Overview (Verses 10 - 11)

The Book Giving Distinction to Arabs
 
God reminds the pagan Arabs who oppressed the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), denying his message and persecuting him and his followers, that they are subject to His law for their transgression. He also makes it clear to them that it is an aspect of the grace He bestows on them that He has not sent them any physical miracle, because that would have spelt their doom if they continued to reject the truth as older communities did. Instead, He sent them a book which imparts honour to them, since it is in their own language. This book sets their life on the right footing and makes of them a community entitled to lead mankind and be respected by them. Moreover, this book invites thinking people to reflect on it and elevate themselves by implementing it: “We have now revealed for you a book bringing you respect. Will you not, then, use your reason?” (Verse 10)
 
The miracle of the Qur’ān is open to all generations. Thus, it is unlike the physical miracles given at a particular time and place. For the Arabs, the Qur’ān brought respect, honour and glory as they delivered its message to all people. Prior to the Qur’ān, the Arabs barely received mention in humanity’s records. They had nothing to give humanity so as to ensure they were remembered. But as long as they upheld their book, they were honoured by the rest of mankind. Indeed, they assumed the leadership of humanity over many centuries, bringing happiness to themselves and to the rest of mankind. Then when they abandoned it, humanity left them aside, and they lost their position of respect. They were then at the tail end of humanity, suffering aggression from different quarters, in stark contrast with their glorious past when they enjoyed security while others suffered fear and anxiety.
 
The Arabs have nothing of value and no sound idea to give to humanity other than this guidance and the ideas it contains. Therefore, when they present their book to the world, they are known by it and they are given the honour they deserve, because humanity knows that they have what is of benefit to it. But when they present themselves as mere Arabs, such questions as – who are Arabs? – are asked. And what is the value of their ancestry when they do not have their book? Mankind has never accorded the Arabs any position of respect except when they showed themselves to be advocates of a faith which they implemented and conducted their affairs by and according to its teachings. By contrast, their being merely Arabs had no value in human history and no entry in the records of civilization. They are known only by being the standard-bearers of Islamic values, ideals and civilization. In history, this certainly has great value.
 
It is to this fact that the Qur’ān refers when it says to the Arab idolaters who rejected every idea it put to them and denied its truth: “We have now revealed for you a book bringing you respect. Will you not, then, use your reason?” (Verse 10)
 
It was an act of divine grace that God revealed the Qur’ān to them, rather than giving them the miracle they demanded. Had such a miracle been sent to them and had they continued to deny the truth, a calamity like those that destroyed earlier unbelievers would have brought about their doom. At this point the sūrah portrays a scene of total destruction and annihilation:
 
How many a community that persisted in evil-doing have We dashed into fragments, and raised another people in their stead. And as soon as they began to feel Our might they took to their heels and fled. Do not run away. Return to all your comforts and to your dwellings, so that you might be called to account. They said: ‘Woe betide us! We were indeed wrongdoers!’ And that cry of theirs did not cease until We caused them to become like a field mown down, still and silent as ashes. (Verses 11-15)
 
The Arabic term qaşamnā, rendered here as ‘dashed into fragments’, carries strong connotations of a strike that splits something into pieces. Moreover, its sound adds further connotations of complete destruction. Those communities persisted in their evil and met a sudden fate that left no trace of them. “And [We] raised another people in their stead.” We note also that the Arabic text uses the word qaryah which means village or town with the verb denoting the breaking into fragments, but it uses qawm, or ‘people’, when it speaks of raising a new community, because it is such people who build a new civilization. In this way, the destruction is rendered more powerful, which is in line with the distinctive characteristics of the Qur’ānic style.