Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:7
And those who disbelieved say, "Why has a sign not been sent down to him from his Lord?" You are only a warner, and for every people is a 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, whose praise is exalted, says: (And those who disbelieve say) — O Muḥammad, that is, from among your people — (Why has a sign from his Lord not been sent down upon him?) — that is to say: why has a sign from his Lord not been sent down upon Muḥammad? (6) They mean a sign and a proof for him for his prophethood (7). And that is their saying: لَوْلا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ جَاءَ مَعَهُ مَلَكٌ [Surah Hud: 12] (Why has a treasure not been sent down upon him, or why has an angel not come with him?). Allah says to him: O Muḥammad, (you are only a warner) for them; you warn them of the punishment of Allah, that it should descend upon them on account of their shirk (8). (And for every people there is a leader). He says: and for every people there is a leader (imām) whom they follow and a guide who goes before them, who leads them, whether to good or to evil.
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Its origin comes from "hādī al-faras" (the foremost part of the horse), and that is its neck, which leads the rest of its body. (9)
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And in accordance with what we have said about that, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken, with disagreement among them over what is meant by "the guide" (al-hādī) in this place.
Some of them said: that is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
*Mention of who said that:
20138 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (And those who disbelieve say: why has a sign from his Lord not been sent down upon him?) — this is the saying of the polytheists of the Arabs (mushrikīn). Allah said: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — for every people there is a caller who calls them to Allah.
20139 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿIkrima — and Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — they both said: Muḥammad is "the warner" and he is "the guide".
20140 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the same.
20141 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the same.
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And others said: by "the guide" (al-hādī) in this place is meant: Allah.
*Mention of who said that:
20142 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: Muḥammad is "the warner" and Allah is "the guide". (10)
20143 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: (and you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: Muḥammad is "the warner" and Allah is "the guide".
20144 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: (you are only a warner) — he said: you, O Muḥammad, are a warner, and Allah is "the guide".
20145 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: "the warner" is the Prophet ﷺ, (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: Allah is the guide of every people.
20146 — 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, his saying: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he says: you, O Muḥammad, are a warner, and I am the guide of every people.
20147 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — "the warner" is Muḥammad ﷺ, and "the guide" is Allah, the Mighty and Exalted.
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And others said: "the guide" in this place means: a prophet.
*Mention of who said that:
20148 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: "the warner" is Muḥammad ﷺ. (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a prophet.
20149 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a prophet.
20150 — [illegible] he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
20151 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: for every people there is a prophet, and the warner is Muḥammad ﷺ.
20152 — [illegible] he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik related to me, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a prophet.
20153 — [illegible] he said: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his saying: (and for every people there is a leader) — he means: for every people there is a prophet.
20154 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a prophet.
20155 — 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: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a prophet who calls them to Allah.
20156 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: for every people there is a prophet. "The guide" is the Prophet ﷺ, and "the warner" is likewise the Prophet ﷺ. And he recited: وَإِنْ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلا خَلا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ [Surah Fāṭir: 24] (And there is no community but that a warner has passed within it), and he said: نَذِيرٌ مِنَ النُّذُرِ الأُولَى [Surah al-Najm: 56] (A warner from among the former warners) — he said: a prophet from among the prophets.
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And others said: no, by it is meant: and for every people there is a leader (qāʾid).
*Mention of who said that:
20157 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: you, O Muḥammad, are only a warner, and for every people there are leaders (qāda).
20158 — [illegible] he said: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl — or: Sufyān — related to me, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: for every people there are leaders.
20159 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: "the guide" is the leader (al-qāʾid), and the leader is the imām (al-imām), and the imām is the deed (al-ʿamal).
20160 — Al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: Muḥammad — that is Ibn Yazīd — related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ, concerning His saying: (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a leader.
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And others said: it is ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him.
*Mention of who said that:
20161 — Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūfī related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Muslim, the cloth merchant of al-Harawī, related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: when (you are only a warner and for every people there is a leader) was sent down, he ﷺ placed his hand upon his breast and said: I am the warner, (and for every people there is a leader), and he pointed with his hand toward the shoulder of ʿAlī and said: you are the guide, O ʿAlī; through you are the rightly guided guided after me. (11)
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And others said: its meaning is: for every people there is a caller.
*Mention of who said that:
20162 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: (and for every people there is a leader) — he said: a caller.
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And I have already set forth the meaning of "guidance" (al-hidāya), and that it is the followed leader (al-imām) who goes before the people. (12) Since that is so, it is possible that this is Allah, who guides His creatures and whose guidance His creatures follow and who direct themselves according to His command and His prohibition.
And it is possible that it is the prophet of Allah, toward whom his community directs itself.
And it is possible that it is one of the leaders (aʾimma) toward whom one directs oneself, and whose path and method his companions follow.
And it is possible that it is one of the callers to good or to evil.
Since that is so, there is no saying that corresponds more to the truth than that it be said as He, whose praise is exalted, has said: that Muḥammad is the warner of those to whom he was sent with the warning, and that for every people there is a guide who leads them, whom they follow and toward whom they direct themselves.
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Footnotes:
(6) See the explanation of "lawlā" in what has preceded, 15:205, note (1), and the references there, and then 15:210.
(7) See the explanation of the verse in what has preceded of the linguistic indexes (a-b-y).
(8) See the explanation of "al-inḍār" (the warning) in what has preceded of the linguistic indexes, n-dh-r.
(9) See the explanation of "al-hādī" in what has preceded, 2:293.
(10) Report 20142: the end of the report has dropped out of the manuscript; it stopped at his word "hād" (leader), and it is as though he completed it from what follows.
(11) Report 20161: "Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūfī", the teacher of Ṭabarī, is trustworthy (thiqa); he has appeared before under number 779. And "al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī, al-ʿUranī" — it is as though he was called "al-ʿUranī" because he used to reside in the mosque of "Ḥabba al-ʿUranī". He was among the leaders of the Shīʿa, he is not truthful (ṣadūq), and no proof can be conducted with him. Ibn Ḥibbān said: "he brings fabricated additions from the trustworthy narrators, and he narrates inverted and reprehensible reports." He is discussed in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/2/6, and in Mīzān al-iʿtidāl 1:225, and in Lisān al-Mīzān 2:198.
And "Muʿādh ibn Muslim, the cloth merchant of al-Harawī" — with this description "the cloth merchant of al-Harawī" he is mentioned nowhere other than in the tafsīr, and "al-Harawī" are garments that refer to Herāt. In the printed edition it was made into: "Ḥaddathanā al-Harawī", whereby the isnād was thoroughly corrupted.
And "Muʿādh ibn Muslim" is unknown (majhūl) — so said Ibn Abī Ḥātim; he is discussed in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 4/1/248, and in Mīzān al-iʿtidāl 3:178, and in Lisān al-Mīzān 6:55.
And this is a report worthless from every angle. Al-Dhahabī and Ibn Ḥajar mentioned it in the discussion of "al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī"; after they had adduced the report with its isnād and its wording, and had also attributed it to Ibn Jarīr, they said: "Muʿādh is an unknown, so perhaps the defect comes from him." And I say: no, the defect comes from both of them: al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥusayn and Muʿādh ibn Muslim.
(12) See what has preceded, p. 353.
