Tafseer of The Dunes · Al-Ahqaf · 46:17
But one who says to his parents, "Uff to you; do you promise me that I will be brought forth [from the earth] when generations before me have already passed on [into oblivion]?" while they call to Allah for help [and to their son], "Woe to you! Believe! Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth." But he says, "This is not but legends of the former people" -
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 he who said to his parents: "Fie upon you both! Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth, when generations have already passed away before me?" While they both call upon Allah for help: "Woe to you, believe! Verily, the promise of Allah is true." But he says: "This is nothing but the fables of the ancients." (46:17)
This is a description by Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, of one who is thereby straying and disbelieving, and disobedient toward his parents, while the two of them strive to give him good counsel and to call him to Allah; and their calling to the truth and their counsel does nothing but increase him in arrogance and rebelliousness toward Allah, and persistence in his ignorance. Allah, whose praise is exalted, says: And he who said to his parents — when the two of them called him to belief in Allah and to the acknowledgment that Allah will raise His creatures from their graves and requite them for their deeds — "Fie upon you both!" — He says: loathsome and foul are you both! — "Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth?" — He says: do you promise me that I shall be brought forth from my grave, after my decay and decomposition therein, alive?
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth?" — that I shall be brought forth after death.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth?" — he said: he means the resurrection after death.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying And he who said to his parents: "Fie upon you both! Do you promise me…" to the end of the verse; he said: the one who said this was a son of Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. He said: "Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth?" — do you promise me that I shall be brought forth after death.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Hawdha related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying And he who said to his parents: "Fie upon you both! Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth?" — he said: it is the disbeliever, the corrupt one, who is disobedient toward his parents and who denies the resurrection.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: then He described an evil servant, disobedient toward his parents, corrupt, and said: And he who said to his parents: "Fie upon you both!" up to His saying the fables of the ancients.
And His saying when generations have already passed away before me — he says: do you promise me that I shall be brought forth, when generations of the nations have already passed before me who have decayed, without even one of them being brought forth? And if I were to be brought forth after my death as you both claim, then whoever among the generations decayed before me would already have been brought forth. While they both call upon Allah for help — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and his parents implore Allah against him and call upon Him for help against him, so that he might believe in Allah and acknowledge the resurrection, and they say to him: "Woe to you, believe!", that is: affirm the promise of Allah and acknowledge that you, after your death, will be brought forth; verily, the promise of Allah which He made to His creatures, namely that He will raise them from their graves and bring them forth therefrom to the station of the reckoning to requite them for their deeds, is true, there is no doubt about it. Then the enemy of Allah says, answering his parents, and rejecting their counsel, and denying the promise of Allah: this which you both say to me and to which you both call me, namely the affirmation that after my death I shall be brought forth from my grave, is nothing but that which the ancients among the people have recorded and written down of falsehoods, and which the two of you have come upon and affirmed.
