Transliteration:( Wa izaa massakumuddurru fil bahri dalla man tad'oona illaaa iyyaahu falammaa najjaakum ilal barri a'radtum; wa kaanal insaanu kafooraa )
147. When the polytheists of Arabia would experience adverse or unfavourable conditions at sea or were caught in a storm, they would pray to Allah Almighty alone and call upon Him for help and not their idols. After they would safely reach the shores they would once again indulge in polytheism. Reference in this verse is made to this action of theirs.Â
148. Instead of seeking the pleasure of Allah Almighty on receiving His favours they resort to deeds to displease Him. This fault is found in every negligent person, therefore the word 'the man' is used in it, which includes negligent believers and the infidels.
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67. And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him. But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful.
Allah tells us that when harm befalls people, they call on Him, turning to Him and sincerely beseeching Him. Hence Allah says:
(And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.) meaning, everything they worship besides Allah disappears from their hearts and minds. Similar happened to `Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl when he fled from the Messenger of Allah after the conquest of Makkah, and headed for Ethiopia. He set out across the sea to go to Ethiopia, but a stormy wind arose. The people said to one another: “None can save you except Allah Alone.” `Ikrimah said to himself, “By Allah if none can benefit on the sea except Allah then no doubt none can benefit on land except Allah. `O Allah! I promise You that if You bring me safely out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of pity, kindness and mercy.”’ They came out of it safely and were delivered from the sea. Then `Ikrimah went to the Messenger of Allah , and declared his Islam, and he became a good Muslim, may Allah be pleased with him.
(But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.) means, you forget what you remembered of Divine Oneness (Tawhid) when you were on the sea, and you turn away from calling on Him Alone with no partner or associate.
(And man is ever ungrateful.) means, by nature he forgets and denies His blessings, except for those whom Allah protects.
(17:67) When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those whom you invoke forsake you except Him.[84] But when He delivers you safely to the shore you turn away from Him, for man is indeed most thankless.
84. That is, this is a proof of the fact that your real nature knows no other Lord than Allah, and you feel in the depths of your hearts that He alone possesses the real power of every gain or loss. Had it not been so, man would never have invoked Allah at the time when he realized that no other helper could remove his misfortune.
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