Surah 41:51
Show Full Scripture Context (41:49-51) — 3 Verses
لَّا يَسۡـَٔمُ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ مِن دُعَآءِ ٱلۡخَيۡرِ وَإِن مَّسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ فَيَـُٔوسٞ قَنُوطٞ
The human does not tire of calling for good, but if evil touches him, he is in despair (and) downcast.
وَلَئِنۡ أَذَقۡنَٰهُ رَحۡمَةٗ مِّنَّا مِنۢ بَعۡدِ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتۡهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَٰذَا لِي وَمَآ أَظُنُّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ قَآئِمَةٗ وَلَئِن رُّجِعۡتُ إِلَىٰ رَبِّيٓ إِنَّ لِي عِندَهُۥ لَلۡحُسۡنَىٰۚ فَلَنُنَبِّئَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِمَا عَمِلُواْ وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُم مِّنۡ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٖ
If indeed We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after hardship has touched him, he will indeed say, ‘This is mine! I do not think the Hour is coming. If indeed I am returned to my Lord, surely I shall have the best (reward) indeed with Him.’ We shall indeed inform those who disbelieve about what they have done, and indeed make them taste a stern punishment.
وَإِذَآ أَنۡعَمۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡإِنسَٰنِ أَعۡرَضَ وَنَـَٔا بِجَانِبِهِۦ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَآءٍ عَرِيضٖ
When We bless a person, he turns away and distances himself, but when evil touches them, he is full of long prayers.
Allah tells us that man never gets bored of asking his Lord for good things, such as wealth, physical health, etc., but if evil touches him - i.e., trials and difficulties or poverty -
{then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair.}, i.e., he thinks that he will never experience anything good again.
means, if something good happens to him or some provision comes to him after a period of difficulty, he says, 'this is because of me, because I deserve this from my Lord.'
means, he does not believe that the Hour will come. So when he is given some blessing, he becomes careless, arrogant and ungrateful, as Allah says:
"But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely there will be for me the best with Him."
means, 'if there is a Hereafter after all, then my Lord will be generous and kind to me just as He was in this world.' So he expects Allah to do him favors in spite of his bad deeds and lack of certain faith. Allah says:
Thus Allah threatens punishment and vengeance to those whose conduct and belief is like that.
means, he turns away from doing acts of obedience and is too proud to obey the commands of Allah. This is like the Ayah:
{but when evil touches him,} means, difficulties,
means, he asks at length for one thing. Long supplications are those which are long on words and short on meaning. The opposite is concise speech which is brief but full of meaning. And Allah says:
— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 8, Page 555-557)