The Thunder
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[13:37]
Thus, then, have We bestowed from on high this [divine writ] as an ordinance in the Arabic tongue. And, indeed, if thou shouldst defer to men’s likes and dislikes after all the [divine] knowledge that has come unto thee, thou wouldst have none to protect thee from God, and none to shield thee [from Him].

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* v.37 : Lit., “as an Arabic ordinance (hukm)”: i.e., so as to enable the Arabian Prophet to propound it to the people of his immediate environment and, through them, to the whole world. Cf. in this connection 14:4, where it is stated that every one of God’s prophets was entrusted with a message “in his own people’s tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them.” That the message of the Qur’ān is universal, and not restricted to the Arabs alone, is brought out clearly in many places, e.g., in 7:158, “Say [O Prophet]: ‘O mankind! Verily, I am an apostle of God to all of you.’”
* Lit., “follow their likes and dislikes (ahwāhum)” – i.e., by compromising with the followers of other creeds who, while accepting some of the fundamental verities of the Qur’ān, are unwilling to accept the whole of it.