Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:78
And We have already sent messengers before you. Among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you. And it was not for any messenger to bring a sign [or verse] except by permission of Allah. So when the command of Allah comes, it will be concluded in truth, and the falsifiers will thereupon lose [all].
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: وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُولٍ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ بِآيَةٍ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ قُضِيَ بِالْحَقِّ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ (78)
(And indeed, We sent messengers before you; among them are some about whom We have told you, and among them are some about whom We have not told you. And it was not for a messenger to come with a sign except by the permission of Allah. And when the command of Allah comes, it is judged by the truth, and there the falsifiers lose.) (40:78)
The Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ( وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا ) (And indeed, We sent), O Muḥammad, ( رُسُلا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ ) (messengers before you) to their communities. ( مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ ) (among them are some about whom We have told you) means: of those whom We sent to their communities, there are some about whom We have related to you their account, ( وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ ) (and among them are some about whom We have not told you) their account.
It has been reported on the authority of Anas that they were eight thousand.
* Mention of the narration concerning that:
ʿAlī ibn Shuʿayb al-Simsār related to us, saying: Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir ibn Mismār related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abān, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent after eight thousand prophets, of whom four thousand were from the Children of Israel.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of ʿUtba ibn ʿUtayba al-Baṣrī al-ʿAbdī, on the authority of Abū Sahl, on the authority of Wahb ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Sūr al-Azdī, on the authority of Salmān, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: "Allah sent four thousand prophets."
Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Tirmidhī related to me, saying: Ādam ibn Abī Iyās related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yaḥyā, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning His saying: ( مِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ لَمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ ) (among them are some about whom We have told you and among them are some about whom We have not told you) — he said: Allah sent an Abyssinian servant as a prophet; he is the one about whom We have not told you.
And His saying: ( وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُولٍ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ بِآيَةٍ إِلا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ) (And it was not for a messenger to come with a sign except by the permission of Allah). The Exalted says: and We did not permit any messenger of those whom We sent before you — those about whom We have told you and those about whom We have not told you — to bring to their communities a sign distinguishing between him and them, except by the permission of Allah for that, so that he brought it to them. The Exalted, praised be His praise, says to His Prophet: therefore He did not permit you to bring to your people the signs which they ask of you, without Our permission to you for that, just as We did not permit that to any of the messengers before you, except that We granted him permission for that. ( فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ قُضِيَ بِالْحَقِّ ) (And when the command of Allah comes, it is judged by the truth) — that is: with justice, and that is that He rescues His messengers and those who believed with them. ( وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ ) (and there the falsifiers lose) means: and there perish those who proclaimed falsehood in their sayings and who fabricated against Allah and who claimed a partner for Him.
