Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:147
So if they deny you, [O Muhammad], say, "Your Lord is the possessor of vast mercy; but His punishment cannot be repelled from the people who are criminals."
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: فَإِنْ كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُلْ رَبُّكُمْ ذُو رَحْمَةٍ وَاسِعَةٍ وَلا يُرَدُّ بَأْسُهُ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (147) (And if they deny you, say: Your Lord is the possessor of all-encompassing mercy, but His might is not turned back from the criminal people.) (6:147)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says to His prophet Muḥammad, the Prophet ﷺ: and if they deny you, O Muḥammad, (1) these Jews, in that which We have informed you that We have forbidden to them and permitted to them, as We have expounded in this verse, فقل ربكم ذو رحمة (say then: your Lord is the possessor of mercy), toward us, and toward whoever of His servants believed in Him, and toward others of His creatures, واسعة (all-encompassing), which encompasses His whole creation, (2) the doer of good and the doer of evil; He does not hasten to punish whoever disbelieves in Him with chastisement, nor whoever disobeys Him with retribution, and He does not withhold the honoring of whoever believed in Him and obeyed Him, nor does He deny him the reward of his work; out of mercy from Him toward both groups. But His might — and that is His power and His chastisement (3) — when He unleashes it at the time of His wrath upon the criminals among them, is turned back by nothing of theirs. And "al-mujrimūn" (the criminals) are those who committed crimes and thereby acquired the sins and perpetrated the evil deeds. (4)
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14126- Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: فإن كذبوك (and if they deny you), the Jews.
14127- Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: فإن كذبوك (and if they deny you), the Jews, فقل ربكم ذو رحمة واسعة (say then: your Lord is the possessor of all-encompassing mercy).
14128- 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, he said: the Jews said: it was only Israel (Yaʿqūb) who forbade it — they meant: the caul-fat and the kidney-fat — so we too forbid it. And that is His saying: فإن كذبوك فقل ربكم ذو رحمة واسعة ولا يردّ بأسه عن القوم المجرمين (and if they deny you, say: your Lord is the possessor of all-encompassing mercy, but His might is not turned back from the criminal people).
--------------------
The footnotes:
(1) In the printed edition it has "kadhdhabūka" (they denied you), and the correct reading is from the manuscript.
(2) See the explanation of "wāsiʿ" (all-encompassing) in what passed earlier 11: 489, note 2, and the references there.
(3) See the explanation of "al-baʾs" (the might) in what passed earlier 11: 357, note 1, and the references there.
(4) See the explanation of "al-mujrim" (the criminal) in what passed earlier, p. 93.
