Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:156
[We revealed it] lest you say, "The Scripture was only sent down to two groups before us, but we were of their study unaware,"
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: أَنْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أُنْزِلَ الْكِتَابُ عَلَى طَائِفَتَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا وَإِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ دِرَاسَتِهِمْ لَغَافِلِينَ ("Lest you should say: 'The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us, and we were indeed heedless of their study of it'") (6:156).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The grammarians (linguists) differed concerning the governing factor (al-ʿāmil) of the "an" ("lest"/"that") in His statement (an taqūlū — "lest you should say") and concerning the meaning of this statement.
Some of the grammarians of Basra said: The meaning of it is: ثُمَّ آتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَابَ تَمَامًا عَلَى الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ ("Then We gave Mūsā the Book as a completion for him who did good") (6:154) — out of aversion that you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us."
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And some of the grammarians of Kufa said: No, it is in the accusative (naṣb) because of an omitted verb. He said: And the meaning of the statement is: So follow it and fear [Allah], that you may receive mercy = fear lest you should say. He said: And resembling this is the statement of Allah: أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ ("lest your deeds become void while you do not perceive") [Surah al-Ḥujurāt: 2].
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And others of them said: It is in the accusative. He said: And its accusative case proceeds from two places: the one is: We sent it down lest they should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us" = and the other proceeds from His statement: (fear). He said: And it is not suitable in the place of "an" as in His statement: يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَضِلُّوا ("Allah makes [it] clear to you lest you go astray") [Surah al-Nisāʾ: 176].
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of these statements in my view is the statement of him who said: The "an" is in the accusative because of its connection with the sending down (al-inzāl), for the meaning of the statement is: And this is a Book that We have sent down, blessed, lest you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us."
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As for the two groups that Allah mentioned, and of whom He informed that He sent down His Book upon His Prophet Muḥammad only so that the polytheists (mushrikīn) would not say: "Upon us no Book was sent down that we might follow it, and we were neither commanded nor forbidden anything, so there rests upon us no burden of proof concerning what we do and leave undone, since from Allah there has come neither Book nor Messenger; the proof rests only upon the two groups upon whom the Book was sent down before us" — they are the Jews and the Christians. And thus the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14180 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: (lest you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us"), they are the Jews and the Christians.
14181 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (lest you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us"), the Jews and the Christians; it was feared that Quraysh would say it.
14182 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: (lest you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us"), he said: The Jews and the Christians. He said: Lest Quraysh should say it.
14183 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (lest you should say: "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us"), they are the Jews and the Christians.
14184 – 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: ("The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us"), as for the two groups: they are the Jews and the Christians.
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And as for (and we were indeed heedless of their study of it), that means: lest you should say: And we were indeed, concerning the recitation by the two groups of the Book that I sent down upon them = "heedless," we did not know what it was, and we do not know what they recite and what they say, nor what was sent down to them in their Book, because they were the people of it and not we, and we were not charged with it, nor were we commanded what is in it, nor is it in our language — so that they might take that as a proof. So Allah, by the sending down of the Qurʾān upon His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, cut off that proof from them.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14185 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and we were indeed heedless of their study of it), he says: And we were indeed heedless of their recitation.
14186 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (and we were indeed heedless of their study of it), that is to say: of their recitation.
14187 – Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: (and we were indeed heedless of their study of it), he said: "The study" (al-dirāsa) is the recitation and the knowledge. And he recited: وَدَرَسُوا مَا فِيهِ ("and they studied what is in it") [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 169]. He said: They knew what is in it, they did not approach it with ignorance.
14188 – 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: (and we were indeed heedless of their study of it), he says: And we were indeed heedless of their recitation, we do not know what it is.
