Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:23
And similarly, We did not send before you any warner into a city except that its affluent said, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in their footsteps, following."
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: وَكَذَلِكَ مَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ إِلا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُقْتَدُونَ (43:23) (And thus We did not send before you any warner into a town except that those of it who lived in luxury said: "We found our fathers upon a community, and we are following in their footsteps.")
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and likewise, just as these polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh did, so too did those before them among the people who disbelieved in Allah do, and they spoke just as their words. We did not send before you, O Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ), into any town — that is to say: to its inhabitants — messengers warning them of Our punishment for their disbelief in Us, and they warned them and admonished them of Our wrath and the descent of Our punishment upon them, ( إِلا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا ) (except that those of it who lived in luxury said), and they are their leaders and their great ones.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement ( إِلا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا ) (except that those of it who lived in luxury said): he said: their leaders and their nobles.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement ( وَكَذَلِكَ مَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ إِلا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا ) (And thus We did not send before you any warner into a town except that those of it who lived in luxury said): their leaders and their chiefs in ascribing partners to Allah (shirk).
And His statement ( إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ ) (We found our fathers upon a community) means: they said: we found our fathers upon a creed and a religion, ( وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ ) (and we are upon their footsteps) means: and we follow their way and their path, imitating their conduct; we do as they did, and we worship what they used to worship. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ): the polytheists of your people have only followed the way of those before them among their brethren, the people who ascribed partners to Allah, in their answer to you with which they answered you, and in their rejection of the good counsel which they rejected, and in their adducing of the arguments which they adduced to cling to their false religion.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
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 ( وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُقْتَدُونَ ) (and we are following in their footsteps): he said: imitating their conduct.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُقْتَدُونَ ) (and we are following in their footsteps): so they imitated them in that.
