The Quran

158

Preface

هَل يَنظُرونَ إِلّا أَن تَأتِيَهُمُ المَلائِكَةُ أَو يَأتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَو يَأتِيَ بَعضُ آياتِ رَبِّكَ ۗ يَومَ يَأتي بَعضُ آياتِ رَبِّكَ لا يَنفَعُ نَفسًا إيمانُها لَم تَكُن آمَنَت مِن قَبلُ أَو كَسَبَت في إيمانِها خَيرًا ۗ قُلِ انتَظِروا إِنّا مُنتَظِرونَ

Yusuf Ali

Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the signs of thy Lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul¹ to believe in them then if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say: “Wait ye: we too are waiting.”²

There is no merit in faith in things that you are compelled to acknowledge when they actually happen. Faith is belief in things which you do no see with your eyes but you understand with your spiritual sense: if your whole will consents to it, it results in deeds of righteousness, which are the evidence of your faith (Cf. 10:20).
The waiting in the two cases is in quite different senses: the foolish man without faith is waiting for things which will not happen, and is surprised by the real things which do happen; the righteous man of faith is waiting for the fruits of righteousness, of which he has an assured hope; in a higher state of spiritual elevation, even the fruits have no personal meaning to him, for God is to him All-in-All: (Cf. 6:162 and 9:52).