The meaning of al-Shafi'i's statement: "If Allah had not revealed anything to creation except Surat al-'Asr, would it not have been sufficient for them?"

Question : May Allah keep you safe. He says: Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned a phrase attributed to Imam al-Shafi'i, which is his saying: "If Allah had not revealed any proof to His creation except this surah, it would have been sufficient for them." The questioner asks: Shaykh, is the revelation of a surah to creation sufficient to establish the proof? And is it correct to attribute this phrase to Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him)?

Answer : As for the questioner's question regarding the authenticity of this phrase from Imam al-Shafi'i, this requires reviewing the chain of narration, because it is known that Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab transmitted this phrase with a broken chain, unless the correctness of the chain is established. As for al-Shafi'i's intended meaning in this statement, if it is correctly attributed to him, his meaning is: If Allah the Exalted had not revealed any proof to His servants regarding the necessity of faith and righteous deeds except this surah, it would have been sufficient for them. The reason for this is that if the Lord, Exalted is He, says that man is indeed in loss—and does "man" refer to all of humanity or only some?
Every person is included here in the generality of "every person"; every person is in loss except for the one who gathered the four attributes: This would be sufficient for every person of sound mind to believe in Allah, do good deeds, enjoin one another to truth, and enjoin one another to patience. It is not the intention of the one (may Allah have mercy on him) that this Surah is sufficient for everything, but rather it is sufficient as a warning for the one who