ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ ﳣ ﳤ ﳥ ﳦ ﳧ ﳨ ﳩ ﳪ
Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? And they were greater than them in power. But Allah is not to be caused failure by anything in the heavens or on the earth. Indeed, He is ever Knowing and Competent.
Tafsir
Verse range: 35:44
(Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those who were before them)
This is evidence for what preceded it regarding the continuity of Allah Almighty’s tradition of punishing the deniers, by means of what they witness in their travels, their commerce, and their journeys to the Levant, Yemen, and Iraq; [witnessing] the ruins of past nations and the signs of their destruction. The interrogative particle (hamza) denotes denial, and the connective particle (waw) is for conjunction with a suppressed [verb] befitting the context according to one opinion—that is: "Did they sit still and not travel?" The statement of the Exalted, "(And they were stronger than them in power)," is in the position of a circumstantial clause (hal), whether by assuming the particle qad or without it.
(And it was not for Allah to be incapacitated) Meaning: It is not of His majesty—exalted be His majesty—that anything should outpace or escape Him, (by anything)—meaning anything at all; and the particle min is for the inclusion of all things—(in the heavens or in the earth). This is analogous to "[It leaves] no small or large thing [unrecorded]." The connective particle waw is either for a circumstantial clause or for conjunction.
In Al-Irshad, it is noted that the sentence is a parenthetical clause, affirming what is understood from what preceded it regarding the extirpation of the previous nations; its apparent [meaning] is that the waw is for a parenthetical clause.
(Indeed, He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful) Meaning: Exaggerated in knowledge and power. The sentence is a justification for the negation of incapacitation.
