Surah Sad (Sad) 38 : 2

Explanatory Note

The verse begins with the word, ‘but’, which suggests that there is a move away from the initial subject matter: the oath by the letter Şād and the Qur’ān. The oath sounds incomplete because what it intends to affirm is not mentioned. The sūrah simply states the oath and talks about the idolaters and their profound hostility. Yet this very departure from the initial issue heightens our interest in the next. The very fact that an oath by the letter Sād and the Qur’ān is made indicates the intention to discuss something of great importance, one that merits an oath by God Almighty. Yet next to this, the sūrah mentions the idolaters’ arrogance and hostility to the Qur’ān, indicating that the issue remains the same both before and after the conjunction, ‘but’. This departure in the mode of address focuses our attention on the great gulf that lies between the immense status God attaches to the Qur’ān and the idolaters’ arrogance and hostility to it.