وَ تِلْكَ And this حُجَّتُنَاۤ (is) Our argument اٰتَیْنٰهَاۤ We gave it اِبْرٰهِیْمَ (to) Ibrahim عَلٰی against قَوْمِهٖ ؕ his people نَرْفَعُ We raise دَرَجٰتٍ (by) degrees مَّنْ whom نَّشَآءُ ؕ We will اِنَّ Indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord حَكِیْمٌ (is) All-Wise عَلِیْمٌ All-Knowing وَ وَهَبْنَا And We bestowed لَهٗۤ to him اِسْحٰقَ Ishaq وَ یَعْقُوْبَ ؕ and Yaqub كُلًّا all هَدَیْنَا ۚ We guided وَ نُوْحًا And Nuh هَدَیْنَا We guided مِنْ from قَبْلُ before وَ مِنْ and of ذُرِّیَّتِهٖ his descendents دَاوٗدَ Dawood وَ سُلَیْمٰنَ and Sulaiman وَ اَیُّوْبَ and Ayub وَ یُوْسُفَ and Yusuf وَ مُوْسٰی and Musa وَ هٰرُوْنَ ؕ and Harun وَ كَذٰلِكَ And thus نَجْزِی We reward الْمُحْسِنِیْنَۙ the good-doers وَ زَكَرِیَّا And Zakariya وَ یَحْیٰی and Yahya وَ عِیْسٰی and Isa وَ اِلْیَاسَ ؕ and Ilyas كُلٌّ all were مِّنَ of الصّٰلِحِیْنَۙ the righteous وَ اِسْمٰعِیْلَ And Ismail وَ الْیَسَعَ and Al-Yasaa وَ یُوْنُسَ and Yunus وَ لُوْطًا ؕ and Lut وَ كُلًّا and all فَضَّلْنَا We preferred عَلَی over الْعٰلَمِیْنَۙ the worlds وَ مِنْ And from اٰبَآىِٕهِمْ their fathers وَ ذُرِّیّٰتِهِمْ and their descendents وَ اِخْوَانِهِمْ ۚ and their brothers وَ اجْتَبَیْنٰهُمْ and We chose them وَ هَدَیْنٰهُمْ and We guided them اِلٰی to صِرَاطٍ a path مُّسْتَقِیْمٍ straight ذٰلِكَ That هُدَی (is the) Guidance اللّٰهِ (of) Allah یَهْدِیْ He guides بِهٖ with it مَنْ whom یَّشَآءُ He wills مِنْ of عِبَادِهٖ ؕ His slaves وَ لَوْ But if اَشْرَكُوْا they (had) associated partners (with Allah) لَحَبِطَ surely (would be) worthless عَنْهُمْ for them مَّا what كَانُوْا they used to یَعْمَلُوْنَ do اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those الَّذِیْنَ (are) ones whom اٰتَیْنٰهُمُ We gave them الْكِتٰبَ the Book وَ الْحُكْمَ and the judgment وَ النُّبُوَّةَ ۚ and the Prophethood فَاِنْ But if یَّكْفُرْ disbelieve بِهَا in it هٰۤؤُلَآءِ these فَقَدْ then indeed وَ كَّلْنَا We have entrusted بِهَا it قَوْمًا (to) a people لَّیْسُوْا who are not بِهَا therein بِكٰفِرِیْنَ disbelievers اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those الَّذِیْنَ (are) ones whom هَدَی (have been) guided اللّٰهُ (by) Allah فَبِهُدٰىهُمُ so of their guidance اقْتَدِهْ ؕ you follow قُلْ Say لَّاۤ Not اَسْـَٔلُكُمْ I ask you عَلَیْهِ for it اَجْرًا ؕ any reward اِنْ Not هُوَ (is) it اِلَّا but ذِكْرٰی a reminder لِلْعٰلَمِیْنَ۠ for the worlds
(6:83) That was Our argument which We gave to Abraham against his people. We raise in ranks whom We will. Truly your lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.
(6:84) And We bestowed upon Abraham (offspring) Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya'qub (Jacob) and each of them did We guide to the right way as We had earlier guided Noah to the right way; and (of his descendants We guided) Da'ud (David) and Sulayman (Solomon), Ayyub (Job), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses) and Harun (Aaron). Thus do We reward those who do good.
(6:85) (And of his descendants We guided) Zakariya (Zachariah), Yahya (John), Isa (Jesus) and Ilyas (Elias): each one of them was of the righteous.
(6:86) (And of his descendants We guided) Isma'il (Ishmael), al-Yasa' (Elisha), Yunus (Jonah), and Lut (Lot). And each one of them We favoured over all mankind.
(6:87) And likewise We elected for Our cause and guided on to a straight way some of their forefathers and their offspring and their brethren.
(6:88) That is Allah's guidance wherewith He guides those of His servants whom He wills. But if they ever associated others with Allah in His divinity, then all that they had done would have gone to waste.56
(6:89) Those are the ones to whom We gave the Book, and judgement and prophethood.57 And if they refuse to believe in it now, We will bestow this favour on a people who do believe in it.58
(6:90) (O Muhammad!) Those are the ones Allah guided to the right way. Follow, then, their way, and say: 'I ask of you no reward (for carrying on this mission); it is merely an admonition to all mankind.'
56. Had those people also ascribed partners to God like the people of Arabia, they would not have achieved the positions they had attained.Some might perhaps have earned places in the rogues' gallery of history as either ruthless conquerors or monuments to greed. But had they not shunned polytheism and adhered to their exclusive and unadulterated devotion to God, they would certainly neither have had the honour of becoming the source of light and guidance to others nor of assuming the leadership of the pious and the God-fearing.
57. Here the Prophets are mentioned as having been endowed with three things: first, the revealed guidance embodied in the Book; second, hukm, i.e. the correct understanding of the revealed guidance, the ability to apply its principles to the practical affairs of life, the God-given capacity to arrive at right opinions regarding human problems; and third, prophethood, the office by virtue of which they are enabled to lead human beings in the light of the guidance vouchsafed to them.
58. God does not care if the unbelievers and polytheists choose to reject the guidance which has come down from Him, for He had already raised a sizeable group of men of faith to truly appreciate its worth.