Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:33
Then is He who is a maintainer of every soul, [knowing] what it has earned, [like any other]? But to Allah they have attributed partners. Say, "Name them. Or do you inform Him of that which He knows not upon the earth or of what is apparent of speech?" Rather, their [own] plan has been made attractive to those who disbelieve, and they have been averted from the way. And whomever Allah leaves astray - there will be for him no guide.
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.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: Is then the Lord who is eternal — who does not perish nor pass away — Who watches over the sustenance of all creatures, guarantees it, knows them and their deeds, keeps watch over them, and from Whom nothing escapes wherever they may be — equal to one who is perishable, who passes away, does not hear, does not see, does not understand, and can neither ward off harm from himself nor from whoever worships him, nor draw any benefit to either of them? Are these two equal?
And the answer to that was not stated outright — after أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ it was not said: like such-and-such — because the listener already knows what is meant by the omission. For when the Exalted said: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ (and they set up partners equal to Allah), it was understood that the meaning of the speech is: as their partners whom they took as gods. As the poet — he is Al-Qattāl al-Kilābī — said:
"Choose, O mother of ʿĀl, you have the choice between a short-stepped wretch or the one with the torn shirt — who, always in the late nights, squanders wealth and wins wealth."
After "short of step, a wretch" he did not say: "and between such-and-such" — being content with his words: "or the one with the torn shirt," and the indication of the report about the torn-shirted one as to what he meant by it.
And the exegetes said something similar to what we have said about this.
Mention of who said that:
20440 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — that is your Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, Who watches over the children of Adam with their sustenance and their lifespans, and Allah preserves their deeds for them.
20441 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — he said: Allah watches over every soul.
20442 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — He means thereby Himself. He says: He is with you wherever you are — no doer does any deed but that Allah is present at it. And it has been said: it is the angels who are appointed over the children of Adam.
20443 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — and over their sustenance and their food — indeed I watch over that, and they are My servants, then they made partners for Me.
20444 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn ibn Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — that is Allah Who watches over every soul, the righteous and the sinful, providing them with sustenance and watching over them — and then some of them set up partners equal to Him.
And His word: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لا يَعْلَمُ فِي الأَرْضِ أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ (and they set up partners equal to Allah — say: name them — or do you inform Him of what He does not know on the earth, or is it merely a superficial utterance?) — the Exalted says: I am the One who watches over the sustenance of these polytheists, Who governs their affairs and preserves their deeds for them — and they set up for Me partners from My creation whom they worship instead of Me. Say to them, O Muḥammad: name these ones whom you have set up as partners in the worship of Allah by name — for if they say: gods, then they have lied, because there is no god but the One, the Overwhelming — He has no partner. أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لا يَعْلَمُ فِي الأَرْضِ — He says: do you inform Him that there is a god on the earth, while there is no god besides Him on the earth nor in the heaven?
And the exegetes said something similar to what we have said about this.
Mention of who said that:
20445 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ — if they called them gods they would be lying and saying something that is not correct, for Allah is one and has no partner. Allah said: أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لا يَعْلَمُ فِي الأَرْضِ أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ — He says: Allah knows on the earth no god besides Himself.
20446 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ — Allah created them.
20447 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ — if they named them they would be lying and saying something that Allah does not know — there is no god besides Allah. That is His word: أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لا يَعْلَمُ فِي الأَرْضِ.
And His word: أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ (or is it merely a superficial utterance?) — it is what one hears, but in reality it is false and has no basis.
And the exegetes said something similar to what we said about this — they said, however: أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ — the meaning is: or on the basis of something false. They gave the meaning that the word indicates without clarifying the real interpretation.
Mention of who said that:
20448 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ — on the basis of a conjecture.
20449 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
20450 — 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 Qatāda, concerning His word: أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ — and "al-ẓāhir" of the utterance is the false.
20451 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: أَمْ بِظَاهِرٍ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ — He says: or on the basis of something false and mendacious of the utterance? If they said that, they would be saying the false and the lie.
And His word: بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مَكْرُهُمْ (nay, but their plotting is made fair-seeming to those who disbelieve) — the Exalted says: Allah has no partner in the heavens nor on the earth, but to the polytheists who call upon someone besides Him as a god their plotting is made fair-seeming — and that is their fabrication and lie against Allah.
And Mujāhid used to say: the meaning of "al-makr" (plotting) here is: the utterance — as if he meant: their utterance of assigning partners to Allah.
20452 — Al-Muthanā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مَكْرُهُمْ — he said: their utterance.
20453 — 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 — the same.
And as for His word: وَصُدُّوا عَنِ السَّبِيلِ — the reciters differed concerning its reading.
Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it as "wa-ṣuddū ʿan al-sabīl" — with a closed ṣād (in the passive) — with the meaning: Allah turned them away from His path because of their disbelief in it. The ṣād is then pronounced closed because the agent is not named.
And as for most of the reciters of Ḥijāz and Basra — they read it with an open ṣād (in the active), with the meaning that it is the polytheists who turned the people away from the path of Allah.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct statement about this, according to me, is to say that they are two well-known readings, with each of which a group of the imāms among the reciters has read — and they are kindred in meaning. For the polytheists in Allah were turned away from the belief in Him, and they turned others away from Him at the same time — as Allah described them with His word: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ [Surah Al-Anfāl 8:36].
And His word: وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ (and whomever Allah leads astray has no guide) — the Exalted says: and whomever Allah has led astray from attaining the truth and the guidance by abandoning him — for him there is none who guides him to attaining it, for that can only be attained through the guidance and the support of Allah, and that rests with Allah and with Him alone, and not with anyone else.
