Fussilat: ( 52 ) Say, "Have you considered if..."

Say, "Have you considered..." etc. This is a return to compelling the objectors and the atheists, and a conclusion to the Surah with what serves to turn their attention toward the heart of the matter. It is a speech of justice, containing an incitement to contemplation and a gradual drawing toward admission, alongside the enchantment of eloquence it possesses. The mention of "the hour" occurs in the midst of this to complete the threat and to alert them to the distant straying in which they find themselves. Thus it has been said, and an expansion of the discourse regarding this will follow, if Allah the Exalted wills.

The meaning of "Have you considered" is: Inform me. "If it"—that is, the Quran—"is from Allah, then you disbelieved in it," despite the reinforcement of the reasons to believe in it. "Then"—as Al-Naysaburi said—is for ranking delay (denoting that the subsequent state is more severe). "Who is more astray than he who is in a deep dissension"—that is, a far-reaching disagreement—"reaching the utmost limit of distance from the truth."

The intended meaning of "he who is in a dissension" is the addressees. The noun was used in place of the pronoun to explain their state through the relative clause and to provide a reason for their increased straying. The sentence "Who is more astray" serves, according to Ibn al-Shaykh, as the two objects of "Have you considered." In al-Bahr, it is stated that the first object is omitted, with the estimation: "Have you considered yourselves," and the second is the interrogative sentence. Regardless, the response to the conditional clause is omitted. Al-Naysaburi said: Its estimation is like "So who is more astray than you?" It is also said: If it is from Allah and you disbelieved in it, then inform me, who is more astray than you? And this is perhaps the most apparent.