3 Preface ما وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَما قَلىٰYusuf AliThy Guardian-Lord hath not forsaken thee,1 nor is He displeased.2As usual, there is the particular assurance to the holy Prophet, and the general assurance to mankind: see the Introduction to this Sūra. The early years of the Prophet’s ministry might well have seemed blank. After inspiration there were days and periods of waiting. A sense of loneliness might well have weighed on his mind. His own tribe of Quraish jeered at him, taunted and threatened him, and slandered and persecuted him as well as those who believed in him. But his faith was never shaken, not even to the extent of that cry of agony of Jesus: “My God! why hast Thou forsaken me?”: (Mark, 16:34). Much less did it enter the Prophet’s mind to think that God was angry with him, as the taunts of his enemies suggested.See last note. The more general meaning is similar. To the man who prepares for spiritual work and spiritual growth the chief thing is typified by the growing hours of the morning. He should not be discouraged, nor overcome with a sense of loneliness in his early struggles or difficulties. The end will crown his work. God’s care is always around him. If unsympathetic or hostile critics laugh at him or taunt him with being “mad” or “old-fashioned” or “ploughing his lonely furrow”, his steady faith will uphold him. He will never believe that his earnest and sincere devotion to God, whatever be its results in this world, can be anything but pleasing to God.