Surah an-Nisa' (Women ) 4 : 42

Explanatory Note

This scene is depicted immediately after the preparations that began by the statement that God does not deny anyone an atom’s weight of what is due to him or her. His scales maintain absolute justice. Furthermore, He multiplies good actions and gives them a great reward. This equates with mercy and compassion to those who deserve them. These are the ones who combine faith with action. As for the others, who have neither faith nor good actions, their state will be different. The question asked here is what will their state be when God brings a witness from every nation, i.e. the Prophet sent specifically to it, and, hence, when the Prophet Muĥammad will be a witness against the Arabs?

The scene is very vivid indeed, portrayed against a panoramic background in which every nation is present with its witness. We almost see those unbelievers: boastful, hypocritical, arrogant and niggardly people who conceal God’s favours. We see them there when God’s Messenger is asked to testify against them. We see them in the presence of the Creator whom they denied, the Provider whose favours they have concealed, on the Last Day in which they did not believe, and facing the Messenger whom they disobeyed. The Qur’ān asks: How then? It is certainly utter humiliation. Their shame is too great to bear. They regret what they have done and they acknowledge it since denial is of no value.

The Qur’ān does not describe all this as an apparent attitude. It portrays a mental attitude which gives us all these impressions so that we see the effect of humiliation, shame and regret: “Those who disbelieved and disobeyed God’s Messenger will on that Day wish that the earth may swallow them. They shall be able to conceal nothing from God.” (Verse 42) It is through this fine expression and imagery that we sense all these ideas and recognise the unbelievers’ feelings as they experience them. This approach is what makes the Qur’ānic style absolutely unique.