6. Al-An'aam

The Cattle · Meccan · 165 ayahs

سُورَةُ الأَنۡعَامِ

Reading Al-Mukhtasar in Interpreting the Noble Qur'an by Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies

Ayahs 21–30 of 165

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِـَٔايَٰتِهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُفْلِحُ ٱلظَّٰلِمُونَ

And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie or denies His verses? Indeed, the wrongdoers will not succeed.

The greatest wrongdoer is the person who attributes a partner to Allah and worships him together with Allah, or the person who denies Allah’s words that He revealed to His Messenger. Those who do wrong by ascribing partners to Allah and denying His verses will never succeed if they do not repent.

Al-An'aam 6:21Listen in Qur'an →

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًۭا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوٓا۟ أَيْنَ شُرَكَآؤُكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ

And [mention, O Muhammad], the Day We will gather them all together; then We will say to those who associated others with Allah, "Where are your 'partners' that you used to claim [with Him]?"

Remember the Day of Rising when I will gather them all together, not leaving any one of them out, and criticise those who worshipped others besides Allah: ‘Where are your partners that you used to claim were partners to Allah?’

Al-An'aam 6:22Listen in Qur'an →

ثُمَّ لَمْ تَكُن فِتْنَتُهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن قَالُوا۟ وَٱللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ

Then there will be no [excuse upon] examination except they will say, "By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who associated."

After this test, they will have no excuse and they will declare themselves free of what they worshipped, by dishonestly saying: By Allah, our Lord, we did not associate partners with You in the world; but we had faith in You and we accepted Your Oneness.

Al-An'aam 6:23Listen in Qur'an →

ٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ كَذَبُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۚ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَفْتَرُونَ

See how they will lie about themselves. And lost from them will be what they used to invent.

Look, O Muhammad, how these people lied about themselves by denying that they associated partners with Allah. The partners that they set-up with Allah in this worldly life have disappeared and deserted them.

Al-An'aam 6:24Listen in Qur'an →

وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًۭا ۚ وَإِن يَرَوْا۟ كُلَّ ءَايَةٍۢ لَّا يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِهَا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءُوكَ يُجَٰدِلُونَكَ يَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِنْ هَٰذَآ إِلَّآ أَسَٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. Even when they come to you arguing with you, those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples."

Some of the idolaters listen to you, O Messenger, when you recite the Qur’ān, but they do not benefit from what they hear because I have placed covers on their hearts so that they cannot understand the Qur’ān. I did this due to their stubbornness and their turning away. I have made their ears deaf to beneficial listening. Despite the clear indications and glaring evidences that they see, they still do not believe, such that when they come to you they present false arguments against the truth and say: What you have brought has simply been taken from the books of the earlier people.

Al-An'aam 6:25Listen in Qur'an →

وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْـَٔوْنَ عَنْهُ ۖ وَإِن يُهْلِكُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ

And they prevent [others] from him and are [themselves] remote from him. And they do not destroy except themselves, but they perceive [it] not.

These idolaters forbid people from accepting the Messenger as they themselves stay away from doing so: they do not let others benefit in the same way that they themselves do not benefit. By acting like this, they only destroy themselves; but they fail to realise that they are bringing about destruction.

Al-An'aam 6:26Listen in Qur'an →

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذْ وُقِفُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ فَقَالُوا۟ يَٰلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

If you could but see when they are made to stand before the Fire and will say, "Oh, would that we could be returned [to life on earth] and not deny the signs of our Lord and be among the believers."

If you, O Messenger, could only see them when they will be exposed to the fire of Hell on the Day of Rising, and they will regretfully say, ‘If only we could be sent back to the world, not deny Allah’s words and be from those who had faith in Allah’, then you would see a remarkable sight of their trouble.

Al-An'aam 6:27Listen in Qur'an →

بَلْ بَدَا لَهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يُخْفُونَ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا۟ لَعَادُوا۟ لِمَا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَٰذِبُونَ

But what they concealed before has [now] appeared to them. And even if they were returned, they would return to that which they were forbidden; and indeed, they are liars.

Their saying that they would believe if sent back is a lie. Instead the statement that they used to keep hidden, which was ‘By Allah, we were not idolaters,’ has appeared to them when their limbs gave testimony against them. If they were supposedly sent back to the world, they would return to the disbelief and associating partners with Allah that they had been prohibited from. So they are lying in their promise that they will believe if they are sent back.

Al-An'aam 6:28Listen in Qur'an →

وَقَالُوٓا۟ إِنْ هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَبْعُوثِينَ

And they say, "There is none but our worldly life, and we will not be resurrected."

These idolaters say, ‘There is no life but the life we presently have and we will not be raised to give account’.

Al-An'aam 6:29Listen in Qur'an →

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذْ وُقِفُوا۟ عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ ۚ قَالَ أَلَيْسَ هَٰذَا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ وَرَبِّنَا ۚ قَالَ فَذُوقُوا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ

If you could but see when they will be made to stand before their Lord. He will say, "Is this not the truth?" They will say, "Yes, by our Lord." He will [then] say, "So taste the punishment because you used to disbelieve."

If you, O Messenger, could only see when those who denied the resurrection will be made to stand before their Lord, you would see a remarkable sight of their trouble when Allah will say to them: Is this resurrection that you used to deny not the truth about which there is no doubt? They will say: I swear by our Lord Who created us, it is certainly true and there is no doubt about it. Allah will then say to them: Taste the punishment that is a result of your denial of this day, which you used to reject in the life of the world.

Al-An'aam 6:30Listen in Qur'an →

Commentary: Al-Mukhtasar in Interpreting the Noble Qur'an by Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies. Qur'an text and translation via AlQuran Cloud.