Al-Muddaththir (The Cloaked One)

16. It shall never be thus, since he opposes Our Àyat [Verses, Signs, proofs].

17. I shall soon oblige him to climb the summit of life [then, I shall thrust him downwards.

The disbelieving stranger is harshly rejected in the blessed Verse 16:

“I shall never be thus, since he opposes Our Àyat.”

The disbeliever was fully aware that the Holy Qur’an is neither the word of the jinn nor that of mankind, but it possesses strong roots, fruitful branches, and unparalleled appeal. However, he regarded it as magic and its bearer a magician.

The Arabic adverb of manner

‘anidan (“obdurately”)

implies willful opposition and animosity, when one comprehends the truthfulness of something, but he rises against it. Walid was the personification of such obdurate animosity. The Arabic past verbal form kana implies progressiveness, in that he bore animosity against the truth at all times, rather than temporarily.

The blessed Verse 17 makes a terse reference to his dire fate:

“I shall soon oblige him to climb the hard to pass summit of life and then I shall thrust him downwards. The Arabic verbal form sa-urhiquhu, derived from r-h-q (“to cover fiercely”) connotes overburdening and afflicting one with different torments. The Arabic nominal form sa‘ud denotes a place climbed by someone and the Arabic verbal noun su‘ud is employed in the sense of climbing. Since climbing summits is hard, it implies any kind of hard task. Consequently, some exegetes maintain that it herein connotes Divine torment.

The blessed Verse may allude to the torments inflicted upon Walid in this world, since it is reported in historical sources that having reached the summit of achievements in his personal and social life, he fell down such that he recurrently lost his possessions and offspring.¹