Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:46
[His father] said, "Have you no desire for my gods, O Abraham? If you do not desist, I will surely stone you, so avoid me a prolonged time."
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, exalted be His remembrance, says: The father of Ibrāhīm said to Ibrāhīm, when Ibrāhīm had called him to the worship of Allah, to abandoning the worship of the Shayṭān, and to dissociating himself from the idols and images: أَرَاغِبٌ أَنْتَ (Do you turn away) — O Ibrāhīm — from the worship of my gods? If you do not cease (mentioning them in a maligning manner), I will surely stone you — he says: I will stone you with words, that being reviling and ugly speech.
Closely the same as what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) said.
Mention of those who said that:
Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: قَالَ أَرَاغِبٌ أَنْتَ عَنْ آلِهَتِي يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ لَئِنْ لَمْ تَنْتَهِ لأَرْجُمَنَّكَ — with reviling and with words.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, he said: Ibn Jurayj said, concerning His word لَئِنْ لَمْ تَنْتَهِ لأَرْجُمَنَّكَ: with words — I will revile you.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word لأَرْجُمَنَّكَ: that is to say: stoning with words.
As for His word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا — the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning its interpretation. Some said: its meaning is: leave me for a long time and a long period, and they assigned to al-mally the meaning of al-mulāwah of time, namely the length thereof.
Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: for a long period.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his word مَلِيًّا: he said: for a time.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: long.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: for a long time.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he says: for a long period, and the long period is al-mally.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: for a long period.
Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: forever.
Others said: rather, its meaning is: leave me unharmed, safe from my punishment of you, and they took the meaning of al-mally as the people's usage: fulān mallī bi-hādhā al-amr, that is to say when he is fully capable in it and self-contained. And it is as if the meaning of the word according to their view was: leave me while your honor is intact from my punishment and your body safe from my harm.
Mention of those who said that:
ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he says: avoid me unharmed.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: avoid me safely, before you are struck by punishment from me.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: safe.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — the same.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr ibn Dirham Abū Ghassān related to us, he said: Qurra ibn Khālid related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-Jadalī: وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: he said: safe.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا: avoid me safely, so that no harm from me befalls you.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The view that, in my estimation, is most in accordance with the interpretation of this verse is the view of him who said: its meaning is: leave me unharmed, safe from my punishment — for it follows upon his word لَئِنْ لَمْ تَنْتَهِ لأَرْجُمَنَّكَ, that being a threat to him that he would stone him with evil words if he did not cease to malign his gods. What is most fitting to follow thereafter is the admonition that he stop before the punishment befalls him. The command to a prolonged leaving has no ground in this context.
