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Surah 41. Fussilat, Ayah 14

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إِذْ جَآءَتْهُمُ ٱلرُّسُلُ مِنۢ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ ۖ قَالُوا۟ لَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّنَا لَأَنزَلَ مَلَـٰٓئِكَةً فَإِنَّا بِمَآ أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِۦ كَـٰفِرُونَ
I th j a athumu a l rrusulu min bayni aydeehim wamin khalfihim all a taAAbudoo ill a All a ha q a loo law sh a a rabbun a laanzala mal a ikatan fainn a bim a orsiltum bihi k a firoon a
Lo! There came unto them [God's] apostles, speaking of what lay open before them and what was [still] beyond their ken,19 [and calling unto them,] "Worship none but God!" They answered: "If our Sustainer had willed [us to believe in what you say], He would have sent down angels [as His message-bearers].20 As it is, behold, we deny that there is any truth in what you [claim to] have been sent with!"
  - Mohammad Asad

Cf.{6:8-9} and 15:7 .

Lit.. "from between their hands and from behind them": i.e., reminding them of something that was known to them - namely, what happened to sinners like themselves who lived before their time - and warning them of what was bound to happen in the future to them, too, if they persisted in their denial of the truth (Al-Hasan al-Basri, as quoted by Zamakhshari). However, it is possible to understand the above phrase (which has been explained in note [247] on 2:255 ) in yet another, more direct way: God's message-bearers pointed out to those sinning communities something that should have been obvious to them (lit., "between their hands")- namely, their patently wrong attitude in their worldly, social concerns and moral concepts - as well as the unreasonableness of their denying something that was still beyond their ken (lit., "behind them"): namely, life after death and God's ultimate judgment.

When their Rasools came to them from before and from behind, saying: "Worship none but Allah." They replied: "If our Rabb wanted to send us a message, He would certainly have sent down angels, so we categorically deny the message with which you are sent."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
The messengers had come to them from all angles, 'proclaiming,' 'Worship none but Allah.' They responded, 'Had our Lord willed, He could have easily sent down angels 'instead'. So we totally reject what you have been sent with.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
When their messengers came unto them from before them and behind them, saying: Worship none but Allah! they said: If our Lord had willed, He surely would have sent down angels (unto us), so lo! we are disbelievers in that wherewith ye have been sent.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Behold the apostles came to them from before them and behind them (preaching): "Serve none but Allah." They said "If our Lord had so pleased He would certainly have sent down angels (to preach): now we reject your mission (altogether)." 4480 4481
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"From before them and behind them": i.e., from every side. They were warned from every point of view.

Cf. xv. 7, n. 1941; vi. 8-9, n. 841-42. The 'Ad had more power and material civilisation than the Pagan Arabs contemporary with the holy Prophet. But the greater the material civilisation, the greater the arrogance as the besetting sin.

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