Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:18
Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures and many of the people? But upon many the punishment has been justified. And he whom Allah humiliates - for him there is no bestower of honor. Indeed, Allah does what He wills.
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 praise, says: Whoever Allah humiliates among His creation and makes wretched, (فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ مُكْرِمٍ) — there is none who can honor him with happiness and prosperity, for all affairs rest with Allah — He grants success in His obedience to whom He wills, He forsakes whom He wills, He makes wretched whom He wills, and He makes happy whom He loves.
His words (إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاءُ) — Allah, exalted be His praise, says: Truly, Allah does with His creation whatever He wills — humiliating whom He wills to humiliate, and honoring whom He deems worthy, for the creation is His creation and the disposition is His disposition: لا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ (He is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned). It has been related from some that they read it as (فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ مُكْرَمٍ) — in the sense of: there is for him no honoring (ikrām). That is a reading which I cannot approve, on account of the consensus of the authorities among the reciters against it.
