Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:59
Say, [O Muhammad], "Praise be to Allah, and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen. Is Allah better or what they associate with Him?"
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 to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: قُلْ (Say) — O Muḥammad — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ (all praise be to Allah) for His favours to us and His devotion to us in what He has devoted to us of guidance; وَسَلَامٌ (and peace) — he says: and a protection from Him from His punishment by which He punished the people of Lot and the people of Ṣāliḥ — عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى (upon His servants whom He has chosen): he says: those whom He selected for His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and whom He made his companions and his helpers for the religion to which he was sent to call, in contrast to the polytheists who denied the prophethood of His Prophet.
In the manner that we have mentioned concerning the explanation of this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq — meaning Ibn Ghannām — related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ẓahīr, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى (and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen): he said: The companions of Muḥammad; Allah chose them for His Prophet.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I said to ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak: What is your opinion concerning the word of Allah قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى (Say: all praise be to Allah, and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen) — who are these? He related to me on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, he said: They are the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
And His word: آللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ (Is Allah better, or what they associate as partners?): Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: Say — O Muḥammad — to those of your people for whom We have made their deeds appear fair so that they are bewildered: Is Allah, Who has bestowed upon His friends these favours that have been mentioned to you in this sūra, and Who has destroyed His enemies by the kinds of punishment that He has mentioned therein to you, better — or what you associate as partners of your idols, which can neither harm you nor benefit you, and which can avert evil neither from themselves nor from their friends, nor bring any benefit to themselves or to them? He says: This is a matter about which a person of intellect ought not to be confused, so how then can you deem it permissible to mix the worship of Him from Whom no benefit is to be gained for you and no averting of harm for you, with the worship of Him in Whose hand are benefit and harm, and to Whom everything belongs? Then Allah, exalted be His remembrance, began the enumeration of His favours to them, His benefactions toward them, and making them aware of how little they thanked Him for that, and said: أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ (Or He Who created the heavens and the earth).
