Al-Hadid: (16) Has the time not yet come for those...

(Has the time not yet come for those who believe that their hearts should feel humility at the remembrance of Allah) This is an initiation of a rebuke to the believers regarding their slackness and lethargy in that which they were commanded to do. The rebuke is directed at a specific group of believers, for among them were those who remained humble from the moment they embraced Islam until they returned to their Lord. The report from al-Kalbi and Muqatil, suggesting that the verse was revealed concerning the hypocrites and that they are the intended ones by the phrase "those who believe," is not considered sound. You have already heard at the beginning of this noble Surah what was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him. Ibn al-Mubarak, 'Abd al-Razzaq, and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from al-A'mash, who said: "When the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to Medina and obtained a soft life—after the hardship they had endured—they seemed to have slackened in some of what they used to be upon, so they were rebuked, and the verse 'Has the time not yet come...' was revealed."

Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Marduyah narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: "Allah the Exalted deemed the hearts of the Emigrants to be slow, so He rebuked them thirteen years after the revelation of the Quran, saying: 'Has the time not yet come...'" In a report by Ibn Marduyah from Anas, it was seventeen years after the revelation of the Quran.

It is also narrated from Aisha, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went out to a group of his companions in the mosque while they were laughing. He pulled his garment, his face reddened, and he said: 'Do you laugh when no security has come to you from your Lord that He has forgiven you? There has been revealed regarding your laughter the verse: "Has the time not yet come for those..."' They asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, what is the expiation for that?' He said: 'That you weep as much as you have laughed.'" In another report, it is said that joking and laughter had become prevalent among the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), so this was revealed. The hadith of Muslim and others mentioned previously takes precedence over these reports according to the requirements of the scholars of hadith.

Ya’n (has the time come) is the imperfect verb of ana the affair, anyan and ana'an and ina'an (with a kasrah), meaning it has reached its an—that is, its time. The meaning is: Has the time not yet come for their hearts to feel humility for His remembrance, the Exalted and Majestic? Al-Hasan and Abu al-Sammal read al-ma with a hamzah, and lama is the negative jussive particle, though it implies that the negated matter is expected. Al-Hasan read ya’innu, the imperfect of ana in the sense of the aforementioned anya. Abu al-Abbas said: Some said that ya’innu is a metathesis of hayinu, its origin being hana yahinu haynan, and the root of the word is al-hayn (time).

(And for the truth that has descended) meaning the Quran. This is a conjunction to "the remembrance of Allah." If that is also what is intended by it, then the conjunction is due to the difference in titles, like "He is the King, the Generous, and the son of the concern," for it is remembrance and admonition just as it is truth descended from the heavens. Otherwise, if it is intended to mean Allah's reminding them, then the conjunction is due to the difference between the two entities, as is common in conjunctions. Similarly, if it is intended to mean their remembrance of Allah in the known sense, it is also acceptable. Some allowed for it to be a conjunction to the Majestic Name if dhikr is intended as "reminding." Al-Tibi said: It is possible to interpret "remembrance" as the Quran, and "what has descended of the truth" as the descent of sakina (tranquility) along with it—that is, the divine influxes. This is supported by what we narrated from al-Bukhari, Muslim, and al-Tirmidhi from al-Bara': A man was reciting Surah al-Kahf, and he had a horse tied with two ropes. A cloud covered him and began to descend, and the horse began to shy away from it. When he awoke, he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and mentioned it to him. He said: "That is the sakina which descends for the Quran." In one narration: "Read, O so-and-so, for it is the sakina that descends at the Quran, or for the Quran." This is highly remote. Perhaps you should choose to interpret "remembrance" and "what has descended" as the Quran, and what follows provides a kind of reinforcement for it.

Humility to the Quran was interpreted as complete submission to its commands and prohibitions and persistence in acting upon the rulings contained within it without slackness or lethargy. It is apparent that the lam in "for the remembrance" is for cause; the meaning is: Has the time not yet come for their hearts to soften due to the remembrance of Allah and His truthful book which has descended, so they might hasten to obedience in the most perfect manner?

The verse encourages humility. Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) would weep when he recited it and say: "Yes, my Lord, yes, my Lord." Al-Hasan said: "By Allah, He found them slow, and they were reading less of the Quran than you read. Look at how long you have read and what has appeared among you of corruption." Al-Sulami narrated from Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari: "While I was in some of the paths of Basra, I heard a thunderous cry, so I turned towards it and saw a man who had fallen unconscious. I asked: 'What is this?' They said: 'He was a man present of heart, and he heard a verse from the Book of Allah, so he fell unconscious.' I asked: 'What is it?' They said: 'The saying of the Exalted: "Has the time not yet come for those who believe that their hearts should feel humility at the remembrance of Allah?"' The man regained consciousness upon hearing our speech and began to say: 'Has the time not come for estrangement to end? And for the branch of the willow to smile? And for the lovesick lover who has melted and bowed down, has the time not come for him to be wept over and shown mercy? I wrote with the water of longing within my ribs a book that mimics the patterns of intricate embroidery.' Then he said: 'An entanglement! An entanglement! An entanglement!' He fell unconscious, and when we moved him, he was dead."

Regarding Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): This verse was read in his presence while a group of the people of Yamama were with him, and they wept intensely. He looked at them and said: "This is how we were, until the hearts hardened." He may have intended, may Allah be pleased with him, that the first generation was like this, until the hearts of many people hardened and they did not emulate their predecessors. His intention was to praise those people for that which he and his peers were upon. It is also possible he intended what is apparent, the speech being a form of self-abasement, like his saying: "Release me, for I am not the best among you." Shaykh al-Islam Abu Hafs al-Suhrawardi (may his secret be sanctified) said: "Its meaning is: they became hardened, accustomed to hearing the Quran, and familiarized with its lights, so they were no longer shaken by it until they were changed as these listeners were changed." This is contrary to the appearance, and in it is a type of belittlement of those people, and an indication that weeping upon hearing the Quran is not an act of a perfect person—as some ignorant Sufis claim—saying that it only happens due to the heart's weakness in bearing the divine luminous influxes. The words of the Siddiq (the Truthful One) are above such things.

(And let them not be like those who were given the Book before). The la is negative, and what follows is in the accusative, joined to "feel humility." It is also permitted that it be prohibitive, with what follows being jussive; this would be a transition to forbidding those believers from emulating the People of the Book after having been rebuked in the manner you heard. Under the interpretation of negation, it is also a prohibition.

(And the period seemed long to them) meaning the term, due to the length of their lives and their expectations, or the period between them and their prophets (peace be upon them) had grown long, and they became distant in time from them. It is also said: the period of waiting for the Resurrection and the recompense, or the period of waiting for the conquest. They distinguish between amad (period) and zaman (time) in that amad is spoken of with consideration to the end goal, while zaman is general regarding the beginning and the end.

(So their hearts hardened), meaning they became rigid, like stones or even harder in hardness, (and many of them are disobedient), deviating from the bounds of their religion, rejecting what is in their book entirely due to excessive hardening. It was mentioned that this is derived from the fact that the sentence is a circumstantial state, though there is hiddenness in that; the most apparent is that it is from the context. The "Book" refers to the category, so the relative pronoun encompasses both the Jews and the Christians. All of them, in the beginning of their affairs, had the truth acting as a barrier between them and many of their desires; when they heard the Torah and the Gospel, they felt humility before Allah and their hearts softened. But when time grew long for them, harshness and hardness overcame them, the awe they used to find when hearing the two Books vanished, they invented what they invented, followed their desires, and their paths diverged. Hardness is the root of evils and originates from long negligence of Allah the Exalted. Do not talk much without the remembrance of Allah, for your hearts will harden, as a hard heart is far from Allah the Exalted. Do not look at the sins of the servants as if you are masters, but look at your own sins as if you are servants. People are two kinds: the afflicted and the healthy; so have mercy on the afflicted and praise Allah for the health. Whoever feels hardness in his heart, let him hasten to the remembrance of Allah and the recitation of His Book; his state will return to him, as indicated by His saying, the Exalted: "Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its death." It is a parable mentioned parenthetically to equate the giving of life to hardened hearts through remembrance and recitation with the giving of life to dead earth through rain, to encourage humility and warn against hardness.