وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُّوحِىٓ إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ … حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ٱسْتَيْـَٔسَ ٱلرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُوا۟ جَآءَهُمْ نَصْرُنَا
"Before you too We sent none but men, from the people of the towns, to whom We gave revelation. Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before them? The abode of the hereafter is surely better for those who guard themselves. Will you not reason? Until, when the messengers had despaired and thought that they had been denied, Our help came to them, and whom We willed were saved. Our punishment is not turned back from the guilty people."
The pattern is repeated in several places in the Qurʾān (al-Anbiyāʾ 21/7; al-Naḥl 16/43) and was treated at al-Anbiyāʾ 21/7.
| Note | Expression | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rijālan | A being other than human |
| 2 | Nūḥī ilayhim | One who speaks of himself |
| 3 | Min ahli'l-qurā | A stranger — one from their own people |
I record this as an observation: messengership is built not upon the extraordinary but upon acquaintance.
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ — and the proof is grounded on travelling and looking. This pattern was treated at al-Rūm 30/8-10 and Fāṭir 35/43.
And the place of the pattern in this sūra is worth noting: the sūra has told a story; at the close the reader is called to do the same work with his own eyes — to look at the ruins and see the outcome. I give this as my own reading; its ground is that the story and this command stand in the same section.
And this is one of the most debated variant readings in the Qurʾān; because it changes the meaning, I record it.
| Reading | Pattern | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| kudhdhibū (with shadda) | Form II, passive | "That they had been denied" — that is, they realised they had been denied by their peoples |
| kudhibū (without shadda) | Form I, passive | "That they had been lied to" — the subject of the supposing is disputed |
| Reading | Who supposes |
|---|---|
| 1 | The peoples — the deniers supposed that the messengers had lied to them |
| 2 | Those on whom the messengers had set their hopes — those who had seemed to believe |
Per the method (Method) I record this plainly: understanding the second reading to mean that the messengers doubted God's promise is a construal rejected in the classical commentaries as well. I keep clear of this imputation unworthy of the prophets, and confine myself to transmitting the readings impartially. I do not impose a preference.
And this must be recorded, and it is verifiable from the text: the end of the sentence reports a deliverance: jāʾahum naṣrunā. That is, the sentence as a whole tells of a waiting drawn out and of the answer that came at the end — and this corresponds exactly to the story of the sūra: long years lie between the dream and its fulfilment.
ٱسْتَيْـَٔسَ — root ي-أ-س, Form X. And the same verb occurred twice more in the sūra: in verse 80 (fa-lammā istayʾasū minh) and in verse 87 (wa-lā tayʾasū min rawḥi'llāh). The three occurrences are a countable weave within the sūra and were treated at verse 87.