Surah Al-Furqan, Ayah 20
Quran 25:20 · The Criterion · Makki · Para 18 · Page 361
وَمَاۤ اَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِیْنَ اِلَّاۤ اِنَّهُمْ لَیَاْكُلُوْنَ الطَّعَامَ وَیَمْشُوْنَ فِی الْاَسْوَاقِ ؕ وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً ؕ اَتَصْبِرُوْنَ ۚ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِیْرًا ۟۠
Transliteration
Wama arsalna qablaka minaalmursaleena illa innahum laya/kuloona attaAAamawayamshoona fee al-aswaqi wajaAAalna baAAdakumlibaAAdin fitnatan atasbiroona wakanarabbuka baseera
Saheeh International
And We did not send before you, [O Muḥammad], any of the messengers except that they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you [people] as trial for others - will you have patience? And ever is your Lord, Seeing.
Al-Mukhtasar fi Tafsir
O Messenger! All the messengers I sent before you were humans who would eat food and walk in the markets; you are not a unique messenger in that sense. O people! I have made you tests for each other by granting you varying degrees of affluence, poverty, health and sickness; throughout these different circumstances, will you bear whatever I afflict you with so that I may reward you upon your patience? Your Lord is ever-aware of those who bear patience and those who do not, and those who obey Him and those who disobey Him.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)
And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you as a trial for others; will you have patience And your Lord is Ever All-Seer (20)
All of the Previous Messengers Were Human
Allah tells us about the previous Messengers He sent: they all used to eat food needing the nourishment in it. They used to go around in the marketplaces seeking to engage in trade and earn a livelihood. This should not, however, affect their status as Messengers, for Allah gave them good characteristics and caused them to speak fine words and do noble deeds, and gave them miracles and clear proofs, from which any person with sound insight may see the confirmation that what they brought from Allah was true. This Ayah is similar to the Ayat;
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَىٰ
(And We sent not before you any but men unto whom We revealed, from among the people of townships)(12:109).
وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لَّا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ
(And We did not create them bodies that ate not food)(21:8).
وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ
(And We have made some of you as a trial for others; will you have patience) means, 'We test some of you by means of others, so that We may see who will be obedient and who will be disobedient.' Allah says:
أَتَصْبِرُونَ ۗ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا
(will you have patience And your Lord is Ever All-Seer.) meaning, He knows who deserves to receive revelation, as Allah says elsewhere:
اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ
(Allah knows best with whom to place His Message)(6:124). And He knows who deserves to be guided to the Message with which He sent them, and who does not deserve to be guided.
وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ
(And We have made some of you as a trial for others. Will you have patience) Muhammad bin Ishaq said: Allah is saying, "If I had willed that the world be such that no one would oppose My Messengers, I could have made it so, but I wanted to test My servants by means of them." In Sahih Muslim it is narrated from 'Iyad bin Himar that the Messenger of Allah said:
يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالى: إِنِّي مُبْتَلِيكَ وَمُبْتَلٍ بِكَ
(Allah says: "I will test you and test others by means of you.") In the Sahih it is recorded that he was given the choice between being a Prophet and king, or being a servant and Messenger, and he chose to be a servant and Messenger.