Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 36 Ya-Sin, Ayat 18-18

قَالُـوۡۤا اِنَّا تَطَيَّرۡنَا بِكُمۡۚ لَـئِنۡ لَّمۡ تَنۡتَهُوۡا لَنَرۡجُمَنَّكُمۡ وَلَيَمَسَّنَّكُمۡ مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ اَلِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿36:18﴾

(36:18) The people of the town said: “We believe you are an evil omen for us. If you do not desist, we will stone you or you will receive a grievous chastisement from us.”14


Notes

14. What they meant was: You are an evil omen for us. Our gods have become angry with us on account of what you have been saying against them. Now whatever calamity is befalling us is only because of you. Precisely the same thing used to be said by the disbelievers and the hypocrites of Arabia concerning the Prophet (peace be upon him): If they suffer a loss, they say: this is because of you. (Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 77). That is why at several places in the Quran these people have been told that in the ancient times people also used to say such things of ignorance in regard to their Prophets. The people of Thamud said to their Prophet: We regard you and your companions as a sign of bad omen. (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 47). And the same was the attitude of the people of Pharaoh: Whenever a good time came, they would say: This is but our due, and when there was a hard time, they would ascribe their calamities to Moses (peace be upon him) and his companions. (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 130).