وَإِذَا أَذَقْنَا النَّاسَ رَحْمَةً مِّن بَعْدِ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُمْ إِذَا لَهُم مَّكْرٌ فِي آيَاتِنَا ۚ قُلِ اللَّهُ أَسْرَعُ مَكْرًا ۚ إِنَّ رُسُلَنَا يَكْتُبُونَ مَا تَمْكُرُونَ (21)
(10:21) No sooner than We bestow mercy on a people after hardship has hit them than they begin to scheme against Our signs. *29 Tell them: 'Allah is swifter in scheming. Our angels are recording all your intriguing. *30
*29). This again alludes to the famine which was referred to earlier in verses 11-12 of the present surah. The unbelievers are virtually being told that it did not behove them to ask for any miraculous sign. For, not long ago they had suffered from a famine during which they had abjured faith in those very deities whom they had earlier considered their intercessors with God. They had seen with their own eyes how their cherished deities had failed them. They had clearly seen the extent of the supernatural powers of those very deities at whose altars they made offerings and sacrifices in the firm belief that their prayers would be answered and their wishes realized. They had seen - and that too in the recent past-that, one of those deities had any power; that all power in fact lay with God alone.
It was because of this experience that they had begun to address all their prayers to God alone. Was all this not enough of a sign to convince the unbelievers about the truth of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him)? And yet, despite clear signs, the unbelievers waxed arrogant. No sooner was the famine over and they were blessed with outpourings of rain which put an end to their misery than they reverted to their unbelief. They also sought to offer a wide variety of fanciful explanations about why the famine had hit them and why they were subsequently delivered from it. They resorted to all this in order that they might rationalize their adherence to polytheistic beliefs and practices and evade believing in the One True God. Quite obviously what good can any miraculous sign be to those who had corrupted their conscience so thoroughly?
*30). It needs to he clearly understood as to what is meant by attributing 'scheming' to God in the present verse. It simply means that if the unbelievers refuse to accept the truth and to alter their conduct accordingly. God will still grant them the respite to go about their rebellious ways. God will also lavish upon them the means of subsistence and other bounties as long as they live. All this will keep them in a state of intoxication. However, whatever thev do during their state of intoxication will be imperceptibly recorded by the angels of God. All this will go on till the very last moments of their lives and then they will be seized by death and will be asked to render an account of their deeds.