Surah An-Nahl 16:111-119 - Quran Translation Commentary

(16:111) (And recall) the Day when every soul shall come pleading for itself, when every soul shall be recompensed in full for what it did, and they shall not be wronged.¹⁷³

(16:112) And Allah strikes the parable of a town that was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in (ease and) abundance from every quarter. But it acted ungratefully for the favors of Allah.¹⁷⁴ So, Allah made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear,¹⁷⁵ because of what they were doing.¹⁷⁶

Alusi cautions however that although some reports say that it was Ibn ‘Abbas who said the above, it is not likely that a scholar of his stature would have said it.

(16:113) There came to them a Messenger from among themselves, but they gave him the lie. So a chastisement seized them, while they were transgressors.

(16:114) So eat of what Allah has provided you, lawful and good,¹⁷⁷ and give thanks for Allah’s favors, if it is Him that you serve.

(16:115) He has only forbidden carrion, blood, swine’s flesh, and what has been hallowed to other than Allah.¹⁷⁸ But whoever is driven (to it), neither desiring (it) nor transgressing, then, surely, (unto such) Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Kind.¹⁷⁹

(16:116) And say not to what your tongues falsely describe, ‘This is lawful and that is unlawful,’ to fasten lies on Allah.¹⁸⁰ Surely, those who fasten lies on Allah will never prosper.

(16:117) A little enjoyment, but for them (awaits) a painful chastisement.

(16:118) Unto those who Judized themselves, We had prohibited such things as We have narrated to you earlier.¹⁸¹ And We wronged them not but they were wronging themselves.¹⁸²

(16:119) Nevertheless, surely your Lord, unto those who did evil deeds out of ignorance,¹⁸³ but repented thereafter, and made amends .. surely your Lord is, after that, Most Forgiving, Most Kind.¹⁸⁴

Commentary

173. Tha`labi has said that the pleading will be of such order that even the body will argue for itself, against the soul, and the soul against the body. The body will say, “I acted on the soul’s command, otherwise I had no power over my hands, feet, etc. So I am innocent.” The soul will plead, “I had no hands, feet, etc. of my own to commit sins.” It was the body which did everything. They will be told, “Your example is that of a disabled person unable to stand on his legs, and another, blind: both involved in theft. They were unable to steal fruits, each by himself. So, the blind man lifted the disabled on his shoulders so that he could pluck the fruits. Which one of them deserves punishment? Obviously, both” (Qurtubi).

174. The obvious reference is to Makkah (Ibn Jarir).

As custodians of the House of Allah, they enjoyed a privileged status among the Arabs. By virtue of that they moved about freely in a land where otherwise chaos reigned supreme. The economic advantage of free movement brought them ample wealth. They were in fact so rich that they offered a hundred camels, (equivalent of a hundred automobiles today) to anyone who could bring them the Prophet (in his migration journey to Madinah) dead or alive. Further, by virtue of Prophet Ibrahim’s supplication, Makkah was well-supplied with fruits of all variety originating from various parts of the world. Finally, Allah preferred them over the peoples of the world by raising a Messenger among them. But they denied him and proved themselves unworthy of the favors. In consequence, they lost the position of leadership in piety, which went to the Ansar (originally from Yemen), and the Muhajirun, many of whom were non-Makkans, and subsequently, to anyone who followed them in good faith (Au.).

175. That is, hunger and fear enveloped them as clothes envelope a man on every side (Razi and others).

After the Prophet had migrated to Madinah, the Makkans were visited by drought and famine which lasted some seven years. During that period, they were reduced to eating carrion. And, on top of that, the peace that they had enjoyed in the land was lost when, (in retaliation to their raids: Au.) the Prophet responded with raiding parties of his own (Ibn Jarir).

176. This refers to total Makkan opposition to the Prophetic message, persecution of his followers, the denial to the Prophet to carry forward his message, and, finally, attempts at his life (Au.).

177. A possible connection is that Allah is addressing the Makkan unbelievers, who were at that time passing through a phase of hunger and fear, that they could instead believe in Him and His Messenger and “eat of what Allah has provided you, lawful and good” (Razi).

178. That is, anything dedicated to, or hallowed for other than Allah, whether it is an animal, a food article, or something else. For example, in some parts of the Muslim world, a goat or ram is named after a Sheikh (peer), and sacrificed at his arrival to town or village. Now, they might spell Allah’s name while slaughtering the animal, but since it was hallowed for someone other than Allah, the jurists declare its meat as unlawful to the Muslims, as well as the act of hallowing (Au.).

179. For commentary see Al-Baqarah, note 340, and Al-Ma’idah, note 24 of this work

180. It is a serious thing to say “this is lawful” or, “that is unlawful.” Ibn Mas`ud has said, “Sometimes a man says, ‘Allah has commanded this,’ or, ‘He has prohibited this,’ but Allah says in reply, ‘You have lied.’ Or, a man says, ‘Allah has declared this lawful,’ or ‘declared that unlawful,’ but Allah says, ‘You have lied’” (Shawkani).

The Salaf were, therefore, add Qurtubi and Alusi, very careful about the use of the words “lawful” and “unlawful.” It is only with reference to the prohibitions unambiguously stated in the Qur’an, that they would say with complete confidence that, “this is unlawful.” But, what was a derivative prohibition, or which relied on sources other than the Qur’an and hadith, they would rather use the word “undesirable” than the word “unlawful.”

181. That was done in Surah al-An`am, in verse 146 which said,

وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ هَادُوا حَرَّمْنَا كُلَّ ذِي ظُفُرٍ وَمِنَ الْبَقَرِ وَالْغَنَمِ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ شُحُومَهُمَا إِلَّا مَا حَمَلَتْ ظُهُورُهُمَا أَوِ الْحَوَايَا أَوْ مَا اخْتَلَطَ بِعَظْمٍ ذَلِكَ جَزَيْنَاهُمْ بِبَغْيِهِمْ وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ [الأنعام : 146]

“As for those who Judaized themselves, We forbade (the flesh of) every cloven-hoofed (animal). And of the cows and sheep, We forbade them their fat, except what clings to the backs or the entrails or that which adheres to the bones. That is how We recompensed them for their rebellion. Surely, We are True.”

182. It means that no wrong was done to the Jews, but rather, they deserved that those things as referred to in the verse of Al-An`am be declared unlawful to them (Sayyid).

183. It does not seem to be that by the term “ignorance,” (jahalah) the allusion is to the opposite of knowledge. Rather, it is to something that does not befit a man that he should do it. Alternatively, the allusion could be to crossing the bounds, acting savagely, dominating brutally, or tyrannize the people. The word has been used in this sense in the following hadith:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّى أَعُوذُ بِكَ أَنْ أَضِلَّ أَوْ أُضَلَّ أَوْ أَزِلَّ أَوْ أُزَلَّ أَوْ أَظْلِمَ أَوْ أُظْلَمَ أَوْ أَجْهَلَ أَوْ يُجْهَلَ عَلَىَّ

“O Allah I seek Your refuge that I should mislead or am misled, that I should slip or made to slip, tyrannize or am tyrannized, or act ignorantly, or that I should be treated ignorantly.”

Although the above report of Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and others was evaluated by Albani as Sahih, Hathamiyy had declared it weak (Au.).

And a Jahiliyy poet said,

ألا، لا يجهَـلَنْ أحدٌ علـينا

فنجهلَ، فوقَ جَهْلِ الجاهِلِيْنا

Lo! Let no one act savagely towards us, or

We shall act more savagely than the most savage of us

(Alusi).

184. That is, no matter how serious a man’s crime, that of disbelief, or that of declaring Allah’s lawful as unlawful, or vice versa; if a man repents and makes amends, Allah is always most ready to forgive him (Razi).