Tafsir of Al-Ma'aarij 70:40

Al-Ma'arij (The Ascending Stairways): Verse 40

[...Fussilat 41:40]

Translation and Exegesis:

• "Nay! I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests..."

• This refers to the rising and setting of the sun every day of the year, or the rising and setting of every celestial body.
  • Alternatively, the "East" (Mishriq) is understood as the manifestation of every Prophet's call, and the "West" (Maghrib) as their death.
  • Another interpretation suggests they refer to the various types of guidance and abandonment (failure to guide).

• "...that We are able..."

• "...to substitute [them] with others better than them, and We cannot be outdone (or preceded)."
  • This is explained by His statement: "And We are not outdone, [even] to replace [them] with others like you" (referring to a similar concept elsewhere).
  • The phrase "So leave them to plunge into vain talk..." is explained at the end of Surah At-Tur.

• Regarding the fulfillment of this substitution:

• Scholars differed on whether the substitution God described Himself as capable of achieving has actually occurred.
  • Some said: God replaced them with the Ansar (Helpers) and the Muhajirun (Emigrants), whose support for the Messenger is well-known.
  • Others said: Rather, God replaced the disbelief of some of them with faith.
  • Some said: This substitution has not occurred. They (the disbelievers) or most of them remained in their state of disbelief until death. The substitution would only be valid if they had been destroyed (annihilated).
  • The intended meaning of "We are able to substitute [them] with others better than them" was through annihilation (destruction). If that did not happen, how can one assert that the substitution has taken place? God only threatened them with this so that they might believe.

[Al-Ma'arij 70:42-44]

Translation: