Welcome to our weekly programme "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an. We start with ayahs 48 and 49 of Surah Saba:

 “Say (O Prophet): Indeed my Lord hurls the truth. [He is] the Knower of all that is Unseen.”

“Say (O Prophet): The truth has come, and falsehood neither originates [anything] not does it restore [anything].”

In continuation of the previous ayahs about the righteousness of the universal mission of Prophet Mohammad (blessing of God upon him and his progeny), the ayahs that we recited to you now mean to say: the Almighty Creator, Who is aware of the innate nature and the essence of all human beings, knows who deserves to receive divine revelation. He thus makes the heart of the Prophet the repository of all truth in order to guide people towards the straight and unwavering path. In other words, what God reveals, is Islam, the right way for the salvation of mankind.

The next ayah means to say that with emergence of Truth falsehood is vanishes, which means Truth defeats falsehood and is victorious over it. In other words, falsehood can do nothing against the Truth and it has no function vis-a-vis it; neither a new function which is initiator, nor a repeated function, because the plans of falsehood are entirely destroyed. Falsehood in whatever form – atheism, polytheism, dualism, trinity etc. – is bound to disappear. According to a narration from Imam Reza (AS) when the Prophet of Islam entered Mecca on its surrender to Muslims, he approached the supreme edifice of monotheism, the holy Ka’ba, which the pagan Arabs had polluted by installing 360 idols in and around it. The Prophet pointed his staff at these objects, while reciting this ayah of the holy Qur’an, and the idols fell headlong to the ground.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. God, the One and Only, is the Ultimate Truth and whoever strives towards God by following the path of the Prophet, achieves salvation.
2. Truth overcomes falsehood and in general, falsehood cannot do anything.
3. Falsehood has no basis and it bursts and disappears like bubbles of water.

Now we listen to ayah 50 of Surah Saba:

“Say, ‘If I go astray, my going astray is only to my own harm, and if I am rightly guided that is because of what my Lord has revealed to me. Indeed He is All-Hearing, Nearmost.”

In this ayah, God commands the Prophet of Islam to tell the disbelievers that as per their claim that he might also go astray, his straying only harms himself, but since God Almighty has entrusted him with the mission to guide mankind and revealed to him the ultimate truth, it is Divine Providence which protects him from any fault, error, or blemish. The Loving Creator is All-Hearing and He is the nearest to us than our jugular vein, which means anyone which supplicates to Him in earnest by desisting from sins and discarding all other objects of worship, will be instantly heard and receive the correct response of guidance. The gist of this ayah is that it is Divine Guidance that saves a person from error. In the words of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Heir of the Prophet: The Prophet since his birth was under Divine Guidance.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The effects and consequences of guidance or misguidance revert to that particular person itself, before affecting others.
2. It is but Divine Guidance that prevents us from error.
3. The Prophets and Imams are Infallible and since their mission is to guide humanity, Divine Guidance covers every aspect of their lives.
4. God is nearest to us than our jugular veins, and responds to our earnest supplications.

Now we listen to ayahs 51 and 52 of Surah Saba:

 “Were you to see when they are stricken with terror, [and left] without an escape, and are seized from a close quarter.”

“They will say, ‘We believe in it [now].’ But how can they reach it from a far-off place.”

In these ayahs and the following ayahs which are the final ayahs of Surah Saba, God informs His Prophet about the impatience and fear of polytheists on the Day of Resurrection, and means to say that their asking for help do not solve any of their problems, because polytheists atheists have no place of refuge.

Regarding to the discussions about the obstinate polytheists mentioned in the previous ayahs, the above ayahs address the Prophet and illustrate the circumstance of this misled group when they are in the grips of the Divine punishment. On that day the acknowledgement of truth by the disbelievers will not benefit them.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Repentance is possible during the mortal life of the transient world, and not on the Day of Resurrection when there is no point of return.
2. Naturally every infidel expresses faith when feeling danger and seeing punishment, but what is important is conscious belief, not acknowledgement of faith due to fear and compulsion.
3. Divine wrath is not far off, whenever God wishes; it is materialized in any place and time.

Now we listen to ayahs 53 and 54:

“When they have already disbelieved it earlier? They shoot at the invisible from a far-off place!”

“A barrier will be set up between them and what they long for, just as was done formerly with their counterparts. Indeed they used to be in grave doubt.”

These ayahs mean to say: That those who on the Day of Resurrection acknowledge their faith in God, had denied the Prophets and the truth of the holy Qur’an while alive. In other words, those who had rejected the Prophet and the message of Islam, thinking that they would be safe from any harm after death, had only indulged in conjectures about the unseen without having the correct knowledge. Such persons are likened to those who shoot at the invisible from a far off place. On the Day of Resurrection, since everything has ended, how can the disbelievers compensate their lack of faith? While alive, they were in the state of utmost freedom and authority, but they disbelieved.

The last ayah of this surah means to say the disbelievers will meet disappointment on the Day of Resurrection and will neither achieve their desires nor realize their conjectures, since they were in doubt and suspicion.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Disbelief and denial of truth and resurrection have no scientific or rational basis, and is like shooting in the dark.
2. The pleasures and lusts of the mortal world are temporary, and the goal of the believers should be about the eternal bliss of afterlife.
3. Death in the state of disbelief, atheism, and polytheism means depriving oneself of Divine Mercy.

AS/ME