6فَلَعَلَّكَ باخِعٌ نَفسَكَ عَلىٰ آثارِهِم إِن لَم يُؤمِنوا بِهٰذَا الحَديثِ أَسَفًاMuhammad AsadBut wouldst thou, perhaps,1 torment thyself to death with grief over them if they are not willing to believe in this message?2Lit., "it may well be that thou wilt...", etc. However, the particle la'alla does not, in this context, indicate a possibility but, rather, a rhetorical question implying a reproach for the attitude referred to (Maraghl XIII, 116).This rhetorical question is addressed, in the first instance, to the Prophet, who was deeply distressed by the hostility which his message aroused among the pagan Meccans, and suffered agonies of apprehension regarding their spiritual fate. Beyond that, however, it applies to everyone who, having become convinced of the truth of an ethical proposition, is dismayed at the indifference with which his social environment reacts to it.