The unbelievers compete with each other in rushing towards disbelief...

The unbelievers compete with each other in rushing towards disbelief; they help one another to extinguish the light of Allah and sometimes even succeed in overpowering the believers. It sometimes grieves the believers, as it seems as if they (the unbelievers) have scored against Allah by thwarting His plan to make the word of truth triumphant.

But if the believer ponders on the system of general and all-encompassing test, he will become sure that it is Allah Who is victorious; and that all persons are relentlessly proceeding to their destination in order that their creative and legislative guidance to their goals may be completed.

The unbeliever is driven to that goal by the health and strength, bounty and comfort that he is provided with - Allah in this way draws him nearer to his destruction in degrees and unfolds His plan against him - enabling him to go to the furthest possible limit of transgression and disobedience.

The believer on the other hand is continuously scraped through test and trial until his belief and faith is cleansed from all rust and pollution, and he becomes absolutely pure for Allah; while the unbeliever's polytheistic tendencies are purged of every shade of belief and he falls down where other friends of false deities and leaders of infidelity have gone. The verse therefore means as follows: You should not grieve on account of those who proceed with increasing haste towards disbelief.

Why should you grieve? Do you think as if they can do any harm to Allah? Certainly you cannot think so, because they cannot do any harm to Allah; they are under complete control of Allah, and He is driving them in their lives' journey to their goal where they will be left with no portion, no share, in the hereafter (and it is the final limit of their infidelity); and they shall have a painful chastisement.

The prohibition, therefore, in the clause, "And let not those grieve you", is of advisory nature; the clause, "surely they can do no harm to Allah", describes the reason of that prohibition; and the next words, "Allah intends that He should not give them . . .", explains why they are unable to do any harm to Allah. Thereafter Allah makes it clear that no unbeliever - whether he hastens to fall into disbelief or not - can do any harm to Him.

The next verse thus states the general principle after mentioning a particular case.