Verse 17 

Allah : أَمْ†أَمِنتُم†مَّن†فِى†ٱلسَّمَآءِ†أَن†يُرْسِلَ†عَلَيْكُمْ†حَاصِبًۭا†فَۖسَتَعْلَمُونَ†كَيْفَ†نَذِيرِ

○ Or do you feel secure that the One in Heaven is not going to send a

storm of stones upon you? Then you would know just how My

warning was

● This verse is a continuation from the verse we covered yesterday

○ The verse we covered yesterday was somewhat of a rhetorical

question asked by Allāh — are you positive that Allāh is not going

to cause the Earth to swallow you up?

■ Do you think that the stability of the Earth is guaranteed?

○ Now, we have another somewhat rhetorical question — or, are you

positive that Allāh is not going to send down a storm of stones

upon you?

● Again, the purpose behind these two questions is not to get an answer,

but rather to prove a point

○ Of course not

○ Of course none of us can ever be 100% absolutely positive that

Allāh will never cause the Earth to swallow us, or that He will never

send down a storm of stones

■ He could so easily do both of those things

○ The ease, comfort, and stability that we have in our lives is no

guarantee

● In this sense, this verse and the previous verse are very similar and have

the same overarching lessons and takeaways

○ We must recognize our blessings in order to be grateful for them,

we must be grateful for our blessings in order to keep them, and a

failure to show proper gratitude can be a source of punishment and

a source of having that blessing taken away

○ None of us should ever take our blessings for granted, with a

blameworthy confidence that we will always have what we have

○ Just as easily as Allāh gave us a blessing, Allāh can also take that

blessing away or replace that blessing with punishment

● This verse has an additional lesson at the end of it for us to learn from

فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ†كَيْفَ†نَذِيرِ—

○ Then, after going through punishment, after experiencing the

stripping away of one’s blessings, then you realize and recognize

how severe and serious Allāh’s warnings were

○ This presents us with a similar lesson that we found in verse #11

■ We do not want to be among those who realize the truth when

it is already too late

○ We do not want to be people who realize that we should have been

grateful for our blessings, after our blessings have been taken away

○ Allāh is telling, and this is a common theme in the Q, when you see,

witness, and experience the punishment, then you will know

■ Then, you will know with absolute certainty that what Allāh

warned against is true

■ But at that point, that knowledge is not going to be of any

benefit

■ That knowledge is useless at that point because there is

nothing that one can do about it

● In this life, having knowledge is of remarkable benefit if that knowledge

is not simply information, but rather true knowledge that translates

into action

○ In this life, if we truly know the nadhīr of Allāh, His warnings, who

He sent as a warner, then we can adequately prepare

○ We can take heed to Allāh’s warning in a manner that will actually

be of benefit to us, by working to protect ourselves from that which

Allāh is warning against

● Like we talked about in verse #11, the time is now

○ The time is now to seek knowledge, to go and learn how Allāh

wants us to live our lives, to discover and understand what the

Hereafter entails

○ This life, right now, our current existence before we pass away is

when knowledge has the opportunity to be of benefit to us

■ To bring some sort of value to us, to provide us with

something that is going to help us

○ After we pass away and leave this world, knowledge is useless

■ And that is not to insult knowledge in any way, but rather to

say that, after we pass away, there is nothing we can do with

that knowledge

■ We cannot use that knowledge to change our lives around, to

rectify our affairs, to improve our conditions

■ Knowledge will not bring about any benefit to us at that point,

after we leave this world

● Allāh is telling us in this verse that there are going to be people who,

only when they see, witness, and experience His punishment, only then

are they going to realize the gravity of His warnings

○ We do not want to be like that, we want to realize the gravity of

Allāh’s warnings now

○ Now, when we have the opportunity to take those warnings to

heart, and have those warnings motivate us to live our lives in a

manner that is pleasing to Allāh

● Allāh uses the word “nadhīr” here, which could mean at least a couple

of things

○ Some commentators mention that Allāh’s usage of the word

nadhīr actually means indhār, a warning

■ Meaning, only after witnessing His punishment are people

going to realize the gravity of His warning

■ The warning itself, the message itself

■ People are going to realize that Allāh’s warnings were true,

Allāh’s warnings were serious, Allāh’s warnings were meant

to be taken to heart

○ Other commentators mention that Allāh’s usage of the nadhīr

actually means nadhīr, a warner

■ The person who conveys the warning

■ Meaning, only after witnessing Allāh’s punishment are people

going to realize the truth of the warner

■ Which is RA

■ People are going to realize that RA was telling the truth all

along, RA was being serious, RA was sincerely and genuinely

warning us of something that needed us to pay attention to

■ People are going to realize — man, I should have listened to

RA, I should have believed in him, I should have acted upon

his teachings and lived by his example

■ People are going to regret not having taken RA as their guide

● So again, take advantage of the time that you have now

○ Take the time to learn — learn about what Allāh has warned us

about, what RA has warned us about

○ Then, take the time to implement that knowledge into practical

action

■ Take the warnings to heart, allow the warnings to influence

how you carry yourself and live your life

○ This is how we protect ourselves from realizing and furthermore

acting upon the truth when it is too late, this is how we protect

ourselves from having this regret in the Hereafter

● May Allāh help us to utilize our time wisely, to learn about how He

wants us to live our lives, and may He protect us from realizing the

truth and further acting upon the truth when it is too late