Surah 70. Al-Ma'arij, Ayah 37

This, again, connects with the statement in verse {19}, "man is born with a restless disposition" (see note [7] above). People who do not want to see the truth of God's existence and have, therefore, no solid basis on which to build their world-view, are, by the same token, unable to conceive any definite standards of personal and social ethics. Hence, whenever they are confronted with anyone's positive assertion of faith, they "run about to and fro" in spiritual confusion, trying, in order to justify themselves intellectually, to demolish the premises of that faith by means of many-sided, contradictory arguments - an endeavour depicted in the metaphor "coming upon thee from the right and from the left"; and since they derive all their strength from a conformity with shallow mass-opinions, they can do this only "in crowds".

 Some Meccan pagans used to gather around the Prophet (ﷺ) to mock him and the believers, saying that if there is in fact a Hereafter, they are better entitled to Paradise than the poor believers.