Translation:
Or do they say:- "A Poet! we await for him some calamity 5064 (hatched) by Time!"
Or do they say:- "A Poet! we await for him some calamity 5064 (hatched) by Time!"
Translation:
Or do they say, “[He is but] a poet - let us wait what time will do unto him”? 17
Or do they say, “[He is but] a poet - let us wait what time will do unto him”? 17
Commentary:
17 Lit., "let us await for him the evil happenings of time", i.e., brought about by time: this is the meaning given by Jawhari and Zamakhshari (in the Asas) to the expression rayb al-manun (which latter word is, according to these two authorities, a synonym of dahr, "time"). In the present context, the phrase obviously denotes the expectation of the Prophet’s detractors that time would prove his teachings to have been false or, at best, a delusion.
17 Lit., "let us await for him the evil happenings of time", i.e., brought about by time: this is the meaning given by Jawhari and Zamakhshari (in the Asas) to the expression rayb al-manun (which latter word is, according to these two authorities, a synonym of dahr, "time"). In the present context, the phrase obviously denotes the expectation of the Prophet’s detractors that time would prove his teachings to have been false or, at best, a delusion.
5064 If a spiteful poet foretells evil calamities for men, men can afford to laugh at him, hoping that Time will bring about its revenge, and spite will come to an evil end. For the various meanings of Rayb, see n. 1884 to 14:9. Some Commentators suggest Death as the Calamity hatched by Time.