Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:34
And certainly were messengers denied before you, but they were patient over [the effects of] denial, and they were harmed until Our victory came to them. And none can alter the words of Allah. And there has certainly come to you some information about the [previous] messengers.
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: "And messengers before you were indeed denied, but they were patient with what was denied and with the harm done to them, until Our help came to them. And there is none who can change the words of Allah. And there has already come to you some of the tidings of the messengers" (6:34).
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a consolation from Allah, the Exalted whose mention is exalted, for His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and a condolence to him over the grief that befell him on account of his people's denial of him regarding the truth which he had brought them from Allah.
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: If these polytheists (mushrikīn) from among your people deny you, O Muḥammad, and reject your prophethood and deny that the signs of Allah are from Him, then let that not grieve you, and be patient with their denial of you and with the harm you suffer from them for the sake of Allah, until the help of Allah comes. For messengers before you were already denied, whom I had sent to their communities, and they were afflicted with harm, but they were patient with their people's denial of them, and that did not prevent them from continuing with the affair of Allah which He had charged them with: the calling of their people to it, until Allah judged between them and them.
"And there is none who can change the words of Allah," that is to say: there is none who can alter the words of Allah. And His "words," the Exalted whose mention is exalted, are that which Allah has sent down to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, of His promise to him of victory over whoever opposed and fought him, and triumph over whoever turned away from him and turned his back.
"And there has already come to you some of the tidings of the messengers," that is to say: and there has already come to you, O Muḥammad, of the report of those who were before you among the messengers, and the report of their communities, and what I did with them — when they rejected my signs and persisted in their error and misguidance — tidings (anbāʾ). And the word "anbāʾ" (tidings) was omitted, because the word "min" (some of / from) indicates it.
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: You too should expect of victory and triumph the like of what proceeded from me toward those who were before you among the messengers, when their people denied them, and follow their example in their patience with what they suffered from their people.
And in a manner corresponding to this, those of the exegetes who explained this verse have explained it.
Mention of who said that:
13198 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "And messengers before you were indeed denied, but they were patient with what was denied" — He consoles His Prophet ﷺ as you hear, and informs him that the messengers before him were denied, and they were patient with what was denied, until Allah judged, and He is the best of judges.
13199 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "And messengers before you were indeed denied," he said: He consoles His Prophet ﷺ.
13200 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "And messengers before you were indeed denied," the verse, he said: He consoles His Prophet ﷺ.
