Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:68
Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving 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 His word: قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ("Say: 'O People of the Book, you stand on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to you from your Lord.'" (5:68))
Abū Jaʿfar said: And this is a command from Allah, exalted is His mention, to His Prophet Muḥammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to convey the message to the Jews and the Christians who were in the midst of his place of emigration. He, exalted is His mention, says to him: "Say," O Muḥammad, to these Jews and Christians — "O People of the Book," the Torah and the Gospel — "you stand on nothing" of that which you claim to stand upon, of what Mūsā (peace be upon him) brought you, O company of Jews, nor of what ʿĪsā brought you, O company of Christians — "until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to you from your Lord," of what Muḥammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) brought you of the Criterion (al-furqān); so that you uphold all of that, and believe in what is contained in it concerning belief in Muḥammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and affirming him as truthful, and acknowledge that all of this is from Allah, and deny nothing of it, and make no distinction between the messengers of Allah by believing in some and rejecting others; for disbelief in one of them is disbelief in all, because the Books of Allah confirm one another, and whoever denies some of them has denied all.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the report has come.
12284 — Hannād ibn al-Sarī and Abū Kurayb related to us, both of them saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: To the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) came Rāfiʿ ibn Ḥāritha, Sallām ibn Mishkam, Mālik ibn al-Ṣayf, and Rāfiʿ ibn Ḥuraymila, and they said: "O Muḥammad, do you not claim that you follow the religion of Ibrāhīm and his faith, and do you not believe in what we possess of the Torah, and testify that it is from Allah, truth?" Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Indeed, but you have introduced innovations and denied what is in it of the covenant that was taken from you, and you have concealed of it what you were commanded to make clear to the people; and I am free of your innovations!" They said: "We hold fast to what is in our hands, for we stand upon the truth and the guidance, and we do not believe in you nor follow you!" Then Allah, exalted is His mention, sent down: قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ("Say: 'O People of the Book, you stand on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to you from your Lord'") up to: فَلا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ ("So grieve not over the disbelieving people").
12285 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "Say: 'O People of the Book, you stand on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to you from your Lord'," he said: thus we too have become among the People of the Book — "the Torah," for the Jews, and "the Gospel," for the Christians, "and what has been sent down to you from your Lord," and what has been sent down to us from our Lord — that is to say: "you stand on nothing until you uphold," until you act according to what is in it.
The explanation of His word: وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنْهُمْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا فَلا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ (68) ("And what has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So grieve not over the disbelieving people." (5:68))
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, means by His word: "And what has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief," and He swore: surely the Book that I have sent down to you, O Muḥammad, will increase many of these Jews and Christians whose stories He has told in these verses — "in transgression (ṭughyān)," he says: in exceeding bounds and excess in denying you, on top of what they already harbored therein toward you before the sending down of the Criterion — "and disbelief (kufr)," he says: and in denial of your prophethood.
And we have already explained earlier what the meaning of "al-ṭughyān (transgression)" is.
And as for His word: "So grieve not over the disbelieving people," He means by His word "so grieve not (fa-lā taʾsa)": be not saddened.
One says: "asiya so-and-so ʿalā such-and-such" when he is saddened, "yaʾsā asan," and from this is the word of the rajaz poet:
"And both his eyes overflowed from excess of grief"
He, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet: be not saddened, O Muḥammad, over the denial of you by these disbelievers among the Jews and the Christians of the Children of Israel, for such a thing from them is a habit and a nature toward their prophets, so how much more toward you?
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
12286 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And what has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief," he said: the Criterion (al-furqān); he says: so be not saddened.
12287 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: "So grieve not over the disbelieving people," he said: be not saddened.