Surah 28. Al-Qasas

VERILY, thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest: but it is God who guides him that wills [to be guided];⁵⁵ and He is fully aware of all who would let themselves be guided.⁵⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "God guides whomever He wills" - either of these two renderings being syntactically correct. According to several extremely well-authenticated Traditions, the above verse relates to the Prophet's inability to induce his dying uncle Abu Talib, whom he loved dearly and who had loved and protected him throughout his life, to renounce the pagan beliefs of his ancestors and to profess faith in God's oneness. Influenced by Abu Jahl and other Meccan chieftains, Abu Talib died professing, in his own words, "the creed of 'Abd al-Muttalib" (Bukhari) or, according to another version (quoted by Tabari), "the creed of my ancestors (al-ashyakh)". However, the Qur'anic statement "thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest" has undoubtedly a timeless import as well: it stresses the inadequacy of all human endeavours to "convert" any other person, however loving and loved, to one's own beliefs, or to prevent him from falling into what one regards as error, unless that person wills to be so guided.

The above rendering of the expression al-muhtadin conforms to the interpretations offered in this context by many classical commentators - e.g., "those who accept guidance" (Zamakhshari), "everyone who in time would find the right way" (Razi), "those who are prepared (musta'iddin) for it" (Baydawi), "all who deserve guidance" (Ibn Kathir), and so forth. Thus, God's guidance is but the final act of His grace with which He rewards all who desire to be guided. For a further consideration of this problem, the reader is referred to Zamakhshari's illuminating remarks quoted in note [4] on 14:4 .her with thee, we would be snatched away from our land" (or "our soil").

O Prophet, you cannot give guidance to whom you wish, it is Allah Who gives guidance to whom He pleases, and He is quite aware of those who are guided.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will. And He is best aware of those who walk aright.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now some say, "If we were to follow the guidance to which thou invites" us. we would be torn away from our very soil!"⁵⁷ Why - have We not established for them a sanc-tuary secure, to which, as a provision from Us, shall be gathered the fruits of all [good] things?⁵⁸ But most of them are unaware [of this truth].

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "If we were to follow the guidance together with thee, we would be snatched away from our land" (or "our soil"). This passage has obviously a twofold connotation. On the historical plane, it echoes an objection voiced by many pagan Meccans to Muhammad's preaching: "If we were to accept thy call, most of the other tribes would regard this as a betrayal of our common ancestral beliefs, and would drive us away from our land." In a more general, timeless sense it reflects the hesitation of so many people - of whatever period, environment or religious persuasion - who, while realizing the truth of a new spiritual call, are yet fearful of acknowledging it as true lest this acknowledgment cause a total breach between them and their community and thus, as it were, cut the ground from under their feet.

Like the preceding expression of fear, this Qur'anic answer, too, can be understood in two senses. In the limited, historical sense it is an allusion to Abraham's prayer that the land around the Ka'bah be made secure for all times and its natural barrenness be compensated by fruitful help from outside (cf. {14:35-41}; also 2:126 ), and to God's acceptance of this prayer: thus, the Prophet's Meccan contemporaries are reminded that they need not fear to be dispossessed of this holy land so long as they remain righteous and trust in God. In its purely spiritual connotation, on the other hand, the "sanctuary secure" is God's promise - referred to in verse {61} below - that all who have faith in Him and are conscious of their responsibility to Him shall be graced with a sense of inner peace in this world and with enduring bliss in the life to come; and since they are thus to be rewarded with the "fruits" of all their good deeds, "no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve" (cf. 2:62 , 3:170 , 5:69 , 6:48 , 7:35 , 10:62 , 46:13 ). See also note [59] on 29:67 .

Those who do not wish to be guided say: "If we go along with you and accept this guidance, we shall be driven out from our land." But have We not given them a secure sanctuary to which are brought the fruits of all kinds as a provision from Us? But most of them have no knowledge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they say: If we were to follow the Guidance with thee we should be torn out of our land. Have We not established for them a sure sanctuary, whereunto the produce of all things is brought (in trade), a provision from Our presence? But most of them know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And how many a community that [once] exult-ed in its wanton wealth and ease of life have We destroyed, so that those dwelling-places of theirs - all but a few - have never been dwelt-in after them: for it is indeed We alone who shall remain when all else will have passed away! ⁵⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We are indeed (kunna) the inheritors". For an explanation of my rendering of this phrase, see note [22] on 15:23 . The above passage stresses the insignificance and brittleness of all worldly "advantages" as compared with the imperishable good of divine guidance.

How many towns have We destroyed who once flourished in their economy? Just see those dwellings of theirs, only a few of which have been inhabited after them; at last We Alone became their inheritors.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And how many a community have We destroyed that was thankless for its means of livelihood! And yonder are their dwellings, which have not been inhabited after them save a little. And We, even We, were the inheritors.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet, withal, thy Sustainer would never destroy a community without having [first] raised in its midst an apostle who would convey unto them Our mes-sages;⁶⁰ and never would We destroy a community unless its people are wont to do wrong [to one another].⁶¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and thus make them aware of the meaning of right and wrong": cf. {6:130-132} and the corresponding notes [116] and [117].

Cf. in this connection 11:117 and note [149]. All the three passages referred to in this as well as the preceding note (i.e., {6:130-132}, 11:117 and 28:59 ) are interdependent and must, therefore, be read side by side. The present passage connect with verse {58} above and its reference to "wanton wealth and ease of life", for the sake of which people so often wrong one another.

Your Rabb would never destroy the towns until He had sent in their metropolis a Rasool, proclaiming to them Our revelations; and We would not destroy towns except when their dwellers had become wrongdoers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And never did thy Lord destroy the townships, till He had raised up in their mother(town) a messenger reciting unto them Our revelations. And never did We destroy the townships unless the folk thereof were evil-doers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [remember:] whatever you are given [now] is but for the [passing] enjoyment of life in this world, and for its embellishment- whereas that which is with God is [so much] better and more enduring. Will you not, then, use your reason?

  - Mohammad Asad

The things which you have been given are but the provisions and adornments of this worldly life; and that which is with Allah is better and more lasting. Why don't you use your common sense?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And whatsoever ye have been given is a comfort of the life of the world and an ornament thereof; and that which Allah hath is better and more lasting. Have ye then no sense?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Is, then, he to whom We have given that goodly promise which he shall see fulfilled [on his resurrection]⁶² comparable to one on whom We have bestowed [all] the enjoyments of this worldly life but who, on Resurrection Day, will find himself among those that shall be arraigned [before Us]?⁶³

  - Mohammad Asad

See second half of note [58].

Sc., "for having misused Our gifts and attributed them to powers other than Us".

Can a person to whom We have made a handsome promise and he is sure to receive it, be like the one to whom We have only given the provisions of this world and he is scheduled to be presented on the Day of Resurrection for punishment?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Is he whom We have promised a fair promise which he will find (true) like him whom We suffer to enjoy awhile the comfort of the life of the world, then on the Day of Resurrection he will be of those arraigned?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: "Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?"⁶⁴ -

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "those partners of Mine whom you supposed [to exist]": see notes [15] and [16] on {6:22-23}.

Let them not forget that Day when We shall call them and ask: "Where are those whom you deemed to be My associates?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On the Day when He will call unto them and say: Where are My partners whom ye imagined?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[whereupon] they against whom the word [of truth] shall thus stand revealed⁶⁵ will exclaim: "O our Sustainer! Those whom we caused to err so grievously, we but caused to err as we our-selves had been erring.⁶⁶ We [now] disavow them before Thee: it was not us that they worshipped!"⁶⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in the very fact of God's calling them to account (cf. 27:82 and the corresponding note [73]). As the sequence shows, the persons thus addressed are the "leaders of thought" supposed to have set the community's faulty standards of social behaviour and moral valuation; and since they are primarily responsible for the wrong direction which their followers have taken, they will be the first to suffer in the life to come.

I.e., "we did not lead them astray out of malice, but simply because we ourselves had been led astray by our predecessors". This "answer" is, of course, evasive, but it is quoted here to show that man's attachment to false -but, nevertheless, almost deified - values and concepts based on stark materialism is, more often than not, a matter of "social continuity": in other words, the validity of those materialistic pseudo-values is taken for granted simply because they are time-honoured, with every generation blindly subscribing to the views held by their forebears. In its deepest sense, this passage - as so many similar ones throughout the Qur'an - points to the moral inadmissibility of accepting an ethical or intellectual proposition as true on no other grounds than that it was held to be true by earlier generations.

In other words, they were but wont to worship their own passions and desires projected onto extraneous beings. See in this connection 10:28 and the corresponding notes, especially note [46] also 34:41 and note [52].

Those who are proven guilty as charged will say: "Our Rabb! These are the ones whom we led astray; we led them astray as we were astray ourselves. However, we plead our innocence before You; it was not us that they worshipped."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those concerning whom the Word will have come true will say: Our Lord! These are they whom we led astray. We led them astray even as we ourselves were astray. We declare our innocence before Thee: us they never worshipped

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [they] will be told: "Call [now] unto those [beings or powers] to whom you were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity!"⁶⁸ -and they will call unto them [for help], but those [false objects of worship] will not respond to them: whereupon they will see the suffering [that awaits them - the suffering which could have been avoided] if only they had allowed them-selves to be guided!⁶⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "those [God-]partners of yours": see note [64] above.

For this rendering of the phrase law kanu yahtadun, see note [56] above.

Then they will be told: "Appeal to your shoraka' (associate gods)," so they will appeal them but will get no answer. They will see the punishment and wish that they had accepted guidance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it will be said: Cry unto your (so-called) partners (of Allah). And they will cry unto them, and they will give no answer unto them, and they will see the Doom. Ah, if they had but been guided!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: "How did you respond to My message-bearers?"⁷⁰ -

  - Mohammad Asad

This connects with the first sentence of verse {59}, which has been explained in the corresponding note [60]. The present verse clearly implies that those sinners had not responded to the guidance offered them by God's apostles. As in many other instances in the Qur'an, God's "question" is but meant to stress a moral failure which by now has become obvious to man's self-accusing conscience.

Let them also not forget that, on that Day, He will call them and ask: "How did you answer Our Rasools?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And on the Day when He will call unto them and say: What answer gave ye to the messengers?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

but all arguments and excuses will by then have been erased from their minds,⁷¹ and they will not [be able to] obtain any [helpful] answer from one another.⁷²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "will on that Day have become obscured to them". The operative noun anba', which literally denotes "tidings", has here the compound meaning of "arguments and excuses" (Tabari).

I.e., they will all be equally confused. For the above rendering of la yatasa'alun (lit., "they will not [be able to] ask one another"), see the explanations of this phrase advanced by Baghawi, Zamakhshari and Baydawi.

They will be so confused on that Day that they will not even ask one another.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On that day (all) tidings will be dimmed for them, nor will they ask one of another,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But as against this - anyone who repents⁷³ and attains to faith and does righteous deeds may well [hope to] find himself among those who achieve a happy state [in the life to come]

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., during his life in this world. For an explanation of this stress on repentance-which flows from one's realization of moral failure - see surah {24}, note [41].

However, the one who has repented in this life, and believed, and done good deeds may hope to be among those who will achieve salvation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But as for him who shall repent and believe and do right, he haply may be one of the successful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [thus it is:] thy Sustainer creates whatever He wills; and He chooses [for mankind] whatever is best for them.⁷⁴ Limitless is God in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity!

  - Mohammad Asad

Some of the classical commentators incline to interpret the ma in the phrase ma kana lahum al-khirah as a particle of negation and the noun khirah as "choice" or "freedom of choice", thus giving to this phrase the meaning of "He chooses, [but] they [i.e., human beings] have no freedom of choice". To my mind, however, this interpretation conflicts not only with the immediately preceding passages but with the tenor of the Qur'an as a whole, which insists throughout on man's responsibility for (and, hence, on relative freedom in) choosing between right and wrong - and this side by side with its stress on God's unlimited power to determine the factual course of events. Hence, I prefer to base my rendering on the interpretation advanced and convincingly argued by Tabari, who regards the crucial particle ma not as a negation but as a relative pronoun synonymous with alladhi ("that which" or "whatever"), and understands the noun khirah in its primary significance of "that which is chosen" or "preferred", i.e., because it is considered to be the best: in another word, as a synonym of khayr. Zamakhshari refers to this interpretation with evident approval (without, however, mentioning Tabari specifically), and enlarges upon it thus: "God chooses for mankind whatever is best (ma hawa khayr) and most beneficial (aslah) for them, for He knows better than they themselves do what is good for them."

Your Rabb creates whatever He wills and chooses for His work whom He pleases. It is not for them (mushrikin) to choose and assign the powers of Allah to whom they want. Glory be to Allah! He is far above the shirk that these people commit.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thy Lord bringeth to pass what He willeth and chooseth. They have never any choice. Glorified be Allah and exalted above all that they associate (with Him)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And thy Sustainer knows all that their hearts conceal as well as all that they bring into the open:

  - Mohammad Asad

Your Rabb knows all that they conceal in their hearts and all that they reveal.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And thy Lord knoweth what thee breasts conceal, and what they publish.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for He is God, save whom there is no deity. Unto Him all praise is due, at the beginning and at the end [of time];⁷⁵ and with Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back.

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "in this first [i.e., present life] as well as in the life to come".

He is Allah; there is no god but Him. Praise belongs to Him in this world and in the hereafter: His is the Judgement and to Him you all shall be brought back.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And He is Allah; there is no God save Him. His is all praise in the former and the latter (state), and His is the command, and unto Him ye will be brought back.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be night about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you light?⁷⁶ Will you not, then, listen [to the truth]?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "who [i.e., "where"] is a deity . . .". etc.. obviously implying that no such "deity" exists.

O Prophet, ask them: "Have you ever considered that if Allah were to make the night perpetual till the Day of Resurrection, which deity other than Allah could bring you light?" Will you not listen?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Have ye thought, if Allah made night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you light? Will ye not then hear?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be daylight about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you [the darkness of] night, wherein you might rest? Will you not, then, see [the truth]?"⁷⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "Will you not recognize the miracle of planned and purposeful creation?"

Ask them again: "Have you ever considered that if Allah were to make the day perpetual till the Day of Resurrection, which deity other than Allah could bring you the night in which you could rest? Will you not see?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Have ye thought, if Allah made day everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could, bring you night wherein ye rest? Will ye not then see?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For it is out of His grace that He has made for you the night and the day, so that you might rest therein as well as seek to obtain [what you need] of His bounty: and [He gave you all this] so that you might have cause to be grateful.

  - Mohammad Asad

It is out of His mercy that He has made for you the night that you may rest in it, and the day that you may seek His bounty, so that you may render thanks.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Of His mercy hath He appointed for you night and day that therein ye may rest, and that ye may seek His bounty, and that haply ye may be thankful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND ON THAT DAY⁷⁸ He will call unto those [that shall have been arraigned before His judgment seat], and will ask: "Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?"⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the Day of Resurrection - thus reverting to the theme enunciated in verses {62-66} above.

This repetition of God's "question", already mentioned in verse {62} above, is meant to stress the utter inability of the sinners concerned to justify their erstwhile attitude rationally; hence my interpolation at the beginning of the next verse.

They should be mindful of that Day when He will call them and ask: "Where are those deities whom you deemed My associates?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And on the Day when He shall call unto them and say: Where are My partners whom ye pretended?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [they will remain silent: for by then] We will have called forth witnesses from within every community,⁸⁰ and will have said [unto the sinners]: "Produce an evidence for what you have been claiminng!"⁸¹ And so they will come to understand that all truth is God's [alone]:⁸² and all their false imagery will have forsaken them.⁸³

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the prophets who had appeared at various stages of man's history, and who will now bear witness that they had duly conveyed God's message to the people for whom it was meant.

Lit., "Produce your evidence" - i.e., for the possibility of anyone or anything having a share in God's divinity.

I.e., that He is the Ultimate Reality, and that whatever is or could be is an outcome of His will alone.

For the meaning of the phrase ma kanu yaftarun (lit., "all that they were wont to invent" - rendered by me here as well as in 6:24 , 7:53 , 10:30 , 11:21 and 16:87 as "all their false imagery"), see surah {11}, note [42]; also note [15] on 6:22 . A specific instance of such "false imagery" - the futility of man's relying on his own wealth and worldly power - is illustrated in the immediately following legend of Qarun (see next note).

And We shall bring forth a witness from every nation and ask: "Bring your proof about other deities besides Me." Then they shall come to know that in reality there is only One God, Allah, and gods of their own inventions have left them in the lurch."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We shall take out from every nation a witness and We shall say: Bring your proof. Then they will know that Allah hath the Truth, and all that they invented will have failed them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall