Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

66. “Indeed My Signs used to be rehearsed to you, but you used to turn back on your heels, ”

67. “In arrogance: talking nonsense about it (the Qur’an), discoursing foolishly by night.”

Ignoring the prophets is not a sign of development and progress; rather it causes deterioration and regression. Divine rules and prescripts are essential to attaining perfection, and ignoring them causes our downfall,

(“...you used to turn back on your heels.”)

This holy verse actually tells us the primary cause of their ominous fate. It indicates that in former times Allah’s Signs used to be rehearsed to you, but (instead of learning a lesson from them) you used to turn back on your heels.

The holy verse says:

“Indeed My Signs used to be rehearsed to you, but you used to turn back on your heels, ”

The Qur’anic word /tankisun/ (here, turn back on ones heels) is derived from the word /nakas/ and means to regress or retreat. And the Arabic word /‘a’qab/ is the plural form of /‘aqib/ which means the heel of the foot. The whole sentence means that when some people hear something that they are abhorrent of, they get so disturbed that they turn back on their beefs and go back in retreat.

The next verse means that not only do they turned back by hearing the verses of Allah, but they also maintained an arrogant and dismissive attitude towards the object of their revulsion as well. Moreover, they used to hold their nightly gatherings and vilify the Prophet (S), The Holy Qur’an, and the believers.

The Qur’an continues saying:

“In arrogance: talking nonsense about it (the Qur’an), foolishly by night.”

The Arabic word /samiran/ is derived from the word /samar/ which means a chat or conversation at night. Some interpreters have said that the actual meaning of this word is ‘the reflection of the moon at night’, in which darkness and light blend into each other.

This word is used for a nighttime conversation under the moonlight. It has been narrated that the Arab polytheists used to gather around the Ka‘bah on moonlit nights and talk against the Prophet (S). In Arabic, a dark or wheat colored person is described as /samra’/, for whiteness and blackness is mixed in him.

The Arabic word /tahjurun/ (talking nonsense) is derived from the word /hajr/ which originally means ‘to keep away from’ or to desert. It also means the delirious speech of a sick person whose words are, in that state, unpleasant and cause others go away. The Arabic word /hujr/, which is also related to that word, means obscene language that makes others leave the speaker.

This latter meaning is meant in the above verse. It means they sat up until late at nights and, as sick ones, they talked in delivian and obscene language.

This is the way and method of the people who are weak, despicable, and lacking in intelligence. They do not choose to express their views in public in the light of day, and do not rely on their intellect and reason. Instead, they cowardly choose the darkness of the night when people are sleeping and cannot see them to vilify others, console each other and advance their evil aims.

The Holy Qur’an implies that the reason for their misery and punishment was that they were not brave enough to accept The Truth, refusing to submit to the Signs of Allah in humility and they did not treat the Prophet (S) with reason and respect. If they did they could find the path of the truth.