Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:50
Say, "If I should err, I would only err against myself. But if I am guided, it is by what my Lord reveals to me. Indeed, He is Hearing and near."
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: Say: If I go astray, then I go astray only to my own detriment, and if I am rightly guided, then it is by what my Lord reveals to me. Verily, He is All-Hearing, Near (50)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Say, O Muḥammad, to your people: if I stray from the right guidance and tread a path other than the way of the truth, then my straying from what is correct is only to my own detriment — He says: then the harm of my straying from the right guidance falls upon myself. (And if I am rightly guided) — He says: and if I remain steadfast upon the truth, (then it is by what my Lord reveals to me) — He says: then it is by the revelation of Allāh which He reveals to me, and by His mercy which enables me to remain steadfast upon the way of the truth and the path of guidance.
And His saying (Verily, He is All-Hearing, Near) — He says: verily, my Lord is All-Hearing of what I say to you, and preserves it, and He is the One who will recompense me for my truthfulness therein; and that is not far from Me, such that it would be difficult for Him to hear what I say to you, and what you say, and what others than us say; rather He is near to every speaker, He hears all that he utters, nearer to him than his jugular vein.
