Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:20
And they said, "If the Most Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have of that no knowledge. They are not but falsifying.
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 His statement, the Exalted: وَقَالُوا لَوْ شَاءَ الرَّحْمَنُ مَا عَبَدْنَاهُمْ مَا لَهُمْ بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلا يَخْرُصُونَ (And they said: had the All-Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of that; they do nothing but conjecture) (20)
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and these polytheists of the Quraysh said: had the All-Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped our idols which we worship alongside Him, and the reason that no punishment has descended upon us for our worship of them is only His good pleasure toward us with our worship of them.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( had the All-Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them ), namely the idols — Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, says. ( They have no knowledge of that ) He says: they have no knowledge of the reality of what they say regarding that, and they say it only out of conjecture and falsehood, for they have concerning that no report from Me, nor any proof. They say it only out of supposition and conjecture. ( they do nothing but conjecture ) He says: they are nothing but conjecturers with this statement which they have spoken, and that is their statement ( had the All-Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them ).
And Mujāhid used to say concerning the explanation of that — according to what Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( they do nothing but conjecture ): they do not know Allah's power to do that.
