And if it had been Our will, We would surely have wiped out their eyes, so that they would struggle for the path, how then would they see
Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه said “They would not see the truth (Islam)” Hasan Al Basri رحمه الله said “If Allah willed, He could have blinded their eyes and made them blind and stumbling about”
And if it had been Our will, We could have transformed them in their places.
Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه said “We could have destroyed them” As-Suddi رحمه الله said , “We could have changed their form” Hasan Al Basri and Qatadah رحمهما الله said “We could have caused them to sit on their feet”
فَمَا اسْتَطَـعُواْ مُضِيّاً
Then they would have been unable to go forward
وَلاَ يَرْجِعُونَ
nor they could have turned back.
Meaning, move backwards. They would have remained static, unable to move forwards or backwards.
وَمَنْ نُعَمِّرْهُ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ ۖ
And he whom We grant long life — We reverse him in creation.
Means, that Allah ﷻ is telling us that this world is transient and will come to an end,
أَفَلَا يَعْقِلُونَ
Will they not understand [36:66-68] meaning, will they not think about how they were created, then they become gray-haired, then they become old and senile, so that they may know that they were created for another world that is not transient and will not pass away, and from which there is no way out, which is the Hereafter.
This Dunya is short! A Dunya in which you will die, with or without old age, A Dunya created to test your mettle, for Jannah! So don’t make your Jannah in this Dunya, For Wallahi, when you see the helpless babies born, and the helpless elderly die and how they are cared for in the same ways… That should tell you how short and temporary this Dunya is, how short life is.
Allah ﷻ could have tested you by making you blind to the truth, and making you find it through difficulty, He could have made you blind altogether! He ﷻ could have made you deformed and disabled. Yet you aren’t grateful!
Say الحمد الله For Islam! For your working limbs! For everything
