6. Sura al-Anam

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُل رَّبُّكُمْ ذُو رَحْمَةٍ وَاسِعَةٍ...

6: 147. If they accuse thee of falsehood, say:

"Your Lord is full of Mercy All-embracing;

...وَلاَ يُرَدُّ بَأْسُهُ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿١٤٧﴾

but from people in guilt never will His wrath be turned back.

سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ لَوْ شَاء اللّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلاَ آبَاؤُنَا وَلاَ حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَيْءٍ...

6: 148. Those who give partners to Allah will say,

"If Allah had wished, we should not have given partners to Him, nor would our father; nor should we have had any taboos."

C972. As used by the Pagans, the argument is false, for it implies;

a. that men have no personal responsibility,

b. that they are the victims of a Determinism against which they are helpless, and

c. that they might therefore go on doing just what they liked.

It is also inconsistent, for if (b) is true, (c) cannot be true. Nor is it meant to be taken seriously.

...كَذَلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم حَتَّى ذَاقُواْ بَأْسَنَا...

So did their ancestors argue falsely, until they tasted of Our wrath.

...قُلْ هَلْ عِندَكُم مِّنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا...

Say:

"Have ye any (certain) Knowledge?

If so, produce it before us.

...إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنتُمْ إَلاَّ تَخْرُصُونَ ﴿١٤٨﴾

Ye follow nothing but conjecture:

Ye do nothing but lie."

قُلْ فَلِلّهِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ ...

6: 149. Say:

"With Allah is the argument that reaches home:

C973. On the other hand, the argument cuts true and deep, as from Allah to His creatures.

Allah is Omnipotent, and can do all that we can conceive. But He, in His Plan, has given man some responsibility, and some choice in order to train man's will. If man fails, he is helped in various ways by Allah's mercy and grace. But man cannot go on sinning, and in a state of sin, expect Allah to be pleased with him (6:147).

... فَلَوْ شَاء لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ﴿١٤٩﴾

if it had been his will, he could indeed have guided you all."

قُلْ هَلُمَّ شُهَدَاءكُمُ الَّذِينَ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ اللّهَ حَرَّمَ هَـذَا...

6: 150. Say:

"Bring forward your witnesses to prove that Allah did forbid so and so."

...فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَلاَ تَشْهَدْ مَعَهُمْ...

If they bring such witnesses, be not thou amongst them:

C974. The Pagan superstitions were of course baseless, and in many cases harmful and debasing. If Allah's name was taken as supporting them, no true man of God could be taken in, or join in support simply because Allah's name was taken in vain.

...وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاء الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا...

nor follow thou the vain desires of such as treat Our Signs as falsehoods,

...وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ وَهُم بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿١٥٠﴾

and such as believe not in the Hereafter:

for they hold others as equal with their Guardian-Lord.

C975. Cf. 6:1.

Allah, who created and who cherishes and cares for all, should have the first claim on our attention. Those who set up false gods fail to understand Allah's true governance of their own true destiny.

Other Versions:

6: 147

Asad And if they give thee the lie [note 140], say: “Limitless is your Sustainer in His grace; but His punishment shall not be averted from people who are lost in sin.”

Pickthall So if they give the lie to thee (Muhammad), say: Your Lord is a Lord of all embracing mercy, and His wrath will never be withdrawn from guilty folk.

Transliteration Fa in kazzabu_ka faqur rabbukum zu_ rahmatiw wa_si'ah(tin), wa la_ yuraddu ba'suhu_ 'anil qaumil mujrimin(a).

[[Ruby’s note – Here the predestination is refuted. God is all mighty and therefore can override human will and events. However He willingly allow human will to dictate in some limited way. A human will cannot dictate the universe but can dictate his/her many choices and actions. A human is responsible only up to the limit of his/her ability and freedom that God has given humans. This declaration is confirming both God’s overriding omnipotent power at the same time human’s limited power and responsibility. A human would bear the consequences of his/he choices only for what, how and when he/she can choose.] And one he/she cannot avoid this responsibility by saying that he/she does not have really any choice it is God’s will that dictates everything. The truth is that God wills a choice for man and he exercises that choice and then he cannot absolve the responsibility. However, he may not know the exact limitation and how his/her free will works with the greater overriding Will of God. A human operates within that unknowable factor accepting the knowable responsibility that there is a limited free will. How limited it is, is not known.]]

6: 148

Asad ……….” Had God so willed, we would not have ascribed divinity to aught but Him, nor would our forefathers………….” Even so did those who lived before them give the lie to the truth [note 141] – until they came to taste Our punishment! Say: “Have you any [certain] knowledge which you could proffer to us? You follow but [other people’s] conjectures, and you yourselves do nothing but guess.”

Pickthall They who are idolaters will say: Had Allah willed, we had not ascribed (unto Him) partners neither had our fathers, nor had we forbidden aught. Thus did those who were before them give the lie (to Allah's messengers) till they tasted of the fear of Us. Say: Have ye any knowledge that ye can adduce for us? Lo! ye follow naught but an opinion. Lo! ye do but guess.

Transliteration Sayaqu_lul lazina asyraku_ lau sya_'alla_hu ma_ asyrakna_ wa la_ a_ba_'una_ wa la_ harramna_ min syai'(in), kaza_lika kazzabal lazina min qablihim hatta_ za_qu_ ba'sana_, qul hal 'indakum min 'ilmin fa tukhriju_hu lana_, in tattabi'u_na illaz zanna wa in antum illa_ takhrusu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note 141 – I.e., the truth that God has endowed man with the ability to choose between right and wrong. The above verse constitute a categorical rejection of the doctrine of “predestination” in the commonly-accepted sense of this term.]]

[[ Ruby’s note – Here the false implication of predestination is categorically denied by the following statement that this assertion is false that a person can do wrong only because God willed it and there is no blame on the part of the person because God’s will dictates hi/her action. This assertion, according to the Quran is false and that is reflected by the statement “Even so did those who lived before them give the lie to the truth”. There is a human accountability because there is a human choice even though God’s will is overriding. God does not override where He has given free will to humans even though He has power to do so. This is what is laid down in this and the following verses.]]

6: 149

Asad Say: “[Know,] then, that the final evidence [of all truth] rests with God alone; and had He so willed, He would have guided you all right.” [Note 143]

Pickthall Say--For Allah's is the final argument--Had He willed He could indeed have guided all of you.

Transliteration Qul fa lilla_hil hujjatul ba_ligah(tu), fa lau sya_'a lahada_kum ajma'in(a).

6: 150

Asad …………..and if they bear witness [falsely], do not bear witness with them; and do not follow the errant views of those who have given the lie to Our messages, and who regard other powers as their Sustainer’s equals!

Pickthall Say: Come, bring your witnesses who can bear witness that Allah forbade (all) this. And if they bear witness, do not thou bear witness with them. Follow thou not the whims of those who deny Our revelations, those who believe not in the Hereafter and deem (others) equal with their Lord.

Transliteration Qul halumma syuhada_'akumul lazina yasyhadu_na annalla_ha harrama ha_za_, fa in syahidu_ fala_ tasyhad ma'ahum, wa la_ tattabi' ahwa_'al lazina kazzabu_ bi a_ya_tina_ wallazina la_ yu'minu_na bil a_khirati wa hum bi rabbihim ya'dilu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note – In other words, the real relationship between God’s knowledge of the future ……on the one side, and man’s free will, on the other – two proposition which, on the face of it, seem to contradict one another – is beyond man’s comprehension;…………Had God so willed, every being would have been forced to live righteously; but this would have amounted to depriving man of his free will, and morality of all its meaning.]]

[[ Ruby’s note – Re: Asad’s note above – both of these propositions are not exclusive of each other and failing to comprehension is due to our limitation of capacity to know. We do not know exactly how man’s limited free will works within God’s overriding greater Will. We do not know exactly when, how and where man’s will is limited and therefore responsible. Only God knows that and therefore only God can judge man. The exclusive right to judge a man as to the total worth of a life belong to God: trespassing this limit would be a transgression on the part of a human. Even though a human does not know the exact relationship and working of his/her free will nonetheless he/she must know that it exists and take responsibility of it to the best of his/her ability and seek constant guidance from God about it. A human in order to be right and righteous therefore is dependant on God’s guidance. This is expounded through the famous prayer which seeks God’s guidance in knowing what is within one’s power to change and what is not and to have the wisdom to know the difference. That prayer manifests the true spirit of truth and spirituality. It manifests the spirit of the limited free will of a human being without knowing where, how and when it ends and God’s greater Will take over. This unknowable factor is a human limitation that a human must accept and work within. ]]