42.27
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves) if Allah were to give abundant wealth to His slaves (they would surely rebel) they would surely transgress and become too arrogant (in the earth, but He sendeth down) but He enlarges (by measure as He wills) for whomever He will. (Lo! He is Informed) of what is good for His slaves, (a Seer of His bondmen) and of their works.
For were God to extend His provision to His servants to all of them they would all of them surely become covetous in other words they would become tyrants in the earth; but He sends down read yunzilu or yunazzilu of provisions in the measure that He will thus extending it for some of His servants to the exclusion of others — and from such extending of provision to some emerges tyranny. Surely He is Aware Seer of His servants.
Allah accepts Repentance and responds to Supplications
Here Allah reminds His servants that He accepts repentance. If they turn to Him and come back to Him, then by His kindness and generosity He forgives, overlooks and conceals (their sins), as He says:
(And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) (4:110) It was reported in Sahih Muslim that Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah said:
(Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than anyone of you who loses his riding beast in a barren land, and it was carrying his food and drink; he despairs of ever finding it, so he comes to a tree and lies down in its shade, having given up all hope of finding his riding beast; then whilst he is there like that, suddenly he sees it standing near him, so he takes hold of its reins and because of his great joy he says, "O Allah,You are my slave and I am Your Lord!'' -- i.e,. he makes a mistake because of his great joy. )'' A similar report was also narrated in the Sahih from `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him.
(And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants,) It was reported that Az-Zuhri said, concerning this Ayah, that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah said:
(Allah rejoices more over the repentance of His servant than one of you feels when he finds his lost camel in a place where he had feared that he would die of thirst.)'' Hammam bin Al-Harith said, "Ibn Mas`ud was asked about a man who commits immoral sins with a woman and then marries her. He said, `There is nothing wrong with that,' and recited:
(And He answers those who believe and do righteous good deeds,) As-Suddi said, "This means, He responds to them.'' This was also the view of Ibn Jarir: "It means that He answers their supplication for themselves, their companions and their brothers.''
وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ
(and gives them increase of His bounty.) means, He answers their supplications and gives them more besides. Qatadah said, narrating from Ibrahim An-Nakha`i Al-Lakhmi about the Ayah:
(And He answers those who believe and do righteous good deeds,) -- (this means) they intercede for their brothers; r
وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ
(and gives them increase of His bounty.) -- (this means) they intercede for their brothers' brothers.
وَالْكَـفِرُونَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ
(And as for the disbelievers, theirs will be a severe torment.) -- having mentioned the believers and the great reward that is theirs, Allah then mentions the disbelievers and the severe, painful, agonizing torment that they will find with Him on the Day of Resurrection, the Day when they are brought to account.
(And if Allah were to extend the provision for His servants, they would surely rebel in the earth,) means, `if We gave them more provision than they need, this would make them rebel and transgress against one another in an arrogant and insolent manner.'
(but He sends down by measure as He wills. Verily, He is, in respect of His servants, the Well-Aware, the All-Seer.) means, but He gives them provision according to what is in their best interests, and He knows best about that. So He makes rich those who deserve to be rich, and He makes poor those who deserve to be poor.
(And He it is Who sends down the rain after they have despaired,) means, after the people have given up hope that rain will fall, He sends it down upon them at their time of need. This is like the Ayah:
(And verily, before that (rain) -- just before it was sent down upon them -- they were in despair!) (30:49)
وَيَنشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ
(and spreads His mercy. ) means, He bestows it upon all the people who live in that region. Qatadah said, "We were told that a man said to `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, `O Commander of the faithful, no rain has come and the people are in despair.' `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, `Rain will be sent upon you,' and he recited:
(And He it is Who sends down the rain after they have despaired, and spreads His mercy. And He is the Protector, Worthy of all praise).'' Meaning He is the One Who is in control of His creation, taking care of what will benefit them in this world and the Hereafter, and the consequences of all His decrees and actions are good, for which He is worthy of all praise.
42.27-35
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
If the context in which this thing has been said is kept in view, it appears that Allah here is alluding to the basic factor that was working in the rebellion of the disbelievers of Makkah. Although they were insignificant as against the mighty Roman and Iranian Empires and their position among the nations of the neighboring countries was no more than of a commercial tribe of a backward people, the relative prosperity and glory that they enjoyed among the other Arabs had made them so proud and arrogant that they were not inclined even to listen to the Prophet of Allah, and their chiefs of the tribes regarded it below their dignity that Muhammad bin `Abdullah (upon whom be Allah's peace) should be their guide and they his followers. On this it is being said "If We had actually opened up the gates of provisions for these mean people, they would have burst with pride. But We are watching over them, and are providing for them only sparingly so as to keep them within limits. " According to this meaning this verse, in other words, is touching on the same subject which has already been treated in At-Taubah: 68-70, Al-Kahf: 32-42, Al-Qasas: 75-82, Ar-Rum: 9, Saba: 34-36 and Al-Mu'min: 82-85 above.
Here, the word wali implies the Being who is the Governor of the affairs of all His creations, Who has taken the responsibility of fulfilling all the needs and requirements of His servants.
"In both": In both the earth and the heavens. This is a clear pointer to the fact that life does not only exist on the earth but on other planets as well.
That is, "Just as He has the power to scatter them, so He has also the power to gather them all together. Therefore, it is wrong to think that Resurrection cannot take place, and all the former and the latter generations cannot be raised up and gathered all together. "
One should note that here the cause of all human afflictions is not being stated but the address is directed to the people who were at that time committing disbelief and disobedience at Makkah. They are being told: `Had Allah seized you for all your sins and crimes, He would not have even allowed you to live, but the calamities (probably the allusion is to the famine of Makkah) that have descended on you, are only a warning so that you may take heed and examine your actions and deeds to see as to what attitude and conduct you have adopted as against your Lord, and try to understand how helpless you actually arc against God against Whom you are rebelling, and know that those whom you have taken as your patrons and supporters, or the powers that you have relied upon, cannot avail you anything against the punishment of Allah." For further explanation it is necessary to state that as regards the sincere believer, Allah's law for him is different. All the calamities and hardships that befall him go on becoming an atonement for his sins, errors and deficiencies. There is an authentic Hadith to the effect: `Whatever sorrow and suffering, distress and grief, and affliction and worry that a Muslim experiences, even if it be a thorn prick, it is made an atonement by Allah for one or the other of his errors. " (Bukhari, Muslim). As for the hardships that a believer faces in the way of raising Allah's Word, they do not merely become an atonement for his deficiencies but also a means of the exaltation of ranks with Allah. In this connection, it cannot even be imagined that they descend as a punishment for sins."
"Who patiently endures": who keeps himself fully under control and remains steadfast on the path of servitude under all circumstances, good or bad; who does not forget himself so as to become rebellious against God and cruel to the people, when favored with good times, and loses heart and stoops to anything when visited by evil times. A "grateful person" is every such person who regards it as a bounty of Allah and not the result of any merit or excellence in himself when he is exalted to any high place of honor in life by a Divine decree, and keeps his mind concentrated on the blessings which remain available to man even under the worst circumstances instead of his deprivations when deposed to the lowest of the low position. Thus, he continues to thank his Lord in both prosperity and adversity with his tongue and heart.
The Quraish, in connection with their business and trade, had also to visit Habash and the coastal lands of Africa, and in these journeys they used sailing ships and boats for crossing the Red Sea, which is a very dangerous sea. It is generally stormy and abounds in submerged rocks which are a serious hazard for navigation especially during the storms. Therefore, the state that has been depicted here by Allah could be fully realized by the people of the Quraish in the light of their personal experiences.
(And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves they would surely rebel in the earth…) [42:27]. This verse was revealed about some people amongst the folk of the Platform (ahl al-Suffah) who wished to have an expansion of this worldly life and riches. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt said: "This verse was revealed about us. This is because we had looked at the wealth of Banu Qurayzah and Banu’l-Nadir and wished to have the same, and so Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed this verse". He said: Abu ‘Uthman al-Mu’adhdhin informed me> Abu ‘Ali al-Faqih> Abu Muhammad ibn Mu‘adh> al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Harb> Ibn al-Mubarak> Haywah> Abu Hani’ al-Khawlani> ‘Amr ibn Hurayth who said: "This verse was revealed about the 'folk of the Platform' (And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves they would surely rebel in the earth). This is because they said: ‘If only we had this worldly life’, they desired this worldly life".
