Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 6 Al-An'am, Ayat 101-110

بَدِيۡعُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ​ؕ اَنّٰى يَكُوۡنُ لَهٗ وَلَدٌ وَّلَمۡ تَكُنۡ لَّهٗ صَاحِبَةٌ​ ؕ وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ​ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىۡءٍ عَلِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿6:101﴾ ذٰ لِكُمُ اللّٰهُ رَبُّكُمۡ​ۚ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ​ۚ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ فَاعۡبُدُوۡهُ​ۚ وَهُوَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ وَّكِيۡلٌ‏ ﴿6:102﴾ لَا تُدۡرِكُهُ الۡاَبۡصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدۡرِكُ الۡاَبۡصَارَ​ۚ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيۡفُ الۡخَبِيۡرُ‏ ﴿6:103﴾ قَدۡ جَآءَكُمۡ بَصَآئِرُ مِنۡ رَّبِّكُمۡ​ۚ فَمَنۡ اَبۡصَرَ فَلِنَفۡسِهٖ​ ۚ وَمَنۡ عَمِىَ فَعَلَيۡهَا​ ؕ وَمَاۤ اَنَا عَلَيۡكُمۡ بِحَفِيۡظٍ‏ ﴿6:104﴾ وَكَذٰلِكَ نُصَرِّفُ الۡاٰيٰتِ وَلِيَقُوۡلُوۡا دَرَسۡتَ وَلِنُبَيِّنَهٗ لِقَوۡمٍ يَّعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:105﴾ اِتَّبِعۡ مَاۤ اُوۡحِىَ اِلَيۡكَ مِنۡ رَّبِّكَ​​ۚ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ​ۚ وَاَعۡرِضۡ عَنِ الۡمُشۡرِكِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:106﴾ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ اللّٰهُ مَاۤ اَشۡرَكُوۡا ​ؕ وَمَا جَعَلۡنٰكَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ حَفِيۡظًا​ ۚ وَمَاۤ اَنۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ بِوَكِيۡلٍ‏ ﴿6:107﴾ وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِيۡنَ يَدۡعُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللّٰهَ عَدۡوًاۢ بِغَيۡرِ عِلۡمٍ ​ؕ كَذٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ اُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمۡ ثُمَّ اِلٰى رَبِّهِمۡ مَّرۡجِعُهُمۡ فَيُنَبِّئُهُمۡ بِمَا كَانُوۡا يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:108﴾ وَاَقۡسَمُوۡا بِاللّٰهِ جَهۡدَ اَيۡمَانِهِمۡ لَـئِنۡ جَآءَتۡهُمۡ اٰيَةٌ لَّيُؤۡمِنُنَّ بِهَا​ ؕ قُلۡ اِنَّمَا الۡاٰيٰتُ عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ​ وَمَا يُشۡعِرُكُمۙۡ اَنَّهَاۤ اِذَا جَآءَتۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:109﴾ وَنُقَلِّبُ اَفۡـئِدَتَهُمۡ وَاَبۡصَارَهُمۡ كَمَا لَمۡ يُؤۡمِنُوۡا بِهٖۤ اَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَّنَذَرُهُمۡ فِىۡ طُغۡيَانِهِمۡ يَعۡمَهُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:110﴾

(6:101) He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have a son when He has had no mate? And He has created everything and He has full knowledge of all things. (6:102) Such is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but He - the Creator of all things. Serve Him alone - for it is He Who is the guardian of everything. (6:103) No visual perception can encompass Him, even though He encompasses all visual perception. He is the All-Subtle, the All-Aware. (6:104) The lights of clear perception have now come to you from your Lord. Then, he who chooses to see clearly, does so for his own good; and he who chooses to remain blind, does so to his own harm. And, I am not your keeper.69 (6:105) Thus do We make Our signs clear in diverse ways that they might say: 'You have learned this (from somebody)'; and 'We do this in order that We make the Truth clear to the people of knowledge.'70 (6:106) (O Muhammad!) Follow the revelation which has come to you from your Lord, other than Whom there is no god, and turn away from those who associate others with Allah in His divinity. (6:107) Had Allah so willed they would not have associated others with Him in His divinity; and We have not appointed you a watcher over them, and you are not their guardian.71 (6:108) Do not revile those whom they invoke other than Allah, because they will revile Allah in ignorance out of spite. 72 For We have indeed made the deeds of every people seem fair to them.73 Tlen, their return is to their Lord and He will inform them of what they have done. (6:109) They swear by Allah with their most solemn oaths that if a sign74 comes to them, they will certainly believe in it. Say: 'Signs are in Allah's power alone.75 What will make you realize that even if those signs were to come, they would still not believe?76 (6:110) We are turning their hearts and eyes away from the Truth even as they did not believe in the first instance77 - and We leave them in their insurgence to stumble blindly.

Notes

69. Even though this statement is from God, it is expressed through the mouth of the Prophet (peace be on him). We observe that in the Qur'an the speaker frequently changes - sometimes it is God Who is speaking, sometimes it is the angel who carries the revelation, and sometimes a group of angels; on some occasions it is the Prophet (peace be on him) who is speaking, while on others it is the men of faith. Likewise, those addressed by the Qur'an also change - sometimes it is the Prophet (peace be' on him); sometimes it is the men of faith; sometimes it is the People of the Book; sometimes it is the unbelievers and the polytheists; sometimes it is the Quraysh; sometimes it is the Arabs; and sometimes, mankind as a whole. Regardless of these changes, however, the content of the message always remains the same - it consists of God's guidance to mankind.
The statement 'I am not your keeper' signifies that the task of the Prophet is confined to carrying the light of true guidance to others, it is then up to them either to use it to perceive Reality for themselves or to keep their eyes closed. The Prophet (peace he on him) is not asked to compel those who deliberately kept their eyes shut to open them, forcing them to see what they did not wish to see.

70. The same has been said earlier, viz. that genuine seekers after the Truth arrive at it even when it is couched in parables about such apparently trivial things as flies and gnats see (surah al-Baqarah 2:24). As for those who have been seized by a biased negativism, they are prone to ask, sarcastically: What have these trivial things to do with the Book of God? The same idea is expressed here in a slightly different form. The import of the statement is that the Book of God has become a touchstone, which helps mark off the true from the false. These include the sort of people who, once they have ceme to know the teachings of the Book of God, try in earnest to reflect on its substance and seek to benefit from the wisdom and admonition it contains. Another group reacts quite differently. When they hear or read the Book, their minds are not attracted by the substance of its message. Rather, their curiosity is aroused and they begin probing as to where this Prophet, who had no formal education, derived the teachings which the Book contains. And since a negative prejudice has already seized their hearts, they find it reasonable to conceive of any possibility except the possibility that the Qur'An is a revelation from God. Such people proclaim their opinion with such strong conviction that one might feel inclined to believe that they had indeed discovered the real 'source' of the Book by means of scientific investigation.

71. It is emphasized that the Prophet (peace be on him) is only required to preach the Truth and try to call people to embrace it. His responsibility ends at that for he is, after all, not their warden. His task is to present this guidance and spare no effort in elucidating the Truth. Anyone who still rejects it does so on his own responsibility. It is not part of the Prophet's task to compel anybody to follow the Truth, and he will not be held accountable for not having been able to bring an individual out of the fold of falsehood. Hence he should not overstrain his mind by his desire to make the blind see, or compel those bent on keeping their eyes shut, to observe. For, had it been an objective of God's universal plan not to allow anyone to remain devoted to falsehood, He need not have sent Prophets for that purpose. Could He not have turned all human beings, instantly, into devotees of the Truth by His mere will? Quite obviously God did not intend to do so. The entire basis of the Divine plan is that men should have free-will and be allowed to choose between the Truth and falsehood; that the Truth should be explained to them in order that they be tested with regard to their choice between truth and falsehood. The right attitude, therefore, is for them to follow the Straight Way which has been illuminated by the light bequeathed to them and to keep on calling others towards it. They should naturally value very highly all those who respond to the message of the Truth. Such persons should not be forsaken or neglected, however humble their station in the world. As for those who wilfully reject the message of God, one need not pursue them too far. They should rather be left alone to proceed towards their doom since they themselves wish so, and are insistent on doing so.

72. The Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers are admonished not to allow their proselytizing zeal to dominate them so that their polemics and controversial religious discussions either lead them to be offensive to the beliefs of non-Muslims or to abuse their religious leaders and deities. Far from bringing people closer to the Truth, such an attitude is likely to alienate them from it further.

73. Here we should bear in mind, as we have pointed out earlier, that God declares those things which take place as a result of the operation of the laws of nature to be His own acts, for it is He Who has rnade those laws. Whatever results from the operation of those laws, therefore, results from His command. Whenever God states that a certain act was His, the same might be described by humans as occurring in the natural course of things.

74. 'Sign' in this context signifies a tangible miracle which is so impressive that it leaves people with no alternative but to believe in the veracity of the Prophet (peace be on him) and the truth of his claim to have been appointed by God.

75. The Prophet (peace be on him) denies his ability to perform miracles. That power lies with God alone. If God wants a miracle to take place, He has the power; if He does not want miracles to take place, none will.
And so indeed does every Prophet of God - Ed.

76. These words are addressed to the Muslims. Driven by the restless yearning to see people embrace Islam - a yearning which they sometimes expressed in words - they wished some miracle to happen which might lead their erring brethren to the true faith. In response to this wish and longing they are told that their embracing the true faith does not depend upon their observing any miraculous sign.

77. This shows that they still suffer from the same mentality which had made them reject the call of the Prophet (peace be on him) at the outset. Their outlook has undergone no change. The same mental confusion, the same opacity of vision which had kept them from developing sound understanding and.a correct perspective still warps their understanding and clouds their vision.