Truth and as such had come to be regarded as inferior in their society. The rejectors of the truth used to say of the supporters of truth that the latter disrespected the great ones; that they had deviated from their ancestral religion and had made their own path separate from that of the community.These rejectors of the truth had considered themselves to be on the right path. But in the Hereafter, the tables will be turned. At that time it will be clear to them that those whom they looked at with contempt and ridiculed, are the very people who are now enjoying the foremost position of success.