وَلَقَدِ ٱسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ ۖ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ 32
Translations
And already were [other] messengers ridiculed before you, and I extended the time of those who disbelieved; then I seized them, and how [terrible] was My penalty.
Transliteration
Wa-laqad istuhzi'a bi-rusulim min qablika fa-amlaytu lilladhina kafarū thumma akhadhtuhum fa-kayfa kāna 'iqābī
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah reminds the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that previous messengers were also mocked and ridiculed by their people, yet Allah gave the disbelievers respite and opportunity to repent before ultimately seizing them with punishment. Ibn Kathir emphasizes that Allah's delay in punishment is not weakness but rather a test of patience and a final opportunity for repentance, while Al-Tabari notes that this is divine consolation for the Prophet facing mockery from the Quraysh. The rhetorical question at the end—'How then was My punishment?'—emphasizes the severity and inevitability of divine retribution.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Ar-Ra'd (a Medinan surah), revealed during a period when the Prophet (ﷺ) faced ridicule and opposition from both Meccan polytheists and hypocrites in Medina. The surah provides reassurance to the Muslim community by referencing the fates of previous nations who rejected their prophets, establishing a pattern in divine history that mockers ultimately face destruction.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The worst of you are those who mock and ridicule others' (related in Tirmidhi). Additionally, in Sahih Bukhari, there is mention of the Prophet's patience with those who mocked him, embodying the lesson that Allah delays punishment to allow for repentance.
Themes
Key Lesson
Believers facing ridicule should find comfort knowing that mockery of truth is an ancient pattern and that those who mock ultimately face accountability before Allah. Furthermore, the apparent delay in divine punishment should not be interpreted as indifference, but rather as an opportunity for repentance—a mercy extended even to disbelievers.
Related Ayahs
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا نَأْتِى ٱلْأَرْضَ نَنقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ لَا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهِۦ ۚ وَهُوَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ
Have they not seen that We set upon the land, reducing it from its borders? And Allāh decides; there is no adjuster of His decision. And He is swift in account.
عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْكَبِيرُ ٱلْمُتَعَالِ
[He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Grand, the Exalted.
يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ ۖ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ
Allāh eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.
لَهُۥ دَعْوَةُ ٱلْحَقِّ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ لَا يَسْتَجِيبُونَ لَهُم بِشَىْءٍ إِلَّا كَبَـٰسِطِ كَفَّيْهِ إِلَى ٱلْمَآءِ لِيَبْلُغَ فَاهُ وَمَا هُوَ بِبَـٰلِغِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا دُعَآءُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ
To Him [alone] is the supplication of truth. And those they call upon besides Him do not respond to them with a thing, except as one who stretches his hands toward water [from afar, calling it] to reach his mouth, but it will not reach it [thus]. And the supplication of the disbelievers is not but in error [i.e., futility].