They also said: "Why was this Qur'an not sent down to some great man of the two cities?"
And they said, “Why was the Qur’an not sent down upon some chieftain of these two great towns?” (The chiefs of Mecca and Taif).
They say, 'Why was this Koran not sent down upon some man of moment in the two cities?'
And they say, too, “Why was not this Qur’an bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?”
And they say: wherefore hath not this Qur'an been revealed to a man of the two cities who was great.
And they say: "Why is not this Quran sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta'if)?"
They also said, “If only this Quran was sent down to a man of importance from the two cities.”
They say: “Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon some great man from the two (main) cities?”
And they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns"
And they say: If only this Qur'an had been revealed to some great man of the two towns?
And they said, ‘Why was not this Quran sent down to some great man from the two cities?’
They also said: 'Why was this Koran not sent down to a great man from the two Villages'
And they said, "Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?"
Then they said, "Why this Quran had not been revealed to a man from either of the two great towns".
And they say: Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?
Waq<u>a</u>loo lawl<u>a</u> nuzzila h<u>atha</u> alqur<u>a</u>nu AAal<u>a</u> rajulin mina alqaryatayni AAa<i><u>th</u></i>eem<b>un</b>
They said, "Why was this Quran not sent down to one of the great men of the two cities?"
Also, they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some leading man in either of the two (chief) cities?"
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانُ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِّنَ ٱلْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ
The rejecting idolaters say, “Why did Allah not reveal this Qur’ān upon one of the two great men of Makkah or Taif: Al-Walīd ibn ‘Uqbah or ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ūd Al-Thaqafī, instead of revealing it upon the poor, orphaned Muhammad?”
The rejecting idolaters say, “Why did Allah not reveal this Qur’ān upon one of the two great men of Makkah or Taif: Al-Walīd ibn ‘Uqbah or ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ūd Al-Thaqafī, instead of revealing it upon the poor, orphaned Muhammad?”
<p>Commentary</p><p>Allah Ta ala has in these verses, has replied to an objection of the pagans of Arabia used to be raised against the Holy Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ . Actually, they were not prepared to accept, at the first place, that a man could be a messenger of Allah Ta’ ala. The Holy Qur'an has referred, at many places, to their objection that they could not accept Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ as a messenger of Allah, while he eats and drinks and walks about in the market places like any ordinary man. When it was clarified through many verses of the Qur'an that not only the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، but all the prophets who came to this world, were human beings, they started advancing another argument that if prophethood had to be bestowed upon a human being, why was it not given to some wealthy man of a high rank and position from Makkah or 'if instead of the Holy Prophet ﷺ who was not so wealthy? According to some narrations, they had proposed the names of Walid Ibn Mughirah and ` Utbah Ibn Rabi` ah from Makkah, and ` Urwah Ibn Masud Thaqafi, Habib Ibn ` Amr Thaqafi or Kinanah Ibn ` Abdiyalil from Ta'if. (Ruh-ul-Ma ani)</p><p>Allah Almighty has given two answers to this objection. The second answer is found in the next verses which will be explained there, while the present verse (32) has provided the first answer in the words, "Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord?" "Mercy of your Lord" refers here to 'prophethood' and the gist of the answer is that appointing someone as a prophet is a mercy from Allah which he bestows upon and allocates to human beings on the basis of His absolute wisdom, and according to His exclusive discretion for which He needs not to consult anyone, nor has anyone a right to interfere with it. You have no concern with distribution of prophethood so that your advice should be sought before anyone is made a prophet. Your intellect and understanding is too deficient to be entrusted with selecting suitable persons for the office of prophethood, or for the distribution of this divine mercy among people. How can you distribute among people an office as high as prophethood, while you have no ability to distribute something that is much lower and easier, that is, your economy. You are not good enough even to carry out the distribution of your wealth and means of sustenance. We know that if you are entrusted with this responsibility, you will not be able to manage it even for one day, and the whole system will simply collapse. That is why Allah Ta’ ala has not assigned the distribution of provisions in this world to you; rather He has kept it in His own hands. Since this comparatively ordinary work cannot be entrusted to you, how can a great job like distribution of prophethood be given in your hands?</p><p>This is what the above verses mean, but in the context of replying to the 'mushrikin', many economic principles are laid down and indications are given by Allah Ta’ ala regarding the economic system of the world; their brief explanation is necessary here.</p>
CommentaryAllah Ta ala has in these verses, has replied to an objection of the pagans of Arabia used to be raised against the Holy Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ . Actually, they were not prepared to accept, at the first place, that a man could be a messenger of Allah Ta’ ala. The Holy Qur'an has referred, at many places, to their objection that they could not accept Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ as a messenger of Allah, while he eats and drinks and walks about in the market places like any ordinary man. When it was clarified through many verses of the Qur'an that not only the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، but all the prophets who came to this world, were human beings, they started advancing another argument that if prophethood had to be bestowed upon a human being, why was it not given to some wealthy man of a high rank and position from Makkah or 'if instead of the Holy Prophet ﷺ who was not so wealthy? According to some narrations, they had proposed the names of Walid Ibn Mughirah and ` Utbah Ibn Rabi` ah from Makkah, and ` Urwah Ibn Masud Thaqafi, Habib Ibn ` Amr Thaqafi or Kinanah Ibn ` Abdiyalil from Ta'if. (Ruh-ul-Ma ani)Allah Almighty has given two answers to this objection. The second answer is found in the next verses which will be explained there, while the present verse (32) has provided the first answer in the words, "Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord?" "Mercy of your Lord" refers here to 'prophethood' and the gist of the answer is that appointing someone as a prophet is a mercy from Allah which he bestows upon and allocates to human beings on the basis of His absolute wisdom, and according to His exclusive discretion for which He needs not to consult anyone, nor has anyone a right to interfere with it. You have no concern with distribution of prophethood so that your advice should be sought before anyone is made a prophet. Your intellect and understanding is too deficient to be entrusted with selecting suitable persons for the office of prophethood, or for the distribution of this divine mercy among people. How can you distribute among people an office as high as prophethood, while you have no ability to distribute something that is much lower and easier, that is, your economy. You are not good enough even to carry out the distribution of your wealth and means of sustenance. We know that if you are entrusted with this responsibility, you will not be able to manage it even for one day, and the whole system will simply collapse. That is why Allah Ta’ ala has not assigned the distribution of provisions in this world to you; rather He has kept it in His own hands. Since this comparatively ordinary work cannot be entrusted to you, how can a great job like distribution of prophethood be given in your hands?This is what the above verses mean, but in the context of replying to the 'mushrikin', many economic principles are laid down and indications are given by Allah Ta’ ala regarding the economic system of the world; their brief explanation is necessary here.