Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:56
Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock. Indeed, my Lord is on a path [that is] straight."
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 interpretation of the words of Allah the Exalted: إِنِّي تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ رَبِّي وَرَبِّكُمْ مَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ إِلا هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (56)
Abū Jaʿfar says: He says: I have relied upon Allah, who is my Lord and your Lord, and who holds the governance over all His creatures, for protection of you and of all other creatures that would do me harm; for there is nothing that walks about upon the earth but Allah is its owner, and it is within His grasp and under His dominion, submissive to Him and subjected to Him.
Now if someone were to ask: why is it said هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا — that He grasps the forelock — and why is the forelock thereby singled out above other parts of the body? Then the answer is: because the Arabs used this in their description of someone whom they described as being in subjection and obedience, and they would say: "the forelock of so-and-so is but in the hand of so-and-so" — that is to say: he is obedient to him and he turns him wherever he wills. And when they took a captive and wished to release him and to bestow a favor upon him, they would cut off his forelock, in order to count that as an honor when boasting. Thus Allah addressed them with what they knew from their usage of language; and the meaning is what I have mentioned.
إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ — that is to say: my Lord follows the way of the truth: He recompenses the doer of good among His creatures for his goodness and the doer of evil for his evil; He does no one even the slightest injustice, and He accepts from them nothing other than Islām and faith in Him — as in:
18278 — Al-Muthanná 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: إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ : "the truth."
18279 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
18280 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
18281 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
