Al-An'am 47: Say; “Tell me, if Allah’s punishment would come upon you unexpectedly or expectedly, would anyone other than the oppressors perish?”

Surah Al-An'am, verse 47.

Allah Almighty, after giving the proofs of Himself, this time, let us read the verse. Say: tell me, let me see, if Allah's punishment came upon you suddenly or openly, would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers, it says.

Shall we read the verse once more? Well, tell me, let me see. If the punishment from Allah came suddenly, if Allah's punishment came suddenly or openly upon you, would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers?

Now it feels as if the verses contradict each other. When We send an affliction to a town, it says, We send the affliction to all of them, without singling anyone out, it says. And what does it say here? Would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers, it says. That is, We separate the good from among them, it says. Didn't Allah's verses never contradict one another? That is what it says. What does one of them say? When We send affliction to a town, without distinguishing between good and bad among them, We destroy all of them, it says. We give it to all (?), it says. And here: well, tell me, let me see, if Allah's punishment came upon you suddenly or openly, would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers?

That is, from among them, it says, We take the good ones, it says. Now, without knowledge of the Quran in a person, knowledge of the Quran, it is impossible to make sense of these.

It is impossible to make sense of these verses. One of them, one of them, you know, when We send affliction to a town, We do not grant goodness to any of them, and give the affliction to all of them: when it says this, those who live intertwined with them and do not enjoin what is right, who do not tell them the truth, and who live intertwined with them and carry on in their state: is it you who does that? Here is affliction for you, it says. All of you together.

Is there an opposite case, Hodja? Of course there is. (?) the priests were telling them, what you are doing is (?) . What did Allah Almighty do? When they did not listen to the priests, did not listen to the scholars, He destroyed them and saved their scholars. Now this is the counterpart of that verse. If those prophets, it says, and those who follow those prophets, convey the truth to you, and you oppose them, We take them out from among you, and you, it says, We destroy, it says. Now look at the verses. If I had no knowledge, no knowledge of the Quran, it would be impossible for me to tell these apart.

What does it say? In one it says this, and in the other it says that. But since the Quran, the word of Allah Almighty, is upon truths, you will sense the meanings and the wisdoms of these verses. If you cannot sense these wisdoms, you cannot tell these verses apart. Yes.

Allah Almighty says, doesn't He: whomever We give knowledge, We give wisdom, He says. Wisdom. What is wisdom? Being able to understand the subtleties in the verse. Being able to tell them apart. When an affliction comes, how are all destroyed? When an affliction comes, how are the good among them set apart? Yes. For example, Lot was separated from his people. Salih was separated from his people. Noah was separated from his people. Who were the good? They were all saved. Because they turned to Allah, and those who did not obey the prophets, who opposed them, were destroyed along with them. The others were saved.

Yes. We take those who obey Us from among them, it says, We take those who obey from among them and destroy the others. The others, despite their doing evil, not telling them the truth, being with them and conforming their lives to theirs, even if they themselves worshipped, when the affliction came, because they were of one mind with them and lived intertwined with them: if fire falls on a house, everyone in that house goes with it. So when Allah Almighty sends an affliction to that people, all go within it.

Yes. But you will say, did they also go as disbelievers? Ah. Those who went with faith got off the hook. But what was their punishment? Not telling them the truth. Not making them hear it. Being with them. Yes.

Well, tell me, let me see. If Allah's punishment came upon you suddenly or openly, would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers? After giving the proofs of Himself, Allah Almighty, this time, to make people affirm His attribute of justice, says this to His Beloved: O My Beloved! Say to them: tell me, if Allah's punishment suddenly or openly comes upon you, would anyone be destroyed but the group of wrongdoers? Since Allah Almighty is just, whoever denied Allah and, belying His prophets, demanded miracles from them, and when Allah showed them the miracles they asked for, those who still turned away from Allah, how they are destroyed.

He uproots them from the earth and sweeps them (?). My Beloved, they ask you for destruction, it says. Not destruction; they ask for a miracle, it says. A miracle. We are able to show that miracle, it says. But as long as you are among them, We will not give them this affliction, it says. Why? Because the Prophet (peace be upon him), "wa ma arsalnaka illa rahmatan lil-alamin", came as a mercy to the worlds. So what if he came as a mercy? Because Allah Almighty's mercy (?) His wrath, since the Prophet was among them, since he was alive: when they deny a miracle they asked for, it is Our custom, it says, that We destroy them. So We are able to show them a miracle they ask for, but We know, it says, that they will still not believe it. In this case, it says, as long as the Beloved is among you, as long as he is alive, since I do not go back on My word, it says, and would destroy them, then it would be an insult to the Prophet (peace be upon him) whom He sent as a mercy to the worlds, it says.

It would be an insult to him. So for his sake, it says, what fools and ignorant ones like you say, I cannot hold to, it says; I forgive you with My mercy, it says. So as not to destroy you. So in return, it says, I will give you two (?), three afflictions a year, it says.

Yes.

By telling of the peoples destroyed, of (?), with histories, He shows His miracles to those who learn of these events. You ask Me for destruction, but, it says, look, He destroyed Pharaoh's people. And as a lesson to people, it says, I showed him to you, it says, to the worlds, as a lesson in the worlds. I am showing it. Where? What can I say? In England. In a position of prostration, but they have not kept him in that position; they turned him over like this, onto his side. The people of Noah, the people of Lot, the people of Salih, the people of 'Ad: is this not enough? I mean, He destroyed them all. Who knows how many more?

How many peoples there are that He destroyed whom we do not know. Yes, how many miracles there are. Moses speaking at Mount Sinai, sir, his parting the Red Sea and crossing over, the Prophet splitting the moon, I mean, Jesus speaking with the dead, Abraham taking the birds, sir, beating them, and then bringing them back to life. These: somewhere, a man passing through a city, and seeing that the city was destroyed, saying, will this place ever come to anything again, and Allah making him sleep; a hundred years later his food was still perfectly fresh, the hides of his donkey and so on had rotted, and He showed him a way the city was brought to faith.

Now I believe that Allah has power over all things, he says. Yes. Although so many events and miracles appear before people's eyes every day, people living within their own carnal whims, carrying on their lives without bringing Allah to mind: this is not the work of reason. Yes. Do you know how a person will know his Lord? His Lord. You cut your hand somewhere and put salt on it, salt; doesn't it hurt? I am asking, doesn't it hurt? You put salt there, it stings, it stings; wrap that salt, wrap your finger.

All day, though you work all day, though you talk all day, does the ache of your finger leave your mind? It aches continually. It never leaves. So if the love of your Lord does not leave your heart like this, you cannot step outside what your Lord says. And you become obedient to your Lord and try to do what He says. So unless we are bound to Allah like this, we are in trouble.

Our nafs plays games with us, we fall for Satan's temptation, and with that carnal whim we become sinners. So, so that we do not let the love of our Lord leave our hearts, we must join the ranks of His righteous servants. What does Allah Almighty say in the verse? Those righteous servants, it says: when We give an inspiration to his heart, or else, it says, when Satan whispers a temptation to that righteous servant, at once that righteous servant clings to Allah's verse, it says, and Satan's temptation is cancelled in him, it says. You must be among such righteous servants. So that against his temptation you will at once cling to Allah's verse, and the temptation he gives will be cancelled in you.

Yes.

So the peoples destroyed, by telling people of them, with histories, to those who learn of these events His miracles He shows. Allah Almighty, who judges with His justice, makes known that whoever denies Allah and His Messenger will meet punishment, and those who say "Allah" and continue in obedience and worship will be saved. will be (?) from among them. "Fa man ya'mal mithqala dharratin khayran yarah. Wa man ya'mal mithqala dharratin sharran yarah": with this verse, He declares that people will receive what they deserve in return for the good deeds and sins they have done. Yes.