Na kama wakikukadhibisha, basi kabla yao walikadhibisha watu wa Nuhu, na 'Ad na Thamud, na watu wa Ibrahim, na watu wa Lut, na watu wa Madyan; na Musa pia alikadhibishwa. Nami niliwapa muda wakafiri, kisha nikawashika. Basi ukali wa kukataa kwangu ulikuwa vipi!
If they accuse you of falsehood, before their time, the people of Noah, the `Ād and Thamūd similarly accused [their prophets] of falsehood, as did the people of Abraham and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of Madyan; and so too was Moses accused of falsehood. [In every case] I gave rein, for a while, to the unbelievers, but then I took them to task. How awesome was the way I rejected them. (Verses 42-44)
Ni mtindo ule ule unaojirudia tena na tena, katika ujumbe wote uliotangulia hadi wa mwisho. Mitume hupewa ishara na wahyi, na daima kutakuwa na wale wanaokataa ukweli. Kwa hiyo, washirikina wa Makka walipokataa ujumbe wa Nabii Muhammad ﷺ, haikuwa jambo jipya hata kidogo, wala Nabii ﷺ hakukumbana na mwenendo usiojulikana wa uadui. Hata hivyo, matokeo yanajulikana vyema, na yale yaliyowapata jamii zilizotangulia ni lazima yatokee tena: “Watu wa Nuhu, Ad na Thamud nao waliwakanusha [mitume yao], kama walivyofanya watu wa Ibrahim na watu wa Lut, na wakazi wa Madyan.” (Aya 42-44)
It is the same pattern seen over and over again, in all past messages up to the final one. Messengers are given signs and revelations, and there will always be those who deny the truth. Thus, when the idolaters in Makkah denied the message of the Prophet Muhammad, it was by no means a new trend nor did the Prophet experience an unknown pattern of hostility. However, the outcome is well known, and what happened with earlier communities is bound to happen again: “The people of Noah, the `Ād and Thamūd similarly accused [their prophets] of falsehood, as did the people of Abraham and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of Madyan.” (Verses 42-44)
Musa, hata hivyo, anatajwa peke yake kana kwamba marejeo kwake yanaunda aya maalum: "Na hivyo ndivyo Musa alivyokadhibishwa." (Aya 44)
Moses, however, is mentioned on his own as though the reference to him constitutes a special paragraph: “And so too was Moses accused of falsehood.” (Verse 44)
Tofauti na mitume wengine, Musa hakushtakiwa kwa uongo na watu wake wenyewe. Ni Firauni na wakuu wake waliompinga Musa, wakimshutumu kwa kila aina ya tuhuma. Zaidi ya hayo, Musa alipewa ishara zilizo wazi kabisa na nyingi. Hata hivyo, katika visa vyote hivi, Mwenyezi Mungu aliwapa makafiri muda wa kupumzika kwa kitambo, kama vile sasa alivyowapa Quraysh, watu wa Mtume mwenyewe waliompinga vikali, muda wa kutafakari. Kisha aliwaadhibu vikali sana jamii zote hizo za zamani.
Unlike other messengers, Moses was not accused of falsehood by his own people. It was Pharaoh and his chiefs that opposed Moses, levelling all sorts of accusations on him. Moreover, Moses was given very clear and numerous signs. Nevertheless, in all these cases, God granted the unbelievers respite for a while, in the same way as He now gave the Quraysh, the Prophet’s own people who fiercely opposed him, time to reflect. He then punished all those past communities very severely.
Hii inafuatiwa na swali la kejeli linalosisitiza athari ya kutisha ya adhabu ya Mwenyezi Mungu: "Basi adhabu yangu ilikuwaje kwa kuwakataa?" (Aya ya 44) Neno la Kiarabu, nakīr, lililotumika hapa kwa 'kukataa', lina maana zaidi ya mabadiliko ya kikatili.
This is followed by a rhetorical question that stresses the frightening effect of God’s punishment: “How awesome was the way I rejected them?” (Verse 44) The Arabic word, nakīr, used here for ‘rejection’, carries added connotations of violent change.
Swali halihitaji jibu, kwa kuwa linajulikana vizuri: lilikuwa ni kukataliwa kulikodhihirishwa kupitia mafuriko makubwa, uharibifu, matetemeko ya ardhi, vimbunga vya kutisha, na mengineyo ya aina hiyo.
The question needs no answer, as it is well known: it was a rejection demonstrated through great floods, destruction, earthquakes, fearful hurricanes, and the like.
Baada ya kutaja kwa ufupi hatima waliyoipata watu wa jamii hizo, sūrah inaongeza marejeo ya jumla kuhusu jamii zilizopita ambazo ziliangamia kwa sababu ya msimamo wao kuhusu ujumbe wa Mwenyezi Mungu: "Na miji mingi tumeiangamiza kwa sababu ya kuwa ilikuwa imezama katika uovu. Sasa imebaki magofu yaliyoharibika. Visima vingi vimetelekezwa, na majumba mengi ya kiburi yamebaki matupu." (Aya ya 45) Hakika zilikuwa nyingi sana zile miji na majiji yaliyopata hatima yao isiyoepukika kwa sababu ya uovu wao. Hatima yao inaonyeshwa hapa kwa njia yenye athari kubwa: "Sasa imebaki magofu yaliyoharibika." Dari zimeanguka huku kuta zikifanywa kuporomoka, na kuacha picha ya huzuni ya uharibifu kamili usio na uhai. Taswira hii inamwalika mtu kutafakari, kwa sababu magofu yana athari kubwa sana kwa watu, yakiwasababishia kutafakari.
Having made this very quick reference to the fate suffered by those communities, the sūrah adds a general reference to past communities which suffered because of their attitude to the divine message: “How many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing. Now they lie in desolate ruin. How many a well lies abandoned, and how many a proud palace lies empty.” (Verse 45) Numerous indeed were those towns and cities which suffered their inevitable doom as a result of their evildoing. Their fate is shown here most effectively: “Now they lie in desolate ruin.” Roofs are caved in as walls are made to collapse, leaving a depressing sight of total, lifeless ruin. The scene invites contemplation, because ruins have a very strong effect on people, causing them to reflect.
Karibu na mabaki haya ya miji iliyoharibiwa yamelala visima vilivyoachwa, vikiwakumbusha wageni siku za zamani ambapo watu walikusanyika karibu navyo kutafuta maji safi. Na karibu na haya kuna majumba yaliyokuwa yamesimama kwa fahari zamani, lakini sasa yamebaki matupu, yakileta picha na kumbukumbu tu za utukufu wa zamani.
Next to these desolate remains of destroyed cities lie abandoned wells, reminding visitors of past days when people gathered around them for fresh water. And next to these are deserted palaces that once stood proudly in the past, but which now lie empty, evoking only images and memories of a glorious past.
Kama sūrah inavyoonyesha matukio haya, inaongeza swali jingine la kibalagha kuhusu athari zake kwa wasioamini:
As the sūrah portrays these scenes, it adds another rhetorical question about their effects on unbelievers:
Je, hawajasafiri katika ardhi, wakapata mioyo yenye akili, na masikio yanayosikia? Hakika si macho yanayopofuka; lakini ni mioyo iliyomo vifuani mwao ndiyo inayopofuka. (Aya ya 46)
Have they never journeyed through the lands, letting their hearts gain wisdom, and their ears hear? It is not eyes that go blind; but blind indeed become the hearts that are in people’s breasts. (Verse 46)
Mkazo hapa umewekwa juu ya mahali mioyo ilipo katika miili ya watu, jambo linalosisitiza zaidi upofu wa mioyo hiyo hasa. Lau mioyo hiyo ingeweza kutafakari matukio yaliyoelezwa, ingekumbuka, na macho ya watu yangejaa machozi. Wangeelekea kwenye imani, angalau kwa sababu ya kuogopa mwisho kama ule uliowapata jamii nyingine.
Emphasis is here placed on the location of hearts in people’s bodies, which serves to amplify the blindness of those hearts in particular. Had those hearts been able to reflect on the scenes portrayed, they would have remembered and people’s eyes would have been tearful. They would have moved towards faith, at least as a result of fearing an end like the ones that befell other communities.
Lakini makafiri wa Quraysh hawakutaka kutafakari matukio kama hayo yanayodhihirisha adhabu ya Mwenyezi Mungu. Badala yake walijaribu kuharakisha adhabu yao wenyewe ambayo Mungu aliichelewesha hadi wakati fulani mahsusi unaojulikana kwake Yeye peke yake:
But the Quraysh unbelievers did not wish to reflect on such scenes demonstrating God’s punishment. Instead they tried to hasten their own punishment which God had delayed until a particular point in time known only to Him:
Wanakutaka uharakishe kuwajia kwao adhabu ya Mwenyezi Mungu; lakini Mwenyezi Mungu hakosei kutimiza ahadi Yake. Hakika siku moja mbele ya Mola wenu Mlezi ni kama miaka elfu moja katika hesabu yenu. (Aya ya 47)
They challenge you to hasten the coming upon them of God’s punishment; but God never fails to fulfil His promise. Well, in your Lord’s sight a day is like a thousand years of your reckoning. (Verse 47)
Ni hadithi ile ile kwa makafiri katika kila kizazi. Wanaona kwa macho yao magofu ya miji iliyoangamizwa kwa sababu ya uovu wao, na wanazisikia historia zao, lakini hata hivyo wanafuata nyayo zao, wakipuuza hatima yao. Wakikumbushwa yaliyowapata jamii zilizotangulia, bado wanaona si uwezekano kwamba nao watapatwa na hatima ile ile. Lakini Mungu akiwapa muda wa kuendelea kuwajaribu zaidi, wanajivuna na kuwa wazembe. Hata wanamdhihaki yeyote anayewakumbusha kwamba nao wanaweza kuteseka kama walivyoteseka watu waliowatangulia. Zaidi ya hayo, wanaongeza kwenye dhihaka hiyo ombi la adhabu yao kuharakishwa. Hapa wanaambiwa kwamba ‘Mungu kamwe hashindwi kutimiza ahadi yake.’ Ahadi kama hiyo au onyo kama hilo bila shaka litatimia wakati ambao Mungu, katika hekima yake isiyo na mipaka, utakaoamua. Watu wakiharakisha kutimia kwake, halitaletwa kabla ya wakati wake uliopangwa, kwa sababu kuchelewa kwake kuna kusudi linalojulikana na Mungu, na kusudi hilo halitashindwa ili kuwapa wanadamu matakwa yao ya kijinga. Zaidi ya hayo, Mungu hupima muda kwa namna tofauti:
It is the same story with the unbelievers in all generations. They see with their eyes the ruins of cities destroyed for their wrongdoing, and they hear their histories, but they, nevertheless, follow in their footsteps overlooking their fate. If they are reminded of what happened to earlier communities, they nonetheless consider it unlikely that they will suffer the same fate. But if God grants them respite to test them further, they grow arrogant and heedless. They even ridicule anyone reminding them that they could suffer as people before them suffered. What is more they add to such ridicule a request for their punishment to be hastened. Here they are told that ‘God never fails to fulfil His promise.’ Such a promise or warning will inevitably come to pass at the time God, in His infinite wisdom, determines. If people hasten its fulfilment, it will not be made to come before its appointed time, because its delay is for a purpose known to God, and that purpose will not fail so as to grant human beings their ignorant wishes. Moreover, time is calculated differently by God:
"Hakika siku moja mbele ya Mola wako ni kama miaka elfu moja katika hesabu zenu." (Aya 47)
“In your Lord’s sight a day is like a thousand years of your reckoning.” (Verse 47)
Alisaidia watu wengi wa umma zilizopita, lakini msaada huo haukuwaokoa na adhabu pale walipoendelea katika uovu wao. Hii ni kanuni ambayo Mwenyezi Mungu ameiweka kufanya kazi, wala haiwezi kushindwa: “Na miji mingapi tumeiacha kwa muda, nayo imezama katika uovu! Kisha tukaichukua kwa adhabu. Kwangu Mimi ndiyo marejeo ya safari zote.” (Aya ya 48) Basi kwa nini makafiri wa Kiarabu wangeharakisha adhabu yao wenyewe na kuidharau onyo la Mwenyezi Mungu, ilhali ni muda tu wa kupewa nafasi ambao Mwenyezi Mungu huwapa watu kama hao?
He gave respite to many past communities, but such respite did not save them from punishment when they persisted in their wrongdoing. This is a rule which God has set in operation and it cannot fail: “To how many a township that was immersed in evildoing have I given rein for a while! But then I took it to task. With Me is the end of all journeys.” (Verse 48) Why would the Arab unbelievers, then, hasten their own punishment and deride God’s warning when it is only a temporary respite that God grants such people?