Surah 6. Al-An'am

And they¹ have not shown Allah His proper reverence when they said, 'Allah has revealed nothing to any human being.' Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Who then revealed the Book brought forth by Moses as a light and guidance for people, which you split into separate sheets- revealing some and hiding much? You have been taught 'through this Quran' what neither you nor your forefathers knew.' Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Allah 'revealed it'!' Then leave them to amuse themselves with falsehood.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some Jews.

No just estimate of Allah do they make when they say: "Nothing doth Allah send down to man (by way of revelation)": Say: "Who then sent down the Book which Moses brought? a light and guidance to man: but ye make it into (separate) sheets for show while ye conceal much (of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye knew not neither ye nor your fathers." Say: "Allah (sent it down)": then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. ^{909 910 911}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Qadara: to weight, judge, or estimate the value or capacity of anything; to have power so to do. Cf. Qadir in iv. 149 and n. 655. The Jews who denied the inspiration of Muhammad had a good answer in their own books about the inspiration of Moses. To those who do not believe in Moses, the answer is more general: is it a just estimate of God to think either that He has not the power or the will to guide mankind, seeing that He is Omnipotent and the Source of all good? If you say that guidance comes, not through an inspired book or man, but through our general intelligence, we point to the spiritual ignorance of "you and your ancestors" the sad spiritual darkness of men and nations high in the intellectual scale.

Cf. v. 47 and n. 750, and v. 49. In those passages Guidance (in practical conduct) is put before Light (or spiritual insight), as they refer to ordinary or average men. Here Light (or spiritual insight) is put first as the question is: does God send inspiration?

The Message to Moses had unity: it was one Book. The present Old Testament is a collection of odd books ("sheets") of various kinds: see Appendix II. end of S. v. In this way you can make a show, but there is no unity, and much of the spirit is lost or concealed or overlaid. The same applies to the New Testament: see Appendix III, after Appendix II.

This is a blessed Book which We have revealed- confirming what came before it- so you may warn the Mother of Cities¹ and everyone around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter 'truly' believe in it and guard their prayers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 “The Mother of Cities” is an honorary title given to the city of Mecca because of its great religious significance as the home of Allah’s first house of worship ever built on earth, and perhaps because of its central location as well.

And this is a Book which We have revealed bringing blessings and confirming (the revelations) which came before it: that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities and all around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in this (Book) and they are constant in guarding their prayers. ^{912 913 914}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Mubarak: blessed, as having received God's blessing; bringer of blessings to others, as having been blessed by God. God's highest blessing is the Guidance and Light which the Book brings to us, and which brings us nearer to Him.

Mother of Cities: Mecca, now the Qibla and Centre of Islam. If this verse was (like the greater part of the Chapter) revealed in Mecca before the Hijrat, and before Mecca was made the Qibla of Islam, Mecca was nonetheless the Mother of Cities, being traditionally associated with Abraham and with Adam and Eve (see ii. 125, and n. 217 to ii. 197). All round Mecca: would mean, the whole world if we look upon Mecca as the centre.

An earnest study of the Qur-an is true worship; so is Prayer, and so are all deeds of goodness and charity.

Who does more wrong than the one who fabricates lies against Allah or claims, 'I have received revelations!'- although nothing was revealed to them- or the one who says, 'I can reveal the like of Allah's revelations!'? If you 'O Prophet' could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death while the angels are stretching out their hands 'saying', 'Give up your souls! Today you will be rewarded with the torment of disgrace for telling lies about Allah and for being arrogant towards His revelations!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah or saith "I have received inspiration" when he hath received none or (again) who saith "I can reveal the like of what Allah hath revealed?" If thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare) in the flood of confusion at death! the angels stretch forth their hands (saying) "Yield up your souls. This day shall ye receive your reward a penalty of shame for that ye used to tell lies against Allah and scornfully to reject of His Signs!" ⁹¹⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Yield up your souls: or "get your souls to come out of your bodies." The wicked, we may suppose, are not anxious to part with the material existence in their bodies for the "reward" which in irony is stated to be there to welcome them.

'Today' you have come back to Us all alone as We created you the first time- leaving behind everything We have provided you with. We do not see your intercessors with you- those you claimed were Allah's partners 'in worship'. All your ties have been broken and all your claims have let you down.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

"And behold! ye come to Us bare and alone as We created you for the first time: Ye have left behind you all (the favors) which We bestowed on you: We see not with you your intercessors whom ye thought to be partners in your affairs: so now all relations between you have been cut off and your (pet) fancies have left you in the lurch!" ^{916 917}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Some of the various ideas connected with "creation" are noted in n. 120 to ii. 117. In the matter of creation of man there are various processes. If his body was created out of clay, i.e. earthy matter, there was an earlier preocess of the creation of such earthy matter. Here the body is left behind, and the soul is being addressed. The soul underwent various processes of fashioning and adapting to its various functions in its various surroundings (xxxii. 7-9). But each individual soul, afer release from the body, comes back as it was created, with nothing more than it history, "the deeds which it has earned," which are really a part of it. Any exterior things given to help in its development, "the favours which We bestowed on you," it must necessarily leave behind, however it may have been proud of them. These exterior things may be material things, e.g. wealth, property, signs of power, influence and pride such as sons, relatives, and friends, etc., or they may be intangible things, like talents, intellect, social gifts, etc.

The false ideas of intercessors, demi-gods, gods, saviours, etc., now vanish like unsubstantial visions, "leaving not a wrack behind." Now the soul is face to face with reality. Its personal responsibility is brought home to it.

Indeed, Allah is the One Who causes seeds and fruit stones to sprout. He brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living. That is Allah! How can you then be deluded 'from the truth'?

  - Mustafa Khattab

It is Allah Who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout. He causeth the living to issue from the dead and He is the one to cause the dead to issue from the living. That is Allah; then how are ye deluded away from the truth? ^{918 919 920}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Another beautiful nature passage, referring to God's wonderful artistry in His Creation. In how few and how simple words, the whole pageant of Creation is placed before us. Beginning from our humble animal needs and dependence on the vegetable world, we are asked to contemplate the interaction of the living and the dead. Here is mystic teaching, referring not only to physical life but to the higher life above the physical plane, -not only to individual life but to the collective life of nations. Then we take a peep into the daily miracle of morning, noon, and night, and pass on to the stars that guide the distant mariner. We rise still higher to the mystery of the countless individuals from the one human soul, -their sojourn and their destiny. So we get back to the heavens: the description of th luscious fruits which the "gentle rain from heaven" produces, leaves us to contemplate the spiritual fruits which faith will provide for us,with the aid of the showers of God's mercy.

The seed-grain and the date-stone are selected as types in the vegetable kingdom, showing how our physical life depends on it. The fruits mentioned later (in vi 99) start another allegory which we shall notice later. Botanists will notice that the seed-grain includes the cereals (such as wheat, barley, rice, millet, etc.) which are monocotyledons, as well as the pulses (such as beans, peas, gram, etc.) and other seeds which are dicotyledons. These two represent the most important classes of food-grains, while the date-palm, a monocotyledon, represents for Arabia both food, fruit, confectionery , thatch and pillars for houses, shady groves in oases, and a standard measure of wealth and well being. "Split and sprout": both ideas are included in the root falaqa, and a third is expressed by the word "cleave" in the next verse, for the action of evolving day-break from the dark. I might almost have used the word "churn," familiar to students of Hindu lore in the Hindu allegory of the "churning of the ocean." For vegetables, "split and sprout" represents a double process: (1) the seed divides, and (2) one part shoots up, seeking the light, and forming leaves and the visible parts of the future tree, and the other part digs down into the dark, forming the roots and seeking just that sustenance from the soil, which is adapted for the particular plant. This is just one small instance of the "judgement and ordering" of God, referred to in the next verse.

This does not mean that in physical nature there are no limits between life and non-life, between the organic and the non-organic. In fact physicists are baffled at the barrier between them and frankly confess that they cannot solve the mystery of Life. If there is such a barrier in physical nature, is it not all the more wonderful that God can create Life out of nothing? He has but to say, "Be," and it is. He can bring Life from non-Life and annihilate Life. But there are two other senses in which we can contemplate the contrast between the living and the dead. (1) We have just been speaking of the botanical world. Take it as a whole, and see the contrast between the winter of death, the spring of revivification, the summer of growth, and the autumn of decay, leading back to the death of winter. Here is a cycle of living from dead, and dead from living. (2) Take our spiritual life, individual or collective. We rise from the darkness of spiritual nothingness to the light of spiritual life. And if we do not follow the spiritual laws, God will take away that life and we shall be again as dead. We may die many deaths. The keys of life and death are in God's hands. Neither Life nor Death are fortuitous things. Behind them both is the Cause of Causes, -and only He.

He causes the dawn to break, and has made the night for rest and 'made' the sun and the moon 'to travel' with precision. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.

  - Mustafa Khattab

He it is that cleaveth the daybreak (from the dark): He makes the night for rest and tranquillity and the sun and moon for the reckoning (of time): such is the judgment and ordering of (Him) the Exalted in Power the Omniscient. ⁹²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The night, the day, the sun, the moon, -the great astronomical universe of God. How far, and yet how near to us! God's universe is boundless, and we can barely comprehend even its relations to us. But this last we must try to do if we want to be numbered with "the people who know". Taqdir: Cf. vi. 91 and n. 909, and iv. 149 and n. 655.

And He is the One Who has made the stars as your guide through the darkness of land and sea. We have already made the signs clear for people who know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you that ye may guide yourselves with their help through the dark spaces of land and sea: We detail Our Signs for people who know. ⁹²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See the last note. At sea, or in the deserts or forests, or "in fairy scenes forlorn," -whenever we sweep over wide spaces, it is the stars that act as our guides, just as the sun and moon have already been mentioned as our measures of time.

And He is the One Who originated you all from a single soul,¹ then assigned you a place to live and another to 'be laid to' rest. We have already made the signs clear for people who comprehend.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., Adam (ﷺ).

It is He who hath produced you from a single person: here is a place of sojourn and a place of departure: We detail Our signs for people who understand. ^{923 924}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Produced: ansha-a= made you grow, increase, develop, reach maturity: another of the processes of creation. This supplements n. 120 to ii. 916 and n. 916 to vi. 94. It is one of the wonders of God's Creation, that from one person we have grown to be so many, and each individual has so many faculties and capacities, and yet we are all one. In the next verse we have the allegory of grapes and other fruits: all grapes may be similar to look at, yet each variety has a distinctive flavour and other distinctive qualities, and each individual grape may have its own special qualities. So for man.

In the sojourn of this life we must respond to God's hand in fashioning us, by making full use of all our faculties, and we must get ready for our departure into the Life that will be eternal.

And He is the One Who sends down rain from the sky- causing all kinds of plants to grow- producing green stalks from which We bring forth clustered grain. And from palm trees come clusters of dates hanging within reach. 'There are' also gardens of grapevines, olives, and pomegranates, similar 'in shape' but dissimilar 'in taste'. Look at their fruit as it yields and ripens! Indeed, in these are signs for people who believe.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It is He who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops) out of which We produce grain heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe. ^{925 926 927 928}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Our allegory now brings us to maturity, the fruit, the harvest, the vintage. Through the seed we came up from nothingness to life; we lived our daily life of rest and work and passed the mile-stones of time; we had the spiritual experience of traversing through vast spaces in the spiritual world, guiding our course through the star of Faith; we grew; and now for the harvest or the vintage! How satisfied the grower must be when the golden grain is harvested in heaps or in vintage gathered! So will man if he has produced the fruits of Faith!

Each fruit- whether it is grapes, or olives, or pomegranates, -looks alike in its species, and yet each variety may be different in flavour, consistency, shape, size, colour, juice or oil contents, proportion of seed to fruit, etc. In each variety, individuals may be different and yet equally valuable!

And so we finish this wonderful allegory. Search through the world's literature, and see if you can find another such song or hymn, -so fruity in its literary flavour, so profound in its spiritual meaning!

There is a refrain in this song, which is subtly varied. In verse 97 it is: " We detail our Signs for people who know." Se far we were speaking of the things we see around us every day Knowledge is the appropriate instrument for these things. In verse 98 we read: "We detail Our Signs for people who understand." Understanding is a highter faculty than knowledge, and is necessary for seeing the mystery and meaning of this life. At the end of verse 99 we have: "In these things there are Signs for people who believe." Here we are speaking of the real fruits of spiritual Life. For them Faith is necessary, as bringing us nearer to God.

Yet they associate the jinn¹ with Allah 'in worship', even though He created them, and they falsely attribute to Him sons² and daughters³ out of ignorance. Glorified and Exalted is He above what they claim!

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Jinn are another creation of Allah, made of “smokeless fire,” and inhabit a realm parallel to our own. Like us, they have free will and can choose guidance or disobedience.

 i.e., “Jesus” in Christian belief.

 i.e., “the angels” in pre-Islamic Arab tradition.

Yet they make the Jinns equals with Allah though Allah did create the Jinns; and they falsely having no knowledge attribute to Him sons and daughters. Praise and glory be to Him! (for He is) above what they attribute to Him!. ⁹²⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Jinns: who are they? In xviii. 50 we are told that Iblis was one of the Jinns, and it is suggested that that was why he disobeyed the Command of God. But in that passage and other similar passages, we are told that God commanded the angels to bow down to Adam, and they obeyed except Iblis. That implies that Iblis had been of the company of angels. In many passages Jinns and men are spoken of together. In lv. 14-15, man is stated to have been created from clay, while Jinns from a flame of fire. The root meaning of junna, yujannu, is "to be covered or hidden," and janna yajunnu, in the active voice, "to cover or hide," as in vi. 76. Some people say that jinn therefore means the hidden qualities or capacities in man; others that it means wild or jungle folk hidden in the hills or forests. I do not wish to be dogmatic, but I think, from a collation and study of the Quranic passages, that the meaning is simply "a spirit," or an invisible or hidden force. In folklore stories and romances like the Arabian Nights they become personified into fantastic forms, but with them we are not concerned here.

'He is' the Originator of the heavens and earth. How could He have children when He has no mate? He created all things and has 'perfect' knowledge of everything.

  - Mustafa Khattab

To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: how can He have a son when He hath no consort? He created all things and He hath full knowledge of all things. ⁹³⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. ii. 117, and n. 120.

That is Allah- your Lord! There is no god 'worthy of worship' except Him. 'He is' the Creator of all things, so worship Him 'alone'. And He is the Maintainer of everything.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That is Allah your Lord! there is no god but He the Creator of all things: then worship ye Him: and He hath power to dispose of all affairs.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision. For He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 No one is able to see Allah in this world, but there is extensive evidence in the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet (ﷺ) that the believers will be able to see their Lord on the Day of Judgment.

No vision can grasp Him but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension yet is acquainted with all things. ⁹³¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Latif: fine, subtle, so fine and subtle as to be invisible to the physical eye; so fine as to be imperceptiable to the senses; figuratively, so pure as to be above the mental or spiritual vision of ordinary men. The active meaning should also be understood: 'One who understands the finest mysteries': Cf. xxii. 63, and n. 2844.

Indeed, there have come to you insights from your Lord. So whoever chooses to see, it is for their own good. But whoever chooses to be blind, it is to their own loss. And I am not a keeper over you.

  - Mustafa Khattab

"Now have come to you from your Lord proofs to open your eyes: if any will see it will be for (the good of) his own soul; if any will be blind it will be to his own (harm): I am not (here) to watch over your doings." ⁹³²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

I understand "Say" to be understood in the beginning of this verse. The words would then be the words of the Apostle, as in fact is suggested in verse 107 below. That is why I have enclosed them in inverted commas.

And so We vary our signs to the extent that they will say, 'You have studied 'previous scriptures','¹ and We make this 'Quran' clear for people who know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Allegations have always been made that the Prophet (ﷺ) copied the Quran from the Bible, mostly because of similar narratives in both Scriptures (such as the stories of Adam, Joseph, Moses, and others). Historically, the Bible was not translated into Arabic until centuries after the Prophet (ﷺ). Even if an Arabic translation of the Bible existed at his time, he (ﷺ) could not have copied it because he could not read or write. From an Islamic point of view, similarities stem from the fact that both scriptures came originally from the same source—divine revelation. For more details, see the Introduction.

Thus do We explain the Signs by various (symbols): that they may say "Thou hast taught us diligently" and that We may make the matter clear to those who know. ^{933 934}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 63, and n. 889.

The teaching in the Qur-an explains things by various symbols, parables, narratives, and appeals to nature. Each time, a new phase of the question is presented to our minds. This is what a diligent and earnest teacher would do, such as was Muhammad Mustafa. Those who were in searh of knowledge and had thus acquired some knowledge of spiritual things were greatly helped to understand more clearly the things of which, before the varied explanations, they had only one-sided knowledge.