Surah Ghafir, Ayah 77

O Messenger, be patient on the harming and denial of your people. The promise of Allah to help you is true without doubt. So I will either show you in your lifetime some of the punishment I promise them, as occurred in the Battle of Badr, or I will make you die before that. To Me alone they will return on the Day of Judgment, reward them for their actions accordingly, entering them into the fire they will remain in forever.

So be patient, verily, the promise of Allah is true and whether We show you some part of what We have promised them, or We cause you to die, then still it is to Us they all shall be returned (77)And, indeed We have sent Messengers before you, of some of them We have related to you their story. And of some We have not related to you their story, and it was not given to any Messenger that he should bring a sign except by the leave of Allah. But, when comes the commandment of Allah, the matter will be decided with truth, and the followers of falsehood will then be lost (78)

The Command to be Patient and Good News of Victory

Here Allah commands His Messenger ﷺ to patiently bear the rejection of those who rejected him: 'Allah will fulfill His promise to you that you will be victorious and will prevail over your people, and you and those who follow you, will be the successful ones in this world and the Hereafter.'

فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِي نَعِدُهُمْ

(and whether We show you some part of what We have promised them,) means, in this world, and this is what happened, for Allah gave them the joy of humiliating the leaders and nobles (of the Quraysh), who were killed on the day of Badr, then Allah granted them victory over Makkah and the entire Arabian Peninsula during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ.

أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ

(or We cause you to die, then still it is to Us they all shall be returned.) means, 'and We shall inflict a severe punishment upon them in the Hereafter.' Then Allah says, consoling [His Prophet ﷺ]:

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلًا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ ۗ

(And, indeed We have sent Messengers before you, of some of them We have related to you their story.) as Allah also says in Surat An-Nisa', meaning, 'We have revealed the stories of some of them and how their people disbelieved in them, but the Messengers ultimately prevailed.'

وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ

(And of some We have not related to you their story,) and they are many, many more than those whose stories have been told, as has been stated in Surat An-Nisa'. Praise and blessings be to Allah.

وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُولٍ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ بِآيَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ۚ

(and it was not given to any Messenger that he should bring a sign except by the leave of Allah.) means, none of the Prophets was able to bring miracles to his people except when Allah granted him permission to do that as a sign of the truth of the message he brought to them.

فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ

(But, when comes the commandment of Allah,) means, His punishment and vengeance which will encompass the disbelievers,

قُضِيَ بِالْحَقِّ

(the matter will be decided with truth,) so the believers will be saved and the disbelievers will be destroyed. Allah says:

وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ

(and the followers of falsehood will then be lost.)