وَكَأَيِّن مِّنْ ءَايَةٍ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ · وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِٱللَّهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ · أَفَأَمِنُوٓا۟ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ غَٰشِيَةٌ مِّنْ عَذَابِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلسَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
"How many a sign there is in the heavens and the earth, which they pass by and turn away from. Most of them do not believe in God without associating others with Him. Do they feel safe against the coming of an enveloping stroke of God's punishment, or against the Hour coming upon them suddenly while they are unaware?"
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is that the two verbs are used together: the verse describes not failing to see but not looking. The sign is on the road; the person is passing along it; but his face is turned another way.
| Verse | Expression | What |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Āyātun li's-sāʾilīn | The signs in the story |
| 35 | Min baʿdi mā raʾawu'l-āyāt | Proofs seen but bearing no consequence |
| 105 | Wa-kaʾayyin min āyatin … muʿriḍūn | Signs not seen |
The same word in all three verses; and in all three the matter is not the existence of the sign but the way it is met. This is a countable weave within the sūra.
This is a place that must be treated with care, and per the method (Method) I begin by entering a note: the verse must not be turned into a reading that declares persons unbelievers.
The structure of the sentence is this: a negated verb (mā yuʾminu) + an exception (illā) + a circumstantial clause (wa-hum mushrikūn). That is: "they do not believe — save while associating others with Him."
| # | Explanation | How it is construed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The addressee is determinate — the verse describes those who acknowledge God's existence and set associates beside Him. The Qurʾān describes this type elsewhere too: "If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say 'God'" (Luqmān 31/25; al-Zumar 39/38) | The context is the community addressed by the story; and by saying aktharuhum (most of them) a portion is already left outside |
| 2 | A general diagnosis — that a person, even while believing in God, can insert other trusts, fears and supports; that is, the subtle forms of shirk | The verse names no community; the pronoun aktharuhum is left general |
| 3 | The two words being on different planes — īmān here means verbal acknowledgement, shirk an actual turning; the verse records that the two can be present together | The Qurʾān sometimes uses the word īmān in its lexical sense (assent) |
All three explanations are found in the classical commentaries and they do not exclude one another. I do not impose a preference.
And this must be recorded, and I rely on the relevant clause of Method: the verse passes no wholesale verdict on a group — it describes an attribute. Whoever bears that attribute is included in it; and to fasten the verse's addressee onto particular persons is not an authority the text gives.
And the principle treated at al-Najm 53/23 and al-Mujādala 58/2 can be linked here; I give this as my own reading: there it was recorded that naming produces no reality. A similar path can be taken here: that a belief has been given a name does not show that the belief is pure. I give this as a reading; the verse does not make the connection.
The root غ-ش-ي: to cover, to envelop, to overspread. The root was treated in detail at al-Ghāshiya 88/1 on the occasion of that sūra's name. I do not repeat it here.
And the choice of the verb is worth noting: a-fa-aminū — root أ-م-ن. The same root occurred in verses 11 and 64 of the sūra in the context of entrusting; here it is in the sense of being safe.
And two possibilities are set side by side: ghāshiya (an enveloping stroke) and as-sāʿa (the Hour). The first in this world, the second at the end. I record this as an observation: the warning is given on two scales at once.