ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ
And nothing has prevented Us from sending signs except that the former peoples denied them. And We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her. And We send not the signs except as a warning.
Tafsir
Verse range: 17:59
"And nothing has prevented Us from sending the signs except that the former peoples denied them."
The term "prevention" (al-man‘) is used metaphorically here to describe the withholding of signs due to the constraints of Divine Wisdom. The first an (in an nursila) is in the accusative case, and the second (in an kadhdhaba) is in the nominative case. The implied meaning is: "Nothing has prevented Us from sending the signs except the denial of the former peoples."
The intended signs are those requested by the Quraysh, such as turning Mount Safa into gold or resurrecting the dead. It is God’s custom regarding nations that if they request a sign and it is granted, yet they still do not believe, they are swiftly punished with total annihilation.
Thus, the meaning is: We have refrained from sending the signs they requested only because those who came before them—whose hearts were sealed, like ‘Ad and Thamud—denied them. Had those signs been sent, these people would have denied them just as their predecessors did, calling them "clear magic," and would have thereby incurred the punishment of annihilation. We have decreed that the matter of those to whom you have been sent shall be deferred until the Day of Resurrection.
"And We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her."
We mentioned one of the signs requested by the ancients—the she-camel of Salih—because the traces of their destruction are near the borders of the Arabs, visible to all who come and go. It is read as mubsirah (a sign that makes things clear) and mubsarah (a sign that is seen). "But they wronged her" means they disbelieved in her.
"And We send not the signs except as a warning."
If "the signs" refers to those requested, the meaning is: We do not send them except as a warning of imminent punishment, acting as a vanguard or precursor to it; if they do not fear, the punishment befalls them. If it refers to other signs, such as the verses of the Qur’an, the meaning is: We do not send any signs except to warn and caution them of the punishment of the Hereafter.
"And [remember] when We told you, 'Indeed, your Lord encompasses the people.' And We did not make the vision which We showed you except as a trial for the people, as well as the accursed tree in the Qur’an. And We warn them, but it increases them only in great transgression."
