Tafseer of Consultation · Ash-Shura · 42:24
Or do they say, "He has invented about Allah a lie"? But if Allah willed, He could seal over your heart. And Allah eliminates falsehood and establishes the truth by His words. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the breasts.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ وَيَمْحُ اللَّهُ الْبَاطِلَ وَيُحِقُّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (42:24) (Or do they say: "He has invented a lie about Allah"? But if Allah wills, He seals your heart. And Allah blots out falsehood and confirms the truth by His words. Indeed, He has knowledge of what is within the hearts. (24))
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Or do these polytheists who ascribe partners to Allah say: افْتَرَى (he has invented) — Muḥammad — عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا (a lie about Allah), and has he invented this which he recites to us out of himself? And His statement: فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ (But if Allah wills), O Muḥammad, then He seals your heart, so that you forget this Qurʾān which has been sent down to you.
And the exegetes spoke in terms similar to what we have said about this.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ (Or do they say: "He has invented a lie about Allah"? But if Allah wills, He seals your heart), so that He makes you forget the Qurʾān.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ (But if Allah wills, He seals your heart), he said: If Allah wills, He makes you forget what has already come to you.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning the statement of Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He: فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ (But if Allah wills, He seals your heart), he said: He seals.
And His statement: وَيَمْحُ اللَّهُ الْبَاطِلَ (And Allah blots out falsehood), He says: and Allah causes falsehood to vanish and destroys it. وَيُحِقُّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ (and confirms the truth by His words) which He has sent down to you, O Muḥammad, and establishes it.
And His statement: وَيَمْحُ اللَّهُ الْبَاطِلَ (And Allah blots out falsehood) is in the position of the nominative as the beginning (of a new sentence), but the wāw has been omitted from it in the muṣḥaf, just as it has been omitted from His statement: سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ (We shall summon the guards of Hell) and from His statement: وَيَدْعُ الإِنْسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ (And man calls for evil); and it is not jussive by being coupled to "yakhtim" (He seals).
And His statement: إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (Indeed, He has knowledge of what is within the hearts), the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Indeed, Allah possesses knowledge of what is in the breasts of His creatures, and of what their inner selves contain; nothing of their affairs is hidden from Him. He says to His Prophet ﷺ: If you were to consider within yourself inventing a lie about Allah, then I would seal your heart and I would take away what I have brought you of My revelation, for I blot out falsehood and cause it to vanish, and I confirm the truth. And this is merely an announcement from Allah to those who disbelieved in Him, who claimed that Muḥammad invented this Qurʾān out of himself; He informed them that, were he to do that, He would do to him what He has announced in this verse.
