Why is it that the Qur’an says that we should not feel sorry for the non-believers? Would we cry for them in sorrow for the rest of our lives? You should not be sorry for the non-believers? Yes. Where does the Holy Qur’an say that? In Joseph Laffan’s translation. Well, every Holy Qur’an is the same Holy Qur’an. Yes, but the translation is different. But where does it say that? I have never read it anywhere. No. No? That you should not feel sorry? Yes. Well, you have put it differently.
The fact is that the Holy Qur’an is addressed in one place, in two places, with the same subject being discussed. La’allaka baakhiyun nafsaka al laa yakoonoo momineen. And in another place, la’allaka baakhiyun nafsaka alaa atharihim illam yu’minoo bihazal hadithi asafa. In both these places, the same subject is discussed, that O Prophet, that do not grieve yourself to death over the non-believers if they refuse to believe in you and invite their own destruction.
So that is a sort of an expression of extreme love for our Prophet, and the purpose is to record his inner being, what passed within him at the sight of non-believers, being hostile to his message, trying to root out Islam through any means available to them, and leaving no stone unturned to destroy his message, yet, in spite of everything, the reaction that is within our Prophet is not that of anger. It is that of sorrow for those people who are calling for their own destruction, working for their own destruction.
So that is the most beautiful reaction of our Prophet in this situation, which is recorded for the rest to copy. It does not mean that you should not feel sorry. It only means that you should not feel so sorry as to destroy yourself, but otherwise the whole situation is so beautifully appreciated, it’s a way of expression in fact.
