Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:40
Say, "Have you considered: if there came to you the punishment of Allah or there came to you the Hour - is it other than Allah you would invoke, if you should be truthful?"
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 أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمُ السَّاعَةُ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ("Say: Have you considered, if the punishment of Allāh were to come upon you or the Hour were to come upon you, would you then call upon any other than Allāh, if you are truthful?") (40)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The linguists differ concerning the meaning of His word: "a-raʾaytakum" (have you considered).
Some grammarians of Basra said: The "kāf" that comes after the "tāʾ" in His word "a-raʾaytakum" has come only for the address, and the "tāʾ" has been left with a fatḥa as it was for the singular. He said: and this is like the "kāf" of "ruwaydaka Zaydan" (make haste, [help] Zayd), when you say: arwid Zaydan. This "kāf" has no position designated by a grammatical case, neither nominative nor accusative; in the address it is merely like the "kāf" of "dhāka" (that). And an example of this is the saying of the Arabs: "abṣaraka Zaydan" (see Zayd) (23); they add the "kāf" for the address.
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Others among them said: the meaning of "a-raʾaytakum in atākum" (have you considered, if it were to come upon you) is: a-raʾaytum (have you seen). He said: and this "kāf" is added for the address with emphasis, and the "tāʾ" alone is the noun, just as the "kāf" is added which distinguishes between the singular, the dual, and the plural in the address, as in their saying: "hādhā, wa-dhāka, wa-tilka, wa-ulāʾika" (this, and that, and that [f.], and those); the "kāf" is thus added for the address, and is not a noun, while the "tāʾ" is the noun for the singular and the plural, left in a single form. And an example of this is their saying: "laysaka thamma illā Zayd" (there is none there but Zayd), by which is meant: laysa = and "lā siyyaka Zayd," by which is meant: wa-lā siyyamā Zayd (and especially Zayd) = and "balāka," by which is meant "balā" in the sense of "naʿam" (yes, indeed) = and "la-biʾsaka rajulan wa-la-niʿmaka rajulan" (what a wretched man and what an excellent man). And they said: "unẓurka Zaydan mā aṣnaʿu bihi" (look [at] Zayd, what I do with him) = and "abṣaraka mā aṣnaʿu bihi" (see what I do with him), in the sense: abṣirhu (see it). And some transmitted: "abṣarakum mā aṣnaʿu bihi," by which is meant: abṣirū (see [plural]) = and "unẓurakum Zaydan," that is: unẓurū (look). And it has been transmitted from some of the Banū Kilāb: "a-taʿlamuka kāna aḥadun ashʿara min Dhī al-Rumma?" (do you know, was there anyone more poetic than Dhū al-Rumma?), where he added the "kāf."
Some grammarians of Kufa said: in "a-raʾaytaka ʿamran" (have you seen ʿAmr) the hamza is omitted in the majority of usage. He said: and the "kāf" of "a-raʾaytaka" stands in the position of the accusative, as if the original form was: a-raʾayta nafsaka ʿalā ghayri hādhihi al-ḥāl? (have you seen yourself in a state other than this?). He said: this is doubled, put into the plural, and made feminine, so that one says: "a-raʾaytumā kumā" and "a-raʾaytumūkum" and "a-raʾaytunnakunna" (24); he made his verb refer back to itself and questioned him about that, then usage became so frequent with it that they left the "tāʾ" in a single form for the masculine, the feminine, the dual, and the plural, and so they said: "a-raʾaytakum Zaydan mā ṣanaʿa" (have you [pl.] considered, Zayd, what he did) and "a-raʾaytakunna mā ṣanaʿa" (have you [f. pl.] considered what he did); thus they left the "tāʾ" in the singular and doubled and pluralized the "kāf," and made it a substitute for the "tāʾ" (25), as He said: هَاؤُمُ اقْرَءُوا كِتَابِيَهْ [sūrat al-Ḥāqqa: 19] ("Here, take, read my book"), and "hāʾ yā rajul" (here, O man), and "hāʾumā," then they said "hākum," contenting oneself with the "kāf" and the "mīm" in place of that which was doubled and pluralized. It is thus as if the "kāf" stands in the position of the nominative, since it was a substitute for the "tāʾ." And sometimes it is left in a single form for the dual, the plural, the masculine, and the feminine; and it is like the saying of one who says: "ʿalayka Zaydan" (upon you [rests the care of] Zayd), where the "kāf" stands in the position of the genitive (khafḍ), while the interpretation is the nominative. As for that which is adduced, this mostly falls upon the nouns, then one comes with the question, so that one says: "a-raʾaytaka Zaydan hal qāma" (have you considered, Zayd, has he risen?), because it took on the meaning of: inform me about Zayd, and then one made clear about what one seeks information. This is the most common usage. And the question does not come immediately after it (26); one did not say: "a-raʾaytaka hal qumta" (have you considered, have you risen?), because they wished to make clear about whom one asks, and then to clarify the state about which one asks. And sometimes one comes with the conditional and not with the noun (27), so that they said: "a-raʾayta in ataytu Zaydan hal yaʾtīnā" (have you considered, if I were to go to Zayd, would he then come to us) (28) = and "a-raʾaytaka" likewise = and "a-raʾaytu Zaydan in ataytuhu hal yaʾtīnā" (have I seen Zayd, if I were to go to him, would he then come to us), when it has the meaning of "akhbirnī" (inform me); and it is then pronounced in the three linguistic variants.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the explanation of the words is: say, O Muḥammad, to these who equate the idols and the false deities with Allāh: inform me, if the punishment of Allāh were to come upon you, O people, as it came upon the communities before you that perished — some of them by the earthquake, and some of them by the thunderbolt — or if the Hour were to come upon you, on which you will be raised from your graves and raised up for the standing-place of the Resurrection: would you then call upon any other than Allāh there to avert the calamity that has come upon you, or would you take refuge in any other than Him of your deities, that it might save you from the tremendous calamity that has come upon you? = "in kuntum ṣādiqīn" (if you are truthful). He says: if you are in the right in your claim and your assertion that your deities whom you call upon besides Allāh benefit or harm.
