Tafseer of The Originator · Faatir · 35:40
Say, "Have you considered your 'partners' whom you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they have created from the earth, or have they partnership [with Him] in the heavens? Or have We given them a book so they are [standing] on evidence therefrom? [No], rather, the wrongdoers do not promise each other except delusion."
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 أَرَأَيْتُمْ شُرَكَاءَكُمُ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقُوا مِنَ الأَرْضِ أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ أَمْ آتَيْنَاهُمْ كِتَابًا فَهُمْ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْهُ بَلْ إِنْ يَعِدُ الظَّالِمُونَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا إِلا غُرُورًا (35:40) (Say: "Have you seen your associate-gods whom you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth, or do they have a share in the heavens? Or have We given them a Book, so that they rely upon a clear proof from it? No, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusion.")
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, says to His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: قُلْ ("Say") — O Muhammad — to the polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people: أَرَأَيْتُمْ ("Have you seen") — O you people — شُرَكَاءَكُمُ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقُوا مِنَ الأرْضِ ("your associate-gods whom you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth"). He says: show me which thing they have created of the earth. أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ ("or do they have a share in the heavens?"). He says: or do your associate-gods have a share together with Allah in the heavens, if they have created nothing of the earth? أَمْ آتَيْنَاهُمْ كِتَابًا فَهُمْ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْهُ ("Or have We given them a Book, so that they rely upon a clear proof from it?"). He says: or have We given these polytheists a Book that We sent down upon them from the heaven, with the command that they should take, besides Allah, the idols and the false deities as associate-gods, so that they rely upon a clear proof from it — so that they possess a ground of proof for that which I commanded them, namely the ascribing of associates to Me (shirk)?
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ شُرَكَاءَكُمُ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقُوا مِنَ الأرْضِ ("Say: Have you seen your associate-gods whom you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth") — by Allah, they have created nothing of it. أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ ("or do they have a share in the heavens?") — no, by Allah, they have no share therein. أَمْ آتَيْنَاهُمْ كِتَابًا فَهُمْ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْهُ ("Or have We given them a Book, so that they rely upon a clear proof from it?"). He says: or have We given them a Book that commands them to ascribe associates?
And His saying: بَلْ إِنْ يَعِدُ الظَّالِمُونَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا إِلا غُرُورًا ("No, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusion"). That is the saying of one to another: مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى ("We worship them only that they may bring us nearer to Allah in nearness") — as a misleading of one toward the other and as delusion. In reality, however, their gods bring them nearer to the Fire (al-nār) and remove them from Allah and from His mercy.
