16. Sūrat al-Naḥl

١٦۔ سُورَةُ النَّحْل

Qurʾān > Chapter 16 > Section 8
القرآن > كتاب ١٦ > باب ٨

16.8 Whenever disbelievers are in distress they call upon God Alone; no sooner does He relieve them that they start committing shirk.

١٦۔٨ مقطع في سُورَةُ النَّحْل

quran:16:51 –

And Allah has said, "Do not take for yourselves two deities. He is but one God, so fear only Me."  

And God has said: ‘Do not choose two gods (ithnayn is for emphasis). Truly there is only One God — He has added this ˹statement˺ to affirm ˹His˺ Divinity and Oneness — so be in awe of Me ˹alone˺’: fear Me, to the exclusion of anyone else — herein is a shift from the third person ˹to the first˺.
القرآن:١٦:٥١ –

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا إِلَٰهَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ ۖ إِنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ فَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ  

{وقال الله لا تتخذوا إلهين اثنين} تأكيد {إنما هو إله واحد} أتى به لإثبات الإلهية والوحدانية {فإياي فارهبون} خافون دون غيري وفيه التفات عن الغيبة.
quran:16:52 –

And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and to Him is ˹due˺ worship constantly. Then is it other than Allah that you fear?  

And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants. And to Him belongs the religion, the obedience, that endures, the ˹one˺ everlasting (wāsiban, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-dīn, ‘the religion’, and is operated by the sense of the adverbial clause). Will you then fear any other than God?, when He is the True God, other than Whom there is no god (the interrogative is a ˹statement of˺ rejection and rebuke).
القرآن:١٦:٥٢ –

وَلَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَهُ الدِّينُ وَاصِبًا ۚ أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَتَّقُونَ  

{وله ما في السماوات والأرض} ملكاً وخلقاً وعبيداً {وله الدين} الطاعة {واصباً} دائماً حال من الدين والعامل فيه معنى الظرف {أفغير الله تتقون} وهو الإله الحق ولا إله غيره والاستفهام للإنكار والتوبيخ.
quran:16:53 –

And whatever you have of favor - it is from Allah. Then when adversity touches you, to Him you cry for help.  

Whatever grace you have, it is from God, none but He brings it (mā, ‘whatever’, is either a conditional or relative ˹particle˺). Then when misfortune, poverty or illness, befalls you, to Him you cry for help, ˹to Him˺ you raise your voices with pleas for help and supplications, and you do not call upon any other than Him.
القرآن:١٦:٥٣ –

وَمَا بِكُمْ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فَإِلَيْهِ تَجْأَرُونَ  

{وما بكم من نعمة فمن الله} لا يأتي بها غيره و"ما" شرطية أو موصولة {ثم إذا مسكم} أصابكم {الضر} الفقر والمرض {فإليه تجأرون} ترفعون أصواتكم بالاستغاثة والدعاء ولا تدعون غيره.
quran:16:54 –

Then when He removes the adversity from you, at once a party of you associates others with their Lord  

Then when He has rid you of the misfortune, behold, a group of you attribute partners to their Lord,
القرآن:١٦:٥٤ –

ثُمَّ إِذَا كَشَفَ الضُّرَّ عَنْكُمْ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِنْكُمْ بِرَبِّهِمْ يُشْرِكُونَ  

{ثم إذا كشف الضر عنكم إذا فريق منكم بربهم يشركون}.
quran:16:55 –

So they will deny what We have given them. Then enjoy yourselves, for you are going to know.  

in order to deny that, grace, which We have given them. So enjoy, that consent of yours to worship idols (an imperative meant as a threat): for soon you shall know, the consequence of this.
القرآن:١٦:٥٥ –

لِيَكْفُرُوا بِمَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ ۚ فَتَمَتَّعُوا ۖ فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ  

{ليكفروا بما آتيناهم} من النعمة {فتمتعوا} باجتماعكم على عبادة الأصنام أمر تهديد {فسوف تعلمون} عاقبة ذلك.
quran:16:56 –

And they assign to what they do not know a portion of that which We have provided them. By Allah, you will surely be questioned about what you used to invent.  

And they, that is, the idolaters, assign, to what they do not know, that they cause harm and cannot benefit ˹them˺ — namely, the idols — a portion of that which We have provided them with, of crops and cattle, saying that ‘this is for God and this is for our partners’. By God, you will indeed be questioned (a questioning of rebuke; there is a shift herein from the third ˹to the second˺ person) about what you used to fabricate, against God, such as ˹claiming˺ that He commanded you to ˹do˺ this.
القرآن:١٦:٥٦ –

وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ نَصِيبًا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ ۗ تَاللَّهِ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ عَمَّا كُنْتُمْ تَفْتَرُونَ  

{ويجعلون} أي المشركون {لما لا يعلمون} أنها تضر ولا تنفع وهي الأصنام {نصيباً مما رزقناهم} من الحرث والأنعام بقولهم هذا لله لشركائنا {تالله لتسألن} سؤال توبيخ وفيه التفات عن الغيبة {عما كنتم تفترون} على الله من أنه أمركم بذلك.
quran:16:57 –

And they attribute to Allah daughters - exalted is He - and for them is what they desire.  

And they assign to God daughters, by claiming that the angels are the daughters of God — Be He glorified! — a declaration that He is ˹exalted˺ above that which they claim — while they will have what they desire, namely, sons (the status of this sentence is either independent ˹nominative˺, or that of an ˹accusative˺ object of ˹the verb˺ yaj‘alūna, ‘they assign’). The meaning is that to Him they assign daughters, to whom they are averse, when ˹in any case˺ He is ˹exalted˺ beyond having offspring, while to themselves they assign sons, of their own choosing, so that the best is theirs exclusively — like where God says, Now, ask them: are daughters to be for your Lord, while sons are to be for them? ˹Q. 37:149˺.
القرآن:١٦:٥٧ –

وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ الْبَنَاتِ سُبْحَانَهُ ۙ وَلَهُمْ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ  

(ويجعلون لله البنات) بقولهم الملائكة بنات الله (سبحانه) تنزيهاً له عما زعموا (ولهم ما يشتهون) ـه أي البنون والجملة في محل رفع أو نصب بيجعل، المعنى يجعلون له البنات التي يكرهونها وهو منزه عن الولد ويجعلون لهم الأبناء الذين يختارونهم فيختصون بالأسنى كقوله "" فاستفتهم ألربك البنات ولهم البنون "".
quran:16:58 –

And when one of them is informed of ˹the birth of˺ a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.  

And when one of them is given the tidings of a girl, that will be born to him, his face becomes darkened, transformed like that of one ˹suddenly˺ struck by grief, and he chokes inwardly, filled with anguish: so how is it that daughters are attributed to Him, exalted be He?
القرآن:١٦:٥٨ –

وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالْأُنْثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ  

{وإذا بُشّر أحدهم بالأنثى} تولد له {ظل} صار {وجهه مسوداً} متغيراً تغير مغتَمّ {وهو كظيم} ممتلئ غمًّا فكيف تنسب البنات إليه تعالى.
quran:16:59 –

He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.  

He hides, disappearing, from people, that is, ˹from˺ his people, out of distress at the tidings given to him, fearing mockery, unsure what to do with it ˹the newborn˺: shall he retain it — refrain from killing it — in humiliation, ˹enduring˺ shame and disgrace, or trample into the dust, by burying it alive. Verily wretched is what they judge, ˹evil is˺ this judgement of theirs, in which they ascribe to their Creator ˹that His are the˺ daughters, who have such a ˹lowly˺ status in their eyes.
القرآن:١٦:٥٩ –

يَتَوَارَىٰ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِنْ سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ ۚ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَىٰ هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ ۗ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ  

{يتوارى} يختفي {من القوم} أي قومه {من سوء ما بشر به} خوفاً من التعيير متردداً فيما يفعل به {أيمسكه} يتركه بلا قتل {على هون} هوان وذل {أم يدسه في التراب} بأن يئده {ألا ساء} بئس {ما يحكمون} حكمهم هذا حيث نسبوا لخالقهم البنات اللاتي هن عندهم بهذا المحل.
quran:16:60 –

For those who do not believe in the Hereafter is the description of evil; and for Allah is the highest attribute. And He is Exalted in Might, the Wise.  

For those who do not believe in the Hereafter, namely, ˹for˺ the disbelievers, there is an evil description, in other words, ˹theirs is˺ the most evil attribute, meaning, the most vile, which is their burying alive of ˹newborn˺ girls, despite the fact that they are needed for the purposes of marriage; and the loftiest description belongs to God, ˹His is˺ the attribute most sublime, namely, that there is no god except Him. And He is the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His creation.
القرآن:١٦:٦٠ –

لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ مَثَلُ السَّوْءِ ۖ وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَىٰ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ  

{للذين لا يؤمنون بالآخرة} أي الكفار {مثل السَّوء} أي الصفة السوأى بمعنى القبيحة وهي وأدهم البنات مع احتياجهم إليهن للنكاح {ولله المثل الأعلى} الصفة العليا وهو أنه لا إله إلا هو {وهو العزيز} في ملكه {الحكيم} في خلقه.