Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:56
Say, "Indeed, I have been forbidden to worship those you invoke besides Allah." Say, "I will not follow your desires, for I would then have gone astray, and I would not be of the [rightly] guided."
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: Say: I am forbidden to worship those whom you call upon besides Allah. Say: I do not follow your desires; for then I would surely have gone astray and I would not be among the rightly guided (6:56)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to those among your people who ascribe partners to their Lord, who equate idols and peers with Him, who invite you to agree with them in their religion and in the worship of the idols: Allah has forbidden me to worship those whom you call upon besides Him, so I will never follow you in that to which you call me, and I will not side with you in it, and I will not give you my love and my desire in it. And if I were to do that, then I would have abandoned the path of truth and trodden a path other than guidance, and then I would have become one who goes astray like you, upon a path other than the straight one.
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The Arabs have for "ḍalaltu" (I went astray) two dialects: the opening (fatḥ) of the "lām" and the kasra (breaking) of it. The eloquent, well-known dialect is the opening of it, and with it the majority of the reciters of the regions recited, and with it we recite because of its renown among the Arabs. As for the kasra: it is not predominant in their speech, and those who recite with it are few. Whoever says "ḍalaltu" says "aḍillu" [in the future tense], and whoever says "ḍaliltu" says in the future tense "aḍallu". And thus is the recitation according to us in the rest of the Qurʾān: And they said: When we are lost (astray) with the fatḥa of the "lām" [Surah al-Sajda: 10].
