16. Sūrat al-Naḥl

١٦۔ سُورَةُ النَّحْل

Qurʾān > Chapter 16 > Section 5
القرآن > كتاب ١٦ > باب ٥

16.5 God has sent the Messengers to warn against the disbelievers' excuse: "If God wanted, we would have not worshipped anyone else.

١٦۔٥ مقطع في سُورَةُ النَّحْل

quran:16:35 –

And those who associate others with Allah say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him." Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except ˹the duty of˺ clear notification?  

And the idolaters, from among the Meccans, say, ‘Had God willed we would not have worshipped anything besides Him — neither we, nor our fathers — nor would we have deemed anything sacred besides Him’, in the way of those ˹camels˺ called bahīras and sā’iba. In other words, our idolatry and our deeming ˹these animals˺ sacred are ˹effected˺ by His will; therefore He must be satisfied with this. God, exalted He be, says: So did those before them, that is, they denied their messengers regarding that which they ˹the messengers˺ brought them. Yet are messengers charged with anything save plain conveyance ˹of the Message˺? It is not their duty to guide.
القرآن:١٦:٣٥ –

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا عَبَدْنَا مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ نَحْنُ وَلَا آبَاؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ فَعَلَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ فَهَلْ عَلَى الرُّسُلِ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ  

{وقال الذين أشركوا} من أهل مكة {لو شاء الله ما عبدنا من دونه من شيء نحن ولا آباؤنا ولا حرمنا من دونه من شيء} من البحائر والسوائب فإشراكنا وتحريمنا بمشيئته فهو راض به، قال تعالى: {كذلك فعل الذين من قبلهم} أي كذبوا ربهم فيما جاءوا به {فهل} فما {على الرسل إلا البلاغ المبين} إلا البلاغ البيِّن وليس عليهم الهداية.
quran:16:36 –

And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, ˹saying˺, "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut." And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was ˹deservedly˺ decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.  

And verily We sent forth among every community a messenger, just as We have sent you forth among these ˹Meccans˺, ˹to say˺: ‘Worship God, profess ˹belief in˺ His Oneness, and shun false deities’, graven images, and do not worship them. Then among them were some whom God guided, and they believed, and among them were some who deserved to be in error, according to God’s knowledge, and so they did not believe. So travel, O disbelievers of Mecca, in the land and observe the nature of the consequence of those who denied, their messengers, in that they were destroyed.
القرآن:١٦:٣٦ –

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ ۖ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلَالَةُ ۚ فَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ  

{ولقد بعثنا في كل أمة رسولاً} كما بعثناك في هؤلاء {أن} بأن {اعبدوا الله} وحدوه {واجتنبوا الطاغوت} الأوثان أن تعبدوها {فمنهم من هدى الله} فآمن {ومنهم من حقت} وجَبَتْ {عليه الضلالة} في علم الله فلم يؤمن {فسيروا} يا كفار مكة {في الأرض فانظروا كيف كان عاقبة المكذبين} رسلهم من الهلاك.
quran:16:37 –

˹Even˺ if you should strive for their guidance, ˹O Muhammad˺, indeed, Allah does not guide those He sends astray, and they will have no helpers.  

If you, O Muhammad (s), are eager for them to be guided, when God has already made them go astray, you will not be able to achieve this: For God does not guide (read passive lā yuhdā ˹?˺, or active lā yahdī) he whom He has ˹already˺ sent astray, he whom He desires to send astray, and they will have no helpers, ˹no˺ protectors from God’s chastisement.
القرآن:١٦:٣٧ –

إِنْ تَحْرِصْ عَلَىٰ هُدَاهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ يُضِلُّ ۖ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ  

{إن تحرص} يا محمد {على هداهم} وقد أضلهم الله لا تقدر على ذلك {فإن الله لا يُهدِي} بالبناء للمفعول وللفاعل {من يضل} من يريد إضلاله {وما لهم من ناصرين} مانعين من عذاب الله.
quran:16:38 –

And they swear by Allah their strongest oaths ˹that˺ Allah will not resurrect one who dies. But yes - ˹it is˺ a true promise ˹binding˺ upon Him, but most of the people do not know.  

And they swear by God their most earnest oaths, in other words, with their utmost earnestness therein, that God will not resurrect the dead. God, exalted be He, says: Nay, He will resurrect them: it is a promise binding upon Him (both wa‘dan and haqqan are verbal nouns, used for emphasis, and are in the accusative because of the verbal actions implicit in them; in other words, He promised that and made it a binding truth) but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not know, that.
القرآن:١٦:٣٨ –

وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ ۙ لَا يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَمُوتُ ۚ بَلَىٰ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ  

{وأقسموا بالله جهد أيمانهم} أي غاية اجتهادهم فيها {لا يبعث الله من يموت} قال تعالى {بلى} يبعثهم {وعداً عليه حقا} مصدران مؤكدان منصوبان بفعلهما المقدر أي وعد ذلك وحقه حقا {ولكن أكثر الناس} أي أهل مكة {لا يعلمون} ذلك.
quran:16:39 –

˹It is˺ so He will make clear to them ˹the truth of˺ that wherein they differ and so those who have disbelieved may know that they were liars.  

That He may make clear to them (li-yubayyina is semantically connected to an implied yab‘athuhum, ‘He will resurrect them’) what they differ, with believers, in, of matters of religion, by punishing them and rewarding the believers, and that the disbelievers may know that they were liars, when they denied the Resurrection.
القرآن:١٦:٣٩ –

لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذِي يَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا كَاذِبِينَ  

{ليبين} متعلق ببعثهم المقدر {لهم الذي يختلفون} مع المؤمنين {فيه} من أمر الدين بتعذيبهم وإثابة المؤمنين {وليعلم الذين كفروا أنهم كانوا كاذبين} في إنكار البعث.
quran:16:40 –

Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is.  

All that We say to a thing, when We will it, that is, when We will that it come into existence (qawlunā is a subject, the predicate of which is ˹what follows˺) is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is, in other words, and that ˹thing˺ is (a variant reading ˹for fa-yakūnu˺ has fa-yakūna as a supplement to naqūla). The verse is intended as an affirmation of the power ˹of God˺ to resurrect.
القرآن:١٦:٤٠ –

إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْنَاهُ أَنْ نَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ  

{إنما قوْلنا لشيء إذا أردناه} أي أردنا إيجاده وقولنا مبتدأ خبره {أن نقول له كن فيكونُ} أي فهو يكون وفي قراءة بالنصب عطفاً على نقول والآية لتقرير القدرة على البعث.