Surah 30: The Romans - Overview

Introduction

This Surah, as remarked in the Introduction to the last Surah, deals with the question of Ma'ad or the Final End of Things, from various points of view. In the last Surah, we saw that Revelation was linked up with  Life and Conduct, and Time (looking backwards and forwards) figured forth the frailty of this Life. 

In this Surah the Time theme and its mystery are brought into relation with human history in the foreground and the evolution of the world in all its aspects in the background. The corruption introduced by man is cleared away by God, Whose Universal Plan points to the Hereafter. We shall see that the next two Surahs (31 and 32) present the them in other aspects. All four are introduced with the Abbreviated Letters Alif, Lam, Mim, which (without being dogmatic) I [Yusuf Ali] have suggested as symbolical of Past, Present and Future.

The chronology of this Surah is significant. It was revealed about the 7th or 6th year before the Hijrah, corresponding to 615-16 of the Christian era, when the tide of Persian conquest over the Roman Empire was running strong [as explained in Appendix VIII of the book]. 

The Christian Empire of Rome had lost Jerusalem to the Persians, and Christianity had been humbled in the dust. At that time it seemed outside the bounds of human possibility, even to one intimately acquainted with the inner resources and conditions of the Persian and Roman armies and empires, that the tables would be turned and the position reversed within the space of eight or nine years.

The pro-Persian Pagan Quraysh rejoiced exceedingly, and redoubled their taunts and persecution against the Holy Prophet, whose Message of renewal of the Message of Christ preached in Jerusalem. Then was this passage 30:1-6 revealed, clearly foreshadowing the final defeat of Persia [Appendix VIII 14-16] as a prelude to the destruction of the Perisan Empire. There is no doubt about the prophecy and its fulfillment. For the exulting Pagans of Makkah laid a heavy wager against the fulfillment of the prophecy with Abu Bakr, and they lost it on its fulfillment.

But the rise and fall even of such mighty empires as the Persian and Roman Empires, were but small events on the checkerboard of Time, compared to a mightier movement that was taking birth in the promulgation of Islam. In the seventh or sixth year before the Hijrah, and for a year or two after the Hijrah, Islam was struggling in the world like the still small voice in the conscience of humanity.

It was scarcely heeded, and when it sought to insist upon its divine claim, it was insulted, assaulted, persecuted, boycotted, and (as it seemed) suppressed. The agony of Ta'if (two years before the Hijrah) and the murder plot on the eve of the Hijrah were yet to come. But the purpose of God is not to be thwarted. 

Badr (A.H. 2=A.C. 624), rightly called the critical Day of Decision, began to redress the balance of outward events in early Islam, in the same year in which Issus [Appendix VIII, 16] began to redress the balance of outward events in Perso-Roman relations. Mightier events were yet to come. A new inner World was being created through Islam. The spiritual Revolution was an infinitely greater moment in world history. 

The toppling down of priestcraft and false worship, the restoration of simplicity in faith and life, the rehabilitation of this life as the first step to the understanding of the Hereafter, the displacement of superstition and hair-splitting theology by a spirit of rational enquiry and knowledge, and the recognition of the divine as covering not merely an isolated thing called "Religion" but the whole way of Life, Thought, and Feeling -- this was and is the true Message of Islam and its mission. Its struggle -- its fight -- continues, but it is not without effect, as may be seen in the march of centuries in world history.

Summary

1- The ebb and flow of worldly power -- as symbolized in the conflict of the Persian and Roman Empires -- are but outward events: the deeper meaning is in the working of God's Universe -- how Good and Evil reach their final End. (30:1-19)

All Things End [30:1-19] Great Empires rise and fall, conquer and are conquered, as happened to Rome and Persia; but the true Decision is with God, Who will make the righteous rejoice. Men may see but the outward crust of things, but in truth the End of things is all-in-all. In His own good time He will separate good from evil: praise and glory to Him forever!

2- The changes and changing variety in God's Creation, physical, moral, and spiritual, yet point to Unity in Nature and Religion: man should not break away from that Unity, but glorify Him, the One, for there is none like unto Him. (30:20-40)

Signs and Mysteries [30:20-40] God's Signs are many, and so are His mysteries. Yet each does point to His Unity, Goodness, Power, and Mercy. There is none like unto Him. His teaching is one, and men that split up His standard Religion are but following their own lusts. Ungrateful are they to give part-worship and praise to others, when all worship and praise and glory are due to Him and Him alone, in Whom we have our life and being!

3- The hands of men have wrought corruption and mischief; but God purifies the moral world as He does the world of physical nature, strengthening the weak and pulling down the mighty in due season; wait therefore in patience and constancy, and be not depressed. (30:41-60)

Purge and Purification [30:41-60] The result of Evil is Evil. So mischief spreads, but God will restore the balance in the End. He did create all things pure, and will purge and purify, as He does the physical world with Winds. Destruction awaits those that break His Harmony and Law; it will come when least expected. Let the righteous wait and endure with constancy, for Evil is shaky, with no faith in itself and no roots, and is doomed to perish utterly.