“And how many a sign there is in the heavens and on the earth which they pass by while they turn away from it.”
Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta‘āla) is saying, “Ya Rasūlullāh, you have clear signs.
You are truthful, have miracles, and have no motivation.
You are not the only sign.
They have plenty of other signs.
If they are ignoring you, ya Rasūlullāh, get some consolation that they have been ignoring other signs long before you came on the scene.
You are not the only sign. How many are the miracles in the heaven and the earth.”
The miracles of the heavens are the sun, the moon, the stars, and the creation.
On this earth you have the natural and the man-made.
Of the natural [miracles is], of course, the beauty of the oceans and the mountains and valleys and irrigation and cultivation.
When it comes to man-made, you have the remnants of the nations of old.
The Arabs had plenty of ancient civilizations, which to this day are marvels to humanity.
The people of ‘Ād, the people of Thamūd, those who carved things into the mountains.
To this day, we have no idea how they built palaces.
Have you ever seen pictures of the Nabiteans, the people of Thamūd?
There are pictures you can see online and maybe some of you have been there and visited.
They literally have palaces carved into the mountains.
Their house is in the mountain.
They have bunk beds carved into the mountains.
They have rooms carved inside the mountains.
The Arabs were very familiar with these cultures.
To this day we have no idea how this happened just like the pyramids in Egypt.
Allāh is saying, “Look at these signs.
You are not the first civilization, and you are not going to be the last.
How many are the signs they have walked by and they don’t even think about it.”
Notice the beautiful choice of verb here:
yamurrūn. Murūr literally in Arabic today means traffic.
Yamurrūn means they are walking without thinking.
Marra means just to pass by.
Allāh ‘azza wa jall uses a very precise word.
They walk by it without even thinking about it.
They are completely turned away from it even though they are walking by it.
While they are walking by, it is as if they have turned away.
While they go right by it, they don’t even see it. This, of course, is the reality of humanity.
We see the beautiful signs around us – natural signs and miracles – and we don’t think about it.
Then Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta‘āla) consoles the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) once again.
Lesson
We have to observe and learn from the signs of Allah. E.g. Sun, moon, stars, and ocean etc.