Overview (Verses 21 - 22)
 
When All Are Powerless
 
Now the sūrah goes on to speak of human nature when people are shown God’s grace after having experienced misfortune and hardship. It gives them an example of what actually takes place in real life. The scene so depicted is vivid and powerful.
 
Whenever We let people taste grace after some hardship has afflicted them, they turn to scheme against Our revelations. Say: More swift is God’s scheming. Our messengers are recording all that you may devise.’ He it is who enables you to travel on land and sea. Then when you are on board ships, and sailing along in a favourable wind, they feel happy with it, but then a stormy wind comes upon them and waves surge towards them from all sides, so that they believe they are encompassed [by death]. [At that point] they appeal to God, in complete sincerity of faith in Him alone. If You will save us from this, we shall certainly be most grateful.’ Yet when He has saved them, they transgress in the land, offending against all right. Mankind, it is against your own souls that your offences rebound. [You care only for] the enjoyment of this present life, but in the end you will return to Us when We will tell you the truth of what you were doing [in this life]. (Verses 21-23)
 
Strange indeed is this human creature, for he does not remember God except in times of hardship and affliction. He does not remove from his nature all the bad influences that distort it, bringing it back to its purity, except when he feels the pressure of misfortune weighing heavily upon him. But when he feels safe and secure, he either forgets or transgresses. The only exceptions are those who follow God’s guidance. Their nature remains pure and responsive all the time. It enjoys the purity of faith which keeps it clean and shining. “Whenever We let people taste grace after some hardship has afflicted them they turn to scheme against Our revelations.” (Verse 21) Thus did Pharaoh’s people with Moses. Whenever they were overwhelmed by God’s punishment, they cried out, sending their earnest appeals for its lifting, and promising to change and mend their ways. Once they were shown God’s mercy, they started to scheme against God’s revelations, giving them wrong interpretations. They even claimed different reasons for the lifting of their afflictions. The Quraysh, the Arab tribe living in Makkah at the Prophet’s time, did the same. When they experienced drought and feared for their lives, they came to the Prophet, appealing to him by their ties of kinship, to pray to God on their behalf. He did and God answered his prayers, sending rain in abundance. But the Quraysh did not fulfil their pledges. They schemed against God’s revelations and persisted in their erring ways. Indeed this is a constant phenomenon, unless man accepts the divine faith and follows God’s guidance.
 
“Say: ‘More swift is God’s scheming. Our messengers are recording all that you may devise.’” (Verse 21) God is certainly more able to plan and make their scheming ineffective. All that which they scheme is laid open before Him. When their scheming is known in advance, it is very easy to foil. “Our messengers are recording all that you may devise.” Nothing of it is overlooked or forgotten. As for the identity of those messengers and how they record and write, all we know is that which we can glean from statements like the present one. We accept these statements as they are, without trying to interpret them further.
 
Then we are given a very vivid scene which is portrayed as if it is happening before our eyes. We react to it with feeling and emotion. It begins with establishing the fact of God’s power that controls both what is moving and what is motionless: “He it is who enables you to travel on land and sea.” (Verse 22) The whole sūrah emphasizes the fact of God’s limitless power which controls the whole universe and the destiny of all creatures that live in it.
 
The full scene then unfolds before us: “Then when you are on board ships...” (Verse 22) As we look we see the ships moving on their way: “and sailing along in a favourable wind...” (Verse 22) We also learn about the feelings of those who are on board: “they feel happy with it...” (Verse 22) In the midst of this atmosphere of complete serenity, and the happiness that it spreads, everyone is suddenly jolted: “a stormy wind comes upon them...” (Verse 22) What a calamity! “And waves surge towards them from all sides...” (Verse 22) The ships start to shake violently, and the waves hit against them time and again, and they spin like a feather in the air. Those on board are overtaken with fear, feeling that there is no escape: “and they believe they are encompassed [by death]...” (Verse 22) There is simply nowhere to turn.
 
At that moment, and in the midst of all this furore, their nature sheds all the filth it accumulated, blunting its reactions. Their minds rid themselves of all erring thoughts. Their nature reverts to its original condition, undistorted. It acknowledges God as the only Lord in the universe and submits to Him alone: “[At that point] they appeal to God, in complete sincerity of faith in Him alone: ‘If You will save us from this, we shall certainly be most grateful.’” (Verse 22)
 
Then the winds subside, and the waves die down. The people on board begin to catch their breath, and their pounding hearts slow down. Soon the ships reach the shore, and the people feel secure. When they step on land, feeling its firmness, they are sure that they are not about to perish. They have their lives ahead of them. Then what?