Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 17 Al-Isra, Ayat 66-67

رَبُّكُمُ الَّذِىۡ يُزۡجِىۡ لَـكُمُ الۡفُلۡكَ فِى الۡبَحۡرِ لِتَبۡتَغُوۡا مِنۡ فَضۡلِهٖؕ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ بِكُمۡ رَحِيۡمًا‏ ﴿17:66﴾ وَاِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فِى الۡبَحۡرِ ضَلَّ مَنۡ تَدۡعُوۡنَ اِلَّاۤ اِيَّاهُ​ ۚ فَلَمَّا نَجّٰٮكُمۡ اِلَى الۡبَرِّ اَعۡرَضۡتُمۡ​ ؕ وَكَانَ الۡاِنۡسَانُ كَفُوۡرًا‏  ﴿17:67﴾

(17:66) Your Lord is He Who steers your vessels across the seas82 that you may seek of His Bounty.83 He is ever Merciful towards you. (17:67) When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those whom you invoke forsake you except Him.84 But when He delivers you safely to the shore you turn away from Him, for man is indeed most thankless.


Notes

82. This passage (Ayats 66-72) is closely connected with the previous one. It tells man that if he wants to protect himself from the allurements, temptations and false promises of Satan who has been his avowed enemy from the day of his creation, he should recognize his real Lord and be steadfast in His obedience. Satan intends to prove that man is not worthy of the honor with which Allah has blessed him. Therefore if he follows any other way he cannot escape the snares of Satan.

In this passage, arguments of Tauhid have been put forward in order to make man steadfast in his faith and refrain from shirk.

83. That is, try to avail of the economic, social, educational and intellectual benefits which are provided by the sea voyages.

84. That is, this is a proof of the fact that your real nature knows no other Lord than Allah, and you feel in the depths of your hearts that He alone possesses the real power of every gain or loss. Had it not been so, man would never have invoked Allah at the time when he realized that no other helper could remove his misfortune.