The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 561
PT. 20 AL-'ANKABŪT CH. 29 قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ ,Say, “Travel in the earth. 21 and see "how He originated the بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ اللهُ يُنْشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ creation. Then will Allah create إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌة the latter creation. ' Surely, Allah has power over all things. 2955 يُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَرْحَمُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ He punishes whom He. 22 وَإِلَيْهِ تُقْلَبُونَ pleases and shows mercy unto whom He pleases; and to Him will you be turned back. 2955 A وَمَا اَنْتُمْ بِمُعْجِزِيْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ And you cannot frustrate. 23 the designs of Allah in the earth وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ nor in the heaven; nor have you 10:5; 30:28. 3:129; 5:41; 17:55. 10:54; 11:34; 42:32. 2955. Commentary: The theme of the preceding verse has further been developed in this verse and the disbelievers are told just to have a glance over the histories of the nations that lived in the past and see that when God intended to create a new order and a new nation, He raised a new Prophet, and when his people rejected him they were destroyed and another people took their place. The Holy Prophet's rejecters are thus warned that if they did not take a lesson from the fate of the rejecters of former Prophets they will also come to history of all religions that rejection of the Divine Message always has landed the disbelievers into ruin. The expressions (travel in the land) and (have they not travelled in the land) have been used at several places in the Quran (6:12; 12:110; 30:10; 35:45; 40:83), and almost everywhere they have been followed by a sentence which points to the terrible fate which the rejecters of the Divine Message had met. This shows that in the present case also where this expression has been followed by the words "then see how He originated the creation, then will Allah create the latter creation,' it points to the destruction of one people and the creation of another in their place. Thus the verse does not refer to the Resurrection after death. It only draws attention to the phenomenon of the rise and decline of nations and their rise after their 2475 decline. 2955A. Commentary: As stated in many places in the Quran, God does not punish arbitrarily but only after punishment has been fully deserved. This verse only means that God in His perfect knowledge well knows who has deserved punishment, and He punishes accordingly.