وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ
ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ
وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ
قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوا۟ لِيُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ
أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ
أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَجْهَلُونَ
And even if We had
sent down unto them
angels, and the dead
had spoken unto them,
and We had gathered
together all things before
them, they would not
have believed, unless
Allah willed, but most
of them behave ignorantly.
Allah says: `Had We accepted what the disbelievers asked for,’ that is — those who swore their strongest oaths by Allah that if a miracle came to them they would believe in it — `had We sent down angels, ‘ to convey to them Allah’s Message, in order to support the truth of the Messengers, as they asked, when they said,
أَوْ تَأْتِىَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةِ قَبِيلاً
or you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face (Al-Isra 92)
قَالُواْ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ حَتَّى نُؤْتَى
مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ رُسُلُ اللَّهِ
They said: “We shall not believe until we receive the like of that which the Messengers of Allah had received.” (Al-An’am 124)
and,
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَرْجُونَ
لِقَآءَنَا لَوْلاَ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا
الْمَلَـئِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَى رَبَّنَا
لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ فِى أَنفُسِهِمْ
وَعَتَوْا عُتُوّاً كَبِيراً
And those who expect not a meeting with Us said: “Why are not the angels sent down to us, or why do we not see our Lord” Indeed they think too highly of themselves, and are scornful with great pride (Al-Furqan 21)
Allah said,
وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى
and the dead had spoken unto them
This is, to inform them of the truth of what the Messengers brought them;
وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ قُبُلاً
and We had gathered together all things before them,
before their eyes, as `Ali bin Abi Talhah and Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas. This is the view of Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. This Ayat means, if all nations were gathered before them, one after the other, and each one testifies to the truth of what the Messengers came with,
مَّا كَانُواْ لِيُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ
they would not have believed, unless Allah willed,
for guidance is with Allah not with them. Certainly, Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills, and He does what He wills,
لاَ يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْـَلُونَ
He cannot be questioned about what He does, while they will be questioned. (Al-Mu’minun 23)
This is due to His knowledge, wisdom, power, supreme authority and irresistibility. Similarly, Allah said,
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ
كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ
وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ
حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ
Truly, those, against whom the Word (wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment. (Yunus 96-97)