Tafseer of The Dunes · Al-Ahqaf · 46:11
And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, "If it had [truly] been good, they would not have preceded us to it." And when they are not guided by it, they will say, "This is an ancient falsehood."
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 saying of the Exalted: And those who disbelieved said to those who believed: "Had it been anything good, they would not have preceded us to it." And since they did not let themselves be guided by it, they will say: "This is an ancient lie." (46:11)
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And those who denied the prophethood of the Prophet ﷺ — namely the Jews of the Banū Isrāʾīl — said to those who believed in him: if your affirmation of Muḥammad in that with which he came to you had been something good, then you would not have preceded us in affirming it. This explanation follows the view of the one who explained the saying En een getuige uit de Banū Isrāʾīl getuigde van iets gelijkaardigs as meaning that ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām is intended thereby. As for the explanation of the one who explained it as meaning that the polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Quraysh are intended thereby, for him the explanation of the saying And those who disbelieved said to those who believed: "Had it been anything good, they would not have preceded us to it" ought to be directed at the polytheists of the Quraysh. And so Qatāda also explained it, and in his explanation of it in that manner he refrained from explaining the saying En een getuige uit de Banū Isrāʾīl getuigde van iets gelijkaardigs as though ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām were intended thereby.
* Mention of the narration from him concerning that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: And those who disbelieved said to those who believed: "Had it been anything good, they would not have preceded us to it" — he said: that is what people of the polytheists said: we are mightier, and we, and we, and if it had been something good, then so-and-so and so-and-so would not have preceded us in it; but Allah distinguishes with His mercy whom He wills.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And those who disbelieved said to those who believed: "Had it been anything good, they would not have preceded us to it" — he said: that is what speakers among the people said, those who in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) were mightier than they; they said: by Allah, if this had been something good, then the tribe of so-and-so and the tribe of so-and-so would not have preceded us in it. Allah distinguishes with His mercy whom He wills, and Allah honors with His mercy whom He wills, blessed and exalted is He.
And His saying And since they did not let themselves be guided by it — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and because they gained no insight into Muḥammad and into that guidance which he brought from Allah, so that thereby they would find the straight path — then they will say: "This is an ancient lie" — He says: then they will say: this Qurʾān which Muḥammad ﷺ has brought are his old fabrications from the tales of the former peoples, just as the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said, reporting about them: And they said: "Fables of the ancients which he has had written down, and which are recited to him morning and evening."
