The Quran

Preface

وَلَو أَنَّ قُرآنًا سُيِّرَت بِهِ الجِبالُ أَو قُطِّعَت بِهِ الأَرضُ أَو كُلِّمَ بِهِ المَوتىٰ ۗ بَل لِلَّهِ الأَمرُ جَميعًا ۗ أَفَلَم يَيأَسِ الَّذينَ آمَنوا أَن لَو يَشاءُ اللَّهُ لَهَدَى النّاسَ جَميعًا ۗ وَلا يَزالُ الَّذينَ كَفَروا تُصيبُهُم بِما صَنَعوا قارِعَةٌ أَو تَحُلُّ قَريبًا مِن دارِهِم حَتّىٰ يَأتِيَ وَعدُ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُخلِفُ الميعادَ

Yusuf Ali

If there were a Qur-ān with which mountains were moved, or the earth were cloven asunder, or the dead were made to speak, (this would be the one!) But, truly, the command is with God in all things!¹ Do not the Believers know, that, had God (so) willed, He could have guided all mankind (to the right)? But the Unbelievers,- never will disaster cease to seize them for their (ill) deeds, or to settle close to their homes, until the promise of God come to pass, for, verily, God will not fail in His promise.²

Everything is possible and in God’s power. His Plan is beneficent and allembracing. But it is not for His creatures to dictate to Him, or demand what He should do, or how He should do it. The Command is with God in all things. The Believers know His Omnipotence, and they also know that He will order His world for the best.
Let not the Unbelievers think that if they seem to prosper for a time, that is the end of the matter. They are warned about three things. (1) Their ill deeds must carry evil consequences for them all the time, though they may not perceive them for a certain time. (2) Their homes, their places of resort, the circles in which they move, will also be haunted by their ill deeds and their consequences. For evil makes a complex of its environment. The walls of Jericho, when they fall, must bring down all Jericho in its ruins. (3) The ultimate Disaster, the Final Reckoning, must come, for God never fails in His promise. True values must eventually be restored: the good to the good, and the evil to the evil. The Commentators draw illustrations from the life of the Messenger, his exile from Mecca, and his restoration. A similar miracle works in all history. But the Command is with God.