Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL FURQAAN [30]

30. And the Messenger will say: ”O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur'an.'' 31. Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals. But sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper.   Allah tells how His Messenger and Prophet Muhammad will say: ”O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur'an.'' The idolators would not listen to the Qur'an, as Allah says:

(And those who disbelieve say: ”Listen not to this Qur'an, and make noise in the midst of it.'') (41:26). When he would recite Qur'an to them, they would talk nonsense or speak about something else, so that they would not hear it. This is a form of forsaking it and rejecting it, and not believing in it is the same as forsaking it, and not pondering its meanings and trying to understand it is the same as forsaking it, and not acting upon it and following its commandments and heeding its prohibitions is the same as forsaking it, and turning away from it in favor of poetry or other words or songs or idle talk or some other way is the same as forsaking it. We ask Allah, the Most Generous, the Bestower of bounty, the One Who is able to do what He wills, to keep us safe from doing that which earns His wrath and to use us to do that which will earn His pleasure of preserving and understanding His Book, following its commandments night and day in the manner which He loves and which pleases Him, for He is Generous and Kind.

(Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals.) means, `just as there is for you, O Muhammad, those people who scorned the Qur'an, so in all the previous nations did Allah make for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals, who called people to their misguidance and disbelief,' as Allah says:

(And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies -- Shayatin among mankind and Jinn) as stated in these two Ayat. (6:112) Allah says here:

(But sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper.) meaning, for the one who follows His Messenger and believes in His Book, Allah will be his Guide and Helper in this world and the Hereafter. Allah says

(a Guide and Helper.) because the idolators used to try to prevent people from following the Qur'an lest anyone be guided by it. They wanted their way to prevail over the way of the Qur'an. Allah says:

(Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the criminals.)