Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (8) Surah: Al-An‘ām
وَقَالُواْ لَوۡلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيۡهِ مَلَكٞۖ وَلَوۡ أَنزَلۡنَا مَلَكٗا لَّقُضِيَ ٱلۡأَمۡرُ ثُمَّ لَا يُنظَرُونَ
(8) They ˹further˺ said: “Had only there been an angel sent down to him!”[1313] Had We sent down an angel, the whole matter would have been ˹immediately˺ settled and they would not be given respite[1314].
[1313] “And they say ˹mockingly˺: “What kind of messenger is this who eats food and goes about in market-places ˹for a living˺? If only an angel had been sent down with him to be his co-warner!” (25: 7).
[1314] The delivery of the Message usually takes years, if not even centuries as in the case of Prophet Noah (عليه السلام) (29: 14), of hard, toilsome work, example setting, and argumentation and counter-argumentation. Angels were not created for this role. This is why God sends human Messengers; with whom people can interact, relate to and see them acting upon their own teachings, thus providing role models to be emulated and followed. Angels descending to Earth have only one job: to deliver what is ‘true’; “either a Message to a human Messenger or a Punishment from God upon those who Deny it” (Mujāhid, quoted in al-Ṭabarī). “They ˹brashly˺ say: “O you to whom the Reminder is revealed! You must be insane! *Why do you not bring us the angels, if what you say is true?” *We do not send down the angels, save in Truth ˹Punishment˺, and were We to do so, they would be granted no respite” (15: 6-8).
Besides, God would not gratify haughty Deniers by answering their devious demands as much as He obliged His most faithful servants Abraham (عليه السلام) when he asked Him to show him how He brings the dead to life (2: 260) and Jesus and his disciples when they asked for a heavenly feast (5: 114). Were Messengers to answer each one of these demands, the requests would have known no end. They would have been taken for a plaything, losing their meaning and becoming so commonplace as to be to no avail (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). Sincere Belief has to emanate from the heart and be based on unshakable, profound certainty. It is not the result of the mere material realization of a miracle that vanishes once this outside source of awe is no longer perceivable (cf. al-Saʿdī).
[1314] The delivery of the Message usually takes years, if not even centuries as in the case of Prophet Noah (عليه السلام) (29: 14), of hard, toilsome work, example setting, and argumentation and counter-argumentation. Angels were not created for this role. This is why God sends human Messengers; with whom people can interact, relate to and see them acting upon their own teachings, thus providing role models to be emulated and followed. Angels descending to Earth have only one job: to deliver what is ‘true’; “either a Message to a human Messenger or a Punishment from God upon those who Deny it” (Mujāhid, quoted in al-Ṭabarī). “They ˹brashly˺ say: “O you to whom the Reminder is revealed! You must be insane! *Why do you not bring us the angels, if what you say is true?” *We do not send down the angels, save in Truth ˹Punishment˺, and were We to do so, they would be granted no respite” (15: 6-8).
Besides, God would not gratify haughty Deniers by answering their devious demands as much as He obliged His most faithful servants Abraham (عليه السلام) when he asked Him to show him how He brings the dead to life (2: 260) and Jesus and his disciples when they asked for a heavenly feast (5: 114). Were Messengers to answer each one of these demands, the requests would have known no end. They would have been taken for a plaything, losing their meaning and becoming so commonplace as to be to no avail (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). Sincere Belief has to emanate from the heart and be based on unshakable, profound certainty. It is not the result of the mere material realization of a miracle that vanishes once this outside source of awe is no longer perceivable (cf. al-Saʿdī).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (8) Surah: Al-An‘ām
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.