Appearance
Verses 37–55
The verses offer multifarious arguments against polytheists regarding monotheism and the sign of prophethood.
وَقَالُوا لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ ۚ قُلْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَادِرٌ عَلَىٰ أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ آيَةً وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ٣٧
(6:37) And they say: “Why has not a sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say: “Surely Allah is able to send down a sign, but most of them do not know.”
It describes how they prodded for a sign to be sent down with the purpose of showing the inability of the Holy Prophet. When they uttered these words there already was before them the best of signs, that is, the noble Qur’an which used to come down to them chapter by chapter and verse after verse and was recited before them from time to time. Thus, it was understood that the sign which they demanded was a sign other than the Qur’an, and that they did not count it as a satisfactory sign with which their souls would be pleased because of their foolishness and frenzy.
The bias for their deities prompted them to cut themselves off from Almighty God as though He were not their Lord; so they said: “Why has not a sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” They did not say, from our Lord, or, from God or some words like that, so that they may belittle the Holy Prophet’s cause and highlight his inability. They meant to say: If what he claims and to what he calls to be truth, then let his Lord, to Whom he calls, stand for him and help him, by sending down on him a sign which would prove the truthfulness of his claim.
Such a demand emanates from them because of their ignorance of two things:
One: The idolaters believed that their deities were independent in those affairs of the world which were ascribed to them even though they claimed that they enjoyed the position of intercession. Thus, the god of war or peace had authority on the affair they managed without being disturbed by another factor. Likewise, there were god of land, god of sea, god of love, god of hate and so on; so nothing remained for God to manage because He has divided all affairs between His helpers, although they were His intercessors and He is the Lord of lords; so God is unable to negate the affair of their deities by sending down a sign which would lead to negation of their divinity.
This assumption of theirs and support for it in their heart was prompted by what they had heard from the Jews of Ḥijāz that the hand of God was fettered, in no way can He alter the existing system, nor can He disturb the common norm of the world of the causes (and effects).
Two: The signs sent down from God, Glory be to Him, if they are among the things which God particularly reserved to one of His messengers (without the people demanding them), then they are the proofs which prove the truthfulness of the messenger’s claim (without their being any immediate danger to the people who have been invited (if they don’t accept it)); like the staff and the bright hand for Moses, and raising the dead to life, healing the blind and leper and creating the bird for Jesus, and the Noble Qur’an for Muḥammad (may God’s blessings be on him and his progeny and on the Prophets).
But if the sign was sent on demand of the people, then it is the established system of God to pass judgement about them upon its coming down—if they believed, well and good, but if they persisted in their rejection, chastisement was sent on them and they were given no respite, as was the case with the signs of Noah, Hūd and Ṣāliḥ and others; and there are numerous verses in the Qur’an which prove it, as God says: And they say: “Why has not an angel been sent down to him?” And had We sent down an angel, the matter would have certainly been decided and then they would not have been respited (). And nothing could have hindered Us that We should send signs except that the ancients rejected them; and We gave to Thamūd the she-camel—a manifest sign—but on her account they did injustice… ().
And the noble verse, that is: And they say: “Why has not a sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say: “Surely Allah is able to send down a sign, but most of them do not know”, points to both aspects together.
So, He described that certainly God is able to send down any sign He wished. How was it possible to suppose that the one having the name of God would not have comprehensive power? The name used in the question, “Rabb = Lord” has been changed in this reply to “Allah” in order that it may indicate the proof of the decision; unrestricted divinity combines all perfection without there being any limit or condition to limit or fetter it; so it has unrestricted power. It was their ignorance of the divine position which exhorted them to demand a sign with intention of showing disability of the Holy Prophet.
Moreover, they did not know that the coming down of a sign that they had demanded was not in favor of their well-being, and their venture to demand it exposed them to the destruction of the whole group and to being completely rooted out. The proof that this meaning was somewhat intended in this speech is found in the Divine Word at the end of these argumentations, Say: “If that which you desire to hasten were with me, the matter would have certainly been decided between you and me; and Allah best knows the unjust” ().
The Divine Speech () contains the words: nazzala and yunazzilu with intensified pronunciation; it shows that they had demanded a gradual sign, or several signs which would be sent down one after the other; as is seen in other places in the Divine Book where their demand is quoted. For example: And they say: “We will by no means believe in you until you cause a fountain to gush forth from the earth for us, or you should have a garden of palms and grapes…or you should ascend into heaven, and we will not believe in your ascending until you bring down to us a book which we may read;” (). And those who do not hope for Our meeting, say: “Why have not angels been sent down upon us, or (why) do we not see our Lord?” (). And those who disbelieve say: “Why has not the Qur’an been revealed to him all at once?” ().
Ibn Kathīr is reported to have recited the above-mentioned two verbs without intensified pronunciation.
وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا طَائِرٍ يَطِيرُ بِجَنَاحَيْهِ إِلَّا أُمَمٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْ ۚ مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِي الْكِتَابِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ۚ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يُحْشَرُونَ ٣٨
(6:38)And there is no animal that walks upon the earth or a bird that flies with its two wings but (they are) genera like yourselves; We have not neglected anything in the Book, then to their Lord shall they be gathered:
al-Dābbah is every animal which creeps or moves on the earth; it is mostly used for the horse; al-dabb and al-dabīb mean soft crawling.
al-Ṭāʾir is that which glides in the air with its two wings; Its plural is al-Ṭayr like al-rākib and al-rakb. al-ummah is a group of people whom a single purpose unites, like a single religion, one culture, one time or one place; its basic meaning is to intend; they say amma, yaummu when he intends something; al-ḥashr is to gather the people by force for battle, evacuation or other such social matters.
Apparently, description of the bird with the phrase that flies with its two wings stands parallel to the phrase: “that walks upon the earth”, describing the animal. In short it means: And there is no earth-bound or aerial animal… Apart from that, this elaborates description and negates suspicion of metaphorical use since ‘flying’ is mostly used for fast movement, in the same way as ‘crawling’ is used for light movement; and so it was possible to imagine that flying indicated fast movement as it was put side by side with crawling; this idea was removed by the clause, “that flies with its two wings.”
Discourse
The discussion “A Talk on Animal Societies” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا صُمٌّ وَبُكْمٌ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ ۗ مَنْ يَشَإِ اللَّهُ يُضْلِلْهُ وَمَنْ يَشَأْ يَجْعَلْهُ عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ٣٩
(6:39) And they who reject Our communications are deaf and dumb, in utter darkness; whom Allah pleases He causes to err, and whom He pleases He puts on the right way:
The Almighty wants to say that those who reject His communications are deprived of the bounties of hearing, sight and speech, since they are in utter darkness in which eyes do not work, and because of their deafness, they are unable to hear the true word and to respond to it. Also, because of their dumbness, they cannot speak a true word or testify for monotheism and prophethood, and since they are overwhelmed by darkness, they cannot see the way of truth to take it as a path.
As regards His Word, the Sublime: “whom God pleases He causes to err, and whom He pleases He puts on the right way”, prove that this deafness, dumbness and falling into utter darkness is the punishment meted out to them as a recompense for their rejecting the communications of God; for God has made the causing of err (attributed to Him) as a sort of a recompense as seen in His Word: but He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors ().
So, their rejection of the divine communications is not the result of their being deaf, dumb, in utter darkness; rather the opposite is true. Accordingly, ‘causing them to err’, as used in this place, means making them deaf, dumb, in utter darkness; and ‘those whom God pleases them to err’, points to those who had rejected His communications.
Conversely, it appears that putting someone on the right way means that God gives him hearing with which he hears, then he responds positively to the Caller to God with his tongue and observes the truth with his sight; and that this is the recompense of him who does not reject the divine communications. So, whomsoever God pleases He causes him to err, and He does not wish to cause anyone to err except he who deserves it; and whomsoever He pleases He puts on the right way, and He does not wish that except for one who exposes himself to His mercy.
We have already discussed the actual meaning of their attributes that God has mentioned: deafness, dumbness, blindness and similar adjectives. The verse, however, indicates another fine point which is inferred from joining and separating in the Divine Speech: “deaf and dumb, in utter darkness.” Note that ‘deafness’ (which is one of their attributes) has been mentioned first followed by ‘dumbness’ (which is the second adjective) with a conjunction ‘And’ in between them; then it mentions their being ‘in utter darkness’ (that is the third adjective) without conjunction. In short, it has conjoined some attributes and separated some others; and He has written in a similar verse the meaning separately, that is His speech about the hypocrites: Deaf, dumb, blind (); and in another similar verse with conjunction, as He says about disbelievers: Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes… ().
Probably, the fine point indicated in the clause, “deaf and dumb, in utter darkness”, is that the deaf ones are other than the dumb ones; the deaf are the ignorant followers who go along with their leaders and that does not leave them with an ear with which they would hear the call of truth; and dumb are the leaders who very well know the correctness of the call to monotheism and negation of polytheism, but they, because of their enmity and transgression, are dumb—their tongues do not move to acknowledge the word of truth or to testify for it. Both groups together are partners in the fact that they both fall in the darkness in which the truth is not seen, nor can a third person show them anything by pointing (out the truth) because they happen to be in utter darkness where pointing (out the truth) is useless.
This idea is supported by the fact that the speech contained in the verses covers both groups as pointed by the Divine Word in the preceding verses: And they prohibit (others) from it and go far away from it… (); and likewise: but most of them do not know (). This concerns the verse under discussion.
As for the verse of the hypocrites, deaf, dumb, blind, the idea is to show that all these attributes are gathered in them at the same time because they are cut off from the mercy of God from all sides. And as for the verse of disbelievers: Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes, the idea behind it is to show that setting a seal upon hearing is separate from setting a seal upon their hearts; as God has quoted them in His Book: And they say: “Our hearts are under coverings from that to which you call us, and there is a heaviness in our ears, and a veil hangs between us and you… (). Sometimes the verse is interpreted in different ways.
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمُ السَّاعَةُ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ٤٠ بَلْ إِيَّاهُ تَدْعُونَ فَيَكْشِفُ مَا تَدْعُونَ إِلَيْهِ إِنْ شَاءَ وَتَنْسَوْنَ مَا تُشْرِكُونَ ٤١
(6:40–41) Say: “Tell me if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you or the hour should come upon you, will you call (on others) besides Allah, if you are truthful? Nay! Him you call upon, so He clears away that for which you pray if He pleases and you forget what you set up (with Him).”
The word, araʾaytakum (tell me), with hamzah of question, and the form of singular masculine past tense from al-ruʾyah (to see), followed by second person plural pronoun—is taken by the people of literature in the meaning of: “Tell me.” al-Rāghib says in al-Mufradāt: “Araʾayta runs like, tell me; kāf is added to it and ta is left unchanged in dual, plural and in feminine forms; changes occur on kāf, not ta; God says: ‘Tell me, is this he whom…’ (); Say: ‘Tell me if the chastisement of Allah…’ ().”
This verse in a way renews the argumentation against polytheists, and establishes a proof of invalidity of their polytheism. The argument supposes a premise of a punishment coming from God or coming of the Hour to them, and then it supposes that they will call one who would remove that punishment from them—as has been endowed in the nature of humans, when faced with the hardship, to seek help from one who has power to relieve him of it. Then, (O Prophet!) You should ask them: Who is the one whom you would call upon and whom you would approach with your plea, if you are truthful? Would you call besides God your idols and images whom you have given the names of deities yourselves or would you call Him? Far be it that you would call other than God while you observe that they are governed by creative orders like yourselves, and your calling them would not benefit you at all.
But rather you would forget those partners whom you have named deities; because when calamities surround a man and tremors shake him, then he forgets everything except his own self. However, there is in his soul a hope that the calamity will be removed from him, and the one whom he hopes to remove it is his Lord; so you forget your partners and call upon Him Who will remove it (besides them) and He is God, Great is His name. So, it is God Who removes what you pray for its removal, if He wishes to remove it, and He is not bound to accept the prayer nor is He compelled, rather He has power over everything in all situations.
Now, when God, Glory be to Him, is the powerful Lord Whom man never forgets, even when he forgets everything except his own self, and he is compelled to approach Him, by his natural urge whenever he faces back-breaking hardship, forgetting other partners whom they call gods, then He alone is the Lord of the people, and not the idols.
So, the verse’s meaning is as follows: Say: O Muḥammad! Tell me, that is, inform me if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you or the Hour should come upon you, in case of coming of the divine chastisement (and the disbelievers do not deny it), and in case of coming of the Hour (and it does not matter if they deny it because it will come), will you then call (on others) besides Allah for its removal and God has quoted in His speech their plea for removal of chastisement in this world and on the Day of Resurrection all together because it is part of human nature, if you are truthful? And deal with justice. Nay, Him i.e. God and not other than Him of your idols, you call upon, so He clears away that for which you pray, of the chastisement, if He pleases to clear it as He did for the people of Jonah (Yūnus); and He is not compelled or bound to accept the prayer because of His personal power, and you forget what you set up (with Him), from among idols and images; apart from what is ingrained in the human nature that when tragedies overwhelm him he remains focused with his own self forgetting everything, and he does not think except of his own self because there is not enough space to be involved in what does not benefit him. Thus, his involvement, in this situation, in praying to God and forgetting the idols is clearest proof that He, the Sublime, is the God, there is none to be worshiped other than Him, and there is none to be adored except Him.
It is clear from the above discourse that:
First: Coming of chastisement or of the Hour, and likewise the prayer to remove it are suppositions in the proof of the verse. The idea is to describe that He Who is then called upon is God alone, and not the idols. The prayer itself during hardship and afflictions, and the fact that man by nature approaches Him, Who clears the difficulties when hope of all other helps is cut off, is another proof separate from this one. The aim of this proof mentioned in this verse is monotheism, and that of the other proof is to prove that there is a Maker, without looking at His Unity, although both ideas are concomitants.
Second: The clause, “so he clears away that for which you pray”, is qualified with “if He pleases”, intends to show the absolute power: The Almighty God has the power to clear away all hardships even the Hour in which there is no doubt. So, although His definite decision for any affair makes it certain to appear, yet it does not nullify His power to leave it; He has unfettered power to do what He has decided upon and what He has not decided; and similar to issue of the Hour, in this respect, is every unforgiven punishment and every definite affair. If He pleases He shall bring it about, and if He does not please He shall not bring it, although He always is pleased with what He has definitely decided and has firmly promised, and God does not break His promise. So understand it.
Thus, He, the Sublime, has power not to respond to the prayer of any one who prays; even though He has mentioned Himself that He is the Responder. He says: And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then verily I am near, I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, (); and He has given definite promise to respond to His suppliant, and has said: Call upon Me, I will answer you… (). It is so because the promise of responding does not deprive Him of the power of not responding, although He always answers the prayer of every one who prays to Him with real prayer; and His custom flows on it—a straight path, in which there is no going back.
From all this appears the incorrectness of the objection raised about this verse that its theme goes against the declarations of the Book and sunnah—the Hour is bound to happen and it will definitely happen, and there is no turning back to the punishment of extermination; as God says: …and the call of the unbelievers is only in error, ().
The basis of its incorrectness is that the verse does not show more than the fact that God does whatever He wishes and He has power over every thing. But whether He actually does wish everything and actually does do everything, the verse does not prove it at all; and there is no doubt that His final decision to bring about the Hour, or to mete to a nation the punishment of termination, does not nullify His power to do its opposite. So, He has power to go against it if He wishes so, although He does not go against the promise and does not break what He wills.
As for the Divine Word: and the call of the unbelievers is only in error, it refers to their prayer in the Hell for removal of its punishment, and easing it from them. It is obvious that such a prayer, with the firm ruling and final judgement, loses its reality since asking that God may not resurrect people or He may not punish the inhabitants of Hell is like asking Him not to be the Almighty God for one of the demands of divinity is that people return back to Him according to their deeds. Such prayers only have the appearance of prayer but are devoid of its true meaning.
If the prayer materializes in its real form in the sense that the person pleas truly and sincerely addressing the prayer to God, such a prayer is indeed not rejected as is obvious from His statement: …I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he calls on Me… (); and a prayer in such a form does not leave an unbeliever as an unbeliever, at the least when he does such a prayer, as the Almighty has said: So when they ride in the ships, they call upon Allah, being sincerely obedient to Him, but when He brings them safe to the land, lo! They associate others (with Him), ().
And so His statement that: …and the call of the unbelievers is only in error, (), refers to their plea while they were unbelievers; and it is known that the characteristic of disbelief will not separate from them in the abode of recompense (that is, in the Hereafter) even though it is possible that it may separate from them in the abode of action (that is, in this world) by repentance and belief.
So, the unbelievers’ prayer to relieve them of the chastisement on the Day of Resurrection or in the Hell is like their lie against God on the Day of Resurrection when they say: By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists, (). No lie will be of any use on that day but since they were used to it in the world and its vice had taken roots in their characters, its effect will manifest on the day when the hidden secrets will come out. Similarly, their food, drink and mutual arguments in the Hell (are manifestations of their character); they will have no escape from any of it as the Almighty has said: (They) shall be made to drink from a boiling spring. They shall have no food but of thorns, which will neither fatten nor avail against hunger, (). Then shall you, O you who err and call it a lie! Most surely eat of a tree of zaqqūm and fill (your) bellies with it; then drink over it of boiling water; and drink as drinks the thirsty camel, (). That most surely is the truth: the contending one with another of the Inmates of the Fire, (). These are all examples of the manifestation of their inner character (in the Hereafter).
The previous verse supports what we have said above that the unbelievers’ prayer was not based on reality. (This is also confirmed by) the Almighty’s statement: And those who are in the Fire shall say to the keepers of Hell: “Call upon your Lord that He may lighten to us one day of the punishment.” They shall say: “Did not your messengers come to you with clear arguments?” They shall say: “Yea.” They shall say: “Then call.” And the call of the unbelievers is only in error, (). Indeed, their plea to the wardens of the Hell to ask God on their behalf to lessen the chastisement is an indication that they had no hope in acceptance of their prayer for themselves; and a prayer without any hope of acceptance is not a true prayer and invocation since a prayer cannot be linked to something that is not going to happen at all.
Third: The real meaning of forgetfulness in His statement: “and you forget what you set up (with Him)” is seen in the human condition when he is engulfed with difficulties and mishaps since he focuses on himself and forgets everything else except the Glorified God.
And so there is no need to pay heed to what some (commentators) have said that the meaning of “and you forget what you set up (with Him)”, means they turn away from the idols like one who has forgotten them. (There is no need to heed to this interpretation) even though it is plausible since it is a common figurative usage of the term ‘forgetfulness’ and the Qur’an has used ‘forgetfulness’ in the meaning of turning away from something and not being overtly attentive to it just as He has said: And today, it will be announced: We shall forget you just as you forgot the meeting of this day of yours… (), and other similar verses.
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَىٰ أُمَمٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِالْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَضَرَّعُونَ ٤٢
(6:42) And certainly We sent (messengers) to nations before you, then We seized them with distress and affliction in order that they might humble themselves.
al-Baʾsāʾ, al-baʾs and al-buʾs means distress and misery; however, al-buʾs is mostly used for war and the like, while al-baʾs and al-baʾsāʾ is used for other situations like poverty, drought, famine, etc. al-Ḍurr and al-ḍarrāʾ refer to a negative psychological condition such as sadness and ignorance or a negative physical condition such as sickness and loss of limb or some other negative condition such as loss of prestige or wealth. Probably the purpose of combining al-baʾsāʾ and al-ḍarrʾ as to prove the materialization of difficulties in the real world like drought, flood and earthquake, and its resulting negative consequences for men such as fear, poverty and shabby condition. And al-ḍarāʾah means depravity and al-taḍarruʾ means self-abasement and it refers to humility expressed towards Almighty God so that He may relieve them of what has befallen upon them from the afflictions of difficulty and calamity.
In this verse and four verses that follow it, Almighty God describes to His Prophet the norm that He uses in dealing with the nations that came before him among whom the messengers came with clear signs. He used to send them, the messengers who would remind them of God’s unity and (guide them to) humility and sincerity in returning towards Him; then He would afflict them with a variety of difficulties and misfortune, and seize them with distress and misery only to the extent that it would not force them to implore and not compel them to pray humbly and appease; hopefully they may pray to Him with their own right choice and their hearts may become soft so that they may turn away from satanic temptations and reliance on material causes. But they did not turn in humility towards Him, rather indulgence in worldly matters turned their hearts hard, and the Satan made their evil deeds seem fair to them and made them forget the remembrance of God.
When they forgot the remembrance of God, Glory be to Him, He opened for them the doors of all things and bestowed upon them variety of blessings until they were pleased with what they had of the blessings, and became proud and considered themselves to be entirely self-reliant without God. Thus, God seized them all of a sudden and in a way that they were not aware of it, when they were hopeless of salvation, witnessing the decline of what was with them of the means. So the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off; and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, ().
This (Divine) norm (of dealing with nations) is known as al-istidrāj (letting the evil doers feel secure with themselves and gradually leading them closer to severe punishment) and disguise which God has summarized in His Word: And (as to) those who reject Our Communications, We draw them near (to destruction) by degrees from whence they know not; and I grant them respite; surely My scheme is effective, (7:182–3).
By contemplating on the explanation of the above-mentioned verse and reflecting on its context, it becomes clear that the verse does not contradict the other verses that say that the human being is naturally disposed to belief in One God based on the demands of his nature and instinct of accepting and heeding to God at the time when he loses hope in the causes of nature as He has said: And when a wave like mountains covers them, they call upon Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience, but when He brings them safe to the land, some of them follow the middle course; and none denies Our signs but every perfidious, ungrateful one, ().
This is so because the words al-baʾsāʾ and al-ḍarrāʾ in the verse under discussion refers to distress and affliction only to the extent of being distracted from all causes of nature and forget all normal causes; and the proof for this interpretation is His Word: “in order that they might humble themselves”, the term “might” is a word of hope, and there can be no hope in case of force and coercion. Similarly, the Word: and the Satan made what they did fair-seeming to them (), prove the same since its apparent meaning is that they were deceived by their evil deeds and sought relief from the distress and affliction through their own actions that they had done and managed by their hands to seek control over the obstacles of life and whatever stands against their way of life. So, they were occupied with the natural causes which kept them away from showing humility towards God and relying upon Him; just as He said: Then when their messengers came to them with clear arguments, they exulted in what they had with them of knowledge, and there beset them that which they used to mock. But when they saw Our punishment, they said: “We believe in Allah alone and we deny what used to associate with Him.” (). So, the first verse (of these two verses), as you see, talks about them in the same way as the verse which is under discussion: it talks about abstaining from expressing humility (towards God) and being deceived by their evil deeds. And the second verse talks about the same subject that was discussed in other verses about monotheism in state of distress.
This disproves what one commentator has said that the verse says that the past nations were averse to monotheism and avoided humility (to God) even in hardships that compels (one to turn to seek in distress). He says: “The Almighty God has sworn to His Messenger that He has indeed sent messengers before him to nations before his community, and that they were more stronger than his community in polytheism and more severe in insisting on injustice while his community used to plea to God alone at times of severe hardship and used to forget the masters and partners (of God) that they had adopted. As for the previous nations, the afflictions did not soften their hearts and did not reform the corruption that Satan had brought about in their nature.”
The implication of this interpretation is that monotheism is not a natural phenomenon which manifests when overwhelming whims disappear and natural causes evaporate or it could even negate the basis of nature (for monotheism) all together. Whereas the Almighty has indeed said: Then set your face upright for religion in natural devotion (to truth) the nature made by Allah in which He has made men… (). So, He has thereby explained that the religion of monotheism is based on nature; and that the nature does not accept any change by a changing element. This is supported by other verses which affirm that when a human being loses hope in material causes, he indeed focuses his attention to his Lord by praying to Him with sincerity in faith. Moreover, acknowledging the One God at time of distress and after disillusion (from all material causes) is a fact found within us as a natural instinct and there is no difference in this matter between the past and present man in anyway.
فَلَوْلَا إِذْ جَاءَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا تَضَرَّعُوا وَلَٰكِنْ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ٤٣
(6:43) Yet why did they not, when Our punishment came to them, humble themselves? But their hearts hardened and the Satan made what they did fair-seeming to them:
“Yet why did they not,” is used for exclusivity or for negation; in any case, its context conveys the meaning of negation by the virtue of His Word: “But their hearts hardened.” Hardening of the heart is opposite of its becoming soft, and it means that the person is no more influenced by witnessing a scene or listening to a statement that normally impacts upon a human.
The meaning of the verse is that they neither humbled themselves when punishment came upon them nor turned to their Lord to express humility; instead their hearts refused to be influenced by it, and they were engaged with their satanic deeds which prevented them from remembering God; they focused on the natural causes that they considered sufficient for improving their situation.
فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُبْلِسُونَ ٤٤
(6:44) But when they neglected that with which they had been admonished, We opened for them the doors of all things, until when they rejoiced in what they were given We seized them suddenly; then lo! They were in utter despair.
“We opened for them the doors of all things,” means giving them all blessings from the worldly riches for which people compete in order to enjoy the preferred life such as wealth, children, physical health, comfort, abundance, security, prestige and power—all this is given in abundance without any restrain or prohibition. This is unlike the situation when a person is given from the treasure of goods with a measure and a limit, then its door is open and he is just given accordingly and therefore it is closed. But when the intent is to give without any restrain, then its door is opened and is not closed at all. The sentence, as seen by its context, conveys the meaning of giving them variety of blessings without any measure.
This is the meaning even though the concept of “opening the door” would be naturally more appropriate for good deeds and blessings whereas evil deeds and misfortunes are entitled to deprival and so “closing of the door” would be more appropriate in that case as can be alluded from His Word: Whatever Allah grants to men of (His) mercy, there is none to withhold it, and what He withholds there is none to send it forth after that… ().
(The verse under discussion ends with the sentence: “then lo! They were in utter despair.”) And the term mublisūn (those were in utter despair) is from ablasa and iblāsan. al-Rāghib said:
“al-Iblās means the sadness that manifests out of extreme hopelessness… Since the one in utter despair often adopts silence and forgets what is in his mind, it is said: ‘So-and-so was in utter despair (ablasa),’ when he is silent and his argument has been exhausted.” Based on this, the appropriate meaning of His Word: “then lo! They were in utter despair,” would be as follows: ‘then lo! They were quite, having exhausted the argument.’ “
The meaning of the verse would be that when they forgot what they were reminded of or turned away from it, We gave to them every kind of blessing to allure them until when the blessings were completed for them and they became happy with what was given to them, We seized them all of a sudden and smothered their souls—and they didn’t have any argument in their support—since they deserved it.
فَقُطِعَ دَابِرُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا ۚ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ٤٥
(6:45) So the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off; and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
(Dābir al-qawm (the roots of the people) is from dubr al-shay (the back of something)). The dubr/dubur of something is opposite of its qubl/qubul and both are the rear and front parts of a thing and therefore they are also used to describe the two private organs. Sometimes their usage is expanded and applied to describe the first part or the last part of a thing, separate from its main body. This in turn has brought forth relevant verbs from these two words such as aqbal (to move forward), adbara (to move backward), qabbala (to kiss), dabbara (to manage) taqabbala (to accept), tadabbara (to reflect), istaqbala (to receive or welcome) and istadbara (to turn one’s back).
And from this derivation comes the term dābir (the end, the root) in the meaning of what happens at the end of a thing and follows it; for example, it is said ams al-dābi (tomorrow that follows), ʿām qābil (the year that comes). The word dābir in this meaning is used for what is left behind like dābir al-insān referring to one’s descendants and other legacies. So, the Almighty’s Word: “So the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off,” means that total destruction covered them in a way that no trace, whatsoever, of them was left or that they were all destroyed and no one was spared as He has said: Do you then see of them one remaining? ().
Verbalizing the noun (that is, the roots of the people.. . were cut off) in place of the pronoun (that is, they were cut off) was done to highlight the basis of the judgement and that was injustice which ruined them all and cut of their roots. This also paves the way for God’s following statement: “and all praise is due to God, the Lord of the worlds!”
The description in this verse of their characteristic of injustice and the Almighty’s praise for His Lordship proves that the blame and the calamity of what came upon them in form of devastating punishment stems from themselves since they were the people who committed injustice, and that nothing can be attributable to the Almighty except the good praise since He did not do anything in handling their affair except based on the demands of profound wisdom. Nothing led them to the path of their eventual end except what they themselves liked by their wrong choice, and it was proven that disgrace and evil is for the unbelievers, and truly all praise is due to God, the Lord of the worlds.
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ سَمْعَكُمْ وَأَبْصَارَكُمْ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمْ مَنْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُمْ بِهِ ۗ انْظُرْ كَيْفَ نُصَرِّفُ الْآيَاتِ ثُمَّ هُمْ يَصْدِفُونَ٤٦
(6:46) Say: “Have you considered that if Allah takes away your hearing and your sight and sets a seal on your hearts, who is the god besides Allah that can bring it to you?” See how We repeat the communications, yet they turn away.
Taking away the hearing and the sight means taking away the power of the ears and the eyes, making someone deaf and blind. Setting a seal on the hearts means closing its ‘door’ in such a way that nothing from outside can enter so that one can reflect upon its affair and distinguish the obligatory deeds from non-obligatory ones or the good and beneficial ones from the evil and harmful ones—in spite of retaining its original characteristic and that is the ability of understanding; otherwise, he will become a lunatic and insane.
Since these polytheists were not giving ear to the true words about God, Glory be to Him, and were not seeing His signs that prove that He is One Who has no partner, hence their hearts become such that nothing from the imports of ears and eyes could enter them so that they may distinguish truth from the falsehood. This is an argument to invalidate the belief of the polytheists regarding God, the Sublime and His Unity.
This argument can be summarized as follows: the belief in partners of God carries within itself its falsity. The belief in partners of God is based on believing in them as intercessors in the sense that they intercede and mediate (between humans and God) to procure benefits and avert harms. If the partners are just intercessors based on this supposition, then God (being the Supreme God) has the ability to do whatever He wants in His Kingdom without anyone preventing or opposing Him. So, if God takes away the power of your hearing and sight, and seals your hearts, He can do that, and no one from the partners ascribed to Him can oppose Him since they are intercessors and intermediaries only, not opponents (of God). So, if God does so and deprives you of what He takes away from you, then no one can give that back to you because the partners (believed by you) are intercessors and intermediaries only, not the source of creation and invention.
If those partners cannot give you any benefit or avert any harm, then what does it mean to ascribe divinity to them? After all, God is none but One Who can create, destroy and do whatever He likes in the universe. Human nature is compelled to acknowledge that this world has a God by searching for the origin of the occurrences of the good and the evil that it witnesses in the existing world. If something neither harms nor benefits, alongside the occurrences (of the world), then calling it ‘God’ is nothing but a nonsensical statement.
It does not behove a man with sound mind and discerning ability to accept an image of stone or a wood or a metal (carved by human hands based on his own ideas) as the creator of the world or having ability to create and destroy. Neither can he accept the notion that a god of a species (that is, an idol) is the God worthy of being worshiped who originated the world without a prior model while he himself is a servant of God nurtured by Him.
This argument can also be presented in a different way: the concept of divinity cannot be applied to a partner of God who is merely an intercessor and an intermediary since being original in creation and invention (which is an essential quality of God) demands freedom in whatever He wants to do and deserves expression of humility from the created and sustained beings. Now, if the supposed intermediary of God has freedom in whatever he wants to do, and then he will be the origin and beginning point of creation and not an intermediary and intercessor. But if he has no freedom in whatever he wants to, then he is just an instrument and a tool, and not an originator and God—this also applies to the material phenomenon wherever they are found since they are nothing more than a tool and an instrument such as eating fulfils the appetite, drinking quenches the thirst, parents bring forth a child, pen creates the images of writing, walking covers the distance, etc.
See how We repeat the communications, yet they turn away: al-Taṣrīf (repeating) means changing them (in different forms) in order to explain them (more easily); and al-Ṣudūf (turn away) means ignoring or discarding. The terms ṣadafa, yaṣdafu, ṣadufan, are used when a person turns away from something.
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ بَغْتَةً أَوْ جَهْرَةً هَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الظَّالِمُونَ ٤٧
(6:47) Say: “Have you considered if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed but the unjust people?”
al-Jahrah (openly) means a full exposure (of something) that leaves no room for doubt and therefore it has been used here as a contrast to al-baghtah (suddenly) which means coming of something suddenly in a way that it does not appear upon whom it ascends except after it has come and engulfed him, leaving him no chance of escape.
This verse is a general argument stating that the unjust people are in danger of God’s chastisement, a chastisement that will neither miss them nor mistake its intended target; then it clarifies that they are classified as ‘unjust’ because they deviated from the Islamic call and rejected the communications of God, the Sublime. This is so because chastisement actually means conveying the guilty to what harms and destroys him as a recompense of his crime, and there is no crime without injustice. So, if a chastisement comes to them from God, Glory be to Him, it will not destroy anyone but the unjust. This is the meaning of this verse, and the next two verses specify that unbelievers are the unjust ones.
وَمَا نُرْسِلُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّا مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ ۖ فَمَنْ آمَنَ وَأَصْلَحَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ٤٨ وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَمَسُّهُمُ الْعَذَابُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ ٤٩
(6:48–49) And We send not messengers but as announcers of good news and givers of warning; then whoever believes and acts aright, they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. And (as for) those who reject Our communications, chastisement shall afflict them because they transgressed:
These verses state that the unbelievers are the unjust ones and that when God’s chastisement comes to them, it harms them only because of their injustice. And that is why God changes the thread of the conversation by addressing the Holy Prophet directly so that he will be the one who informs them about the chastisement and so that it would be more decisive in cutting off the excuse. The first person pronoun has been used to emphasize that this statement comes from the divine arena of glory and greatness.
The summary of this section is that the Almighty has commanded His Prophet to present the argument to the unbelievers that if God’s chastisement comes to them, it will not destroy anyone but the unjust ones among them. Then He says to His Messenger: We are giving you the argument about coming chastisement; We are informing you that Our plan to send the Messengers is for the purpose of giving good tidings and warning: so whoever believes and does good, there will be no (chastisement) upon him but one, whoever rejects Our verses, he will be touched by Our chastisement because of his deviation and straying away from the path of submission. Therefore, they should reflect about themselves to see among which of the two groups they belong to.
In previous discourses, we have fully explained the meaning of belief (īmān), doing good (iṣlāḥ), and deviation and sins (fisq), and also the meaning of negating fear and sadness from the believers.
قُلْ لَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي خَزَائِنُ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ وَلَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ ۖ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ ۚ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَىٰ وَالْبَصِيرُ ۚ أَفَلَا تَتَفَكَّرُونَ ٥٠
(6:50) Say: “I do not say to you, I have with me the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me.” Say: “Are the blind and the seeing one alike? Do you not then reflect?”
Perhaps the meaning of “the treasures of God” is (“the treasures of mercy”) as He has mentioned: Say: “If you control the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, then you would withhold (them) from fear of spending…” (). The impact of the “treasures of mercy” has been disclosed in His Word: Whatever Allah grants to men of (His) mercy, there is none to withhold it… (). So, the mercy of God exists in abundance in the sense that it emanates from Him upon things bestowing them their existence and the effects of their existence. Thus, He, the Sublime, has clarified this by His Word: His command, when He intends anything, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is, (). The source of this abundant mercy is His Word: “Be” which emanates from the divine arena of glory and greatness. This is also reflected by what He has said in another verse: And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We do not send it down but in a known measure, ().
So, the meaning of “the treasures of God” is the station from which He bestows from it whatever He wishes without anything diminishing (in the treasures) by bestowing of neither existence nor anything making Him incapable by weakness or greatness (of task). This is reserved for God, Glory be to Him; whereas anyone else, whatever and whoever he may be, is limited and whatever is with him is fixed so that when he gives something from it, it will diminish to that extent; and a person with such limitations cannot make a poor free from need or fulfil the request of a petitioner or answer the plea of a supplicant.
As His Word: “nor do I know the unseen” (uttered by the Holy Prophet) refers to the knowledge of the unseen which is independent of Divine revelation. Whereas his knowledge (of the unseen) based on revelation is confirmed in the following sentence in this same verse: “I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me.” So, He has clarified in various place that some of the revelation sent to the messengers consist of the knowledge of the unseen as seen in the following verses: The Knower of the unseen! So He does not reveal His secrets to any, except to him whom He chooses of an apostle… (); and His Word in the story of Joseph: This is of the tidings of the unseen (which) We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising plans, (); and His Word in the story of Mary: This is of the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you; and you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Maryam in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another, (); and His Word after the story of Noah: These are of the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you, you did not know them—(neither) you nor your people—before this… ().
So, the purpose of denying the knowledge of the unseen refers to denial of the state in which he is naturally equipped in his existence with an ability that does not conceal for him things that humans cannot normally know from the secret matters whatever it may be.
As for His Word: “nor do I say to you that I am an angel” intend to deny the angelic nature (of the Holy Prophet) since the angels are devoid of the needs of physical life such as food, drink, marriage and its attachments. This has been mentioned in other places also such as: Say: “I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me…” (). The sentence under discussion here consisting of denial of the angelic nature (of the Holy Prophet) without proving his humanity is in response to the unbelievers’ bewilderment about the Holy Prophet in their saying like: “What sort of Apostle is this that he eats food and goes about in the marts…?” ().
It appears that this verse (that contains denial after denial) is a response to what the unbelievers were suggesting to the Holy Prophet in demanding miraculous signs and objecting to his activities which were similar to those of normal humans as can be seen in their statement quoted by the Almighty: And they say:” What sort of Apostle is this that he eats food and goes about in the marts; why has not an angel been sent down to him, so that he should have been a warner with him?” Or, (Why is not) a treasure be thrown down to him, or he should have a garden from which he may eat?” (). Similarly: And they say: “We will by no means believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us. Or you should have a garden of palms and grapes in the midst of which you should cause rivers to flow forth, gushing out. Or you should cause the heaven to come down upon us in pieces as you think, or bring Allah and the angels face to face (with us). Or you should have a house of gold, or you should ascend into heaven, and we will never believe in your ascending until you bring down to us a book which we may read.” Say: “Glory be to my Lord; am I aught but a human messenger?” (); …Still they will shake their heads at you and say: “When will it be?” (); They ask you about the hour, when will be it taking place? ().
So, the meaning of this verse: “Say: ‘I do not say to you…’” is that in my call to you and in conveying the message to you, I have not claimed anything more than what I am—a mortal human being—so why are you blaming me and forcing me to accept your suggestions? I didn’t claim that I have the divine treasures so that you may demand of me to bring forth rivers or create gardens or a house made of ornaments! I didn’t claim that I know the unseen so that I may answer to you everything that is hidden under the veils of unseen such as the time of the Hour! I didn’t claim that I am an angel so that you may defame me and reject my statements by my eating food and walking in the market to buy things!
The Sublime’s Word: “‘I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me,’” clarifies the truth of the Holy Prophet’s claim after rejecting what they had expected from his claim of messengership of God to them. So, the claim that “I am the Messenger of God to you” does not mean that ‘I have with me the treasures of God, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; rather the reality is that God reveals unto me whatever He wants to reveal.’
This statement is not presented in form of a claim; rather it says: ‘I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me’ in order to prove that he is commanded to convey what is revealed unto him; in other words, conveying the revelation means following it. It is as if when he said: ‘I do not say this or that,’ it was asked: ‘If this is the case and you are a human like us and weak like one of us without any superiority over us, then what do you want from us?’ And so he responds: ‘I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me: to give you good tidings (if you follow) and warn you (of chastisement if you disobey), and to call you to the religion of monotheism.’
The proof of this explanation is in the next sentence of the verse: Say: “Are the blind and the seeing one alike? Do you not then reflect?” The context of this sentence explains to us the following: ‘Even though I am same as you in humanity and dependency, that does not prevent me from calling you to follow me since my Lord has blessed me with the insight by means of what He reveals to me and not to you; and so you and me are like the blind and the seeing who are not alike in this matter even if they are same in humanity.’ Reflection in this difference between the two guides a person to the conclusion that the blind must follow the seeing and the ignorant must follow the learned.
وَأَنْذِرْ بِهِ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يُحْشَرُوا إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ ۙ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ وَلِيٌّ وَلَا شَفِيعٌ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ ٥١
(6:51) And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord—there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him—that they may guard (against evil):
The pronoun “with it” in “warn with it those” refers to the Qur’an as seen in the previous sentence: “I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me.” And the statement: “there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him” indicates their circumstances which are the outcome of their fear or they being gathered on the Day of Resurrection.
“Fear” here refers to its common meaning and not to knowledge or realization since there is no such indication in the context. And the command to especially warn those who fear that they will be gathered to their Lord on the judgement day does not negate the general warning covering them and others as indicated in an earlier verse: “… and this Qur’an has been revealed to me that I may warn you and whomsoever it reaches…” (). Since ‘the fear of being gathered to their Lord’ helps their souls in accepting (the message) and brings their minds closer to the call, the command of warning has been specified for them; and they have been described in this way in order to emphasize the call for them and to urge the Holy Prophet that he should not neglect their issue and not consider them like others, instead he should pay more attention in the call to them because their position (based on the fear) is closer to the truth and there is hope in their belief. So, this verse, along with other verses related to the general warning, conveys the following meaning: Warn the people in general and especially those who fear of being gathered to their Lord.
And His Word: “there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him” is total negation of the power of other than God as well as the authority of intercession. However, the general import of this verse is qualified by other verses such as: …who is he that can intercede with Him but by His Permission? (); …and they do not intercede except for him whom He approves… (); And those whom they call upon besides Him have no authority for intercession but he who bears witness of the truth and they know, ().
This specific verse, however, has not been qualified because it addresses the idolaters who believed in the power of the idols and their intercession, and they didn’t believe that their power was dependent upon the permission or approval of God. Whereas the belief in the power and the intercession based on God’s permission, depends on its knowledge and that knowledge depends on revelation and prophethood, but they did not believe in prophethood. On the contrary, the power and the intercession that they ascribed to their idols was believed by them to be part of their essential nature which did not depend on God’s permission; as if they were powerful in their existence which had the inherit ability to do whatever they wished regarding the weak ones without any permission from God, Glory be to Him! In other words, creation of powerful beings inherently carries the ‘Authorization’ to exercise power over those who are under them.
In short, the verse says: “there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him,” and does not include ‘except by His permission’ because the idolaters indeed believed that the idols were absolute guardians and intercessors—so the unconditional rejection of any guardian and intercessor besides God stands parallel to their belief of affirming (guardianship and intercession) for them. As for adding the exception to this general statement, although it is conceptually valid (as it has occurred in various places in His Speech), it is not appropriate in this place.
So, it is clear from the above discussion that the verse, in its unconditional form, commands (the Holy Prophet) to warn everyone who has the fear in his heart of being gathered to Lord when they are reminded of God’s verses, no matter whether he is from those who believe in being gathered (like the believers from among the People of the Book) or from those who don’t believe in it (like the idolaters and others) who doubt its occurrence but its fear engulfs their souls with its possibility—for the fear of something whose occurrence is possible can indeed materialize even if one is not sure about it.
There is a difference in opinion among the commentators about this verse: One says that the verse was revealed regarding the believers in being gathered and those are the ones addressed in the following verse: And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening… Another says that it was revealed regarding a group of polytheists’ idolaters who believed in being resurrected after death. This is so even though there is no proof that any of the Meccans or Arab polytheists of the era of revelation held this view and in spite of the fact that verses of this chapter address the polytheists of Quraysh or Arab! Yet another commentator says that it is addressed to everyone who believes in being gathered in the hereafter no matter whether he is a Muslim or from the People of the Book, and that the command of warning is related to the believers in specific (even though the obligation of warning is for all people) because the argument is more compelling upon them since they confess to the resurrection.
This verse, however, has only described them in context of the fear of being gathered; and the fear of a thing does not depend on absolute knowledge of its occurrence or on belief in its occurrence, rather it depends on doubt (that is, the probability of equal proportions with varying degrees of preference) just like fear that is based on knowledge. This is obvious.
So, the verse, indeed, urges the Holy Prophet to warn anyone in whom he finds the signs of fear, from whatever group he may be, because the foundation of the religious call is based on being gathered to the Lord and being held accountable for the bad and good deeds, and be recompensed accordingly. And the minimum impact of the religious call would be on a person who considers the gathering (of judgement day) a possibility and so fears it; and the higher the possibility of its occurrence, the higher would be the level of fear and stronger the impact (of accepting) the call—until he acquires conviction about it and totally negates it opposite, and thereafter emerges the total acceptance.
وَلَا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ ۖ مَا عَلَيْكَ مِنْ حِسَابِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَمَا مِنْ حِسَابِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ٥٢
(6:52) And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only His favour; neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answer- able for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust:
The context of this verse is that the polytheists from the Holy Prophet’s tribe proposed to him that he should push away the (socially) weak believers and so, God, Glory be to Him, forbade him from it in this verse. This is supported by the next verse: And thus do We try some of them by others…
This proposal of theirs is similar to what was proposed by the aristocrats of the past nations to their prophets that they should push away from themselves the weak and poor believers out of arrogance and haughtiness. While describing the people of Noah and his arguments, God, the Sublime, narrates the proposal of his people similar to the verses under discussion: And the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: “We do not consider you but a mortal like ourselves and we do not see any have followed you but those who are the meanest of us at first thought and we do not see in you any excellence over us; nay, we deem you liars.” He said: “O my people! Tell me if I have with me clear proof from my Lord, and He has granted me mercy from Himself and it has been made obscure to you; shall we constrain you to (accept) it while you are averse from it… I am not going to drive away those who believe; surely they shall meet their Lord… and I do not say to you that I have treasures of Allah; and I do not know the unseen, nor do I say that I am an angel; nor do I say about those whom your eyes hold in mean estimation (that) Allah will never grant them (any) good—Allah knows best what is in their souls—for then most surely I should be of the unjust.” ().
Comparing these verses with the verse under discussion shows that those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening and desire His favor are the believers; and their call in the morning and the evening—and that is their ritual prayer or their general plea to their Lord—has been mentioned as a proof of their unadulterated link to their Lord, and as a way of explaining the statement in the next verse: Does not Allah best know the grateful?
The word wajh (pl. wujūh) in “they desire only His wajh” means God’s face. (It has been translated here as “His favour.”) al-Rāghib in his Mufradāt says:
“The wajh in reality is a bodily part as He says: And wash your faces (wujūh) and hands, (). And the fire shall cover their faces, (13:50). And since the wajh is the first part that faces you and the most noble part of the visible body, it is used to describe the front, the most noble and the first part of everything; and therefore it is said: ‘wajh of so-and-so’ and ‘wajh of the day’ (in the meaning of beginning of the day).
“Sometimes it is used to indicate the person himself as it can be seen in the Divine Word: (Everyone on it must perish) but the face of your Lord (the Master of glory and honour) will endure forever (). It is said that ‘the face’ means His Person; it is also said that it means paying attention to God through good deeds.
“He has said: Wherever you turn there shall be Allah’s face (); Everything will perish except His face (); they desire only Allah’s face (); Verily we feed you for Allah’s face (). It is said that in all these cases, the wajh is superfluous (and it means His Person) and so the verse means everything will perish except Him, and similarly in other examples. It has been narrated that this meaning was mentioned to Abū ʿAbdillāh b. al-Riḍā who responded by saying: ‘Glorified be God! They have uttered a gruesome statement. Wajh actually means the one who is approached in that direction and so the verse means: everything from the deeds of the people will perish (that is, be null and void) except what was done for the sake of God; and this is the meaning of other verses also.’ And so the meaning of ‘they desire only His wajh’ is that they desire only God’s pleasure or favor.”
Comment: The transformation in usage of wajh from its literal meaning of a bodily part to a wider meaning of whatever one faces of a thing is no doubt a common transformation of words in their meanings. However, a serious consideration in this does not allow the word wajh to be used in the meaning of ‘person’. So, a thing, whatever it may be, indeed faces something else with what is apparent of its qualities and names, and it’s the attributes and names that are perceived by an individual (and not the person itself which is an inner reality). We come to know something through one of its attributes or its names, and then through them we reach to its person without actually perceiving its person directly.
Indeed, we gain knowledge of things first through the means of senses which perceive only the visible qualities (of shapes, lines and forms, etc.) and not their actual essence. From the result of this perception of the senses, we are lead (through the intellect) to the realization of the actual essences which are foundation of the non-essential attributes and related qualities which depend on the essences that protect them. So, when we say, “The person of Zayd,” it means the person to whom the visible qualities and attributes of Zayd are referred to in the way we relate our qualities and attributes to ourselves. So, knowing the actual persons is an intellectual perception which always takes place through a kind of deduction by analogy and process of linkage.
If knowing the essential person or essence through a complete intellectual perception is not possible except by help of its attributes and effects using deduction by analogy, then the issue of (knowing) God, Glory be to Him—whose essence has no limit nor is His existence finite—is most clearly and obviously beyond our full comprehension. Perception of a thing does not occur except if it has a limit and so there can be no hope in comprehensive knowledge of the Almighty as He has said: And the faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsistent God… (); and He knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they do not comprehend Him in knowledge, (ibid: 110).
So, the wajh of a thing is what is faced by others; and its direction, that is, the point of reference, is also the wajh just like the face is to human when faced by others. With this consideration, the good deeds become wajh of God just as the evil deeds become wajh of the Satan. This meaning of wajh can be applied in verses like: …who seek Allah’s pleasure… (); “We feed you only for the sake of Allah…” (), etc. Similarly, the attributes through which God, Glory be to Him, ‘faces’ the creatures (are His wajh) like mercy, creation, sustenance, guidance and other similar ones from the attributes of action as well as some of the attributes of His Person through which we know Him—to the extent that we can know Him—like life, knowledge and power. All these are the Almighty’s wajh by which He ‘faces’ His creation and through which they turn to Him as can be seen in an implied or explicit form in the verse: But the face of your Lord (the master of glory and honour) will endure forever, (). From the looks of it, the word: the master of glory and honour is an attribute of ‘face’ and not ‘your Lord.’ Reflect and ponder on this.
Since it is correct to say that ‘the direction of Almighty God’ is His wajh, then it is generally correct to say that whatever is linked to the Almighty in the way of proximity—like His names, attributes and religion; and like the good deeds—as well as whoever is found in the precinct of His proximity—like the prophets, angels, martyrs and all the forgiven believers—are all the Almighty’s wajh.
This clarifies, firstly, the meaning of His Word, Glory be to Him: …and what is with Allah is enduring… (); and those who are with Him are not too proud to serve Him… (); those who are with your Lord are not too proud to serve Him and they glorify Him… (); and His Word about one who was killed in God’s way: …nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord. (); And there is not a thing but with Us are its treasures… (). Along with the first verse in this paragraph, these verses prove that all these entities are everlasting by the Almighty’s everlasting nature; destruction and perdition cannot touch them. He also says: …everything is perishable but His wajh… (). This verse proves that those issues are the wajh of God, Glory be to Him; in other words, all those issues happen to be in the direction of the Almighty, they are comfortably established by His side and in His direction.
Secondly, the point of reference for mans intention towards His Lord is His wajh as He says: …seeking the grace and pleasure from their Lord… (); …to seek mercy from your Lord… (); …and seek means of nearness to Him… ()—these are all wajh of God because the attributes of His Action such as mercy, pleasure, grace and etc. are from His wajh. Similarly, the ‘way’ of the Almighty is from His wajh as mentioned earlier: …except to seek Allah’s pleasure… ().
…neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours: al-Ḥisāb (reckoning) means using the numbers to add or subtract, etc.
Since examining the deeds and evaluating them to fulfil the recompense or to get result and etc. cannot normally be done without using numbers to add or subtract, this is known as reckoning of the deeds. If the reckoning of the deeds is to fulfil the recompense, and the recompense is indeed from God, Glory be to Him, so the reckoning is upon God, the Sublime, that is, in His jurisdiction and ability as He has said: Their account is only with my Lord… (); Then surely upon Us is the taking of their account (); and then He reverses the focus by saying that: …surely Allah takes account of all things (), to prove that His, the Sublime’s power and control over everything.
Based on this, the statement that ‘the Prophet is neither answerable for their reckoning nor are they answerable for his reckoning’ means: it is not upon him to take account of their deeds in order to recompense them so that he may drive them away from himself if he is not pleased with their behavior and dislikes their company. On the other hand, it is not upon them to take account of his deeds so that he may drive them away out of fear of scrutiny by them or their punishment or their dislike of him out of arrogance and haughtiness. Consequently, the two sentences: “neither are you answerable…” and “nor are they answerable…” are independent statements.
It could also be said that the verse: “neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs…” means that he will not carry the burden of their reckoned deeds that may be overbearing for him; and this is based on the thought that a deed becomes a burden on its doer or on one who becomes responsible for it. So, it would mean that nothing of the weight of their deeds is upon you. Consequently, the statement “nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours”—it is superfluous since the statement is complete without it—is actually just to complete the other side of the equation and emphasize the implication of the speech.
It can also be said that both sentences “neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs” and “nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours” indicate the lack of any connection between the Holy Prophet and them as far as the reckoning of deeds is concerned.
It is also said that the reckoning in this verse refers to the reckoning of the sustenance and not the deeds, and so the meaning will be: you are not answerable for reckoning of their sustenance; it is God who sustains them and upon Him is the reckoning of their sustenance. And the statement “nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours” (is superfluous and) has just come to emphasize the implication of the speech as mentioned earlier.
Although it is possible to explain the last two interpretations, but the preferred view is the first one mentioned earlier.
…so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust: Being included in the group of the unjust people is dependent upon driving them away that is, driving away those who call their Lord.
The sequence of the speech, in its normal form, demands that the sentence: “and thus be of the unjust” should have followed the first sentence: “And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only His favor.” But since the speech became prolonged because of interjection of sentences between the first and the last, the phrase: ‘drive away’ was repeated again as a predicate for the sentence: “and thus be of the unjust” in order to establish the connection and remove any ambiguity. So, no objection can be raised that the speech: “and thus be of the unjust” is predicated upon itself (that is, ‘And do not drive away those who call their Lord so that you should drive them away’) since repeating the phrase ‘drive away’ again has been done to link the statement: “and thus be of the unjust” to the first sentence as you already know.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لِيَقُولُوا أَهَٰؤُلَاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا ۗ أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَعْلَمَ بِالشَّاكِرِينَ ٥٣
(6:53) And thus do We try some of them by others so that they say: “Are these they upon whom Allah has conferred benefit from among us?” Does not Allah best know the grateful?
Fatannā (We try) is from al-fitnah which means test and trial. The context proves that the question: “Are these they upon whom God has conferred benefit from among us?” is for mocking and ridiculing since it is known that the polytheists used to deride only those whom they regarded as contemptible and underrated their status in society; and this was done only because of their poverty, humbleness and low esteem in eyes of the aristocracy of Mecca.
So, God, Glory be to Him, informs His Messenger that this variance and difference (between the people) was actually a divine test by which the people are tested so that the ungrateful ones can be distinguished from the grateful ones. So, the ungrateful and arrogant people say about the poor believers: “Are these they upon whom God has conferred benefit from among us?” Verily the social norms of the people are based on the standards of nobility and baseness that they have established themselves; similarly, a deed is evaluated according to the social standing of its doer. Therefore, the norm adopted by the poor, the humble and the slave is underrated by the rich and the powerful; and so a deed accomplished by a poor or a speech uttered by a slave or a prisoner is not worth of any attention by those who own wealth and power.
So, the act of embracing the faith by the poor, the labourers, and the slaves (on the one hand), and the Prophet’s consideration for them and association with them (on the other hand) by itself became kind of a proof, in the eyes of the arrogant and tyrant class of the society, of the insignificance of the faith and that it is unworthy of any attention by the notable and powerful ones.
Does not God best know the grateful?: This is a response to the polytheists’ ridicule based on what they considered to be unlikely: “Are these they upon whom God has conferred benefit from among us?” It means that the believers were grateful to God and not the polytheists, and therefore He preferred the former for His favor (of Islam) and kept the latter back. The Almighty has implied that verily God best knows those who are grateful for His favor; and it is obvious that the Benefactor indeed favors and blesses one who is thankful for His blessing. And God has named confirmation of His Unity and negation of a partner from Him as gratefulness while describing the statement of Joseph: …it beseems us not that we should associate aught with Allah; this is by Allah’s grace upon us and on mankind, but most people do not give thanks, ().
The verse clarifies that the polytheists, out of their ignorance, based honour and power on being advanced in the vanities of this world—wealth, children and status—while these have no value in God’s eyes and no honour. The reality (of honour) revolves around the quality of gratefulness and true benefit, and that is the Divine Authority.
وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ ۖ أَنَّهُ مَنْ عَمِلَ مِنْكُمْ سُوءًا بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَنَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ٥٤
(6:54) And when those who believe in Our communications come to you, say: “Peace be on you, your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself, (so) that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then He is Forgiving, Merciful.”:
The meaning of al-salām (peace) has already been explained earlier. The meaning of kataba (writing)—mercy on Himself is that He has ordained mercy upon Himself in the sense that it is impossible to separate the description of mercy from His actions. Aṣlaḥa (acts aright) is from al-iṣlāḥ which means to be covered with goodness; grammatically it is an intransitive verb even if in reality it may be transitive. Its meaning is reforming the self or amending the deed.
Its connection to the previous verse is clear. Here God, Glory be to Him commands His Prophet—after forbidding him from driving the believers away from himself—to be kind to them, to greet them, and to give good tidings of God’s forgiveness and mercy to those among them who had repented a sincere repentance for a sin, so that their souls may be delighted and the inconsistency of their heart beats may calm down.
The verse clarifies the following:
Firstly, the verse—and it is from the verses of repentance—is related to repentance from sins and misdeeds, and not from unbelief and polytheism. This is based on His Word: “if any one of you does evil,” that is, from those who believe in God’s verses.
Secondly, the ignorance in “if any one of you does evil in ignorance” means the opposite of disbelief and obstinacy which are done on purpose and not out of ignorance. Verily one who calls his Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His favor, and is believer in God’s verses does not disobey the Sublime out of arrogance and pride, rather out of ignorance which overcomes him as a result of following his desire or anger.
Thirdly, linking “turns (in repentance)” with “acts aright” is to prove that ‘turning in repentance’ can only happen with ‘Acting aright’ since the reality of returning to God and seeking refuge in His proximity, with its pure status, does not combine with filth of sins from which the repenting person cleanses himself. Repentance is not just saying: ‘I return (in repentance) to God,’ which does not move from the tongue to the heart as High be He Exalted has said: …and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it… ().
Fourthly, God’s attributes of actions like All-Forgiving and All- Merciful can be rightly tied to a time. Even though God, Glory be to Him has ordained mercy upon Himself but He does not manifest it nor implements its impact except when a servant of His commits a sin out of ignorance and then after repents and acts aright.
A relevant discussion on this theme has already passed under the commentary of: Repentance with Allah is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn (to Allah) soon, so these it is to whom Allah turns (mercifully), and Allah is All-knowing, Wise. And repentance is not for those who go on doing evil deeds, until when death comes to one of them, he says, “Surely, now I repent”; nor (for) those who die while they are unbelievers… () in volume four of this book.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ وَلِتَسْتَبِينَ سَبِيلُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ٥٥
(6:55) And thus do We make distinct the communications and so that the way of the guilty may become clear:
By looking at the context: “We make distinct the communications” means explaining the Divine Knowledge, and purifying it from ambiguity and fusion.
And the la (so that) in “so that the way of the guilty may become clear” indicates the purpose; and it is connected to an implied statement which has not been written out of deference and greatness of its meaning—and this is common in the God’s speech such as: …and We bring these days to men by turns, and that Allah may know those who believe… (), and: And thus did We show Abraham the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth and so that he might be of those who are sure ().
So, the meaning of the verse is that: This is how We explain and clarify the various sections of the Divine Knowledge, and remove whatever ambiguity has come upon it for important objectives; and one of those objectives is to identify the path of the guilty ones so that those who believe in Our verses may avoid it. Based on this: “the way of the guilty” means the path that the guilty ones traverse upon—against the verses that talk about God’s Unity and its related true knowledge—and it is the path of disbelief, obstinacy, turning away from divine verses, and ungratefulness.
It has been said that the meaning of “the way of the guilty” means the path that has been adapted regarding the guilty ones; that is, God’s attitude towards them of cursing them in this world, and implementing an evil reckoning and painful chastisement upon them in the hereafter.
However, the first meaning is more preferable by looking at the context of the verses of this chapter.
Examining Narrations
- al-Kulaynī, based on the unconnected chain of narration, quotes Imām al-Riḍā who said: “Verily, God, to Whom belong Might and Majesty, did not make our Holy Prophet die until He had completed for him the religion. He sent down upon him the Qur’an in which is clarification for everything, in it He clarified what is permissible as well as forbidden, and the penal code as well as the rules, and all that is required for the people. God, the Glorified, said: We have not neglected anything in the Book.” (al-Kāfī)
- ʿAli b. Ibraḥīm al-Qummī narrates from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad who narrated from Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad who narrates from Kathīr b. ʿAyyāsh who narrates from Abu al-Jārūd from Abū Jaʿfar (al-Bāqir) about the verse: And they who reject Our communications are deaf and dumb, he said: “Deaf from the guidance; dumb who cannot speak anything good; in utter darkness means in the darkness of unbelief; whom Allah pleases He causes to err, and whom He pleases He puts on the right way—this is the rejection of the Qadariyyah of this ummah whom God will raise on the Day of Resurrection with the Sabaeans, the Christians and the Magians, and thereupon they will say: ‘Our Lord, we were not polytheists,’ God shall say: See how they lied against their own souls, and that which they forged did pass away from them.”
The he (al-Bāqir) further said: “The Messenger of God said: ‘Verily, every ummah has (a group like) Magians; and the Magians of this ummah are those who say: “There is no Divine Decree (al-qadr);” and they assume that the will and power is related to them and for them.’ “ (al-Tafsīr)
- While quoting this ḥadīth, the author of al-Burhān says: “In another copy of the tafsīr of ʿAli b. Ibraḥīm, this ḥadīth says: ‘He (that is, the Holy Prophet) said: “Verily, every ummah has (a group like) Magians; and the Magians of this ummah are those who say: ‘There is no Divine Decree;’ and they assume that the will and power is neither for them nor against them.” And in a third copy, it says that: ‘They said: “There is no Divine Decree;” and they assume that the will and power is neither towards them nor for them.’” (Tafsīr al-burhān)
Author’s comment: The issue of Divine Decree is from the issues that was discussed during the early era (of Islam); a group rejected al-qadr—which means the Will of God, Glory be to Him, has a partial connection to the actions of humans—and they proved independent will and power for humans in their actions and that they are the independent creators of their actions. They have been named as al-Qadariyyah, the theologians who discuss the Divine Decree (al-qadr). Both sects, (the Shīʾahs and the Sunnīs) have narrated from the Holy Prophet that he said: “The Qadariyyah are the Magians of this ummah.” The application of the term “Magians” on them is obvious since they believe that the human actions has a creator, that is, the human being, and there is a creator for all other things, that is, God, Glory be to Him; and this is the belief of the Dualists, (the Magians,) in two gods: the creator of the good and the creator of the evil.
There are other narrations from the Holy Prophet) and the Imāms of Ahlu al-Bayt which explain the narration as above, and prove that there is Divine Decree and God’s Will has an impact in the actions of His servants as the Qur’an has proved.
The Muʾtazilah theological sect—and they deny the Divine Decree has interpreted the narration by saying that the Qadariyyah relate the good and the evil all to a non-human creator. Some discussion on this subject has already occurred and its full discussion, God willing, will come in the future.
It is clear from what we have discussed that reconciling between the view that there is no Divine Decree (in human actions) and the view that humans don’t have any will or power (of their own) in reconciling mutually incompatible views since the former proves total independence of humans in their actions while the latter negates their will and power.
So, what exists in the two versions of the narration as a reconciliation of the view (that there is no Divine Decree) and the view (that humans have no will and power) is indeed the result of distortion done by a scribe for whom the meaning was confusing and so he retained the words “no Divine Decree” but changed the rest of the narration.
- al-Suyūṭī has quoted from Aḥmad, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Ṭabrānī in al-Kabīr, Abu al-Shaykh, Ibn Mardu- wayh, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʾab from ʿUqbah b. ʿĀmir from the Holy Prophet who said: “If you see God giving (material blessings) to a servant in this world while he is still engrossed in his sins, that he loves, then that is indeed istidrāj (luring someone into destruction).” Then the Messenger of God recited the verse: But when they neglected that which they had been admonished, We opened for them the doors of all things, until when they rejoiced in what they were given We seized them suddenly; then lo! They were in utter despair () and the verse after it. (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- al-Suyūṭī has quoted from Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abu al-Shaykh, Ibn Marduwayh from ʿIbādah b. al-Ṣāmit who said that the God’s Messenger said: “Verily when God, the Blessed, the Sublime, intends continuation and growth of a community, He blesses them with abstinence and thrift; and when He intends a community to perish, He opens for them or opens upon them the door of deceit until when they rejoiced in what they were given We seized them suddenly; then lo! They were in utter despair. So the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off; and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- al-Suyūṭī has quoted Ibn al-Mundhir from Jaʿfar who said: “God revealed to Dāwūd: ‘Fear me in all situations; and you should be most worried when blessings accumulate on you so that I shouldn’t throw you down at that moment, then I will not look at you.’” (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comment: His Word: “I shouldn’t throw you down” is a negative form intending to warn; and His Word: “and then I will not look at you” is connected to the earlier negative verb.
- In the commentary of the verse: Say: “Have you considered if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you…” ʿAli b. Ibraḥīm al-Qummī says: “This was revealed when the Holy Prophet immigrated to Medina and his companions were afflicted with hardship, illness and sickness. So, they complained about it to the Holy Prophet and God then revealed: Say (to them, ‘O Muḥammad!) Have you considered if the chastisement of Allah should overtake you suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed but the unjust people?’ It means that you will not be afflicted with anything but hardship and loss in this world whereas the painful punishment in which is perdition shall be inflicted only on the unjust people.” (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: This narration, besides its weakness (in chain of narrators), contradicts what has been copiously described that this sūrah of al-Anʾām was revealed in Mecca all together and the content of the verse (under discussion) does not fit with the story (narrated above), and the context provided for its interpretation seems far from the style of the Qur’an.
- al-Ṭabrisī under the verse: And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord—there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him—that they may guard (against evil), says that al-Ṣādiq said: “Warn through the Qur’an those who fear meeting their Lord (on the Day of Judgement) so that you may entice them for what is with Him; for verily the Qur’an is an intercessor whose intercession will be accepted for them.” (Majmaʾ al-bayān)
Author’s comment: The ḥadīth apparently is linking the pronoun in (besides Him) to the Qur’an (and so it would be …besides it), and that is a correct meaning even though the Qur’an has not been described as “a guardian” in the Qur’an itself just as it has been named as “an Imām.”
- al-Suyūṭī quotes from Aḥmad, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Ṭabarānī, Abu al-Shaykh, Ibn Marduwayh, and Abū Nuʾaym in al-Ḥilyah from ʿAbdullāh b. Masʾūd who said: “Some prominent Qurayshī individuals passed by the Holy Prophet while Ṣuhayb, ʿAmmār, Bilāl, Khabbāb, and other poor Muslims like them were with him. So, they said: ‘O Muḥammad, are you satisfied with these people from your community? Are these they upon whom Allah has conferred benefit from among us? Are we supposed to be followers of these people? Drive them away from yourself, and once you have driven them away, we may follow you.’ So, God revealed about them: And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord…” (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comment: al-Ṭabrisī has also narrated this in Majmaʾ al-bayān from al-Thaʾlabī through his chain of narrators from ʿAbdullāh b. Masʾūd in a shorter form.
- al-Suyūṭī quotes from Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Mundhir from ʿIkrimah who said that ʿUtba b. Rabīʾah, Shaybah b. Rabīʾah, Qarẓah b. ʿAbd ʿAmr b. Nawfal, al-Ḥārith b. ʿĀmir b. Nawfal and Mutʾim b. ʿUdayy b. al-Khiyār b. Nawfal from among the nobles of the unbelievers from (descendants of) ʿAbd Manāf went to Abū Ṭālib and said: “If your nephew drives away from us those low ones—and they indeed are our slaves and servants—that will create a great (respect) for him in our hearts, make us more amenable to him, and bring us closer to accept him and follow him.”
Abū Ṭālib mentioned that to the Holy Prophet. ʿUmar (b. al-Khaṭṭāb who was in that gathering) said: “I wish you, O God’s Messenger, would do that, so that we can see whether they really intend to do what they are saying, and what way do they go.” So, God revealed: And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord—to His Word—Does not Allah best know the grateful?
ʿIkrimah continues: “And those (slaves who had accepted Islam) were Bilāl, ʿAmmār b. Yāsir, Sālim (slave of Abū Ḥudhayfah) and Subḥ (slave of Usayd); and from among the ḥulafāʾ were Ibn Masʾūd, al-Miqdād b. ʿAmr, Wāqid b. ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥanẓalī, ʿAmr b. ʿAbd ʿUmar, Dhu al-Shimālayn, Murthid b. Abī Murthid and others like them.
“The verse: And thus do We try some of them by others was about the Qurayshī leaders of the unbelief, the slaves and those allied to the Quraysh. When this verse was revealed, ʿUmar came forward and apologized for his earlier statement; and so God revealed and when those who believe in Our communications come to you…” (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- al-Suyūṭī quotes from Abū Shaybah, Ibn Mājah, Abū Yaʾlā, Abū Nuʾaym in al-Ḥilyah; and Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abu al-Shaykh, Ibn Marduwayh, al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil from Khabbāb who said:
“al-Aqraʾ b. Ḥābis al-Tamīmī and ʿUyaynah b. Ḥaṣīn al-Fazārī found the Holy Prophet with Bilāl, Ṣuhayb, ʿAmmār, and Khabbāb among the people who were socially weak believers. When they saw them around him, they derided them. Then they came to the Holy Prophet alone and said: ‘We want you to appoint a (distinct) place for us with you so that the Arab may know our superiority since delegations of the Arab will soon come to you and we will be embarrassed if they see us sitting with those low status people. So, when we come to you, remove them from your gathering, and once we have left, you may sit with them if you wish.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ They said, ‘Then write for us a document binding you to it.’ He asked for a paper and called ʿAli to write the document while we were sitting in one corner.
“That is when Jibrīl came down with this verse: And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening—to His Word—say: ‘Peace be on you, your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself…’ The Messenger of God (threw away the paper from his hand and he called us; so we came to him while he was saying: ‘Peace be on you, your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself. ‘So, we used to sit with him, and whenever he wanted to stand up to go, he would stand up and leave us. Then God revealed: And withhold yourself with those who call on their Lord morning and evening desiring His goodwill…” Khabbāb continues: “So, the Messenger of God would sit with us thereafter and when the time came for him to get up, we would leave him so that he may go.” (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comment: al-Ṭabrisī has narrated this in Majmaʾ al-bayān from Salmān (al-Fārisī) and Khabbāb; and there are other narrations similar to the last three narrations. However, by looking back at the numerous narrations at the beginning of this sūrah which prove that this sūrah was revealed all together and also by contemplating on the context of the verses, there is no doubt that these narrations are surely like what we have termed as ‘Application’ (of verses to events) in the sense that the companions found the content of some verses applicable to some events which took place during the Holy Prophet’s time and so considered those events as occasions of revelation of the verse; and not in the sense that the verse was revealed all by itself because of that event in order to clarify matters about it. It is applied to the event in the sense that the doubts about that event were removed in light of that verse just as doubts in other similar circumstances were also clarified in its light as we see in the three narrations about the revelation of the verse: And do not drive away those who call their Lord. The purpose of the verse is same but the stories are different even though they are similar: it seems that the elite of Mecca came to the Holy Prophet and proposed time and again that he push the socially weak Muslims away from himself and that at each time some of the socially weak Muslims were present. The content of the verse has affinity with these or some of the suggestions of the Meccans.
This is how the companions used to describe the reasons for revelation of the verses in form of stories or events that had occurred during the Holy Prophet’s time which have kind of a relevance to the contents of the holy verses without the verse actually having any connection to the particular story or event that was narrated. Then with the spread of the trend of quoting aḥādīth based on meaning (rather than verbatim) and wide circulation of this trend created a delusion that the verses were revealed for those specific events to the extent of becoming the exclusive reasons (for their revelation).
So, there is no reliance on such kinds of aḥādīth narrated on the occasion of revelation, especially in the examples of this sūrah which is among those revealed all together. The most that these aḥādīth can do is to show a kind of connection of (the theme of) the verses to the events which occurred during the time of the Holy Prophet in particular with the spread of fabrication and interpolation in these narrations as well as their weakness, and leniency of the early scholars in accepting and quoting them.
- al-Suyūṭī in al-Durr al-manthūr quotes from al-Zubayr b. Bakār in Akhbār al-Madīnah from ʿUmar b. ʿAbdillāh Ibn al-Muhājir that the verse () was revealed when some people proposed to the Holy Prophet to drive away the weak ones from Aṣḥāb al-Ṣuffah from himself, similar to the story (mentioned earlier). This narration is considered weak based on the fact that the sūrah was revealed all together and that also in Mecca before the immigration.
- al-ʿAyyāshī quotes from Abū ʿAmr al-Zubayrī from Abū ʿAbdillāh (al-Ṣādiq) who said: “God showers mercy upon someone who repented to God before death. Verily repentance purifies the abomination of the sin and prevents from misery of perdition. God has made the mercy a duty upon Himself for His righteous servants as He has said: ‘…your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself, (so) that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then He is Forgiving, Merciful.’ “ (al-Tafsīr)
- al-Sayyid Hāshim al-Baḥrānī, in al-Burhān, quotes from ʿAbdullāh b. al-ʿAbbās that the verse: And when those who believe in Our communications come to you … was revealed about ʿAli, Ḥamzah and Zayd (b. Ḥārithah). (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: There are many narrations which say that the verses previous to it were revealed about the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt. Apparently, all these narrations are based on flow and application (of a verse on its best examples) or based on the esoteric meaning since the revelation of the sūrah in Mecca all together prevents one from considering these narrations as the occasions of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl); and, therefore, we refrained from quoting them. And God knows the best.
The respected translator, al-ʿAllāmah al-Sayyid Saʾīd al-Akhtar al-Raḍawī, stopped his pen here on the morning of 20th June 2002, and soon after that he suffered a massive stroke and breathed his last on that Thursday night. May Almighty God elevate his status and bless his soul. Amen! His son, Sayyid Muhammad Akhtār Rizvī took over from here and completed this volume. (Ed.) ↩︎
See al-Mīzān (Eng. transl.), vol.8. (Trans.). ↩︎
Ḥulafāʾ: is plural of ḥalīf, that is, those foreigners who were allied to one or the other tribe of Mecca. (Trans.) ↩︎
Aṣḥāb al-Ṣuffah were the homeless Muslims who lived under a shade besides the Prophet’s Mosque. (Trans.) ↩︎