Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:88
And [Allah acknowledges] his saying, "O my Lord, indeed these are a people who do not believe."
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.
His statement: ( And his saying: O my Lord, truly these are a people who do not believe ). The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed over the reading of His statement:
( wa-qīlihi ). The general reciters of Medina, Mecca, and Basra read it as "wa-qīlahu" with the naṣb ending (accusative). When it is read thus, it has two possible meanings in the interpretation: one of them is its conjunction (ʿaṭf) onto His statement: Or do they think that We do not hear their secret and their private conversation? , so: and We hear his saying: O my Lord. The second is that there is an implied verb attached to it which governs the accusative, so that the meaning is then: and he uttered his saying: ( O my Lord, truly these are a people who do not believe ), and Muḥammad voiced his complaint to his Lord. The general reciters of Kūfa read it ( wa-qīlihi ) with the khafḍ ending (genitive), with the meaning: and with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and the knowledge of his saying.
The correct judgment concerning that is that they are two well-known readings in the recitation of the regions, both correct in meaning, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he is correct. The interpretation of the statement is then: and Muḥammad uttered his saying, complaining to his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, about his people who denied him and about what he endured from them: O my Lord, truly these whom You have commanded me to warn and to whom You have sent me to call them to You are a people who do not believe.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( And his saying: O my Lord, truly these are a people who do not believe ), he said: and Allah, mighty and exalted is He, confirmed the saying of Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, as truth.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: ( And his saying: O my Lord, truly these are a people who do not believe ), he said: this is the saying of your Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, complaining about his people to his Lord.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: ( And his saying: O my Lord ), he said: that is the saying of the Prophet, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him: ( Truly these are a people who do not believe ).
