16. An-Nahl Page 280 یَوْمَ (On) the Day تَاْتِیْ (when) will come كُلُّ every نَفْسٍ soul تُجَادِلُ pleading عَنْ for نَّفْسِهَا itself وَ تُوَفّٰی and will be paid in full كُلُّ every نَفْسٍ soul مَّا what عَمِلَتْ it did وَ هُمْ and they لَا (will) not یُظْلَمُوْنَ be wronged وَ ضَرَبَ And Allah sets forth اللّٰهُ And Allah sets forth مَثَلًا a similitude قَرْیَةً (of) a town كَانَتْ (that) was اٰمِنَةً secure مُّطْمَىِٕنَّةً and content یَّاْتِیْهَا coming to it رِزْقُهَا its provision رَغَدًا (in) abundance مِّنْ from كُلِّ every مَكَانٍ place فَكَفَرَتْ but it denied بِاَنْعُمِ (the) Favors of Allah اللّٰهِ (the) Favors of Allah فَاَذَاقَهَا so Allah made it taste اللّٰهُ so Allah made it taste لِبَاسَ (the) garb الْجُوْعِ (of) the hunger وَ الْخَوْفِ and the fear بِمَا for what كَانُوْا they used (to) یَصْنَعُوْنَ do وَ لَقَدْ And certainly جَآءَهُمْ came to them رَسُوْلٌ a Messenger مِّنْهُمْ from among them فَكَذَّبُوْهُ but they denied him فَاَخَذَهُمُ so seized them الْعَذَابُ the punishment وَ هُمْ while they ظٰلِمُوْنَ (were) wrongdoers فَكُلُوْا So eat مِمَّا of what رَزَقَكُمُ Allah has provided you اللّٰهُ Allah has provided you حَلٰلًا lawful طَیِّبًا ۪ and good وَّ اشْكُرُوْا And be grateful نِعْمَتَ (for the) Favor اللّٰهِ (of) Allah اِنْ if كُنْتُمْ [you] اِیَّاهُ Him Alone تَعْبُدُوْنَ you worship اِنَّمَا Only حَرَّمَ He has forbidden عَلَیْكُمُ to you الْمَیْتَةَ the dead animal وَ الدَّمَ and the blood وَ لَحْمَ and the flesh الْخِنْزِیْرِ (of) the swine وَ مَاۤ and what اُهِلَّ has been dedicated لِغَیْرِ to other (than) اللّٰهِ Allah بِهٖ ۚ [with it] فَمَنِ But (if) one اضْطُرَّ (is) forced غَیْرَ without (being) بَاغٍ disobedient وَّ لَا and not عَادٍ a transgressor فَاِنَّ then indeed اللّٰهَ Allah غَفُوْرٌ (is) Oft-Forgiving رَّحِیْمٌ Most Merciful وَ لَا And (do) not تَقُوْلُوْا say لِمَا for that which تَصِفُ assert اَلْسِنَتُكُمُ your tongues الْكَذِبَ the lie هٰذَا This حَلٰلٌ (is) lawful وَّ هٰذَا and this حَرَامٌ (is) forbidden لِّتَفْتَرُوْا so that you invent عَلَی about اللّٰهِ Allah الْكَذِبَ ؕ the lie اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who یَفْتَرُوْنَ invent عَلَی about اللّٰهِ Allah الْكَذِبَ the lie لَا they will not succeed یُفْلِحُوْنَؕ they will not succeed مَتَاعٌ An enjoyment قَلِیْلٌ ۪ little وَّ لَهُمْ and for them عَذَابٌ (is) a punishment اَلِیْمٌ painful وَ عَلَی And to الَّذِیْنَ those who هَادُوْا are Jews حَرَّمْنَا We have forbidden مَا what قَصَصْنَا We related عَلَیْكَ to you مِنْ before قَبْلُ ۚ before وَ مَا And not ظَلَمْنٰهُمْ We wronged them وَ لٰكِنْ but كَانُوْۤا they used (to) اَنْفُسَهُمْ themselves یَظْلِمُوْنَ wrong 16. An-Nahl Page 281 ثُمَّ Then اِنَّ indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord لِلَّذِیْنَ to those who عَمِلُوا did السُّوْٓءَ evil بِجَهَالَةٍ in ignorance ثُمَّ then تَابُوْا repented مِنْۢ after بَعْدِ after ذٰلِكَ that وَ اَصْلَحُوْۤا ۙ and corrected themselves اِنَّ indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord مِنْۢ after that بَعْدِهَا after that لَغَفُوْرٌ (is) surely Oft-Forgiving رَّحِیْمٌ۠ Most Merciful
(16:111) Allah's judgement will come about them all on the Day when everyone shall come pleading in his defence, and everyone shall be fully requited for his deeds and none shall be wronged in the least.
(16:112) Allah sets forth the parable of (the people of) a town who were secure and content and whose sustenance came in abundance from every quarter. But then the people of the town showed ingratitude towards Allah for His bounties, so Allah afflicted them with hunger and fear in punishment for their evil deeds.
(16:113) Most certainly a Messenger came to them from among them; but they rejected him, calling him a liar. Therefore chastisement seized them while they engaged in wrong-doing.112
(16:114) So eat out of the lawful and good sustenance that Allah has bestowed upon you, and thank Allah for His bounty,113 if it is Him that you serve.114
(16:115) Allah has forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine; also any animal over which the name of any other than Allah has been pronounced. But whoever eats of them under compelling necessity - neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit of absolute necessity - surely for such action Allah is Much Forgiving, Most Merciful.115
(16:116) And do not utter falsehoods by letting your tongues declare: "This is lawful"116 and "That is unlawful," thus fabricating lies against Allah. Surely those who fabricate lies against Allah will never prosper.
(16:117) Brief is their enjoyment of the world, and thereafter they shall suffer a painful chastisement.
(16:118) We have already recounted to you118 what We prohibited117 to the Jews. In so doing We did not wrong them; it is they who wronged themselves.
(16:119) But to those who commit evil out of ignorance and then repent and amend their ways, thereafter your Lord will be Much Forgiving, Most Merciful.
112. There are no clear indications that help one identify the ‘town’ alluded to in the previous verse; even commentators on the Qur’an have been unable to identify it. It is Ibn ‘Abbas’ opinion that the town referred to in the parable is Makka itself. (See al-Qurtubi’s comments on verse 113 of the present surah — Ed.) As for the hunger and fear mentioned in the verse (i.e. verse 113), this possibly refers to the famine that held the Makkans in its grip for quite some time after the advent of the Prophet (peace be on him).
113. We thus learn that the famine mentioned above had come to an end by the time the present surah was revealed.
114. The believers are directed to abstain from deciding on their own what is lawful and what is not. They. may partake of all that God has declared to be lawful and good, and should give thanks to Him. Conversely, they should abstain from all things unlawful in the Law of God.
115. The same command recurs elsewhere as well. See al-Baqarah 2: 173; al-Ma' idah 5: 3; and al-An‘am 6: 119.
116. The verse lays down categorically that no one other than God has the authority to declare something lawful or otherwise. In other words, God alone is the Law-Maker. If anyone else makes bold to declare on his own certain things to be lawful and others unlawful, he certainly goes beyond his legitimate limits. No such statements may be made unless one can demonstrate that such opinions are based on God’s commands* By arrogating the right to declare things lawful or unlawful, one becomes guilty of inventing lies against God.
For anyone who declares certain things to be lawful and others unlawful is guilty of any one of the following. He will either claim that his declarations of lawful and unlawful are in accordance with God’s own declarations.
Alternatively, he will claim that God has withdrawn His own prerogative to give man the Law which he might follow, and has, thereby, now delegated it to man himself. In either case, the statement is false and is tantamount to inventing lies against God.
117. All this is in response to the objections that were being made against the above-mentioned command, viz. to consider God alone to be the Law-Giver. The Makkan unbelievers pointed an accusing finger towards the Muslims, charging that they had made lawful many a thing which was unlawful in the Old Testament. They further agreed that if the Mosaic Law was also from God then the Muslims were themselves guilty of violating God’s Law. They also pointed out that if the Law revealed to Moses and the Law revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him) were both from one and the same source — God — how can one explain the differences between them?
Another major objection they made was that the Prophet (peace be on him) had dispensed with the law of the Sabbath which figures in the Old Testament. The kernel of their objection was that there were now two possibilities of which the Muslims had to choose one. They should either admit that they had changed one of God’s laws out of their own volition. Or they should admit that they acknowledge that God gave two contradictory commands in two different versions of His Law.