Surah An-Nahl

Chapter 16 · Verse 43 · Revealed in Makkah

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًۭا نُّوحِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَسْـَٔلُوٓا۟ أَهْلَ ٱلذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

And We sent not before you except men to whom We revealed [Our message]. So ask the people of the message if you do not know.

Translation: Saheeh International

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Mishary Rashid Alafasy

Reflection — Ibn Kathir

Only Human Messengers have been Sent

Ad-Dahhak said, reporting from Ibn `Abbas: "When Allah sent Muhammad as a Messenger, the Arabs, or some of them, denied him and said, `Allah is too great to send a human being as a Messenger.' Then Allah revealed:

أَكَانَ لِلنَّاسِ عَجَبًا أَنْ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَنْ أَنذِرِ النَّاسَ

Reflection — Maarif ul Quran

Commentary

According to Ruh al-Ma’ ani, it was after the revelation of the first verse cited above that the Mushrikin of Makkah sent their emissaries to the Jews of Madinah to find out if it was true that all earlier prophets had always been from the genus of men.

What does this verse bring up for you today?

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