Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:40
Except, among them, Your chosen servants."
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.
إِلا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ("Except Your servants among them who are sincerely devoted"): this means — except the one whom You have chosen and guided through Your tawfīq (divine assistance); over that one I have no power and no capacity. There is also the reading الْمُخْلِصِينَ (with kasra beneath the lām), and whoever reads it thus means thereby: except the one who has sincerely rendered obedience to You; over him I have no way.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the ahl al-taʾwīl (the interpreters of the Qurʾān) spoke.
Mention is made of those who said this:
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning إِلا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ : he means thereby the believers.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning إِلا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ . Qatāda said: "This is the exception (thaniyya) of Allah — the Exalted, blessed be His remembrance."
