(Revealed before Hijrah)
The Surah was revealed in the early years of the Holy Prophet’s life at Mecca. Ibn ‘Abbas, as reported by Baihaqi and Ibn Mardawaih, subscribes to this view, and other scholars, too, agree with him. From its contents and subject-matter the Surah bears a very close resemblance to As-Saffat which had ended with the challenging Divine declaration: God’s hosts shall be victorious and it shall be an evil day for the disbelievers when Divine punishment shall descend into their courtyard. The Surah opens with an equally emphatic declaration that it is an unalterable decree of the Truthful God that the believers shall attain wealth, power and eminence while the disbelievers shall meet with disgrace and destruction.
The Surah opens with a firm declaration—in fact God swears by the Qur’an—that by acting upon its teachings and by making it a rule of their lives the believers will achieve glory and eminence and will come to occupy a most honoured place among the comity of mighty nations. It further says that the Meccan disbelievers repeat the parrot-like cry that they will not give up the worship of their gods at the behest of a man who is just one of them. In reply to this foolish plea they are told, 'Since when have they begun to arrogate to themselves the possession of the treasures of God’s grace and mercy? It is God’s own prerogative that He chooses whom He deems fit for the conveyance of His Will to His creatures; and that now He has chosen the Prophet Muhammad for this purpose.' After making an emphatic prediction that the forces of evil will suffer defeat and disgrace and the votaries of the One God will be given power, wealth and distinction, the Surah, by way of introduction, gives a somewhat detailed description of the great glory and prosperity which the Israelite nation had attained in the reigns of two of their Prophet-kings—David and Solomon. It also refers to the plots that were hatched in David’s glorious reign to undermine his power and influence and to the seeds of decay and disintegration that had been sown during Solomon’s reign when the Israelites rolled in wealth and were at the peak of material prosperity. The Holy Prophet, by implication, is told that, consumed with jealousy at his growing power, his enemies will also hatch plots to take his life and will seek to nip the tender plant of Islam in the bud but they will fail in their wicked designs and Islam will continue to gain power and strength. But if Muslims did not take proper care they would find, to their cost, that in the very heyday of their glory, forces of darkness would seek to undermine the solidarity and stability of Islam. After this a brief mention is made of Prophet Job who had to suffer great hardships, but the temporary phase of his tribulation quickly passed away and he came to his own and his loss was doubly made up. The reference to Job is followed by a fleeting allusion to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Prophets Ishmael, Elisha and Dhul-Kifl, and it is added that those good people who copy their example and follow in their footsteps receive God’s favours which know no decrease or diminution. The Surah closes on the note that whenever men stray away from the path of rectitude, and begin to worship false gods, a Divine Messenger is raised among them to bring them back to the worship of the One True God. The sons of darkness seek to put all sorts of obstacles and impediments in his way and deceive and beguile men away from God. But truth overcomes all hindrances, and triumphs and prevails in the long run.