أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَّتَرَبَّصُ بِهِۦ رَيْبَ ٱلْمَنُونِ 30
Translations
Or do they say [of you], "A poet for whom we await a misfortune of time"?
Transliteration
Am yaqooloon sha'irun natarabbbas bih rayb al-manoon
Tafsir (Explanation)
The Meccan disbelievers accused the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) of being a poet whose words would be refuted by the passage of time and death. However, this accusation is rejected because the Quran is a divine miracle, not poetry composed by human eloquence. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari emphasize that this verse responds to the false claims of the Quraysh, affirming that the Quran's preservation and truth are guaranteed by Allah, unlike human compositions which fade into obscurity.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah At-Tur, a Meccan surah that addresses various accusations leveled against the Prophet by the disbelievers of Mecca. The Quraysh employed multiple strategies to discredit the Quran, including claiming it was poetry or magic, and this verse directly refutes the claim that the Prophet was merely a poet whose message would be forgotten with time.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet said, 'I have not been sent except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner' (Sahih Muslim 231). Additionally, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet received revelation while in various states, refuting the claim that the Quran was mere poetic composition (Sahih Bukhari 3).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers that the Quran's truth is not dependent on human approval or the passage of time—it is divinely protected and will endure eternally. Modern readers should recognize that accusations against Islam and the Quran, regardless of their form, have been answered by Allah, and faith should be grounded in the certainty of divine revelation rather than swayed by disbelieving rhetoric.