سُورَةُ الأَعۡرَافِ
Reading Tafsir al-Jalalayn by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli & Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Ayahs 181–190 of 206
وَمِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَآ أُمَّةٌۭ يَهْدُونَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَبِهِۦ يَعْدِلُونَ
And among those We created is a community which guides by truth and thereby establishes justice.
And of those whom We created there is a community who guide by the truth and act justly therewith this is the community of Muhammad (s) as stated in a hadīth.
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
But those who deny Our signs - We will progressively lead them [to destruction] from where they do not know.
And those who deny Our signs — the Qur’ān — from among the people of Mecca We will draw them on by degrees We will lead them on gradually whence they do not know.
وَأُمْلِى لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ كَيْدِى مَتِينٌ
And I will give them time. Indeed, my plan is firm.
And I will respite them — assuredly My scheme is strong powerful and cannot be withstood.
أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا۟ ۗ مَا بِصَاحِبِهِم مِّن جِنَّةٍ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌۭ مُّبِينٌ
Then do they not give thought? There is in their companion [Muhammad] no madness. He is not but a clear warner.
Have they not considered and so realised that that there is no madness in their comrade Muhammad (s)? He is but a clear warner one whose warning is evident.
أَوَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا۟ فِى مَلَكُوتِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍۢ وَأَنْ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ قَدِ ٱقْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ ۖ فَبِأَىِّ حَدِيثٍۭ بَعْدَهُۥ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Do they not look into the realm of the heavens and the earth and everything that Allah has created and [think] that perhaps their appointed time has come near? So in what statement hereafter will they believe?
And have they not reflected upon the dominion the kingdom malakūt is mulk of the heaven and of the earth and upon what things God has created min shay’in is an explication of the preceding mā ‘what’ so that they are able to infer the power of their Creator and His Oneness and upon that upon the fact that it may be that their term is already near so that they might hasten to believe lest they die as disbelievers and move towards the Fire? In what fact then after this that is the Qur’ān will they believe?
مَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَلَا هَادِىَ لَهُۥ ۚ وَيَذَرُهُمْ فِى طُغْيَٰنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
Whoever Allah sends astray - there is no guide for him. And He leaves them in their transgression, wandering blindly.
Whomever God sends astray he has no guide. And He leaves them read in the imperfect indicative wa-yadharuhum or wa-nadharuhum ‘and We leave them’ as the beginning of a new sentence; or the same verbs in the imperfect jussive apocopated form wa-yadharhum or wa-nadharhum as a supplement to what comes after fā’ of fa-lā hādiya lahu ‘so he has no guide’ in their insolence to wander on blindly hesitating out of perplexity.
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَىٰهَا ۖ قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّى ۖ لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَآ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ ثَقُلَتْ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا تَأْتِيكُمْ إِلَّا بَغْتَةًۭ ۗ يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ كَأَنَّكَ حَفِىٌّ عَنْهَا ۖ قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival? Say, "Its knowledge is only with my Lord. None will reveal its time except Him. It lays heavily upon the heavens and the earth. It will not come upon you except unexpectedly." They ask you as if you are familiar with it. Say, "Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most of the people do not know."
They that is the people of Mecca will question you about the Hour the Resurrection when it shall come to pass. Say to them ‘The knowledge of when it shall be is only with my Lord. He alone shall reveal it manifest it at its proper time li-waqtihā the lām here functions as fī ‘at’. It weighs heavily tremendously in the heavens and the earth upon their inhabitants because of its awesomeness. It will not come on you save all of a sudden’. They will question you as if you were preoccupied with obsessed with inquiring about it such that you have come to acquire knowledge of it. Say ‘Knowledge of it is only with God innamā ‘ilmuhā ‘inda’Llāhi is for emphasis but most people do not know’ that knowledge of it lies with God exalted be He.
قُل لَّآ أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِى نَفْعًۭا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ لَٱسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ ٱلسُّوٓءُ ۚ إِنْ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌۭ وَبَشِيرٌۭ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allah has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me. I am not except a warner and a bringer of good tidings to a people who believe."
Say ‘I have no power to bring benefit to attract it to myself or hurt to repel it except as God wills. Had I knowledge of the Unseen — that which is hidden from me I would have acquired much good and adversity in the way of impoverishment and otherwise would not touch me since I would take precautions against such adversity by avoiding what is harmful. I am but a warner to disbelievers of the Fire and a bearer of good tidings of Paradise to a people who believe’.
۞ هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍۢ وَٰحِدَةٍۢ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا ۖ فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّىٰهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًۭا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِۦ ۖ فَلَمَّآ أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا ٱللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ ءَاتَيْتَنَا صَٰلِحًۭا لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلشَّٰكِرِينَ
It is He who created you from one soul and created from it its mate that he might dwell in security with her. And when he covers her, she carries a light burden and continues therein. And when it becomes heavy, they both invoke Allah, their Lord, "If You should give us a good [child], we will surely be among the grateful."
He that is God it is Who created you from a single soul namely Adam and made created from him his spouse Eve that he might take rest in her and become intimate with her. Then when he covered her when he had sexual intercourse with her she bore a light burden namely the sperm-drop and moved to and fro with it that is she came and went easily on account of its lightness; but when she became heavy because of the child growing inside her and they became anxious that it should be a dumb child they cried to God their Lord ‘If You give us one a child that is sound unimpaired we indeed shall be of the thankful’ to You for it.
فَلَمَّآ ءَاتَىٰهُمَا صَٰلِحًۭا جَعَلَا لَهُۥ شُرَكَآءَ فِيمَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمَا ۚ فَتَعَٰلَى ٱللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
But when He gives them a good [child], they ascribe partners to Him concerning that which He has given them. Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.
But when He gave them a sound one a sound child they ascribed to Him associates shurakā’a a variant reading has shirkan meaning sharīkan ‘an associate’ in that which He had given them by naming it ‘Abd al-Hārith ‘servant of al-Hārith’ when it is not right to be a ‘servant’ ‘abd of any one but ‘God’ sc. ‘Abd Allāh but this namesake ‘Abd is not an association of another with God in terms of servitude for Adam was immune from a sin such as associating others in worship with God. Samura b. Jundub reported that the Prophet s said ‘On one occasion when Eve gave birth — all the children she bore had failed to survive — Satan visited her and said to her “Name it the child ‘Abd al-Hārith and it will live.” She named it so and it lived. This affair was the result of Satan’s inspiration and his doings’ reported by al-Hākim who deemed it the report ‘sound’ sahīh and also reported by al-Tirmidhī who considered it ‘fair-uncommon’ hasan gharīb; but exalted is God above what they the people of Mecca associate in the way of idols this sentence is consequent a supplement to the one beginning with khalaqakum ‘He created you’ so that what comes between the two is a parenthetical statement.
Commentary: Tafsir al-Jalalayn by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli & Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. Qur'an text and translation via AlQuran Cloud.
