Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:124
And when a sign comes to them, they say, "Never will we believe until we are given like that which was given to the messengers of Allah." Allah is most knowing of where He places His message. There will afflict those who committed crimes debasement before Allah and severe punishment for what they used to conspire.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His word: When a sign comes to them, they say: "We will not believe until we are given the like of what was given to the messengers of Allah." Allah knows best where He places His message (6:124).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And when there came to these polytheists (mushrikīn) — who dispute with the believers, with adorned words, concerning that which Allah has forbidden them, in order to turn [people] away from the path of Allah — a sign (āyah), that is, a proof from Allah of the correctness and truthfulness of that with which Muḥammad ﷺ came to them on behalf of Allah, then they said to the prophet of Allah and his companions: We will not believe. This means: they say: We will not believe in that to which Muḥammad ﷺ has invited us, namely belief in him, and in that which he has brought of the prohibition of that which he mentioned that Allah has forbidden us, until we are given. They mean: until Allah gives them of the miracles as much as that which He gave to Mūsā — the splitting of the sea — and to ʿĪsā — the bringing of the dead to life, and the healing of the one born blind and the leper.
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Allah knows best where He places His message. He, whose praise is exalted, means by it: that the signs of the prophets and the messengers will not be given to any human being except to a sent messenger, and that those who equate to their Lord the idols and the false deities are not among them, such that they should be given them. He, whose praise is exalted, says: I know best where the places of My messages are, and who is suited for them. It is not for you, O polytheists, to make a choice in that above Me, for the choosing of the messenger belongs to the Sender, not to those to whom [the message] is sent. And Allah knows best, when He sends a message, where the place of His messages is.
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The statement concerning the explanation of His word: Those who committed crimes, humiliation before Allah will befall them and a severe punishment, on account of the scheming they plotted (6:124).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, instructing him about what He will do with these rebels against him: "There will befall," O Muḥammad, those who acquired sin through their ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk) and their worship of other than Him, humiliation, that is to say: disparagement and disgrace. As [in the following]:
13851 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning Those who committed crimes, humiliation before Allah will befall them, he said: "the humiliation" is the disparagement.
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It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) from the saying of the one who says: "ṣaghira yaṣgharu ṣaghāran wa-ṣagharan," and it is the most severe humiliation.
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As for His word: humiliation before Allah, the meaning of it is: there will befall them a humiliation from before Allah, like the saying of the one who says: "My sustenance will come to me from Allah," in the meaning: from before Allah, by which is meant: That which is for me before Allah will come to me. And it is not permissible for the one who says: "There will befall them a humiliation before Allah," that he should say: "I came to ʿAbdallāh," in the meaning: I came from before ʿAbdallāh, for the meaning of "There will befall them a humiliation before Allah" is: there will befall them that which is before Allah of humiliation, on account of their denial of His messenger. That, then, is not comparable to: "I came from before ʿAbdallāh."
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And His word: and a severe punishment, on account of the scheming they plotted, says: These deniers of Allah and His messenger, who declared lawful for themselves what Allah had forbidden them of carrion, will be befallen — in addition to the humiliation — by a severe punishment, on account of the scheming they plotted against Islam and its adherents, through disputation with falsehood and adorned words, for the misleading of the adherents of the religion of Allah and His obedience.
