Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:52
Say, "Sufficient is Allah between me and you as Witness. He knows what is in the heavens and earth. And they who have believed in falsehood and disbelieved in Allah - it is those who are the losers."
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 saying of the Exalted: قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ شَهِيدًا يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ وَكَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ (29:52) ("Say: Allah suffices as a witness between me and you; He knows what is in the heavens and on the earth. And those who believe in falsehood and reject Allah, they are the losers.")
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ): Say, O Muḥammad, to those who say to you, "If only a sign from your Lord had been sent down upon you," those deniers among your people who reject Our signs: Allah suffices, O you there, between me and you, as a witness for me and against me; for He knows which of us has the truth and who clings to falsehood, and He knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth — nothing therein remains hidden from Him. And He is the One who requites each group of us according to what is due to it: the one who has the truth according to his steadfastness upon the truth, and the one who clings to falsehood for his falseness according to what is due to him.
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ ("And those who believe in falsehood") — that is to say: they have held shirk (the assigning of partners to Allah) to be true, and have accepted and affirmed it, but rejected Allah; that is to say: they have disbelieved in Allah.
أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ ("they are the losers") — that is to say: they are those who have come out cheated in their trade.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning His saying وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ the exegetes have spoken.
* The mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ: it is shirk.
