Surah Al-An'am 6:56-60 - Quran Translation Commentary

(6:56) Say, ‘I am forbidden that I worship those you invoke apart from Allah.' Say, ‘I follow not your base desires; in that event I would lose the way and would not be of the rightly guided.'

(6:57) Say, ‘I am on clear evidence from my Lord, while you have denied it. I do not have that which you wish to be hastened.⁸⁹ The decision is only for Allah. He declares the truth, and He is the best of deciders.'

(6:58) Say, ‘Had I (in my power) what you ask to be hastened,⁹⁰ the affair between me and you would have been settled;⁹¹ and Allah has better knowledge of the transgressors.'

(6:59) With Him are the keys⁹² to the Unseen.⁹³ No one knows them except He. He knows what is in the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain (is there) in the dark (crevices) of the earth,⁹⁴ nor a fresh thing or withered, but it is (recorded) in a Clear Book.⁹⁵

(6:60) It is He who takes away your souls by the night and knows what you do by the day. Then He raises you up therein⁹⁶ so that a pre determined term may be completed. Then, it is to Him that you shall be returned. And then shall He let you know (the truth of) what you were doing.

Commentary

89. "This alludes to God's punishment. The adversaries questioned why it was that they had openly rejected a Prophet sent by God, but had not been struck down by God's wrath. They said that the fact of his appointment by God meant that anyone who either disbelieved or insulted him would, at once, be either plunged into the earth or struck by lightning. And yet, they pointed out, the Messenger of God and his followers faced new sufferings and humiliations whereas those who abused and persecuted him enjoyed prosperity" (Mawdudi).

90. The pagans were so sure of the Prophet not being a Messenger that they challenged the god who had sent him to destroy them, as the Qur'an quoted them elsewhere (8: 32):

وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ [الأنفال : 32]

"When they (the pagans) said, ‘O Lord. If this be the truth from You then rain down upon us stones from above or bring us a painful chastisement" (Au.).

91. That is because, it was intolerable to the Prophet that people should reject his beloved true Lord, Allah (Razi).

Ibn Kathir writes: This verse does not contradict the report which says that after the visit to Tayif and rejection by its inhabitants when Jibril asked the Prophet whether he would prefer that he crush them between two large mountains, the Prophet replied that he did not want any such thing, hoping that their offspring would embrace Islam, if not they. This particular verse says that the Prophet would have punished them, if he had power, whereas, when the chance arose he did not utilize it. But, there is no contradiction. This verse is speaking of those who were demanding that a punishment be brought down, whereas the Taiyfians did not make any such demand.

Further, at Tayif the Prophet was in a conciliatory mood, whereas, when the Makkans made several demands for punishment, at various times during the course of a decade, he could have been in different moods, and could as well have punished them, if it was in his power (Au.).

92. Some grammarians have said (Shafi`) that if mafaatih is treated as the plural of miftah then it means "keys," whereas, but if it is understood as plural of maftah, then it means "treasures." Some scholars have, however, read the text as “mafaateeh” (as the plural of miftaah), then it is definitely “keys” (Zamakhshari). However read, the great majority have understood the word here as "keys," a meaning that has its support in a hadith of Bukhari that follows presently (Au.).

93. A report of Bukhari says that,

مَفَاتِيحُ الْغَيْبِ خَمْسٌ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَا يَعْلَمُ مَا تَغِيضُ الْأَرْحَامُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي غَدٍ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَتَى يَأْتِي الْمَطَرُ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَتَى تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

“The keys to the Unseen are five that nobody knows but Allah: No one knows what the wombs throw out but Allah. No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow but Allah. No one knows when it will rain except Allah. A man does not know in what land he will die but Allah, and, no one knows when the Hour will strike, except Allah."

`A'isha has said: "Whoever thought that Muhammad knew what was to happen the next day, slandered against Allah."

And, Ibn Majah and Abu Hatim in his Sahih have a report coming from the Prophet saying:

إِنَّ مِنْ النَّاسِ مَفَاتِيحَ لِلْخَيْرِ مَغَالِيقَ لِلشَّرِّ وَإِنَّ مِنْ النَّاسِ مَفَاتِيحَ لِلشَّرِّ مَغَالِيقَ لِلْخَيْرِ فَطُوبَى لِمَنْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ مَفَاتِيحَ الْخَيْرِ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ وَوَيْلٌ لِمَنْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ مَفَاتِيحَ الشَّرِّ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ

"Among the people there are some who are a key to good and a lock to evil. In contrast, there are some who are a key to evil and a lock to good. So, good news to him in whose hands Allah placed the keys to good, and woe unto him in whose hands He placed the keys to evil" (Qurtubi).

Qurtubi also writes: So far as predicting rain from physical, natural signs is concerned, that is permissible. A doctor commits no sin when he predicts that if a pregnant woman's right breast is a little heavier and somewhat dark, it will be a male fetus, and, conversely, if the left breast is a little heavier and somewhat dark then it will be a female fetus, or if a woman finds the right side of her womb a bit heavier, then the child is female. So also, if a person can determine the date of the sun or moon eclipses and make predictions to that effect, then that is also allowed, since, Allah has said (36: 39): "And the moon: We have appointed its stations." Yet, those who predict eclipses ought to be reigned in because by doing so they expose the people to dangers of faith (since, ignorant of science, they think of those who can predict eclipses as men with special powers: Au). They ought to keep the knowledge to themselves and not make them public. (Thus, predictions of scientific nature are not prohibited, but preferably they should be addressed to those learned in sciences: Au).

It is a prophecy that has been totally disapproved by Islam. The Prophet has said in a hadith of Muslim:

مَنْ أَتَى عَرَّافًا فَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ شَىْءٍ لَمْ تُقْبَلْ لَهُ صَلاَةٌ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً

"Whoever went to a fortune teller will have his forty days of prayers rejected." As for some of their predictions coming true, a hadith of Bukhari explains:

إِنَّ الْمَلَائِكَةَ تَنْزِلُ فِي الْعَنَانِ وَهُوَ السَّحَابُ فَتَذْكُرُ الْأَمْرَ قُضِيَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَتَسْتَرِقُ الشَّيَاطِينُ السَّمْعَ فَتَسْمَعُهُ فَتُوحِيهِ إِلَى الْكُهَّانِ فَيَكْذِبُونَ مَعَهَا مِائَةَ كَذْبَةٍ مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ

"The angels descend down to the clouds. They talk to themselves of the decisions made in the heavens. Satans pick up a few words from them, then, in turn, pass them on to the fortune tellers on earth who mix a hundred lies to one piece of truth (and forecast events)."

Further, Alusi writes, the knowledge of the Unseen is not limited to the five items mentioned in the hadith. Rather, there is no end to them. But, perhaps (Rashid Rida), they were specially mentioned because people kept enquiring about them.

Nevertheless, as Rashid Rida has pointed out, the five keys to the Unseen as spoken of in the hadith of Bukhari, which is in support of a Qur'anic verse (31: 34) could have symbolic connotations. For example, the first, the knowledge of what will happen tomorrow, is symbolic of the events of the future, the knowledge of what the wombs throw out is that of the beginning of life, the knowledge of the rains is that of the physical laws (of the world of vegetation: Rashid Rida), the knowledge of the hour of death is that of the end of life on this planet and, finally, the knowledge of the Hour is symbolic of the Hereafter. Thus, all that can be designated as "the Unseen" is covered by the hadith (Au.).

94. It is said that the eagle's eye is so powerful that it can sight a squirrel from a thousand meters above in the sky. How can anyone then doubt the Power of Sight of one Who gives sight? (Au.)

95. That is, there is not a thing in existence, or yet to come into existence but it is recorded in the Lawh al Mahfuz, exactly qualified and quantified including the time at which it will come into existence and the time at which it will be destroyed (Ibn Jarir).

The commitment to writing has not been because of the fear that Allah will forget. Rather, it is for the angels (who do the execution). Besides, the statement has been brought in here to impress on the people that if every minor detail that is otherwise considered inconsequential has been written down, then what should mankind think of the deeds being recorded upon which depend reward or punishment (Razi, Qurtubi).

The state of a thing falling down, adds Alusi, (is an unnoticed state). But Allah pays attention to it even in that situation of its existence. How much more not caring He is of it in the state of its rest?

96. That is, Allah draws the souls of the people during the night and then raises them up the following day (Au.).

As for the earlier statement in the ayah, viz., “It is He who takes away your souls by the night,” Ibn Kathir explains: The word in the original is "yetawaffakum" which is normally employed for taking away a thing, and, in reference to man, taking away of the soul causing it to die. In the present context it has been employed in the sense of sending one to sleep as said Allah (with that as one of the several possible meanings: Au.), in the following verse (3: 55):

إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ [آل عمران : 55]

"When Allah said, ‘O `Isa I shall send down sleep upon you and raise you to Myself."

Or, as He said (39: 42):

اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنْفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الْأُخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى [الزمر : 42]

"Allah withdraws the soul at the time of its death, and of that which does not die in its sleep. Then He holds back that whose death has been decreed and sends back the others to an appointed term."