Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 35

Explanatory Note

These are majestic words, portraying an awesome scene. We cannot appreciate fully the whole idea unless we recall vividly that these are words addressed by God, the Lord of all worlds, to his noble Prophet who has shown maximum perseverance and who is one of the small number of messengers endowed with the strongest resolve. He patiently endured all that his people tried to inflict on him. He never uttered a prayer akin to that of the Prophet Noah, despite his long and arduous suffering. He is being told how God’s law works. If he finds their rejection and aversion too much to cope with and wants to bring them a miraculous sign, then he is free to do so. He may, in the process, try to find a chasm to go deep into the earth or a ladder to ascend to heaven for the purpose.
 
That people should follow divine guidance does not depend on their having a miraculous sign or receiving any clear proof. This was not what they found lacking in Muhammad’s message. Had it been God’s will, he would have united them all under His guidance, either by making their nature akin to that of angels, so that they could follow proper guidance, or by directing their hearts to enable them to receive such guidance and respond to it. Alternatively, He could, if He so wished, accomplish something of a miraculous nature in the face of which they would have to give up their stubborn rejection. There are other ways and means and all of them are within God’s ability.
 
However, in His superior wisdom, God has created man for a particular purpose of His own, giving him certain abilities that are different from those of angels. This has meant that man should contain within himself a varying ability to receive guidance and pointers to faith and able to make different responses to them. He has a range of ability to determine his direction so that justice is maintained, as he receives reward for following guidance or punishment for his deliberate error. For this reason, God has not brought all mankind together to His guidance by a decree He promulgates. He has only commanded them to follow His guidance, and given them the ability to choose either to obey or disobey Him. At the end, everyone will have his fair reward. The Prophet is told to keep this in mind and not to ignore it.