Surah al-Anbiya' (The Prophets ) 21 : 46

Overview (Verses 45 - 46)

Unheeded Warnings
 
At the height of this awesome scene, which leaves hearts trembling, the Prophet is instructed to deliver the final warning: “Say: I do but warn you on the strength of divine revelation!’ But the deaf cannot hear this call, however often they are warned.” (Verse 45) Let them, then, beware lest they should be the deaf who do not hear! It is the deaf who will suffer the fate of having the earth shrunk beneath them, and the hand of the Almighty smashing their power, doing away with them and their luxuries.
 
The sūrah continues its discourse making a profound effect on people’s hearts. It describes those very unbelievers as they begin to suffer God’s punishment: “Yet, if but breath of your Lord’s punishment touches them, they are sure to cry, ‘Oh, woe betide us! We were wrongdoers indeed.’” (Verse 46) In Arabic, the word, nafĥah, used in this verse for ‘breath’ is normally associated with mercy and grace, but here it is used in the context of suffering so as to imply that even the slightest breath of God’s punishment is sufficient to make them ready to confess. Alas, confession is of no use now. Earlier in the sūrah we were shown past communities smitten by God’s might, crying out with the same appeals: “They said: ‘Woe betide us! We were indeed wrongdoers!’ And that cry of theirs did not cease until We caused them to become like a field mown down, still and silent as ashes.” (Verses 14-15)
 
It is, then, a confession that comes too late. It is far better that they listen to the warnings contained in God’s revelations when they still have time to act, before they are touched by such suffering.