28. Surah Al-Qasas

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء...

28:56. It is true thou wilt not be able to guide everyone whom thou lovest: but Allah guides those whom He will

C3388. The immediate occasion for this was the death of Abu Talib, an uncle whom the holy Prophet loved dearly and who had befriended and protected him.

The Prophet was naturally anxious that he should die in the profession of the true Faith, but the pagan Quraish leaders persuaded him to remain true to the faith of his fathers. This was an occasion of disappointment and grief to the Prophet.

We are told that in such circumstances we should not grieve. All whom we love do not necessarily share our views or beliefs. We must not judge.

Allah will guide whom He pleases and as He pleases. He alone knows the true inwardness of things.

...وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ ﴿٥٦﴾

and He knows best those who receive guidance.

وَقَالُوا إِن نَّتَّبِعِ الْهُدَى مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا...

28:57. They say: "If we were to follow the guidance with thee, we should be snatched away from our land."

C3389. Some Quraish said: "We see the truth of Islam, but if we abandon our people, we shall lose our hold on the land, and other people will dispossess us."

The answer is twofold, one literal and the other of deeper import.

1. 'Your land?

Why, the sanctuary of Makkah is sacred and secure because Allah has made it so. If you obey Allah's Word, you will be strengthened, not weakened.'

2. 'Makkah is the symbol of the Fortress of Spiritual Well-being. The Fruit of every Deed comes or should come as a tribute to Spiritual Well-being.

What are you afraid of?

It is Allah's Fortress. The more you seek Allah, the stronger you are in the Fortress.'

...أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا...

Have We not established for them a secure Sanctuary,

...يُجْبَى إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِزْقًا مِن لَّدُنَّا ...

to which are brought as tribute fruits of all kinds? --

a provision from Ourselves?

...وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾

But most of them understand not.

Asad’s Version:

28:56 VERILY, thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest: but it is God who guides him that wills [to be guided]; 55 and He is fully aware of all who would let themselves be guided. 56

(28:57) Now some say, "If we were to follow the guidance to which thou invitest us, we would be torn away from our very soil!" 57 Why - have We not established for them a sanctuary secure, to which, as a provision from Us, shall be gathered the fruits of all [good] things? 58 But most of them are unaware [of this truth].

[[Asad’s notes - away from our land" (or "our soil"). This passage has obviously a twofold connotation. On the historical plane, it echoes an objection voiced by many pagan Meccans to Muhammad's preaching: "If we were to accept thy call, most of the other tribes would regard this as a betrayal of our common ancestral beliefs, and would drive us away from our land." In a more general, timeless sense it reflects the hesitation of so many people of whatever period, environment or religious persuasion who, while realizing the truth of a new spiritual call, are yet fearful of acknowledging it as true lest this acknowledgment cause a total breach between them and their community and thus, as it were, cut the ground from under their feet.

58 Like the preceding expression of fear, this Qur'anic answer, too, can be understood in two senses. In the limited, historical sense it is an allusion to Abraham's prayer that the land around the Kabah be made secure for all times and its natural barrenness be compensated by fruitful help from outside (cf 14:35-41; also 2:126), and to God's acceptance of this prayer: thus, the Prophet's Meccan contemporaries are reminded that they need not fear to be dispossessed of this holy land so long as they remain righteous and trust in God. In its purely spiritual connotation, on the other hand, the "sanctuary secure" is God's promise - referred to in verse 61 below - that all who have faith in Him and are conscious of their responsibility to Him shall be graced with a sense of inner peace in this world and with enduring bliss in the life to come; and since they are thus to be rewarded with the "fruits" of all their good deeds, "no fear need they have, and neither shall

they grieve" (cf. 2:62, 3:170, 5:69, 6:48, 7:35, 10:62, 46:13). See also note 59 on 29:67. ]]