Appearance
Verses 33–36
These verses intend to console the Holy Prophet against the offensive accusations of the polytheists regarding his mission, and to placate his soul with the promise of definite victory, and to explain that the religious call is based on human free will: whoever wants, he would believe and whoever wants, he would disbelieve; because definite divine power and will do not interfere in it to compel them to accept it; and if God had pleased, He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance.
قَدْ نَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُ لَيَحْزُنُكَ الَّذِي يَقُولُونَ ۖ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ ٣٣
(6:33) We know indeed that what they say certainly grieves you, but surely they do not call you a liar; but the unjust deny the communications of Allah
Qad in its past tense, denotes determination; and, in future tense, denotes diminution, and sometimes it denotes determination also, and this is the meaning intended in this verse. Ḥazana and aḥzana both have same meaning: to grieve; and it has been recited in both ways.
His Word: lā yukadhdhibūnaka (‘they do not call you a liar’), with a doubling sign, is also recited with it as lā yukdhibūnaka; apparently fa (but surely they…) is for separating it from the previous sentence. Apparently, the meaning is:
‘We know indeed that their talk certainly grieves you, but it should not grieve you, because their denial does not return to you since you do not invite except towards Us, and you have no role in it except to convey the message; rather they are being unjust to Our verses and reject them.’
The content of those four verses gives the meaning of the divine words: And whoever disbelieves let not his disbelief grieve you; to Us is their return, then will We inform them of what they did; surely Allah is the Knower of what is in the breasts (). Therefore let not their speech grieve you; surely We know what they do in secret and what they do openly (); and other such verses which were revealed for the consolation of the Holy Prophet. This explanation is based on the recital of the term with (nunnation) the doubling sign.
But based on the recital without the doubling sign, it would mean: Don’t be grieved because they don’t defeat you by proving your lie i what you call them to, and they don’t refute your proof with a counter proof. They, in fact, are being unjust to the divine communication by rejecting it, and to God is their return.
Also, His Word: “but the unjust deny the communications of God.” The apparent style of speech demanded that it were said: ‘but they…’ (instead of ‘but the unjust…’). Yet the use of the noun in place of pro- noun aims at showing that their denial emanates from their injustice, not from ignorance or other shortcomings; it is only based on transgression, rebellion and haughtiness, and God will soon raise them, then they will return to Him (and He will deal with them accordingly). It is for this reason that the style has changed from first person to the third, and it says, ‘the communications of God’, instead of ‘Our communications’, in order to show that this behavior of theirs is in opposition of the position of divinity, and it is a position that nothing can stand to it.
The verse has been explained in other ways too:
One: The majority have said that it means: They do not call you a liar as a belief in their hearts; rather they display that denial by their mouths out of obstinacy only.
Two: They do not call you a liar, rather they call Me a liar, because denying you actually return to Me, and you are not an exclusive target for it. This explanation is other than what we have described earlier, although it is near to it. These two interpretations are based on the recital with doubling sign.
Three: They did not find you a liar. (It’s like) the Arabs’ saying: We fought them and we did not find them cowards.
The correct interpretation is what was said earlier.
وَلَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فَصَبَرُوا عَلَىٰ مَا كُذِّبُوا وَأُوذُوا حَتَّىٰ أَتَاهُمْ نَصْرُنَا ۚ وَلَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكَ مِنْ نَبَإِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ٣٤
(6:34) And certainly messengers before you were rejected, but they were patient on being rejected and persecuted until our help came to them; and there is none to change the words of Allah, and certainly there has come to you some information about the messengers.
It guides the Holy Prophet to the way of the past prophets, and it is the way of exercising patience in the cause of God; and God, the Sublime, has said: These are they whom Allah guided, therefore follow their guidance ().
And His Word: “until Our help came to them”, describe the good result of their patience, and point to the Divine promise of the help. Also, in His Saying: “and there is none to change the Word of God”, emphasize the promise mentioned in the preceding speech and solidify it. It also points to what has been described in 58:21: Allah has written down: “I will most certainly prevail, I and My messengers;” and in –2: And certainly Our word has already gone forth in respect of Our servants, the messengers: Most surely they shall be the assisted ones.
The phrase: “none to change” in “and there is none to change the Word of God” negates any supposed element of change whether it be from God’s side (in the sense that His will changes about a decision by erasing it after having willed it or cancels it after confirming it) or from someone else’s side (in the sense that the other overcomes Him and subdues Him to do contrary to what He had wished so that He were to change what He had confirmed and to alter it in one way or another).
It appears from it that these words about which God has said that they are unchangeable things beyond ‘the tablet of eraser and affirmation’. So, the word of God, the speech of God and the promise of God in the Qur’anic usage mean the definite conclusion which does not accept any change. God says: He said: “The truth then is and the truth do I speak…” (). …and Allah speaks the truth; (). Now surely Allah’s promise is true (). Allah will not fail in (His promise), (). A detailed discussion about the meaning of “Word of God” and similar phrases was given under the verse: …among them are they to whom Allah spoke… ().
The words at the end of the verse, “and certainly there has come to you some information about the messengers”, affirm and offer the witness for the words, “And certainly messengers before you were rejected.” It is possible to infer from it that this chapter was revealed after some Meccan chapters which narrate the stories of the prophets, like the chapters: al- Shuarāʾ, Maryam, etc. And definitely these chapters were revealed after the chapters like: al-ʾAlaq and al-Muddaththir. Therefore, this chapter, al-Anʾām, falls in the third stratum of the chapters revealed at Mecca before hijrah. And God knows better.
وَإِنْ كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكَ إِعْرَاضُهُمْ فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ تَبْتَغِيَ نَفَقًا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ سُلَّمًا فِي السَّمَاءِ فَتَأْتِيَهُمْ بِآيَةٍ ۚ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَمَعَهُمْ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ ۚ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ ٣٥
(6:35) And if their turning away is hard on you, then if you can seek an opening (to go down) into the earth or a ladder (to ascend) to heaven so that you should bring them a sign and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance, therefore be not of the ignorant.
al-Rāghib said:
“al-nafaq (the penetrating path; the tunnel in the earth); God says: ‘then if you can seek an opening (to go down) into the earth’; and from it comes the expression ‘jerboa’s tunnel (nāfiqāʾ),’ and ‘the jerboa dug the tunnel.’ And from it is the term al-nifāq, and it means entering the religion from one door and going out of it from another door; and accordingly (He) has drawn attention to it with His Word: surely the hypocrites are the transgressors (), that is out of the religion; and God has made the hypocrites worse than the disbelievers, when He said: Surely the hypocrites are in the lowest stage of the Fire (); and nayfaq (the two string holes) of trousers is well-known.”
And He also said:
“al-Sullam (ladder) that which is used to ascend high places and it gives hope of safety; then it was made the name of everything which is used to ascend to a high thing like a cause; God says: Or have they the means by which they listen? (); “…or a ladder (to ascend up) to heaven,” (); and a poet says: “Even if he got the means to ascend to heaven with a ladder.”
The reply of the conditional clause in the verse is deleted because it is understood; the implied sentence (as has been said) would be: If you can obtain this and that, then do it.
The ‘sign’ in the phrase: “so that you should bring them a sign”, means a sign that would compel them to believe. The statement: “And if their turning away is hard on you…”, is addressed to the Holy Prophet through the way of the Qur’an , which is the best divine sign that proves the truthfulness of his mission, and whose miraculous dimension is nearer to their understanding since they (the Arabs) were eloquent and wise. The verse thus means that their turning away should not grieve you and you should not take it hard, because this world is place of free will. Also, the invitation to the truth and its acceptance are based on the path of free will; and that you cannot obtain a sign which would compel them to believe. It is so because God does not want from them a faith except through free will; that is why He has not created a sign which would compel the people to believe and obey. If God had so wished, all the people would have entered into the true faith; and so all these disbelievers would have joined the group which believes in you. So, you should not be worried or concerned at their turning away, lest you be among those who are ignorant of the divine cognition.
Someone has suggested that: “you should bring them a sign” means a sign better than the one We have sent you with, that is the Qur’an . But it does not agree with the context, and especially the words: and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have gathered them all on guidance (), as it clearly points to compulsion.
It appears from this that the pleasure here means that God would will for them to be guided to faith in a way that they would be forced to accept it, and this would negate their free will. This is what the apparent context of the noble verse demands.
But God, the Blessed, in other similar verses in His Book has not based negation of His will on necessity of compulsion. As He says: And if We had pleased we would certainly have given to every soul its guidance, but the word (which had gone forth) from Me was just: “I will certainly fill hell with jinn and men together.” (). He points with it to His similar statement: He said: “The truth then is and the truth do I speak: That I will most certainly fill hell with you and with those among them who follow you, all;” (). Thus, the Almighty has clarified that the negation of His will about guiding them all is actually based on His will which He decreed when the Satan swore against Him that he will misguide all of them except those of His servants who are purified ones.
And the firm decision has been ascribed in another place to their going astray. God says in the story of Adam and the Satan: He said: “My Lord! Because Thou hast made me stray from the right way, I will certainly make (evil) fair-seeming to them on earth, and I will cause them all to deviate, except Thy servants among them, the devoted ones.” He said: “This is a right way with Me. Surely as regards My servants, you have no authority over them except those who follow you of the deviators. And surely hell is the promised place of them all” (). And Satan too does ascribe it to them as God has quoted his talk to them on the Day of Resurrection: And the Satan shall say after the affair is decided: “Surely Allah promised you the promise of truth, and I gave you promise then failed to keep them to you, and I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you obeyed me, therefore do not blame me but blame yourselves: I cannot be your aider (now) nor can you be my aiders; surely I disbelieved in your associating me (with God) before” ().
The verses show that sins, including polytheism, lead to man’s deviation, and the deviation in its turn ends at the man himself. It is not against what appears from other verses that the man has no will except when God pleases for him to have a will, as He says: Surely this is a reminder, so whoever pleases takes to his Lord a way. And you do not please except that Allah please (). It is naught but a reminder for the worlds, for him among you who pleases to go straight. And you do not please except that Allah please, the Lord of the worlds ().
So, although the will of the man depends on the will of God, the Blessed, in its materialization, yet God, the Blessed, does not affirm any will for the man, except when he becomes ready for it through the goodness of his inner self and is exposed to the divine mercy. God says: “…and guides to Himself those who turn;” (),that is to Him. And as for a transgressor, whose heart is deviated, who clings to the earth and is inclined to deviation, God does not wish his guidance nor does He engulf him with His mercy, as He says: He causes many to err by it and many He leads aright by it, but He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors (); …but when they turned aside, Allah made their hearts turn aside… (); And if We had pleased, We would certainly have exalted him thereby; but he clung to the earth and followed his low desire ().
In short, the religious call does not proceed except on the way of free choice; and divine communications do not descend except with consideration of free choice; and God does not guide towards Himself except him who is exposed to His mercy and is ready for His guidance through the path of free will.
With this explanation another difficult problem is solved: We agree that if God were to send a sign which would force them to believe and compel them to accept the religious call, it would be contrary to the basis of the free will on which the structure of religious call stands. However, why it is not possible for God that He should wish belief for all the people, in the same way as He wishes the belief of those who have accepted the faith, so that a sign should come down to lead them to the guidance and cover them in faith, without negating with it their free will and their independence in action.
By looking at the issue per se, although it is possible but it is contrary to the general system in the world of cause and effect, and the system of ability and munificence. Guidance is extended to him, who fears God and purifies his soul, and: he will indeed be successful who purifies it (); and misguidance is not inflicted upon anyone except on him who turns away from the remembrance of his Lord and corrupts the soul: and he indeed will fail who corrupts it (). Infliction of misguidance means that man is prevented from guidance. God says: Whoever desires this present life, We hasten to him therein what We please for whomsoever We desire, then We assign to him the hell; he shall enter it despised, driven away. And whoever desires the hereafter and strives for it as he aught to strive and he is a believer; (as for) these, their striving shall surely be accepted. All do We aid—these as well as those—out of the bounty of your Lord, and the bounty of your Lord is not confined (). So, God aids every soul from His bounty according to what he deserves; if he wants good he is given, and if he wants evil he is given, that is, he is prevented from good. If God were to wish for every man, be he good or bad, that he should wish good and dedicate himself to faith and piety through free choice, it would have negated the general system and destroyed the issue of the cause and effect.
It is supported by the next verse, that is, the Word of the Sublime: Only those accept who listen…, which will be explained as follows:
إِنَّمَا يَسْتَجِيبُ الَّذِينَ يَسْمَعُونَ ۘ وَالْمَوْتَىٰ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ٣٦
(6:36) Only those accept who listen; and (as to) the dead, Allah will raise them, then to him they shall be returned.
The verse elaborates what was described in the preceding one: And if their turning away is hard on you, then if you can seek an opening… therefore be not of the ignorant: In short, you have no ability to dissuade them from this turning away, nor can you get for them a sign which would lead them to the faith. So, this verse explains that they are like the dead, they have no perception nor do they hear, so they cannot perceive the meaning of the religious call nor can they hear the invitation of the caller, that is the Holy Prophet.
This huge multitude of the people which we see is of two kinds: One group is alive and they hear, and only those respond positively who do hear. The other group is of the dead ones who do not hear although they appear in the form of the alive ones. These will hear the speech only when God will raise them (in the Hereafter); and He will certainly raise them and then they will hear what they could not hear in this world, as God describes their condition: And could you but see when the guilty shall hang down their heads before their Lord: “Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard, therefore send us back, we will do good; surely (now) we are certain;” ().
This talk is put forward as an allusion: ‘Those who listen’ refers to the believers and ‘the dead’ means those who turn away from accepting the call, be they polytheists or others. In the Divine Speech, believers have been portrayed as enjoying life and hearing, and disbelievers have been described as afflicted with death and deafness, as God says: Is he who was dead, then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth? (). Surely you do not make the dead to hear, and you do not make the deaf to hear the call when they go back retreating. Nor can you be a guide to the blind out of their error; you cannot make to hear (any one) except those who believe in Our communications, so they submit (). There are many such verses in the Qur’an .
In some previous discourses another meaning for these attributes has been repeatedly given, which the majority of the exegetes have explained as allusion and simile, and that they may be interpreted in their real meaning. So, refer to it.
The verse proves that God will certainly make the unbelievers and the polytheists understand the truth and make them hear His call also in the Hereafter as He made the believers understand and hear His call in this world. So, the man be he a believer or an unbeliever cannot escape from understanding the truth, sooner or later.
Examining Narrations
- Abu al-Jārūd narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said: “The Messenger of God earnestly liked that al-Ḥārith b. ʿĀmir b. Nawfal b. ʿAbd Manāf to accept Islam. He invited him and tried hard to make him a Muslim. But Nawfal was overcome by wretchedness. The Messenger of God felt very much bad about it and so God sent the revelation: And if their turning away is hard on you, then if you can seek an opening into the earth; means a tunnel. (al-Tafsīr, al-Qummī)
Author’s comment: This tradition is weak and suffers from missing links in the chain of narration. Moreover, it does not agree with the apparent meaning of a multitude of traditions which show that this chapter was revealed all together. Although it may be interpreted in this way that the above-mentioned cause had appeared before the chapter was revealed, and then this verse pointed to the established cause by the way of application.
The table of eraser and affirmation (lawḥu al-maḥwi wa al-ithbāt) refers to the partial knowledge that God exposes to His angels and selected humans who assume the consequences which are not definitive, and hence the use of terms ‘erase’ and ‘Affirm’. Of course, God knows the final outcome of all issues. (Ed.) ↩︎