Transliteration:( Wa qaaloo law laaa unzila alaihi malakunw wa law anzalna malakal laqudiyal amru summa laa yunzaroon )
"And they said: 'Why has not an angel been sent down to him?' [16] And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been settled [17], and they would not have been given respite."
The disbelievers demanded that an angel be sent down in a form visible to them. In reality, many angels did come to the Holy Prophet ﷺ, often in human form, witnessed even by the Companions. Their demand, however, was that angels descend in their original form, which is not bearable by humans. This shows their ignorance of divine wisdom and the limits of human capacity.
The phrase “the matter would have been settled” means that if angels had descended in their true form and the disbelievers still rejected the message, then divine punishment would have fallen upon them immediately, leaving no room for repentance. Alternatively, the sheer intensity of the angelic sight could have caused their instant death. Therefore, mercy and delay were granted by not fulfilling their foolish demand.
The tafsir of Surah Al-Anam verse 8 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Anam ayat 7 which provides the complete commentary from verse 7 through 11.
(6:8) They also say: ‘Why has no angel been sent down to this Prophet?’[5] Had We sent down an angel, the matter would surely have long been decided and no respite would have been granted them.[6]
5. The unbelievers were saying that if Muhammed (peace be on him) had indeed been endowed with prophethood, an angel should have been sent down from heaven to announce that he was the Messenger of God, and that that people would be punished if they did not follow his directives. It was atonishing to these ignorant objectors that the Creator of the heavens and the earth should appoint someone as His Messenger and then leave him without protection against the physical hurts and insults that were flung at him. They would have expected the envoy of a Sovereign as great as the Creator of the universe to be accomplied by at least some heavenly constable, if not a large retinue, to protect him!
6. The unbelievers’ objection is refuted by this remark. it warns them that the time available for accepting the true faith and bringing about the required reform in their lives will last only as long as Ultimate Reality remains concealed from human perception by the wheel of the Unseen. Once that wheel is removed, there will be no more respite: the summons to God’s rekoning will have come. This earthly life is a test of whether a man is able to recognize the Ultimate Reality – even though it lies hidden from his sence perception – by the correct excecise of his reason and intelect and of whether, having once recognized it, he is able to behave in conformity with that Reality by exercising control over his animal self and its lusts. This test necessarily requires that the Reality should remain concealed. Thereafter man will be confronted with the result of the test rather than by any further test. Until God has decided to bring the term of their test to a close, it is not possible to respond to such requests by sending angels to them in their true form. For further details see (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 210) note 228.
[294]- In support of his prophethood (ﷺ). [295]- They would have been destroyed immediately with no chance for repentance.
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