يَخْسِفَ

6:66; 17:69; 34:10; 67:17-18.

Commentary:

The verb یخسف when used with the preposition یا means, to make something or someone sink or disappear in the earth. It is used metaphorically in the sense of causing a person or thing to be entirely forgotten. Disbelievers are here warned that if they persist in their rejection of the Holy Prophet, they will meet with such destruction that even their posterity will forget them. How clearly fulfilled was the prophecy embodied in this verse about disbelievers of Mecca is writ large on the pages of history.

Every punishment that overtook disbelievers came to them from quarters from which they least expected it. This was particularly the case in the catastrophe which befell them after the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. The Meccans suffered from the illusion that the terms of that treaty meant a great moral victory for them. But it proved to be the beginning of their end. The treaty laid down that any Meccan who became converted to Islam and went to Medina would be sent back to Mecca. The strict observance of this condition by the Holy Prophet proved a blessing in disguise for the cause of Islam. After the treaty it was not possible for those Meccans who became converted to Islam to go to Medina, nor could they remain at Mecca. They therefore established a settlement between Mecca and Medina, free from the control of the Medinite rule and beyond the reach of the Meccans. Their hostile activities against the enemies of their faith compelled Meccans to request the Holy Prophet to revoke that part of the treaty which prevented converts to Islam from going to Medina and settle there. The breach of the terms of the treaty by Meccans later on, however, led to the invasion and conquest of Mecca by the Holy Prophet. All these eventualities were entirely unexpected and came upon the Meccans as bolts from the blue.

67:17-18.

Important Words:

حاصبا (violent sandstorm) is derived from حصب and حصبه means, he pelted him or pelted him with pebbles. They say حصبت الریح بالحصباء i.e. the wind cast or drove along small pebbles. حصب النار means, he kindled the fire. حصب (hasabun) means, a stone that is thrown; firewood. حاصبا means, a thrower or pelter of stones; a punishment from God; dust containing pebbles; pebbles cast about by the wind; small particles of snow and hail scattered about; a large number of men on foot. ریح حاصب means, a violent wind that raises, drives along or casts down pebbles from the sky; clouds or clouds casting down snow and hail (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse implies a prophetic allusion to the Battle of Badr which was yet to be fought. The Arabs, being an inland people, were very much afraid of the sea. It purports to warn the Meccan disbelievers that they were afraid of the sea but God could destroy them on land also. This happened on the battlefield of Badr where their power got a severe shaking.

The verse also seems to suggest to Muslims the benefits of sea-going, hinting that, since dangers at sea are no greater than those on land, why should they remain contented with life on land and not improve their commercial relations with other nations which is possible mainly through constant sea-voyaging?

6:66; 16:46; 17:69; 34:10.

Commentary:

It is because punishment is generally spoken of in the Quran as coming down from heaven that God is referred to, here and in the next verse, as being in heaven; otherwise God is here, there and everywhere. "He is in the heaven and He is in the earth and He is where man is, even nearer to him that his jugular vein" (43:85; 50:17 & 57:4).