13. Ar-Ra'd

He, may He be glorified, has angels that come upon a person one after the other. Some of them come at night and some during the day. They protect the person by Allah’s command and they record his statements and actions. Allah does not change the good condition of a people for the worse unless they change the state of gratitude within themselves. When Allah, may He be glorified, wills destruction for a people, then no one can ward off what He wills. You, O people, do not have any one apart from Him who will take charge of your affairs and to whom you can resort to ward off the calamity that afflicts you.

It is He who shows you, O people, the lightning, inspiring in you both fear of the lightning bolts and hope of rain. It is He who forms the clouds laden with rain water.

The thunder pronounces His glory together with His praises, may He be glorified. The angels pronounce the glory of their Lord in awe of Him and out of respect and honour for Him. He sends thunderbolts to strike and eliminate whichever of His creation He wills. Yet the disbelievers still dispute about Allah’s Oneness. Allah is mighty in power and strength and severe in punishing those who go against Him.

The call of monotheism is for Allah alone and no one shares this with Him. The idols on whom the idolaters call besides Him do not respond to the call of those who call them in any matter. Their calling them is simply like a thirsty person stretching his hand towards water for it to reach his mouth so that he can drink from it. The water is not going to reach his mouth. The call of the disbelievers to their idols is only in vain and far from being right, because they have no power to draw any benefit for them nor ward off any harm from them.

Say, O Messenger, to the disbelievers who worship others together with Allah: Who is the creator and the controller of the heavens and the earth? Say, O Messenger, It is Allah who is their Creator and Controller and you acknowledge this. Say, O Messenger, to them: Have you taken for yourselves protectors other than Allah who are themselves helpless! They cannot draw any benefit for themselves nor remove any harm. How then will they be able to do so for others? Say to them, O Messenger, Is the disbeliever, who has no insight, equal to the believer who can see and who is guided? And is disbelief, which is layers of darkness, equal to faith, which is light? Have they assigned in the creation partners to Allah, may He be glorified, who have created anything like Allah’s creation so that their creation is indistinguishable from His? Say to them, O Messenger, Allah alone is the Creator of all things. He has no partner in creation. He is the One and Only deity, who solely deserves to be worshipped, and He is the All Compelling.

Allah strikes an example of the erosion of falsehood and the survival of truth with rainwater that comes down from the sky and causes riverbeds to flow, each according to its size, whether big or small. The overflowing water carries on its surface scum and froth that rise above the water. He then gives another example of falsehood and truth with some of the metals that people put into a furnace in order to melt down and to make ornaments for people. Falsehood is like the scum and froth that floats above the water and like the slag expelled by smelting the metal. Truth is like the pure water that can be drunk and that causes fruits, grass and vegetation to grow; and like the metal that remains after smelting, which is of benefit to people. Just as Allah has given these two examples, He gives many examples to people so that truth may be distinguished from falsehood.

Those believers who responded to their Lord when he called them towards His Oneness and obedience will have the best reward, which is Paradise. But those disbelievers who did not respond to His call towards His Oneness and obedience, even if they possessed all the different types of wealth on earth, and twice as much, they would offer all of that to redeem themselves from the punishment. Those who did not respond to His call will be taken to account for all their wrong deeds and the home in which they will reside will be Hell— What a miserable place the Fire is to rest and settle in!

The one who knows that what Allah has revealed to you, O Messenger, is undoubtedly the Truth from your Lord, and who has faith in and responds to Allah, cannot be equal to someone who is blind, who disbelieves in Allah and does not respond to Him. Only those with sound understanding will pay heed to and take a lesson from this.

Those who respond to Allah are the ones who fulfil the pledges they made to Allah or the pledges they made to His servants and who do not break the pledges made with Allah or with others.