Sura-26 [Al Shu'ara'mecca 47]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَاتْلُ
عَلَيْهِمْ
نَبَأَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
﴿٦٩﴾
26:69. And rehearse to them (something of) Abraham's story.
C3175. For the argument of this Surah the incidents in Abraham's life are not relevant and are not mentioned. What is mentioned is:
- the steps by which he taught about the sin of false worship, in the form of a Dialogue;
- the aims of a righteous man not only in his individual life, but for his ancestors and posterity, in the form of a Prayer;
- and a picture of the Future Judgment, in the form of a vision.
is covered by verses 70-82; by 83-87; and by 88-102.
إِذْ
قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ
وَقَوْمِهِ
مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
﴿٧٠﴾
26:70. Behold, he said to his father and his people: "What worship ye?"
قَالُوا
نَعْبُدُ
أَصْنَامًا
فَنَظَلُّ لَهَا
عَاكِفِينَ
﴿٧١﴾
26:71. They said: "We worship idols, and we remain constantly in attendance on them."
C3176. They want to show their true and assiduous devotion. But Abraham goes at once to the heart of the matter by asking:
"To whom is your devotion paid?
Is the object worthy of it?"
قَالَ
هَلْ يَسْمَعُونَكُمْ
إِذْ تَدْعُونَ
﴿٧٢﴾
26:72. He said:
"Do they listen to you when ye call (on them),
أَوْ
يَنفَعُونَكُمْ
أَوْ يَضُرُّونَ
﴿٧٣﴾
26:73. "Or do you good or harm?"
قَالُوا
بَلْ وَجَدْنَا
آبَاءنَا كَذَلِكَ
يَفْعَلُونَ
﴿٧٤﴾
26:74. They said: "Nay, but we found our fathers doing thus (what we do)."
قَالَ
أَفَرَأَيْتُم
مَّا كُنتُمْ
تَعْبُدُونَ
﴿٧٥﴾
75. He said:
"Do ye then see whom ye have been worshipping --
أَنتُمْ
وَآبَاؤُكُمُ
الْأَقْدَمُونَ
﴿٧٦﴾
76. "Ye and your fathers before you? --
فَإِنَّهُمْ
عَدُوٌّ لِّي
...
77. "For they are enemies to me;
C3177. The things that you worship are enemies to mankind: let me testify from my own personal experience: they are enemies to me: they can do me no good, but would lead me astray.
Contrast with their impotence or their power of mischief the One True God Whom I worship: He created me and all the Worlds: He cherishes me and guides me; He takes care of me; and when I die, He will give me new life; He will forgive me and grant me final Salvation.
Will you then come to this true worship?
How can you doubt, after seeing the contrast of the one with the other?
Is it not as the contrast between Light and Darkness?'
... إِلَّا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٧٧﴾
not so the Lord and Cherisher of the Worlds;
الَّذِي
خَلَقَنِي
فَهُوَ يَهْدِينِ
﴿٧٨﴾
78. "Who created me, and it is He Who guides me;
Asad’s Version:
26:69 AND CONVEY unto them 37 the story of Abraham -(26:70) [how it was] when he asked his
father and his people, "What is it that you worship?"
(26:71) They answered: "We worship idols, and we remain ever devoted to them." (26:72) Said he: 'Do [you really think that] they hear you when you invoke them, (26:73) or benefit you or do you harm?"
26:74 They exclaimed: "But we found our fore-fathers doing the same!" 38 (26:75) Said [Abraham]: "Have you, then, ever considered what it is that you have been worshipping - (26:76) you and those ancient forebears of yours? (26:77) "Now [as for me, I know that,] verily, these [false deities] are my enemies, [and that none is my helper] save the Sustainer of all the worlds,
(26:78) who has created me and is the One who guides me, (26:79) and is the One who gives me to eat and to drink, (26:80) and when I fall ill, is the One who restores me to health, (26:81) and who will cause me to die and then will bring me back to life - (26:82) and who, I hope, will forgive me my faults on Judgment Day!
[[ Asad’s notes -
37 I.e., to the kind of people spoken of in verses 3-8 of this surah.
38 The particle bal at the beginning of the sentence expresses astonishment. Thus, evading a direct answer to Abraham's criticism of idol-worship, his people merely stress its antiquity, forgetting -
as Zamakhshari points out - that "ancient usage and precedence in time are no proof of [a concept's] soundness". Razi, for his part, states that the above verse represents "one of the strongest [Qur'anic] indications of the immorality (fasad) inherent in [the principle of] taqlid", i.e., the blind, unquestioning adoption of religious concepts or practices on the basis of one's uncritical faith in no more than the "authority" of a scholar or religious leader. ]]