Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:18
And if you [people] deny [the message] - already nations before you have denied. And there is not upon the Messenger except [the duty of] clear notification.
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 explanation of the words of the Most High: وَإِنْ تُكَذِّبُوا فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ أُمَمٌ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إِلا الْبَلاغُ الْمُبِينُ ("And if you deny, then communities before you have already denied; and the Messenger has only the duty of clear proclamation") (29:18).
The Most High, whose mention is exalted, says: And if you, O people, deny Our messenger Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in that to which he has called you—namely the worship of your Lord who created you and granted you your sustenance, and the renunciation of the idols—then communities before you have already denied their messengers in that to which the messengers had called them of the truth. Thereupon the wrath of Allah descended upon them and His swift punishment came upon them. So too will your path be the same as theirs in that which will descend upon you on account of your denial of it. وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إِلا الْبَلاغُ الْمُبِينُ ("and the Messenger has only the duty of clear proclamation"). He says: And upon Muḥammad rests nothing other than that he convey to you Allah's message from Him, and transmit to you what his Lord has charged him to transmit to you. And by "the clear proclamation" (al-balāgh al-mubīn) He means: that which makes clear to whoever hears it what is intended by it, and through which he understands what is meant by it.
