Tafseer of The Believers · Al-Muminoon · 23:51
[Allah said], "O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness. Indeed, I, of what you do, am Knowing.
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 Exalted says — exalted be His remembrance: And We said to ʿĪsā: O messengers, eat of the lawful good things that Allah has permitted for you rather than the forbidden — وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا (and do righteous deeds). In ordinary usage one addresses a single person with: "O people, keep your harm away from us" — as is also His saying: الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ (those to whom the people said), while it refers to a single person.
With what we have said the exegetes also agree.
*Mention of those who said this:*
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Wāṣil related to me, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Isḥāq al-Ḍabbī al-ʿAṭṭār related to me, on the authority of Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Fazārī, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuraḥbīl: يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا — he said: ʿĪsā ibn Maryam ate from the yarn that his mother spun.
And His saying: إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ — that is to say: I am a Knower of your deeds — nothing of them is hidden from Me — and I will requite you for all your deeds and pay you in full your wages and reward for them. So devote yourselves to righteous deeds and exert yourselves in them.
