Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Verses 6:63–65 in Context and Parallels

Qur’an 6:63–65 presents a vivid scenario: in moments of mortal peril, humans call upon God alone with utmost sincerity – “If He should save us from this [crisis], we will surely be among the thankful” (6:63) myislam.org. Once delivered from danger by God’s mercy (6:64), however, many relapse into heedlessness and shirk (idolatry or polytheism), forgetting their desperate promises quran.com myislam.org. Verse 6:65 then warns that the God who saves is also fully able to punish from above or below or even through internecine strife if people persist in ingratitude quran.com quran.com. This pattern of “foxhole faith”—earnest prayer in crisis followed by neglect in safety—is a recurring Qur’anic theme. For example, “When harm strikes you at sea, all those you invoke besides Him vanish; but when He delivers you to shore, you turn away, for man is ever ungrateful” (Qur’an 17:67; 17:66–69) myislam.org. Likewise, “When adversity touches people, they call upon their Lord [alone]… then when He lets them taste mercy, behold, they ascribe partners” (Qur’an 30:33–34) and “Who responds to the distressed one when he calls, and removes the evil?… Is there any god besides Allah?” (Qur’an 27:62) myislam.org myislam.org. These verses across the Qur’an reinforce the lesson of human existential dependency on God and the tragic tendency of human forgetfulness after divine deliverance.

Qur’an 10:22–23 is especially illustrative and thematically linked. It paints the picture of people caught in a tempest at sea—waves towering around them—whereupon “they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him alone, saying: ‘If You deliver us from this, we shall surely be among the grateful.’” Yet when God safely brings them to land, “behold, they transgress insolently” myislam.org myislam.org. This narrative, almost identical to 6:63–64, highlights the “covenant” of gratitude humans make with God in moments of despair, only to break it once relief comes. The Qur’an calls this a “strange betrayal and fatal ignorance”, as one classical commentary puts it quran.com quran.com. The thematic repetition across 6:63–65, 10:22–23, 17:66–69, 30:33–35, 27:62–63 and related verses underscores a universal human condition: when stripped of illusion by crisis, the soul recognizes its Lord, yet once the crisis passes, that clarity often dims.

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