Saala sa-ilun biAAathabin waqiAA (surah Maarij: 1)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(70:1) A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, *1

Sa ala saaa`ilum bi`azaa binw-waaqi

*1) Some commentators have taken the verb sa'ala in the Text in the meaning of asking, and have interpreted the verse to mean: "The asker has asked: whom will the torment with which we are being threatened befall'" And AIIah has answered it, saying: "!t will befall the disbelievers." But most of the conunentators have taken sa ala here in the meaning of demanding. Nasa'i and other traditionists have related a tradition from Ibn 'Abbas, and Hakim hold it as authentic, that Nadr bin al-Harith Kaladah had said "O God, if it is really the Truth sent dawn by You, then rain down stones on us from the heavens, or send down any other painful torment on us." (AI-Anfal: 32). Apart from this, at several places in the Qur'an the disbelievers' this challenge has been related: "Why don't you bring down on us the torment that you threaten us with?" For instance, see Yunus: 4b-48, Al-Anbiya': 36-41, An-Naml; 67-72, Saba: 26-30, Ya Sin: 45-52, Al-Mink: 24-27.