Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:116
And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.
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 Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of this. Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq read وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ — with "taṣif" (describes) taking "al-kadhib" (the lie) as its object, in the sense: do not say, on account of what your tongues describe, that which is a lie, so that "mā" has the meaning of a verbal noun. It has been transmitted from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he read: وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبِ — with "al-kadhib" in the genitive, in the sense: do not say concerning the lie which your tongues describe — هَذَا حَلَالٌ وَهَذَا حَرَامٌ — and then "al-kadhib" is regarded as an explication of the "mā" in "limā," so that it stands in the genitive in the same way that "mā" stands in the genitive. It has also been transmitted from some the reading: لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكُذُبُ — with "al-kudhub" in the nominative, so that "al-kudhub" is regarded as an attribute of "al-alsina" (the tongues), in the plural form "fuʿul," as the plural of "kadhūb" and "kadhb," like "shukūr" and "shukr."
The correct view in my judgement as to the reading is the accusative of "al-kadhib," on account of the consensus of the authorities among the reciters upon that. The explanation of the discourse is then, given what we have mentioned: Do not say, on account of what your tongues describe as a lie concerning that with which Allah has provided His servants of sustenance: "This is permitted and this is forbidden" — so that you thereby fabricate against Allah a lie. For Allah has not forbidden of all that what you forbid, nor has He permitted much of what you permit. Then Allah directed at them a threat regarding their lying about Him, and said: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ — Allah says: Those who forge and fabricate against Allah the lie will not live forever in the world nor abide in it; they enjoy therein only briefly.
