Surah 17

Surah 17:67

"When hardship touches you on the sea, (all those) whom you call on abandon (you), except Him, but when He has delivered you (safely) to the shore, you turn away. The human is ungrateful."
When Harm befalls Them, the Disbelievers do not remember anyone except Allah Verses 17:67
Show Full Scripture Context (17:67) — 1 Verse
Verse 67

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ ٱلضُّرُّ فِي ٱلۡبَحۡرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدۡعُونَ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُۖ فَلَمَّا نَجَّىٰكُمۡ إِلَى ٱلۡبَرِّ أَعۡرَضۡتُمۡۚ وَكَانَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ كَفُورًا

When hardship touches you on the sea, (all those) whom you call on abandon (you), except Him, but when He has delivered you (safely) to the shore, you turn away. The human is ungrateful.

67. And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him. But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful.

When Harm befalls Them, the Disbelievers do not remember anyone except Allah

Allah tells us that when harm befalls people, they call on Him, turning to Him and sincerely beseeching Him. Hence Allah says:

And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.

meaning, everything they worship besides Allah disappears from their hearts and minds. Similar happened to 'Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl when he fled from the Messenger of Allah after the conquest of Makkah, and headed for Ethiopia. He set out across the sea to go to Ethiopia, but a stormy wind arose. The people said to one another: "None can save you except Allah Alone." 'Ikrimah said to himself, "By Allah if none can benefit on the sea except Allah then no doubt none can benefit on land except Allah. 'O Allah! I promise You that if You bring me safely out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of pity, kindness and mercy.'" They came out of it safely and were delivered from the sea. Then 'Ikrimah went to the Messenger of Allah, and declared his Islam, and he became a good Muslim, may Allah be pleased with him.

But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.

means, you forget what you remembered of Divine Oneness (Tawhid) when you were on the sea, and you turn away from calling on Him Alone with no partner or associate.

And man is ever ungrateful. means, by nature he forgets and denies His blessings, except for those whom Allah protects.

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 6, Page 49)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.