Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:29
And sufficient is Allah as a witness between us and you that we were of your worship unaware."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: فَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ إِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ عِبَادَتِكُمْ لَغَافِلِينَ ("But Allah suffices as a Witness between us and you; indeed, we were heedless of your worship") (29)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, glorified be His remembrance, speaks here and informs about what the associate-deities of the polytheists — namely the idols and the images — will say to them on the Day of Resurrection, when the polytheists, before Allah, will address them with the words: "You we used to worship." They will then say: كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ ("Allah suffices as a Witness between us and you") — that is to say: they say: Allah is for us a Witness between us and you, O polytheists (mushrikīn), more than sufficient, for He already knows that we did not know what you claim. إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ عِبَادَتِكُمْ لَغَافِلِينَ ("indeed, we were heedless of your worship") — That is to say: we were nothing but heedless of the worship that you rendered to us instead of to Allah; we were not aware of it and did not know it.
As [it was related]:
17651 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning إِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ عِبَادَتِكُمْ لَغَافِلِينَ: he said: "Everything that is worshipped besides Allah."
17652 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
17653 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Mujāhid said concerning إِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ عِبَادَتِكُمْ لَغَافِلِينَ: "This says everything that was worshipped besides Allah."