• The disbelievers plan to suppress Qur’an.

• Angels descend upon those who believe and continue in the right way, as their guards.

• Reward for the believers.

Surah Fussilat (Ha Mim) Verses 26 – 32

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَٰذَا الْقُرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ

And those who disbelieve say: “Hearken ye not unto this Qur’an, make noise in it, happly ye may overcome.” (41:26)1

فَلَنُذِيقَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَسْوَأَ الَّذِي كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

So, We will certainly make those who disbelieve taste a severe chastisement, and certainly will We recompense them for the worst of what they used to do. (41:27)

ذَٰلِكَ جَزَاءُ أَعْدَاءِ اللَّهِ النَّارُ لَهُمْ فِيهَا دَارُ الْخُلْدِ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ

That shall be the recompense of the enemies of God, the fire! For them therein shall be the abode to abide; in recompense for what they, with Our signs used to deny. (41:28)

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا اللَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ نَجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ أَقْدَامِنَا لِيَكُونَا مِنَ الْأَسْفَلِينَ

And those who disbelieve will say: “O’ our Lord! show us those who led us astray of the jinn and the human beings; both of them will we trample under our feet so that they may be of the lowest2ones.” (41:29)3

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ

Verily, those who say: Our Lord is God! and persevere aright, descend upon them the angels, (saying): that “Fear ye not, nor be grieved, and receive the glad tidings of the Garden which ye were promised.” (41:30)

نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ

“We are your guardians in the life of this world and in the hereafter, and for you shall be therein whatever desireth your selves and yours shall be therein whatever ye shall ask for.” (41:31)

نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ

“A hospitable welcome4from the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful (God).” (41:32)

Commentary

Verse 26

Refer to note on verses 22:52-54 verses on Taḥrif in the introduction. This was and still is the effort to create confusion about Qur’an but it had been in vain. Refer to note on verses 41:41 & 41:42. (A.P.).

Verse 28

It clearly indicates that their misdeeds themselves will be paying them. (A.P.)

Verse 29

As goodness rejoices in helping the others to be good, so also evil tends to drag others into it and longs to see them disgraced and condemned. The forces of evil had been on their work ever since the advent of human life on earth.5 Those meeting the afflictions which their evil had earned for them, would like to see their leaders who misled them to the torturous destiny.

Verse 30

This clearly indicates that the descension of the angels with glad tidings, is not only for the apostles but to whomsoever believe and persevere aright. But from some traditions of the Ahl Al-Bayt, it seems that it refers to the descension of angels to the true believers at the agony of death. That may be one of the instances of the descension of the angels. It is not impossible if they descend to the true believers even earlier with the glad tidings. The next verse confirms this. It is not what the tradition asserts that in the battlefield of Karbala the angels descended to Husayn and his comrades, for the event was the manifestation of the maximum possible perseverance. (A.P.)

• 1. This is what the infidels did - Indirectly a warning against disturbing the recital of the Qur’an.
• 2. meanest.
• 3. Refer to verse 6:113.
• 4. Reception or entertainment.
• 5. See verse 6:113.