Tafseer of Consultation · Ash-Shura · 42:51
And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a partition or that He sends a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. Indeed, He is Most High and Wise.
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: وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ (And it is not granted to any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation (waḥy), or from behind a veil, or that He sends a messenger who then reveals by His permission what He wills. Truly, He is Exalted, All-Wise) (42:51).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and it does not befit any human being among the sons of Ādam that his Lord should speak to him, except by a revelation (waḥy) that Allah reveals to him in the manner that He wills, or by an inspiration (ilhām), or by something else.
(أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ) — He says: or that He speaks to him in such a manner that he hears His word but does not see Him, just as He spoke to Mūsā, His prophet — peace be upon him.
(أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولا) — He says: or that Allah sends from among His angels a messenger, whether Jibrāʾīl or another.
(فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ) — He says: and that messenger then reveals to the one to whom he has been sent, with the permission of his Lord, what He wills, that is to say: what his Lord wills to reveal to him of command and prohibition and other matters of the message and the revelation.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His words, mighty and exalted is He: (وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلا وَحْيًا) — He reveals to him; (أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ) — Mūsā, to him Allah spoke from behind a veil; (أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ) — he said: Jibrāʾīl comes with the revelation.
The Qurʾān reciters differ over the reading of His words: (أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولا) "fa-yūḥiya". The majority of the reciters of the regions read it (فَيُوحِيَ) with the "yāʾ" in the accusative, in agreement with (يُرْسِلَ); and they placed (يُرْسِلَ) in the accusative, in agreement with the position of "al-waḥy" and its meaning, for the meaning is: and it is not granted to any human being that Allah should speak to him, except that He reveals to him, or that He sends to him a messenger who then reveals by His permission what He wills. Nāfiʿ al-Madanī read it "fa-yūḥī" with dropping of the "yāʾ", in the meaning of the nominative, in agreement with (يُرْسِلُ), and with (يُرْسِلُ) in the nominative as a new beginning (ibtidāʾ).
His words: (إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ) — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says, and He means Himself, exalted is His praise: He is the Possessor of loftiness above all things, and of highness over them, and of power. "Ḥakīm" (All-Wise) — He says: Possessor of wisdom in His governance of His creatures.
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Footnotes:
(1) So it stands in the manuscript; presumably it should be "ilqāʾ" (casting) or "ilhām" (inspiration), and so forth.
