Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 51:38–46
Scattering Winds (Al-Dhariyat)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(38) There is another sign in Moses: We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority. (39) But he turned his back, he and his courtiers, and said, ‘This is a sorcerer or a madman.’ (40) Then We seized him and his army and cast them all into the sea: he himself [Pharaoh] was to blame. (41) There is another sign in the [tribe of] ‘Ad, when We sent against them a life-destroying wind (42) and it destroyed everything over which it passed and reduced it to dust. (43) In the Thamud [there was another sign], when they were told, ‘Make the most of your lives for a while.’ (44) But they rebelled against the command of their Lord. So the thunderbolt overtook them while they looked on: (45) they could not stand up again, nor could they defend themselves. (46) [We destroyed] the people of Noah before them. They were certainly a sinful people.
Commentary
(b) The Pharaoh of Egypt called the miracles of Moses magical feats. He interpreted Moses’s firm belief (which indicated the latter’s being on the right path) as madness. This is known as covering up (talbis) and this covering up has always been the way of those people who are not ready to accept the Truth, in spite of its being supported by sound reasoning. (a) People displaying such arrogance in the face of the Truth never escape God’s scourge. Pharaoh was killed for this reason, and the communities of ‘Ad, Thamud, and Noah were also destroyed for this very reason. They were given some benefit in this world, it being the test period. Beyond this small benefit they were destined not to receive any other.