وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ ٱلضُّرُّ فِى ٱلْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا نَجَّىٰكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ كَفُورًا 67
Translations
And when adversity touches you at sea, lost are [all] those you invoke except for Him. But when He delivers you to the land, you turn away [from Him]. And ever is man ungrateful.
Transliteration
Wa-itha massa-kumu al-durru fi al-bahr dalla man tad'un illa iyyah, fa-lamma najja-kum ila al-barr a'rada-tum, wa-kana al-insanu kafura.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes the human tendency toward ingratitude and polytheism: when people face hardship at sea, they abandon their false deities and call upon Allah alone in desperation, yet when He saves them and brings them to safety on land, they return to associating partners with Him and forget their covenant. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi emphasize this as a profound example of mankind's inherent forgetfulness (nisyan) and ingratitude (kufran), demonstrating the weakness of human nature without divine guidance.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Al-Isra, a Meccan surah that addresses the spiritual condition of the disbelievers. The passage is contextually situated within a broader theme of the surah concerning Allah's signs and mankind's rejection of them. While no specific asbab al-nuzul (occasion of revelation) is historically documented for this particular verse, it reflects the universal pattern of human behavior that the Quran repeatedly condemns.
Related Hadiths
The theme of forgetting Allah's blessings is reinforced in numerous hadiths. One relevant tradition from Sunan Ibn Majah relates to the Prophet's (ﷺ) warning about ingratitude: 'The worst of people are those who, when given blessings, become heedless of their Lord.' Additionally, Sahih Bukhari contains hadiths emphasizing that true servitude requires constant remembrance of Allah and gratitude in all circumstances.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that true faith requires consistent devotion to Allah in both times of ease and hardship, not merely opportunistic calls in moments of crisis. It serves as a humbling reminder to examine our own hearts for signs of ingratitude and forgetfulness, and to cultivate sincere, continuous gratitude for Allah's blessings.