21. Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ

٢١۔ سُورَةُ الأنبيَاء

21.7 God has not granted immortality to any human being. If Messengers are destined to die, how disbelievers are going to live for ever!

٢١۔٧ مقطع في سُورَةُ الأنبيَاء

quran:21:34

And We did not grant to any man before you eternity ˹on earth˺; so if you die - would they be eternal?  

When the disbelievers said that Muhammad (s) would die, the following was revealed: And We did not assign to any human being before you immortality, permanence ˹of life˺ in this world. What, if you ˹are fated to˺ die, will they be immortal?, in it? No! (The last sentence constitutes the ˹syntactical˺ locus of the interrogative of denial).
القرآن:٢١:٣٤

وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ ۖ أَفَإِنْ مِتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَالِدُونَ  

ونزل لما قال الكفار إنَّ محمداً سيموت: {وما جعلنا لبشر من قبلك الخلد} البقاء في الدنيا {أفإن مت فهم الخالدون} فيها؟ لا، فالجملة الأخيرة محل الاستفهام الإنكاري.
quran:21:35

Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.  

Every soul shall taste death, in this world, and We will try you, We will test you, with ill and good, such as poverty and wealth, sickness and health, as an ordeal (fitnatan, an object denoting reason, in other words, for the purpose of seeing whether you will be patient and give thanks or not). And then unto Us you shall be brought back, that We may requite you.
القرآن:٢١:٣٥

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً ۖ وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ  

{كل نفس ذائقة الموت} في الدنيا {ونبلوكم} نختبركم {بالشر والخير} كفقر وغنى وسقم وصحة {فتنة} مفعول له، أي لننظر أتصبرون وتشكرون أم لا {وإلينا ترجعون} فنجازيكم.
quran:21:36

And when those who disbelieve see you, ˹O Muhammad˺, they take you not except in ridicule, ˹saying˺, "Is this the one who insults your gods?" And they are, at the mention of the Most Merciful, disbelievers.  

And whenever the disbelievers see you, they only take you in derision, that is, as one to be derided, saying: ‘Is this the one who mentions your gods?’, that is, ˹the one who˺ derides them? And yet when it comes to the mention of the Compassionate One, to them, they (hum, ˹repeated˺ for emphasis) are disbelieving, of it, saying, ‘We do not know of any such ˹individual˺’.
القرآن:٢١:٣٦

وَإِذَا رَآكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَتَّخِذُونَكَ إِلَّا هُزُوًا أَهَٰذَا الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ آلِهَتَكُمْ وَهُمْ بِذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ  

{وإذا رآك الذين كفروا إن} ما {يتخذونك إلا هزواً} أي مهزوءاً به يقولون {أهذا الذي يذكر آلهتكم} أي يعيبها {وهم بذكر الرحمن} لهم {هم} تأكيد {كافرون} به إذا قالوا ما نعرفه.
quran:21:37

Man was created of haste. I will show you My signs, so do not impatiently urge Me.  

The following was revealed regarding their demand that chastisement be hastened: Man was created of haste, that is to say, because he is so hasty in his affairs, it is as if he had been created out of it. Assuredly I shall show you My signs, My promises of chastisement, so do not demand that I hasten, in ˹sending˺ it. And so He ˹God˺ made them suffer death at ˹the battle of˺ Badr.
القرآن:٢١:٣٧

خُلِقَ الْإِنْسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ ۚ سَأُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِي فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ  

ونزل في استعجالهم العذاب {خلق الإنسان من عجل} أي أنه لكثرة عجله في أحواله كأنه خلق منه {سأريكم آياتي} مواعيدي بالعذاب {فلا تستعجلون} فيه فأراهم القتل ببدر.
quran:21:38

And they say, "When is this promise, if you should be truthful?"  

And they say, ‘When will this promise, of resurrection, be ˹fulfilled˺, if you are truthful?’, about it.
القرآن:٢١:٣٨

وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هَٰذَا الْوَعْدُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ  

{ويقولون متى هذا الوعد} بالقيامة {إن كنتم صادقين} فيه.
quran:21:39

If those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not avert the Fire from their faces or from their backs and they will not be aided...  

˹God˺ exalted be He, says: If those who disbelieved only knew of the time when they shall not ˹be able to˺ ward off, repel, the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs, nor shall they be helped, ˹nor˺ shall they be protected from it at the Resurrection (the response to the ˹conditional particle˺ law, ‘if only’, is ˹something along the lines of˺ ‘they would not have said that’).
القرآن:٢١:٣٩

لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا حِينَ لَا يَكُفُّونَ عَنْ وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلَا عَنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنْصَرُونَ  

قال تعالى: {لو يعلم الذين كفروا حين لا يكفون} يدفعون {عن وجوههم النار ولا عن ظهورهم ولا هم ينصرون} يمنعون منها في القيامة وجواب لو ما قالوا ذلك.
quran:21:40

Rather, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be reprieved.  

Nay, but it, the Resurrection, shall come upon them suddenly, dumbfounding them, confusing them, and they shall not be able to ward it off, nor shall they be granted any respite, ˹nor shall they˺ be given any ˹extra˺ time to make a repentance or offer an excuse.
القرآن:٢١:٤٠

بَلْ تَأْتِيهِمْ بَغْتَةً فَتَبْهَتُهُمْ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ رَدَّهَا وَلَا هُمْ يُنْظَرُونَ  

{بل تأتيهم} القيامة {بغتة فتبهتهم} تحيرهم {فلا يستطيعون ردها ولا هم ينظرون} يمهلون لتوبة أو معذرة.
quran:21:41

And already were messengers ridiculed before you, but those who mocked them were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.  

And verily messengers before you were derided — herein is a statement to comfort the Prophet (s) — but those who mocked them were encircled by, it was sent down ˹against them˺, that which they used to deride, namely, chastisement — likewise it shall befall those who have derided you.
القرآن:٢١:٤١

وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِينَ سَخِرُوا مِنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ  

{ولقد استهزئ برسل من قبلك} فيه تسلية للنبي ﷺ {فحاق} نزل {بالذين سخروا منهم ما كانوا به يستهزءون} وهو العذاب فكذا يحيق بمن استهزأ بك.