Surah Ash-Shuraa 42:20-29 - Quran Translation Commentary

20. Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter, We give Him increase in the Harvest.⁴³ And whoever desires the harvest of the world, We give him thereof, and he has no portion in the Hereafter.⁴⁴

21. Or Have they partners (of Allah) who have made lawful to them in religion what Allah has not allowed?⁴⁵ Had the decisive word not been pronounced already, then their fate would have surely been settled (in this life).⁴⁶ The wrongdoers will be subjected to a very painful punishment.

22. You will see the wrongdoers frightened at what they have earned, and it will befall them. But those that believed and did good acts will dwell in the meadows of the Gardens ⁴⁷ (paradise) and will receive from their Lord all that they desire. Surely this is supreme boon.

23. This is what Allah announces to believers who do good acts. (O Prophets !) Say: ‘For this work I demand of you no recompense, except that it is the love of relatives (whose demand I am fulfilling),⁴⁸ He that does a good deed, We add to its goodness for him, Allah is Forgiving and Very Appreciative.⁴⁹

24. Or do they say that he has framed a falsehood about Allah? But if Allah willed, He could seal your heart.⁵⁰ Allah wipes out the falsehood ⁵¹ and vindicates the truth by His words. Verily He is aware of what is hidden in the breasts (of men).⁵²

25. And it is He who accepts the repentance from His slaves, and pardons ⁵³ the evil deeds, and knows what you do.

26. He answers the prayers of those who believe and do good acts,⁵⁴ and gives them more of His bounty. And as for disbelievers, theirs will be a severe punishment.

27. And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth, but He sends it down in due measure ⁵⁵ what He will. He is Informed of and observes His slaves.

28. And it is He who sends down rain ⁵⁶ after they have despaired and spreads out His mercy. He is the Benefactor, Praiseworthy.⁵⁷

29. Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth,⁵⁸ and the living things which He has dispersed over them.⁵⁹ And He is able to gather them when He will.

Commentary

43. Whoever will till the land for the Hereafter, and will water it, will find that Allah will nourish it and when he will go to the next world he will reap the harvest most happily in the Hereafter.

This ayah and quite a number of other ayah present the Hereafter as the goal, the objective and the purpose, therefore, it is not right to consider the Hereafter as only the motivating force for action.

44. A person who, instead of making the Hereafter as the goal, makes the world as his goal, he does not get all the material or carnal desires fulfilled, but Allah gives him as much as He wills in the world itself, but he has no portion in the Hereafter. He does not get any benefits in the next world, for he had not made the Hereafter as his goal, then he cannot aspire to get the bounties and blessings of the Hereafter, when he had not tilled the land for Hereafter, and not worked for it. How could then he reap the harvest in the Hereafter?

45. That is: Did they give the position of Allah’s partners to their leaders and religious guides that they invented new religions for them, for which Allah had never given them permission. In this question very important realities are hidden:

One is this: Those religious guides who have invented new religions on their own, or those leaders who introduced new methods in religion unauthorisedly, or made their own rules against the rules made by Allah, they have considered themselves as partners in the authority and power of Allah, otherwise Allah had never given them permission to invent any religion for the people, or to introduce new religious methods, or to make Shariah according to their own whims, or to make any law that may be against the laws made by Allah or His Shariah.

Secondly those who follow their religious guides and leaders in the matter of religion, and act on the laws made by them as against the Divine laws and the Shariah, they have in reality given the position of Allah’s partners, though they may or may not call them Allah’s partners, for setting religious methods or to frame rules of life is the right of Allah only. To make others partners in this right is to treat them as partners of Allah.

Third, there is no justification for following any religion other than the religion sanctioned by Allah-----Islam. Therefore, anyone who follows any religion other then Islam will be considered a denier and disobedient.

Fourth, whatever things Allah’s religion has taken in its sphere nobody has any right to invent or innovate any new method or system or regulation against that. Any person who does it, commits the crime of polytheism.

46. If for the ultimate judgment the Day of Judgment would not have been fixed, then this matter would have been settled in this world only.

47.’Rodhat’ means gardens, i.e. beautiful and blossoming gardens of Paradise. For further explanation, please see Surah Room Note No.21.

48. This is the address of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, to the Quraish, who had the closest relationship with him. It means: the message of Allah which I am conveying to you, for this I am not demanding any fees or any recompense, this I am doing because of my relationship with you and in consideration of it and it is your regard that makes me do it, so that You may accept it and save yourselves from the punishment of the Hellfire, and be deserving of the everlasting blessing.

In this ayah the word ‘Illa’ (except) which means but as it is used in the Surah Furqaan, ayah No.57:

“Say: I ask you of no recompense for this, except that he who will may take the right path to his Lord”.

It is obvious that here anybody’s taking the path to his Lord is not a recompense for the Prophet’s dawah efforts. Similarly the relationship of the Quraish and their love is not the recompense of his mission, but it is for fulfilling its demands. A Divine Messenger performs the task of conveying Allah’s message as his duty, and this duty is his only purpose in life, his work, the very basis of his prophethood. But the community or nation with which he has ancestral relationship, his regard or concern for it is stirred when he finds that his people are making themselves liable for divine punishment by following the wrong path.

Some commentators have interpreted this ayah in this way “I do not demand any recompense from you except that I intend that you give at least some consideration for our relationship”. But this is below the dignity of a prophet that he should appeal to his people in the name of consideration for relationship. In the Quran every messenger has said these words to his people:

“For this I demand of you no recompense, my recompense is the concern of only the Lord of the Worlds”. (Surah Ash-Shu’ara -109)

And the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, was directed to Say:

‘If I had asked of you any recompense, it was for you only. My recompense is with Allah”. (Surah Saba -47)

And one sect of Muslims tries to prove the Imamat (leadership) of Ali (R), in their exaggerated love for Ali, by this ayah of the Quran (regard for the relationship of kinsmen). They state that the relations of the Prophet here meant are Ali (R),Fatima (R), and Hasan (R) and Husain (R), and by the regard of the relations is said to mean the regard for these persons. It is worth noting that at the time when this Surah was revealed there was no Hasan (R) and no Husain (R),as they were not born till then, and most of the relatives of Prophet were polytheists. Therefore, it will not be right to take this meaning of this sentence, that I want that you should love my relations as a recompense for my missionary work. Whatever has been stated in the Quran about the selfless service of the Prophets (P.b.u.t.) and in accordance with the ayah referred to by us above, there is no room for taking this meaning of the ayah.

49. This is the appreciation from Allah of the slave’s work, that when a slave advances towards him and does a virtuous act, He creates more beauty and goodness in that act. When the beauty of a man’s palace is enhanced manifold by moonlight, then who can imagine the beauty of that man’s virtue whose act is to beautified by Allah himself!

50. That is: the continuation of revelation which has been sent down to your heart is stopped. It is similar to what is stated in the Surah Bani Israil:

“If we pleased We could take away what We have revealed to you”. (Surah Bani Israil-86). And the purpose of saying this is to make it clear that it is the word of Allah which has come down to men by revelation, and if Allah pleased, He could take it away. In this the Prophet has no part, and therefore, the charge that the Prophet has authored the Quran is baseless.

51. Open your eyes and see whether with this Divine word the truth is being proved and confirmed or not. If the proof of the truth is being provided by it, and it is definitely proving the truth, then it is the undeniable proof of its having come from Allah.

52. It points to those people who in their hearts feel that this is the truthful word, but because of the prejudice and unlawful compromises they do not admit the truth. This attitude of theirs is against their own conscience. But Allah knows the secrets of men’s hearts, and a day will come when He will show them how they had suppressed the voice of their conscience.

53. This is a persuasion for repentance that there is still a chance for the sinners to make amends, and repent before Allah. Whoever repents before Allah with sincerity, Allah does not turn him away, but accepts his repentance and pardons his sins.

Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the living things which He has dispersed over them.And He is able to gather them when He will.(Al-Quran)

54. That is: Accept faith, and act righteously, then Allah will definitely answer your prayers, for the prayers of the virtuous people are accepted and answered by Allah. It may be noted that the prayers of the virtuous people are for salvation in the Hereafter and safety from the Hellfire, and Allah answers their prayers and grants them their wish.

55. In this ayah a great reality about the livelihood has been disclosed. In the world some people get provisions and comforts in abundance, while others get in measured quantity. Why is it that everybody does not get it in abundant quantity, to the extent that no one is required to depend on others. It was not at all difficult for Allah to do so, and it would not have caused any reduction in Allah’s immeasurable treasures. But in the interest of the slaves themselves it was necessary that they should be provided livelihood in measured quantities, because plenty of provision makes men vain and proud, resulting in their rebelling against their Lord. It makes them indulge in tyranny in order to be superior to others. This would have caused great disturbances in human society. Many people who have received worldly good in abundance, their psychology and their attitude are such that it has caused much disturbances of peace, and tyranny and injustice have increased in human society.However this state of affairs is found only to a limited extent. But if the worldly goods were to be made available to every one in plenty, then excesses and tyranny would have increased manifold. Great disturbances would have occurred in the human society.

In the present age when the economic progress has resulted in common well-being of the people, disturbances, anarchy terrorism and blood-shedding have also increased proportionately. Every day that dawns brings new reports of horrifying events, and in the warfare such dangerous and deadly weapons are being used that shakes humanity to the core. Immeasurable wealth is being spent on inventing most dangerous chemical weapons for being used in warfare. From this it can be imagined if Allah were to give more wealth and money to the people, how much more destruction and tyranny would they wreak.

56. For explanation, please see Surah Room Note No.86.

57. All this is His doing, and He is worthy of being praised and being thanked. Besides him, there is no being who can have any control over the universe nor can it shower blessings on the slaves, that it can be said to be worthy of praises.

58. For explanation, please see Surah Baqarah ,Note No.196.

59. On the land animals are spread out, and in the air birds fly. These living beings are not even masters of their own lives. Then who is their Master and Lord? What else can be its answer except that it is He who has created them and who is spreading them all over the earth.

The wording of the ayah indicates that living beings are spread on the earth and in the heavens, which points to the fact that in the world of the heavens living beings are also existing.