Surah 22. Al-Hajj, Ayah 52

I.e., insinuating that the innermost aim (umniyyah, lit., "longing" or "hope") of the message-bearer in question was not the spiritual improvement of his community but, rather, the attainment of personal power and influence: cf. 6:112 -"against every prophet We have set up as enemies the evil forces (shayatin) from among humans as well as from among invisible beings (al-jinn)" - a statement which is explained in surah {6}, note [98].

Lit., "and God makes His messages clear in and by themselves". This is the meaning of the phrase yuhkimu ayatahu (cf. the expression uhkimat ayatuhu in 11:1 ): i.e., God causes His messages to speak for themselves, so that any insinuation as to the prophet's "hidden motives" is automatically disproved. The conjunction thumma at the beginning of this clause does not connote a sequence in time but a coordination of activities, and is best rendered by the simple conjunction "and".

Lit., "We never sent any apostle or prophet before thee without that, when he was hoping (tamanna)...", etc. According to most of the commentators, the designation "apostle" (rasul) is applied to bearers of divine revelations which comprise a new doctrinal system or dispensation; a "prophet" (nabi), on the other hand, is said to be one whom God has entrusted with the enunciation of ethical principles on the basis of an already-existing dispensation, or of principles common to all divine dispensations. Hence, every apostle is a prophet as well, but not every prophet is an apostle.

Prophets and messengers (the distinction is explained in n. 2503 to xix. 51) are but human. Their actions are righteous and their motives pure. But in judging things from a human point of view, the suggestion may come to their mind (from Satan) that it would be good to have power or wealth or influence for furthering Allah's cause, or that it may be good to conciliate some faction which may be irreconcilable. In fact, in Allah's Plan, it may be the opposite. Allah, in His mercy and inspiration, will cancel any false or vain suggestions of this kind, and confirm and strengthen His own Commands and make known His Will in His Signs or revelations.

This clause and the similar clause at the end of the next verse are parenthetical.