Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:57
Or [lest] it say, "If only Allah had guided me, I would have been among the righteous."
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 Exalted: أَوْ تَقُولَ لَوْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هَدَىٰنِى لَكُنتُ مِنَ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ ("Or that it should say: If Allah had guided me, I would surely have been among the God-fearing") (39:57).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, says: And turn in repentance to your Lord, O people, and submit yourselves to Him, so that no soul should say on the Day of Resurrection: Woe is me for that in which I fell short toward Allah (fī janbi llāh), in the matter of Allah; and so that no other soul should say: If Allah had guided me to the truth and enabled me toward the straight path, I would surely have been among those who feared Him through obedience to Him and the pursuit of His good pleasure; or so that yet another soul should not say, when it sees the punishment of Allah and beholds it with its own eyes: Had I but a return — it says: had I but a return to the worldly life — then I would be among the doers of good, who acted well in obedience to their Lord and acted in accordance with that which the messengers had commanded them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes 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, concerning Woe is me for that in which I fell short toward Allah ... the verse, he said: this is the statement of one group among them; Or that it should say: If Allah had guided me ... the verse, he said: this is the statement of another group; Or that it should say when it sees the punishment ... the verse, by which He means, with His words Had I but a return, a return to the worldly life, he said: this is yet another group.
