Quran Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Chronologically this Surah and the five that follow (Surah 11-15) are closely connected, and were revealed in the late Makkan period, as the great event of the Hijrah was gradually approaching down the stream of Time. The present group leads us to the questions that face us when external hostility has been met, and our relations to Allah have to be considered from a higher standpoint than that of self-preservation. How does revelation work? What is the meaning of divine grace and its withdrawal? - How do the Messengers of Allah deliver their Message? How should we receive it? All these questions revolve around the revelation of the Quran and each Surah of this group except the 13th has the abbreviated Letters Alif, Lam, Ra, attached to it. Surah 13 has the letters, Alif, Lam, Mim, Ra, and we shall discuss this variation when we come to Surah 13. Let us now consider Surah 10 alone. The central theme is that Allah's wonderful Creation must not be viewed by us as a creation of material things only, once made and finished with. Most wonderful of all is how He reveals Himself to men through Prophets and Scriptures; how prophets are rejected by men, and the Message disbelieved until it is too late for repentance; and how, as in the case of Yunus (Jonah) and his people, even the rejection (when repentance supervenes) does not prevent Allah's grace and mercy from working, and how far that working is beyond man's comprehension...... Abdullah Yusuf Ali