Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:60
And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.
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.
And His saying: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (And your Lord said: "Call upon Me, and I shall answer you") — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and your Lord says to you, O people: call upon Me; thereby He says: worship Me and devote worship purely to Me, to the exclusion of the idols, the graven images, and all else that you worship besides Me. أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (I shall answer you) means: I shall respond to your call, forgive you, and have mercy upon you.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (Call upon Me, and I shall answer you), he said: affirm My oneness (waḥḥidūnī), and I shall forgive you.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The call (al-duʿāʾ), that is worship." And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (And your Lord said: "Call upon Me, and I shall answer you. Verily, those who are too proud for My worship...").
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr and al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying: "The call, that is worship. وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (And your Lord said: 'Call upon Me, and I shall answer you') ... the verse."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ — Abū Mūsā said: thus said Ghundar, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "Verily, the call, that is worship." وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ (And your Lord said: "Call upon Me, and I shall answer you").
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with the like of it.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Yūsuf ibn al-ʿArf al-Bāhilī related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Juḥāda, on the authority of Yusayʿ al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily, My worship is My call." Then he recited this verse: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (And your Lord said: "Call upon Me, and I shall answer you. Verily, those who are too proud for My worship..."), he said: "for My call".
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Thābit, he said: I said to Anas: O Abū Ḥamza, has it reached you that the call is half of worship? He said: no, rather, it is the whole of worship.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: Manṣūr informed us, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of Yusayʿ al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The call, that is worship", then he recited this verse: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (And your Lord said: "Call upon Me, and I shall answer you. Verily, those who are too proud for My worship...").
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim related to us, on the authority of al-Ashjaʿī, he said: it was said to Sufyān: call upon Allah. He said: verily, the abandonment of sins, that is the call.
And His saying: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (Verily, those who are too proud for My worship) means: verily, those who deem themselves too exalted to worship Me alone and to ascribe divinity to Me alone, سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ (shall enter Hell (jahannam) abased) in the meaning of: contemptible and small. And we have already demonstrated earlier what the meaning of "al-dakhar" (abasement) is, with that which dispenses us from repeating it in this place.
And it has been said: that the meaning of His saying إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (Verily, those who are too proud for My worship) is: verily, those who are too proud for My call.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي (Verily, those who are too proud for My worship), he said: for My call.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, دَاخِرِينَ (abased), he said: contemptible and small.
