وَإِذَا رَءَاكَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِن يَتَّخِذُونَكَ إِلَّا هُزُوًا أَهَٰذَا ٱلَّذِى يَذْكُرُ ءَالِهَتَكُمْ وَهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ هُمْ كَٰفِرُونَ · خُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ ءَايَٰتِى فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ
Wa idhā raʾāka'lladhīna kafarū in yattakhidhūnaka illā huzuwā, a-hādha'lladhī yadhkuru ālihatakum, wa hum bi-dhikri'r-Raḥmāni hum kāfirūn · Khuliqa'l-insānu min ʿajal, sa-urīkum āyātī fa-lā tastaʿjilūn
"When those who deny see you, they take you only in mockery: 'Is this the one who talks about your gods?' — while it is they who deny the remembrance of the Merciful. · The human being was created of haste. I shall show you My signs, so do not ask Me to hasten."
| Expression | Who does it | In what sense dhikr is |
|---|---|---|
| yadhkuru ālihatakum | The Prophet | To mention, to talk about — their complaint |
| bi-dhikri'r-Raḥmān | They (they deny it) | Revelation / remembrance |
I record this as my own reading, its ground being that the root occurs twice in the verse: the verse meets those who complain with their own complaint. They are troubled that someone mentions their gods; they themselves reject the mentioning of the Merciful. The same verb, in two directions.
وَهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ هُمْ كَٰفِرُونَ — and the pronoun hum comes twice. The grammarians count the second pronoun either emphasis or a pronoun of separation; on either account it conveys restriction (they alone).
| View | What min ʿajal means | Its ground |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hyperbole/figure: the human being is as though created out of haste; haste is in his very make | Usages of the type "so-and-so is created out of generosity" are common in Arabic |
| 2 | ʿAjal here means clay/ṭīn | A lexical usage transmitted by some lexicographers |
| 3 | There is an inversion: "haste was created from the human being" | The explanation of some of the grammarians |
I transmit the disagreement and do not impose a preference. And I give as a note that the context supports the first reading: the rest of the verse says fa-lā tastaʿjilūn — "do not ask to hasten". The same root, in the same verse, as an imperative.
And this sentence is on the same pattern as the sentence treated at al-Maʿārij on 70/19: inna'l-insāna khuliqa halūʿā — "the human being was created fretful". I rely on that treatment.
| al-Maʿārij 70/19 | al-Anbiyāʾ 21/37 | |
|---|---|---|
| The pattern | khuliqa'l-insānu … | khuliqa'l-insānu … |
| The quality | halūʿan — a circumstantial qualifier (accusative adjective) | min ʿajalin — a prepositional phrase (conveying a source) |
| What follows | Two states are enumerated (jazūʿan, manūʿan) | A command comes (fa-lā tastaʿjilūn) |
Two verses describe a quality of the human being with the same pattern; one opens it out, the other sets a limit to it. I give this as a comparison of wording.
سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ ءَايَٰتِى — س (sīn) conveys the near future. This note was set down at al-Shuʿarāʾ on 26/6 (sīn the near, sawfa the distant future). I rely on that treatment.
And the verse's answer connects with the fifth verse: there it had said fa'l-yaʾtinā bi-āya. Here the answer is given: the signs will come — but the one who asks does not set the time.