Faaradoo bihi kaydan fajaAAalnahumu al-asfaleen (surah Assaaffat: 98)

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

(37:98) They had contrived an evil plan against him, but We abased them all. *53

Fa araadoo bihee kaidan faja `alnaahumul asfaleen

*53) The words in Surah Al-Anbiya`: 69 are to the effect: "We commanded: O fire, be cool and become safe for Abraham," and in Surah AI'Ankbut: 24, it has been said: "Then Allah saved him from the fire." This proves that those people had actually thrown the Prophet Abraham into the fire, and then Allah had rescued him from it safe and sound. The words of the verse, "They had designed a plan against him, but We defeated them in their plan," cannot be taken to mean that they had only intended to throw the Prophet Abraham into the fire but could not carry their plan into effect; but when these words are read with the verses cited above, the meaning becomes plain that they had wanted to kill him by casting him into the fire but could not do so, and the Prophet Abraham's miraculous escape proved his superiority and the polytheists were humbled by Allah. The real object of relating this incident is to warn the people of the Quraish to this effect: "The way that you have adopted is not the way of the Prophet Abraham, whose descendants you claim yourselves to be, but his way is the one being presented by the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings). Now, if you plot against him in order to defeat him and frustrate his mission, as the people of the Prophet Abraham had done against him, you alone will be defeated in the end, because you cannot defeat Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace).