The Pilgrimage
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[22:52]
Yet whenever We sent forth any apostle or prophet before thee, and he was hoping [that his warnings would be heeded], Satan would cast an aspersion on his innermost aims: but God renders null and void whatever aspersion Satan may cast; and God makes His messages clear in and by themselves – for God is all-knowing, wise.

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* v.52 : Lit., “We never sent any apostle or prophet before thee without that, when he was hoping (tamannā)...,” etc. According to most of the commentators, the designation “apostle” (rasūl) is applied to bearers of divine revelations which comprise a new doctrinal system or dispensation; a “prophet” (nabī), on the other hand, is said to be one whom God has entrusted with the enunciation of ethical principles on the basis of an already-existing dispensation, or of principles common to all divine dispensations. Hence, every apostle is a prophet as well, but not every prophet is an apostle.
* I.e., insinuating that the innermost aim (umniyyah, lit., “longing” or “hope”) of the message-bearer in question was not the spiritual improvement of his community but, rather, the attainment of personal power and influence: cf. 6:112 – “against every prophet We have set up as enemies the evil forces (shayātīn) from among humans as well as from among invisible beings (al-jinn)” – a statement which is explained in sūrah 6, note 98.
* Lit., “and God makes His messages clear in and by themselves.” This is the meaning of the phrase yuhkimu āyātahu (cf. the expression uhkimat āyātahu in 11:1): i.e., God causes His messages to speak for themselves, so that any insinuation as to the prophet’s “hidden motives” is automatically disproved. The conjunction thumma at the beginning of this clause does not connote a sequence in time but a coordination of activities, and is best rendered by the simple conjunction “and.”