Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:86
And if We willed, We could surely do away with that which We revealed to you. Then you would not find for yourself concerning it an advocate against Us.
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.
Allah, the Exalted, says this: and if We had willed, We would surely have taken away the knowledge that We had given you — the knowledge that was revealed to you from this Qurʾān — We would surely have taken it away so that you would no longer know it. Then you would not find for yourself any guardian regarding what We do with you — that is to say: no overseer who would protect you and who would restrain Us from doing that to you — and no helper who would help you and who would raise a barrier between Us and what We intend to do with you.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd used to interpret the meaning of Allah's taking it away as the lifting of it from the breasts of those who recite it.
Mention of the narration concerning that:
It was related to us by Abū Kurayb, who said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rafīʿ, from Bundār, from Maʿqil, who said: I asked ʿAbd Allāh — and he mentioned that the Qurʾān would be lifted away by night — how can that be, while we have fixed it in our breasts and our manuscripts? He said: a night will pass over it and there will remain nothing of it in a manuscript or in the breast of a man. Then ʿAbd Allāh recited: وَلَئِن شِئْنَا لَنَذْهَبَنَّ بِالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ .
It was related to me by Yūnus, who said: Ibn Wahb informed us, who said: Ibn Isḥāq ibn Yaḥyā related to us, from al-Musayyab ibn Rāfiʿ, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: "A red wind will strike the people from the direction of Syria, and there will remain nothing of a man's manuscript or his heart pertaining to a verse." A man said: O Abā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I have collected the Qurʾān. He said: there will remain nothing of it in your breast. Then Ibn Masʿūd recited: وَلَئِن شِئْنَا لَنَذْهَبَنَّ بِالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ .
