وَإِن نَشَأ نُغرِقهُم فَلا صَريخَ لَهُم وَلا هُم يُنقَذونَ
And if We like We drown them, whereat they have no one to call for help, nor are they rescued.
EXPOSITION
We have invented cars, lorries, ships, aeroplanes, and space crafts, all of which facilitate our transportation. But all these work because there are accommodating environments for them to work in. What if Allah had not created that environment or had not made the environment accommodating for them? This is the meaning of if We like We drown them, and there would have been no one to help. This is mentioned more clearly in, Among His signs are the ships [that run] on the sea, [appearing] like landmarks. If He willed, He could have stilled the winds, leaving them motionless on top of the water. In that are signs for everyone who is patient, appreciative (42:32-33). The accommodating environment for all our activities and inventions is the most usual thing which is always taken for granted.
If the oil, for example, did not have the quality of burning into energy, could we still create such technologies, or would they have been of any use if we created them? If electricity was not a quality in molecules, if the molecules did not have such qualities in themselves, whatever we did would have been of no use. Our mistake is usually that whatever we build, create, and invent, we think it is our creation, whilst it is just that we have found these things around us. This is a very important point for attention. Whatever we build, whatever we produce in this world, is just finding things which are already there. We have found the qualities in atoms by which we could make atomic energy, but we have not created them.
It may have been the case that for Arabs in those days the most important product of human intelligence were ships and the way they moved on water. Still, if we are intelligent enough, we can generalise what is mentioned here to all human industries. By pondering on these verses, we would find that Allah is alluding to all human products, whatever they make; all the inventions they have ever made in this world are all simply the same thing. He could have stilled the winds, leaving them motionless if He willed. If He wished, He would have made the qualities of atoms a bit different and then there would have been no atomic energy. If He willed, He would not have put those qualities in silicon, and we would not have been able to store lots of data in chips, and we would not have computers, smartphones, etc. We have found the blessing God has placed in silicone chips. And day by day, we are exploring more blessings on this earth. He has placed headlands towering above the earth and blessed whatever is in it (41:10).
Whereat they have no one to call for help, nor are they rescued. We are so ungrateful to God and we commit many sins against Him, we have forgotten His favours and blessings, and for all these, if He wished, He could have drowned us without any blame. Had He done so, no one would have objected, and no one would have questioned it. We are ungrateful, using all His blessings without offering thanks to Him and we even at times reject Him. So, if He does that, no one would ethically object, and no one can, in reality, help. There will be no helper because all potential helpers are dependent on Him.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Once, an atheist asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) about the proof of the existence of God, and the Imam replied: ‘Have you ever been on a ship?’ The atheist answered: ‘Yes’. Imam asked: ‘Did the ship break on you in a way that there was no other ship available there to save you, nor was [abandoning ship and] swimming helpful for you?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’ Imam asked: ‘At that moment, did your heart get attached to something capable of relieving you from your problem?’ He responded: ‘Yes.’ Imam said: ‘That thing is God, who can rescue when there is no rescuer and save when there is no saviour.’
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- The voice of the LORD is heard on the seas; the glorious God thunders, and his voice echoes over the ocean. The voice of the LORD is heard in all its might and majesty … The voice of the LORD makes the lightning flash … The LORD rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever. The LORD gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.
[1] Bihar, 64/137.
[2] Psalms 29:1, 3-4, 7, 10-11.