Verses 40–54
The discussion once again returns to the topic of the Qur’an and the disbelievers’ denial of it, in spite of the clarity of its verses and the loftiness of its language. In addition to it, the present verses also highlight their disregard for the Qur’an, their persecution of the Prophet, their obstinate denial of the truth, their rejection of God’s signs, and the consequences of this. This also represents the concluding section of the present chapter.
Commentary
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا لَا يَخْفَوْنَ عَلَيْنَا ۗ أَفَمَنْ يُلْقَىٰ فِي النَّارِ خَيْرٌ أَمْ مَنْ يَأْتِي آمِنًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۚ اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ٤٠
(41:40) Indeed those who commit sacrilege in Our signs are not hidden from Us. Is someone who is cast in the Fire better off, or someone who arrives safely on the Day of Resurrection? Act as you wish; indeed He sees best what you do.
This verse is like an isthmus that sits between the previous section and the subsequent one, particularly the verses between The faithless say, “Do not listen to this Qur’an…” () and Among His signs are the night and the day (), and from verse Indeed those who defy the Reminder when it comes to them… () onwards.
Indeed those who commit sacrilege in Our signs are not hidden from Us…: This passage threatens the blasphemers of this nation, as confirmed by the following verse, and ilḥād (‘sacrilege’) literally means ‘to swerve.’
The phrase those who commit sacrilege in Our signs covers every form of sacrilege done to every manner of divine sign. So, it includes sacrilege done to the divine signs seen in the natural world, such as the sun, the moon, and other celestial bodies. People considered these signs from God, but then turned to worship them in place of God and, in doing so, violated their sanctity. This verse also covers sacrilege done to revelatory signs, for example considering the Qur’an to be a forgery that has been falsely attributed to God or the imagining of the Prophet, hooting over it (as described above) in order to disrupt its recitation and prevent others from hearing its message, or explaining its verses according to one’s own whims or interpreting them in a way to seek discord—all of this is a form of sacrilege done to God’s signs, as all of these acts involve placing God’s signs in other than their rightful place and taking them in a direction that is other than that which God intended.
With the words Is someone who is cast in the Fire better off, or someone who arrives safely on the Day of Resurrection?, God announces the recompense of those who commit sacrilege in His signs is to be thrown into the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. He also shows that they cannot expect anyone to protect them by interceding for them with God or coming to their aid, and that no excuse will be accepted from them. All that awaits them is hell. The apparent meaning of the phrase …or someone who arrives safely on the Day of Resurrection? indicates that there are only two classes of people, without any alternative: There are those who go aright in faith and those who profane God’s signs, and it is the people who go aright who are safe on the Day of Resurrection.
Act as you wish; indeed He sees best what you do: This serves to intensify the threat.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالذِّكْرِ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ ۖ وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ ٤١ لَا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ ۖ تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ ٤٢
(41:41–42) Indeed those who defy the Reminder when it comes to them, and indeed it is an august Book: falsehood cannot approach it, from before it nor from behind it, a revelation sent down from One all-wise, all-laudable.
‘The Reminder’ (al-Dhikr) is the Qur’an, because it contains the remembrance of God. The sentence is qualified by the phrase when it comes to them to show that what is meant by those who defy here are the Arab idolaters—both the Quraysh and others—who are contemporary with the Qur’an.
Scholars have differed concerning the predicate of the phrase those who defy the Reminder… but from the context of the verse it appears that it is the same as that those who commit sacrilege in Our signs, as rejecting the Qur’an is one form of profaning God’s signs. Therefore, the meaning of this verse is that those who defy the Reminder when it comes to them will be in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. Alternatively, it is possible that the predicate was omitted altogether in order to leave it to the audience’s imagination what would become of such persons. In which case, such an omission is to be understood as a threat of punishment.
It is to this discussion that al-Zamakhsharī was referring when he said in his al-Kashshāf that the phrase those who defy the Reminder… is a permutation (badal) of those who commit sacrilege in Our signs.
Some have argued that the predicate of those who defy the Reminder…is the forthcoming phrase They are called from a distant place ().
Others have said that its predicate is: falsehood cannot approach it, from before it nor from behind it, meaning falsehood cannot approach it from them. In other words, they cannot provide anything that would falsify it or their falsehoods cannot even come close to it.
Others still have said: Indeed it is an august Book acts as a predicate in this instance, with the meaning that those who defy it have disbelieved in it even though it is an august Book.
Some identify Nothing is said to you as the predicate, with the meaning: Nothing is said to you concerning those who defy the Reminder except what has already been said to the messengers before you; that the disbelievers will be annihilated in this world and that the punishment of hell awaits them in the Hereafter.’
However, a perceptive reader will be able to see that all of the above theories require a rather cumbersome reading of the text.
Indeed it is an august Book refers to the Reminder, which is the Qur’an. ‘August’ (ʿazīz) means either that it is without compeer or that there is nothing which can hope to overcome it. The second of these meanings seems most apposite given that it is immediately followed by the passage: falsehood cannot approach it, from before it nor from behind it.
Falsehood cannot approach it, from before it nor from behind it: By falsehood “approaching” it, the Qur’an means for falsehood to become interpolated with it in whole or in part, which would mean that not all the knowledge it contains was true and that the laws, ordinances, and ethical teachings would—in whole or in part—not be authentic and, therefore, not right to act upon.
Therefore, when God says from before it nor from behind it, this means in the present time and in the future; both when it was revealed and afterwards, until the Day of Resurrection.
Some have said that this means ‘from every direction,’ in the same way that ‘day and night’ might be used to signify ‘all the time.’ Therefore, the Qur’an is protected from falsehood or invalidation from all angles. The generality of this statement derives from the fact that the phrase falsehood cannot approach it is phrased in absolute terms and not qualified by any other clause.
In both cases, however, the meaning is that it contains clear and irrefutable signs; there is no deceit in its predictions, nor any falsehood in its teachings, laws, and morals. There is nothing that can compare to it, so it cannot be altered, whether through interpolating new passages or through distorting its verses in some way.
Therefore, this verse follows a similar vein to another verse: Indeed We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will preserve it ().
The phrase, …a revelation sent down from One all-wise, all-laudable, serves as an explanation for why it is an august Book’ that falsehood cannot approach. In other words, how could it be otherwise when it is something sent down from the All-wise, whose deeds are perfect and flawless and who is infinitely praiseworthy?
مَا يُقَالُ لَكَ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ٤٣
(41:43) Nothing is said to you except what has already been said to the messengers before you. Indeed your Lord is forgiving and One who metes out a painful retribution.
Those saying this to him are those who disbelieve, and what they are saying is that he is a magician, a madman, or a poet either uttering nonsense, or seeking to gain authority over us. Meanwhile, those who said this to the messengers before him were their people to whom they had been sent, just as those saying this to him are the people to whom he was sent.
Hence, the meaning of this verse is as follows: What the disbelievers of your people say to you when you were sent to them in order to call them to God and the accusations they hurled at you are no different to what was said to the messengers who came before you by their own peoples.
Indeed your Lord is forgiving and One who metes out a painful retribution: This again is a threat to those accusing the Prophet in this manner, namely that your Lord has these two attributes, so let them consider what will befall them as a consequence of what they say to His messenger—will it be forgiveness or punishment? This passage has a similar tone to the earlier verse: Act as you wish; indeed He sees best what you do (). In other words, whatever good or evil you do, He will recompense you for it like-for-like.
Some have said that this means: What has been revealed to you by God concerning those who defy the Reminder is naught but what has been revealed to the messengers who came before you, namely that your Lord is forgiving but also possessed of painful retribution. Therefore, the meaning of say here is revealed, and Indeed your Lord… is the explanation of what has been said to the Prophet and to his predecessors.
وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَقَالُوا لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ ۖ أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَبِيٌّ ۗ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاءٌ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ ٤٤
(41:44) Had We made it a non-Arabic Qur’an, they would have surely said, “Why have not its signs been articulated? What! A non-Arabian [scripture] and an Arabian [prophet]!?” Say, “For those who have faith, it is a guidance and healing; but as for those who are faithless, there is a deafness in their ears and it is lost to their sight. They are called from a distant place.”
According to al-Rāghib, the word ʿajama signifies the opposite of “clear,” while the ʿajam are non-Arabs, ʿajamī is anything from a non-Arab, while one who is aʿjam in his speech is someone who speaks unclearly, whether or not they are an Arab, insofar as the Arabs struggle to understand those who do not speak Arabic. Hence, aʿjamī signifies someone who cannot speak eloquently in Arabic, whether or not they are a native Arab speaker, because of some speech impediment. Therefore, to refer to speech itself as aʿjamī or ʿarabī (that is, non-Arab or Arab) is figurative.
Hence, the meaning of this passage is as follows: If We made the Qur’an aʿjamī, such that its aims were unclear and the arrangement of its words was not eloquent, those of your people who disbelieve would say: Why are its verses not detailed and clear, and why can we not distinguish one part of it from another in plain and eloquent Arabic? Is this a foreign book of revelation sent to an Arab prophet?’ In other words, these two things are irreconcilably contradictory.
Now, the term ʿarabī, which is singular, is used here, rather than ʿarabiyyūn or ʿarabiyya, which would have signified a multitude, even though this revelation was ultimately intended for a people rather than a lone individual. This is to emphasise the contrast here is being drawn between the hypothetical language of the revelation (ʿajamī) and the Arab-ness of its audience, rather than illustrating whether its intended audience was one person or many people.
In his Kashshāf, al-Zamakhsharī writes:
If one were to ask: “How can this refer to the Arab-ness of the one sent to them as a messenger, while they are an Arab nation?” I would answer: “It is because it is supposed to reflect what a denier would have denied were they to see a foreign book being sent to an Arab people, namely: The message is foreign, but its audience is Arabic!’ This is because the denial revolves around the contrast between the state of the message and its audience rather than around the audience being one or many. Therefore, the context requires that the language be detached from this concern in order to more clearly convey its meaning. This is no different to when you see a long dress on a short woman and you say: ‘A long garment [m.] for so short a wearer [m.]!’ (al-libās ṭawīl wa al-lābis qaṣīr, note that the gender of the ‘wearer’ is masculine, even while its referent in reality is feminine, in order to agree with the gender of the garment, or libās). On the other hand, if you had said: ‘A long garment [m.] for so short a wearer [f.]!’ (al-libās ṭawīl wa al-lābis qaṣīra), then your quip would have been less eloquent as the listener’s mind would have been drawn to the contrast between the gender of the clothes and the one who was wearing them, when the purpose of the quip was to highlight something beyond that.”’
Say, “For those who have faith, it is a guidance and healing, but as for those who are faithless, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is lost to their sight.” This passage explains that the effect of the Qur’an on its audience and its special quality does not stem from its language. On the contrary, it is because its audience is split into two kinds of people: Those who believe and those who do not believe. It is a source of guidance and healing for those who believe, as it will guide them to the truth and heal their hearts from the illnesses of doubt and uncertainty. On the other hand, it is a source of blindness for those who do not believe—those in whose ears is a deafness—it blinds them and they neither see the truth nor find the path of right guidance.
Those who do not believe are described as having a deafness in their ears; this is a reference to their own confession to this effect earlier in this chapter: and there is a deafness in our ears’ ().
They are called from a distant place—meaning that they do not hear the voice, nor see the person calling them. This is a parable drawn for their state, in that they do not pay attention to admonitions, nor do they consider arguments.
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ فَاخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ ۗ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَبِّكَ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُ مُرِيبٍ ٤٥
(41:45) Certainly We gave Moses the Book, but differences arose about it; and were it not for a prior decree of your Lord, Judgment would have been made between them, for they are indeed in grave doubt concerning it.
This is meant as a consolation and a comfort to the Prophet for the obstinacy of his people and their rejection of His divine message.
…and were it not for a prior decree of your Lord, Judgment would have been made between them…: That prior decree is God’s saying: On the earth shall be your abode and sustenance for a time ().
…for they are indeed in grave doubt concerning it—meaning they are in grave doubts about the scripture of Moses God tells the Prophet about the state of Moses’ people in order to console him about what he sees amongst his own people.
مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَنْ أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيْهَا ۗ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ٤٦
(41:46) Whoever acts righteously, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is to its detriment, and your Lord is not tyrannical to the servants.
In other words, each person’s deeds are their own and people’s actions ultimately return to their own selves, so if someone behaves righteously and to the benefit of others, the one who benefits from this is them. Conversely, if someone behaves evilly and harms others, then they harm themselves. Therefore, God does not do any injustice in delivering people the benefit of their righteous conduct in the form of divine reward or in delivering people the harm of their evil deeds in the form of punishment, as this is merely putting each thing in its proper place.
Were this unfair, then it would have surely been a grave injustice for God to reward and punish His innumerable servants for their innumerable deeds. However, this is neither unfair, nor is God a tyrant to His servants. However, this explains why God uses the hyperbolic expression ‘tyrannical’ (ẓullām) in the phrase, …and your Lord is not tyrannical to the servants, rather than merely saying, ‘…and your Lord is not unjust (ẓālim).’
إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ۚ وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِنْ ثَمَرَاتٍ مِنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنْثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِ ۚ وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي قَالُوا آذَنَّاكَ مَا مِنَّا مِنْ شَهِيدٍ ٤٧ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ وَظَنُّوا مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مَحِيصٍ ٤٨
(41:47-48) On Him devolves the knowledge of the Hour, and no fruit emerges from its covering and no female conceives or delivers except with His knowledge. On the day when He will call out to them, “Where are My partners?” They will say, “We have apprised You that there is no witness amongst us.” What they used to invoke before has forsaken them, and they know there is no escape for them.
To say that the knowledge of the Hour devolves to Him means that this knowledge is solely His and not known to anyone else. This is something repeated on numerous occasions in the Qur’an.
…and no fruit emerges from its covering and no female conceives or delivers except with His knowledge…: Meaning, that no fruit appears on trees, nor does any female become pregnant nor give birth except that this is accompanied by His knowledge of this. In other words, He knows the particulars of each and every thing in existence.
So, God is at once the creator of all things, the one who transforms all things, the one who has knowledge of all things right down to the tiniest detail, and the one who watches over them. His is the best governance of the cosmos and, hence, He alone is the Lord. This verse calls attention to His oneness in both lordship and divinity. And that is why He follows this passage with: On the day when He will call out to them, “Where are My partners…?”
On the day when He will call out to them, “Where are My partners?” They will say, “We have apprised You…: The adverbial phrase On the day… qualifies the verb They will say.
Some have said that the qualifying verb (They will say) has been deliberately omitted to show that the momentousness of this day cannot be expressed in words, akin to the verse: The day, Allah will gather the apostles… ().
Others have said that it is the object of an implicit verb such as ‘mention’ (udhkur).
The first reading is possibly the most relevant, because of the meaning we have assigned to the beginning of the verse; the context of the verse is the negation of any partners to God by demonstrating His governance of the cosmos and foretelling that the idolaters will acknowledge this on the Day of Judgment.
‘Apprise’ (īdhān) means to inform someone of something, and the meaning of ‘witness’ here is either in the sense of someone who delivers testimony or someone who sees something directly; What they used to invoke before has forsaken them is an exposition of why there are no witnesses for them.
…and they know there is no escape for them: Here, the word ẓann (‘know’), according to some, is used to signify certainty, while maḥīṣ (‘escape’) means a place they can run away to.
Hence, the meaning of the verses is as follows: On the day God calls to the idolaters, ‘Where are the partners that you claimed I had?’ They will say, ‘We have informed you that there is none among us who will attest to you having partners’—or ‘There is none amongst us who see your partners’—and those whom they invoked besides God in this world will have deserted them, and they will be sure that there is no escape for them from God’s punishment.’
لَا يَسْأَمُ الْإِنْسَانُ مِنْ دُعَاءِ الْخَيْرِ وَإِنْ مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَيَئُوسٌ قَنُوطٌ ٤٩
(41:49) Man is never wearied of supplicating for good, and should any ill befall him, he becomes hopeless, despondent.
The conclusion of this chapter of the Qur’an begins by discussing the reason for the disbelievers’ obstinate rejection of that which is plainly true; namely that they have deluded themselves such that when they are afflicted by some evil that they cannot repel, they give up hope for any good befalling them or for their prayers to their Lord receiving any response. At the same time, if any good befalls them, they become absorbed by it and fall prey to conceitedness, while forgetting what is real and true.
In short, the verse says that the human being is always seeking good—which they understand as whatever is beneficial for them in their worldly lives—but if they are afflicted by evil, then they become despondent and hopeless, for they see all the means that they depended upon to obtain good in this world have vanished. However, this does not necessarily preclude them having hope in God at the same time, as we shall see below.
وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنَّا مِنْ بَعْدِ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَٰذَا لِي وَمَا أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَائِمَةً وَلَئِنْ رُجِعْتُ إِلَىٰ رَبِّي إِنَّ لِي عِنْدَهُ لَلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ فَلَنُنَبِّئَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُمْ مِنْ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ ٥٠
(41:50) And if We let him have a taste of Our mercy after distress has befallen him, he will surely say, “This is my due! I do not think the Hour will ever set in, and in case I am returned to my Lord, I will indeed have the best [reward] with Him.” But We will surely inform the faithless about what they have done, and will surely make them taste a harsh punishment.
Based on the wording of the previous verse, God could have said: ‘And if he tastes good…’, however God said: if We let him have a taste of Our mercy instead to show that the goodness which this person receives is a mercy that God Himself has allowed them to taste and that it is neither a tribulation by necessity, nor something that belongs rightfully to the human being (as were it something that belonged to them, it could never be taken from them and they would have never been afflicted by any evil). That is always why the Qur’an qualifies this with the phrase after distress has befallen him.
…he will surely say, “This is my due…!”: In other words, this is something that belongs rightfully to me that I can do with as I please and dispose of however I wish. No one has the right to deny me any of it or hold me to account for what I do with it. It is for this reason that God has the person say: “I do not think the Hour will ever set in,” as the Hour is, of course, the time of being held to account.
…and in case I am returned to my Lord, I will indeed have the best with Him”: In other words, ‘I will have a good reward or a pleasant fate.’ Such a belief rests on this person’s own inflated sense of entitlement, as if to say: Whatever good I possess, even if it is from God, is something I deserve. Therefore, even if the Hour were to come and I was to return to my Lord, ‘I would have a pleasant outcome awaiting me with Him!’
Therefore, the meaning of the verse as a whole is: I swear that if We allowed the human being to taste a mercy that is from us, which was neither theirs nor something they deserved, after they had experienced hardship, this should show them that they do not, in fact, possess anything for themselves. Instead, however, they forget whatever came before and say: “This is mine!” This indicates that they do not consider this blessing a mercy from God. What is more, they would say, “no one has the right to prevent me from doing whatever I want with this or hold me to account for it, and I do not believe that the Hour—which is the Day of Accounting—will ever set in. And I swear, even if I did return to my Lord and the Hour set in, I would have a pleasant outcome with Him because that is what I am entitled to, just as I am entitled to the worldly blessings which He has bestowed upon me.
This verse is very similar in its meaning and style to the parable of the person who owned a garden (which we have already discussed previously): and I do not think that the Hour will ever set in. And even if I am returned to my Lord I will surely find a resort better than this ().
But We will surely inform the faithless about what they have done, and will surely make them taste a harsh punishment: This is a threat of punishment.
وَإِذَا أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى الْإِنْسَانِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَأَىٰ بِجَانِبِهِ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَاءٍ عَرِيضٍ ٥١
(41:51) When We bless man, he is disregardful and turns aside; but when an ill befalls him, he makes protracted supplications.
The phrase ‘turns aside’ (naʾā bi jānibih) means that he withdraws into himself, which is an allusion to his pride and conceitedness. Protracted literally means ‘wide,’ while ‘protracted supplications’ (duʿāʾ ʿarīḍ) refers to a supplicant’s lengthy and incessant prayers to God. Therefore, this verse reprimands the human being and blames them for turning away from God and becoming arrogant when He blesses them, and for only remembering God and praying to Him regularly when they are faced with some calamity.
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ كَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ مَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ هُوَ فِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ ٥٢
(41:52) Say, ‘Tell me, if it is from Allah and you disbelieve in it, who will be more astray than someone who is in extreme defiance.”
Extreme defiance refers to a disagreement where there is no hope of reconciliation or compromise; someone who is in extreme defiance is a reference to the idolaters. Notice that the Qur’an does not say: ‘those of you who are in extreme defiance,’ but instead uses the oblique ‘someone who.’ This serves to highlight the character trait that is the cause of being astray, namely being in extreme defiance of the truth, rather than restricting this to a particular group of people.
Hence, the meaning of the verse reads: Say to the idolaters, Tell me, if this Qur’an was from God, then you disbelieved in it, who would be more astray than you? In other words, there are none more astray than you, because you are utterly irreconcilable to the ultimate truth.
In short, this verse is saying that the Qur’an calls you toward God and proclaims that it is from God. What is more, there is at least the possibility of this claim being true, hence you should give it due consideration based on the rational principle of avoiding harm. And what harm could be greater than eternal ruin? So, it is senseless for you to turn away from it in its entirety.
سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ ۗ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ ٥٣
(41:53) Soon We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in their own souls until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient that your Lord is witness to all things?
‘Horizons’ (āfāq) is the plural of ufuq, meaning ‘direction,’ while ‘witness’ (shahīd) here means either one who observes or one who is present, and the latter is more apposite for the context of the verse.
Based on the context of this verse, the ‘it’ in ‘it is the truth’ (annahu al-ḥaqq) refers to the Qur’an. This reading is supported by the previous verse, which mentions the idolaters’ disbelief in the Qur’an. Hence, the verse promises to display God’s signs on the horizons and in the souls until it becomes clear thereby that the Qur’an is true. The signs that befit the task of demonstrating the truthfulness of the Qur’an are the events and prophecies it has said will come to pass; for example, that God will aid His prophet and the faithful, establish them in the land, and make His religion triumph over all others, and that he will take revenge on the idolaters of the Quraysh, and so on.
God commanded His prophet to emigrate to Medina when the situation in Mecca had become too difficult for him and his followers to bear, for they could find no shelter or protection from persecution. Then, at Badr, he slew the foremost of the Quraysh and, thereafter, his reputation continued to grow and he continued to win victories until he conquered Mecca and the whole of the Arabian Peninsula submitted to him. Then, after his death, Muslim armies conquered most of the civilised world. In this way, God showed the idolaters His signs on the horizons, which were all the different directions in which the Muslim armies conquered and across which their religion spread. God also showed the idolaters His signs in themselves at Badr, when their kinsmen were cut down in battle.
Of course, these events are not signs in of themselves: After all, how many a victory or conquest has been witnessed in history, and how many champions’ deaths have been recounted in stories! However, these events are signs by virtue of the fact that God promised that they would come to pass, the Qur’an prophesied them in advance, and, then, they came to pass as was predicted.
It is also possible that by displaying His signs to them to show them that it’ is real, God means—as can be understood from other verses—that God will make His religion manifest and triumphant over all other faiths. After this, none but God will be worshipped upon the face of the earth and the human species will attain felicity in their worldly lives, which is the purpose for which they were created. This is akin in meaning to the verse: Allah has promised those of you who have faith and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the earth (). There are other verses besides this also, and this interpretation is also supported by rational proofs.
What is the difference between the two meanings we have offered? Well, in the first case, the verse is addressed specifically to the idolaters of Mecca and their supporters. On the other hand, the second meaning is addressed to the idolaters of the world in general and it refers to the state of human society. Of course, it is possible that both of these meanings could hold true together.
Another possible reading of the verse is that it refers to the things that the human being sees in the very last moments of his life in this world, when all of his illusions are stripped away, when all of those whom he invoked besides God forsake him, and when all of the means at his disposal are used up, such that only God Almighty remains. Such a reading is supported by the coda of the following verse. In this case, the pronoun ‘it’ in it is real should actually be read as He meaning God, which renders the meaning of the phrase: that He is the Real.
Scholars have proposed yet other readings of this verse that we have opted to omit here.
Is it not sufficient that your Lord is witness to all things? This is a rhetorical question that is intended as a rebuke. It means: Is it not sufficient to demonstrate the truth of the matter that your Lord is seen with all things, for there is no thing in existence save that it stands in need of Him from every aspect of its being, while God Almighty is the one who gives it subsistence and rules over it. He is known to all things, even if some things are not aware of Him.
What is the relevance of this question to the beginning of the verse? If we take the third of the three aforementioned readings of the verse, its relevance is clear. If we take the first two, then perhaps the relevance of this question is that the idolaters only disbelieved in the Qur’an because it called them to monotheism. Hence, this question moves from arguing for the truth of the Qur’an by pointing to the truthfulness of its contents to arguing for the truthfulness of its contents directly. It is as though it meant to say: ‘We will show them Our signs so that it becomes clear to them that what the Qur’an informs of them of is true, namely that the Lord your God is One and without partner.’ Then someone asked: ‘This is a long argument, do you have a shorter way?’ To which the Qur’an replies: ‘Does it not suffice you that your Lord is seen with all things’?
أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِنْ لِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيطٌ ٥٤
(41:54) Look! They are indeed in doubt about the encounter with their Lord! Look! He indeed comprehends all things!
The context of this verse suggests it wishes to call attention to the fact that the Qur’an’s audience does not seem to benefit from its arguments for God’s oneness by virtue of His being a witness to all things, even though this is one of the strongest arguments for His oneness and one of the clearest to anyone with sense. But this is because they are in grave doubts about meeting their Lord, which means they are in doubt about His not being veiled from His creatures by His attributes and actions.
Then, He admonishes them with the saying Look! He indeed comprehends all things! to show that He knows what will completely eradicate this doubt from their hearts, namely His encompassing of all things in the manner that befits His divinity and greatness, such that no place is empty of Him while He is not restricted to any place, and that nothing is without Him even though He is not contained within anything.
Commentators have offered various interpretations of this verse that might surprise a reader were they to refer to them.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, Ibn ʿAsākir narrates from ʿIkrima, concerning the verse, Is someone who is cast in the Fire better off, or someone who arrives safely on the Day of Resurrection?’ (): ‘It was revealed about ʿAmmār b. Yāsir and about Abū Jahl.’
Author’s comments: al-Suyūṭī narrates it from a number of other sources from Bishr b. Tamīm, and also from Ibn ʿAbbās via Ibn Mardawayh: “Is someone who is cast in the Fire better off…”—about Abū Jahl—“or someone who arrives safely on the Day of Resurrection?”—about Abū Bakr. And this narration represents the application of a general verse to a specific case.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is narrated from Abī al-Jārūd from Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir], about His saying, Indeed those who defy the Reminder when it comes to them… (): ‘It means the Qur’an.’ Falsehood cannot approach it, from before it: ‘Falsehood cannot come to it from the Torah, nor from the Evangel, nor from the Psalms.’ Nor from behind it: ‘Nor will there be a book that comes after it to falsify it.’
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, concerning the same verse, several opinions are listed. The third of these is that there is no falsehood in what it reports about what has passed, nor is there any falsehood in what it foretells will happen in the future. All of its claims correspond to the reality of things. This is narrated from Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir] and Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq].
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, concerning the verse: non-Arabian and Arabian (): “Were this Qur’an in other than Arabic, they would have said: ‘How can we learn it while we speak Arabic and you have brought us a foreign Qur’an!’ So God wished to send it down to them in their own language, for God has said: We did not send any messenger except with the language of his people ().”
- In the Rawḍa of al-Kāfī, it is narrated from al-Ṭayyār, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] about the saying of God: Soon We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in their own souls until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth (). He said: ‘A sinking into the ground, a transformation, and a barrage of stones.’ I asked about …until it becomes clear to them…’, and he said: ‘Leave that for now, that pertains to the rising of the Qāʾim.’
- In the Irshād of al-Mufīd, it is narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Ḥamza, from Abī al-Ḥasan Mūsa [Imām al-Kāẓim] about the same verse: ‘Tribulations on the horizons of the earth and the transformation of the enemies of the truth.’
- In the Rawḍa of al-Kāfī, with a chain of narrators going back to Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq], concerning this verse: ‘He will show them transformation in themselves, and in the horizons He will show them the collapse of the horizons upon them, so they will see God’s power displayed in themselves and on the horizons.’ I asked about, …until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth’ (), and he said: ‘The rising of the Qāʾim is the truth with God, and the creation will see him.’