Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 6 Al-An'am, Ayat 21-30

وَمَنۡ اَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنِ افۡتَرٰى عَلَى اللّٰهِ كَذِبًا اَوۡ كَذَّبَ بِاٰيٰتِهٖؕ اِنَّهٗ لَا يُفۡلِحُ الظّٰلِمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:21﴾ وَيَوۡمَ نَحۡشُرُهُمۡ جَمِيۡعًا ثُمَّ نَقُوۡلُ لِلَّذِيۡنَ اَشۡرَكُوۡۤا اَيۡنَ شُرَكَآؤُكُمُ الَّذِيۡنَ كُنۡتُمۡ تَزۡعُمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:22﴾ ثُمَّ لَمۡ تَكُنۡ فِتۡـنَـتُهُمۡ اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ قَالُوۡا وَاللّٰهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشۡرِكِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:23﴾ اُنْظُرۡ كَيۡفَ كَذَبُوۡا عَلٰٓى اَنۡفُسِهِمۡ​ وَضَلَّ عَنۡهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:24﴾ وَمِنۡهُمۡ مَّنۡ يَّسۡتَمِعُ اِلَيۡكَ​​ ۚ وَجَعَلۡنَا عَلٰى قُلُوۡبِهِمۡ اَكِنَّةً اَنۡ يَّفۡقَهُوۡهُ وَفِىۡۤ اٰذَانِهِمۡ وَقۡرًا ​ؕ وَاِنۡ يَّرَوۡا كُلَّ اٰيَةٍ لَّا يُؤۡمِنُوۡا بِهَا​ ؕ حَتّٰۤى اِذَا جَآءُوۡكَ يُجَادِلُوۡنَكَ يَقُوۡلُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡۤا اِنۡ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّاۤ اَسَاطِيۡرُ الۡاَوَّلِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:25﴾ وَهُمۡ يَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنۡهُ وَيَنۡـئَوۡنَ عَنۡهُ​ۚ وَاِنۡ يُّهۡلِكُوۡنَ اِلَّاۤ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ وَمَا يَشۡعُرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:26﴾ وَلَوۡ تَرٰٓى اِذۡ وُقِفُوۡا عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُوۡا يٰلَيۡتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِاٰيٰتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُوۡنَ مِنَ الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:27﴾ بَلۡ بَدَا لَهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا يُخۡفُوۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ​ؕ وَلَوۡ رُدُّوۡا لَعَادُوۡا لِمَا نُهُوۡا عَنۡهُ وَاِنَّهُمۡ لَـكٰذِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:28﴾ وَقَالُوۡۤا اِنۡ هِىَ اِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنۡيَا وَمَا نَحۡنُ بِمَبۡعُوۡثِيۡنَ‏  ﴿6:29﴾ وَلَوۡ تَرٰٓى اِذۡ وُقِفُوۡا عَلٰى رَبِّهِمۡ​ ؕ قَالَ اَلَـيۡسَ هٰذَا بِالۡحَـقِّ​ ؕ قَالُوۡا بَلٰى وَرَبِّنَا​ ؕ قَالَ فَذُوۡقُوا الۡعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنۡتُمۡ تَكۡفُرُوۡنَ‏  ﴿6:30﴾

(6:21) And who could be more wrong-doing than he who either foists a lie on Allah15 or gives the lie to His signs? 16 Surely such wrong-doers shall not attain success. (6:22) And on the Day when We shall gather them all together, We shall ask those who associated others with -Allah in His divinity: 'Where, now, are your partners whom you imagined (to have a share in the divinity of Allah)?' (6:23) Then they will be able to play no mischief but will say (falsely): 'By Allah, our Lord, we associated none (with You in Your divinity).' (6:24) Behold, how they will lie against themselves and how their forged deities will forsake them! (6:25) And of them there are some who appear to pay heed to you, but upon their hearts We have laid coverings so they understand it not; and in their ears, heaviness (so they hear not).17 Even if they were to witness every sign, they would still not believe in it so much so that when they come to you, they dispute with you, those who disbelieve contend: 'This is nothing but fables of the ancient times.'18 (6:26) As for others, they prevent them from embracing the Truth; and themselves, they flee from it (so as to harm you). But they court their own ruin, although they do not realize it. (6:27) If you could but see when they shall be made to stand by the Fire! They will plead: 'Would that we were brought back to life? Then we would not give the lie to the signs of our Lord and would be among the believers.' (6:28) No! They will say this merely because the Truth which they had concealed will become obvious to them;19 or else if they were sent back, they would still revert to what was forbidden to them. (So this plea of theirs would be a lie too) for they are just liars. (6:29) They say now: 'There is nothing but the life of this world, and we shall not be raised from the dead.' (6:30) If you could but see when they will be made to stand before their Lord. He will say: 'Is not this the truth?' They will say: 'Yes indeed, by our Lord.'Whereupon He will say: 'Taste the chastisement, then, for your denying the Truth.'

Notes

15. This refers to those who asserted that there were also other beings which shared with God in His godhead, were possessed of divine attributes and powers, and rightly deserved to claim from man worship and absolute service. It is also a slander to claim that God has selected certain beings to be His chosen intimates and that lie has commanded - or is at least agreeable to the idea - that they should he considered to possess divine attributes, and that people should serve and revere them as they would serve and revere God, their Lord.

16. By 'signs of God' are meant the signs found within man's own being, as well as those scattered throughout the universe. They also include the signs which are manifest from the lives and achievements of the Prophets, as well as those embodied in the Scriptures. All these point towards one and the same truth - that in the entire realm of existence there is one God alone and that all else are merely His subjects. Who could be more unjust than one who, in utter disregard of all these signs, invests others than the One True God with attributes of godhead, considering them to merit the same rights as God. And does so merely on grounds of either conjecture, or speculation or out of blind adherence to the beliefs of his forefathers although there is not so much as a shred of evidence founded on true knowledge, observation or experience in support of such beliefs. Such a person subjects truth and reality to grave injustice. He also wrongs his own self and everything else in this universe with which he has to deal on the basis of this false assumption.

17. It is noteworthy that God attributes to Himself all that happens in the world as a result of the laws of nature. Since these laws were made by God Himself, the effects which result from their operation are also ultimately due to the will and permission of God. The refusal on the part of unbelievers to heed the call of the Truth even when it is clear and audible stems from their obstinacy, prejudice, mental rigidity and inertia. It is a law of nature that when a man is not prepared to rise above prejudice in his quest for the Truth, his heart closes to every truth which is opposed to his desires. We can describe this condition by saying that the heart of that person has become sealed and when God describes it He does so by saying that He had sealed the heart of the person concerned. The explanation of this Paradox is that whereas we describe merely an incident, God describes its ultimate cause.

18. Whenever ignorant people are called to the Truth they are liable to say that there is nothing novel about it, that it is merely a repetition of things that have come down from the past, as if in their view every truth must be new, and whatever is old must of necessity be false, although Truth has always been one and the same and will remain so. All those who have come forward to lead people in the light of God-given knowledge have been preaching one and the same Truth from time immemorial, and all those who will benefit from this valuable source of human knowledge in the future are bound to repeat the same old truths. Novelties can be invented only by those who, being bereft of the light of Divine guidance, are incapable of perceiving the eternal Truth, preferring to weave altogether new ideas out of their imagination and to put them forward as truth.

19. At that moment such a statement on their part would not be indicative of either any true change of heart or of any genuinely revised judgement based on serious reflection and reasoning. It would rather be the result of direct observation of reality at a time when even the staunchest unbeliever would find it impossible to deny it.