Ash-Shura (Consultation)

34. Or He may destroy them [the ships] because of that which their [owners] have earned. And He pardons many [people and does not drown them].

35. And those who dispute as regards Our Ayat [Signs, Verses] may know that there is no place of refuge for them.

The verbal form:

(“He destroys them”) derives from the root w-b-q (“destroy”) and it is ad hoc employed in the sense of “drown.” The word mahis, deriving from h-’-s (“flee, escape”), designates “way of return and deliverance.”

To depict Divine Glory, the blessed Verses in question further add:

“Or He may destroy them [the ships] because of that which their [owners] have earned.”

As it was reflected in the preceding Verses, human afflictions are often the consequences of his own deeds; however, man finds Divine Mercy;

“and He pardons many [people].”

If He does not grant His Mercy, no one besides the Infallible Prophets and Imams and also those pure and sincere at heart may not stay away from Divine Chastisement, as it is reflected elsewhere¹ in the Holy Qur’an:

“And if Allah were to punish men for that which they earned, He would not leave a living being on the face of the earth, but He grants them respite to an appointed time and when their term comes, indeed Allah is the All-Seer of His servants.”

God Almighty is Omnipotent and may impede winds from blowing so that ships stay standstill in the heart of oceans and He is All-Able to turn winds into severe storms to crush colossal ships and roll them on gigantic waves, but His All-Inclusive Mercy impedes the same.

Verse 35 says:

“And those who dispute [and rise in denial] as regards Our Ayat [Signs, Verses] may know that there is no place of refuge for them [but Divine Pure Essence].”

Such people may not be granted Divine Forgiving, since they willfully rise against him and persist in their enmity and obduracy. They are deprived of His emanating fountainhead of Forgiving and Mercy and may not find deliverance from His torment.

As mentioned above, the word mahis, deriving from h-’-s (“flee, escape”), designates “way of return and deliverance.” The word mahis denotes place and is employed in the sense of place of refuge.