This verse rejects the Arab nationalists who glorify Arabic and claim its superiority over other languages. God can communicate His message to any nation in their language. After all, God communicates with all his creatures through the language they understand. The frequently used phrases yudillu man yasha can be understood in two ways: "He misleads whomever He wills," OR "He misleads whomever wills to be mislead." The same is also true for yahdi man yasha: "He guides whomever He wills," OR "He guides whomever wills to be guided." See 57:22-23; 6:88.

Since every divine writ was meant to be understood by man, it is obvious that each had to be formulated in the language of the people whom the particular prophet was addressing in the first instance; and the Qur'an - notwithstanding its universal import (cf. note 126 on 7:158) - is no exception in this respect.

Or: "God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills". All Qur'anic references to God's "letting man go astray" must be understood against the background of 2:26-27 - "none does He cause to go astray save the iniquitous, who break their bond with God" (regarding which latter expression, see surah 2, note 19): that is to say, man's "going astray" is a consequence of his own attitudes and inclinations and not a result of an arbitrary "predestination" in the popular sense of this word (cf. surah 2, note 7). In his commentary on the above verse, Zamakhshari stresses this aspect of free choice on the part of man and points out that "God does not cause anyone to go astray except one who, as He knows, will never attain to faith; and He does not guide anyone aright except one who, as He knows, will attain to faith. Hence, the [expression] 'causing to go astray' denotes [God's] leaving [one] alone (takhliyah) and depriving [him] of all favour, whereas [the expression] 'guidance' denotes [His] grant of fulfilment (tawfiq) and favour .... Thus, He does not forsake anyone except those who deserve to be forsaken, and does not bestow His favour upon anyone except those who deserve to be favoured." Commenting on the identical phrase occurring in 16: 93, Zamakhshari states: "[God] forsakes him who, as He knows, will [consciously] choose to deny the truth and will persevere in this [denial]; and ... He bestows His favour upon him who, as He knows, will choose faith: which means that He makes the issue dependent on [man's] free choice (al-ikhtiyar), and thus on his deserving either [God's] favour or the withdrawal of [His] aid ... and does not make it dependent on compulsion [i.e., predestination], which would rule out [man's] deserving anything of the above."

In ancient Arabian tradition, the terms "day" or "days" were often used to describe momentous historical events (e.g., ayyam al-'arab as a metonym for the inter-tribal wars of pre-Islamic Arabia). However, in view of the frequent Qur'anic application of the word "day" to eschatological concepts -e.g., the "Last Day", the "Day of Resurrection", the "Day of Reckoning", and so forth-and, particularly, in view of 45:14, where the expression "the Days of God" unmistakably points to His judgment at the end of time - it is only logical to assume that in the present context this expression bears the same significance: namely, God's final judgment of man on the Day of Resurrection. The use of the plural form ("the Days of God") is perhaps meant to bring out the idea that the "Day" of which the Qur'an so often speaks has nothing to do with human time-definitions but, rather, alludes to an ultimate reality in which the concept of "time" has neither place nor meaning.

For this rendering of the particle idh, see surah 2, note 21.

Cf. 2:49; also Exodus i, 15-16 and 22.

Le., "even more than you deserve".

Le., they have disappeared from the face of the earth, and none save God knows today how many they were and how they lived. See verse 14 and note 18 below.

Lit., "they put their hands into their mouths" - an idiomatic phrase indicating one's inability to refute a reasonable proposition by cogent, logical counter-arguments: for the out-of-hand rejection of the apostles' message by their recalcitrant compatriots cannot by any means be regarded as an "argument".

See surah 11, note 92. It is to be noted that whereas in 11:62 this reply is placed in the mouth of people of one particular community -the Thamud -and is phrased in the singular ("thy call to us"), it appears here in the plural ("your call to us") and represents the gist of the answers given by various communities to various prophets. This generalization, underlying the entire subsequent account and containing echos of several Qur'anic narratives relating to the experiences of individual apostles of earlier times, is obviously meant to bring out the symptomatic character of the attitude referred to: the stubborn attitude of people who either deny God altogether, or - while not consciously denying His existence - yet fee[ compelled to interpose all manner of imaginary "mediators" (thought to be divine or semi-divine) between themselves and Him, thus denying, by implication, His omniscience and omnipotence.

Lit., "their apostles".

Le., "until the end of your life in this world". This is, I believe, an indirect allusion to the calamities which are bound to befall, even in this world, "those who are bent on denying the truth" (see the last paragraph of 13:31 and the corresponding note 57) -implying that they who consciously respond to the call of God, conveyed through His prophets, would be immune to this kind of suffering and would be graced with abiding spiritual happiness (cf. 13:29).

I.e., it is to the contents of the divine message propounded to them that all seekers after truth must turn for illumination (see 7:75 and 13:43, as well as the corresponding notes). The Qur'an dwells in many places (e.g., in 6:109-111 or 13: 31) on the futility - moral as well as intellectual-of the demand that the divine origin of a prophetic message should be proved by tangible, extraneous means: for, a morally valid and intellectually justifiable conviction of the intrinsic truth of such a message can be gained only through "conscious insight accessible to reason" (12:108).

Cf. 7:88-89, where this alternative is placed before Shu'ayb.

Lit., "to them".

The Days of God = When people follow His guidance. Shukr or gratefulness is not just the verbal proclamation of 'Thank God!' It pertains to sharing the God-given bounties with others

God is far too Glorious from feeling offended by idol worship in any form. But submitting to false deities and 'authorities' is the root cause of inequities in any society, such as superstition, exploitation, ritualism and division of humanity into castes and sects, and the resulting violation of human rights. That is why all messengers of God began their mission by calling people to the service, and obedience of the One True God

Trusting in God is trusting the permanence of His laws

Zaalimeen exactly translated in the last line