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Ayah
Word by Word
وَسۡـَٔلۡ
And ask
مَنۡ
(those) whom
أَرۡسَلۡنَا
We sent
مِن
before you
قَبۡلِكَ
before you
مِن
of
رُّسُلِنَآ
Our Messengers
أَجَعَلۡنَا
did We make
مِن
besides
دُونِ
besides
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ
the Most Gracious
ءَالِهَةٗ
gods
يُعۡبَدُونَ
to be worshipped
وَسۡـَٔلۡ
And ask
مَنۡ
(those) whom
أَرۡسَلۡنَا
We sent
مِن
before you
قَبۡلِكَ
before you
مِن
of
رُّسُلِنَآ
Our Messengers
أَجَعَلۡنَا
did We make
مِن
besides
دُونِ
besides
ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ
the Most Gracious
ءَالِهَةٗ
gods
يُعۡبَدُونَ
to be worshipped
Translation
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers; have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?
Tafsir
And ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you: Did We [ever] appoint, besides the Compassionate One, that is to say, [any] other than Him, gods to be worshipped? It is said that this is to be understood literally, in other words, that God gathered for him all the messengers on the Night [of the] Journey; but it is also said that this meant [that he should ask] any communities belonging to either of the two Peoples of the Scripture. According to one of the two opinions, he never asked [anyone] since the point of this command to ask is to affirm to the idolaters of Quraysh that no messenger or scripture ever came from God with the command to worship [any] other than God.
The Shaytan is the Companion of the One Who turns away from Ar-Rahman
Allah says,
وَمَن يَعْشُ
And whosoever Ya`shu (turns away blindly),
means, whoever willfully ignores and turns away
Al-`Asha (the root of Ya`sh) refers to weakness of vision; what is meant here is weakness of insight.
عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ
from the remembrance of the Most Gracious,
نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ
We appoint for him Shaytan to be a Qarin (a companion) to him.
This is like the Ayat:
وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى
And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown clearly to him, (4:115),
فَلَمَّا زَاغُواْ أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ
So when they turned away, Allah turned their hearts away, (61:5)
وَقَيَّضْنَا لَهُمْ قُرَنَأءَ فَزَيَّنُواْ لَهُم مَّا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ
And We have assigned for them intimate companions, who have made fair seeming to them, what was before them and what was behind them, (41:25)
Allah says here:
وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَصُدُّونَهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ
حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءنَا
And verily, they hinder them from the path, but they think that they are guided aright! Until, when he comes to Us,
meaning, for this person who willfully neglects true guidance, We send to him a Shaytan to lead him astray and show him the path to Hell. When he comes before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, he will complain about the Shaytan who was appointed to accompany him.
Some of them recited it;
حَتْى إِذَا جَاءنَا
(Till, when they both come to Us), referring to the companion Shaytan and the one whom he accompanies.
قَالَ يَا لَيْتَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ بُعْدَ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ فَبِيْسَ الْقَرِينُ
he says, Would that between me and you were the distance of the two easts -- a worst companion (indeed)!
Then Allah says:
وَلَن يَنفَعَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ إِذ ظَّلَمْتُمْ أَنَّكُمْ فِي الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ
It will profit you not this Day as you did wrong, (and) that you will be sharers in the punishment.
means, `your being together in the Fire will not help you in the slightest, and you will both partake of the painful punishment.'
Allah says:
أَفَأَنتَ تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ أَوْ تَهْدِي الْعُمْيَ وَمَن كَانَ فِي ضَلَلٍ مُّبِينٍ
Can you make the deaf to hear, or can you guide the blind or him who is in manifest error?
means, `that is not up to you. All you have to do is convey the Message, but you do not have to guide them. Allah guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He wills, and He is Wise and Just in doing so.'
Allah's Vengeance upon the Enemies of His Messenger will surely come to pass
Allah further says:
فَإِمَّا نَذْهَبَنَّ بِكَ فَإِنَّا مِنْهُم مُّنتَقِمُونَ
And even if We take you away, We shall indeed take vengeance on them.
means, `We will inevitably wreak vengeance upon them and punish them, even if you pass away.'
أَوْ نُرِيَنَّكَ الَّذِي وَعَدْنَاهُمْ فَإِنَّا عَلَيْهِم مُّقْتَدِرُونَ
Or (if) We show you that wherewith We threaten them, then verily, We have perfect command over them.
means, `We are able to do both,' but Allah will not take His Messenger (in death) until He gives him the joy of seeing his enemies brought low and gives him power and authority over them and their wealth.
This was the view of As-Suddi and was the opinion favored by Ibn Jarir.
Encouragement to adhere to the Qur'an
Allah then says;
فَاسْتَمْسِكْ بِالَّذِي أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ
إِنَّكَ عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
So hold you fast to that which is revealed to you. Verily, you are on the straight path.
means, hold fast to the Qur'an which has been sent down to your heart, for it is truth and what it leads to is truth that shows the way to the straight path that leads to Gardens of Delight and eternal, everlasting goodness.
وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ
And verily, this is a Dhikr for you and your people,
It was said that this means,
`it is an honor for you and your people;'
this was the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd.
This means that it is an honor for them in that it was revealed in their language, so they are the people who have the best understanding of it among mankind and hence are obliged to be the most steadfast in adhering to its commandments. This is how the best of them were, the first immigrants and those who emulated them and followed them.
It was also said that the meaning of the phrase;
وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ
(And verily, this is indeed a Dhikr for you and your people),
was that `it was sent to remind you and your people.'
The fact that they are singled out does not exclude others. This is like the Ayat:
لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَأ إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَـباً فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ أَفَلَ تَعْقِلُونَ
Indeed, We have sent down for you (O mankind) a Book in which there is Dhikrukum (your Reminder). Will you not then understand? (21:10)
وَأَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الاٌّقْرَبِينَ
And warn your tribe of near kindred, (26:214)
وَسَوْفَ تُسْأَلُونَ
and you will be questioned.
means, `about this Qur'an, and how you acted upon it and what your response to it was.'
وَاسْأَلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا أَجَعَلْنَا مِن دُونِ الرَّحْمَنِ الِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ
And ask whom We sent before you of Our Messengers:Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Gracious?
means, `all the Messengers called their people to the same as that to which you are calling mankind, namely the worship of Allah Alone with no partner or associate, and they forbade the worship of idols and false gods.'
This is like the Ayah:
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ
And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (nation) a Messenger (proclaiming):Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities. (16:36)
Mujahid said that Abdullah bin Mas`ud recited it:
وَاسْأَلْ الَّذِينَ أَرْسَلْنَا إِ لَيْهِمْ قَبْلِكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا
(And ask those whom We sent before you of Our Messengers).
This was narrated by Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi from Ibn Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him.
Yet this appears to be an explanation rather than an alternate version of recitation. And Allah knows best.
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