Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:57
Say, "Indeed, I am on clear evidence from my Lord, and you have denied it. I do not have that for which you are impatient. The decision is only for Allah. He relates the truth, and He is the best of deciders."
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 word concerning the explanation of His statement: Zeg: Ik baseer mij op een duidelijk bewijs van mijn Heer, en jullie hebben dat verloochend. Wat jullie verhaasten wensen is niet bij mij. Het oordeel komt slechts Allah toe. Hij verkondigt de waarheid en Hij is de beste der beslissers (6:57)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet ﷺ: "Say," O Muḥammad, to these who ascribe associates to their Lord, who call upon you to ascribe associates to your Lord: "I rely upon a clear proof from my Lord," that is to say: I rely upon a clarity which I have plainly perceived, and upon a proof that has become clear to me, "from my Lord," he says: from my profession of His oneness (tawḥīd), and that upon which I stand of sincerity in His worship, without ascribing anything to Him as an associate.
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And thus the Arabs say: "So-and-so relies upon a clear proof (bayyina) regarding this matter," when he relies upon a clarity concerning it. And to this belongs the saying of the poet:
Do you desire a proof after his acknowledgment, and the word of Suwayd: "I have settled the matter of Bishr for you"?
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"And you have denied that," he says: and you have denied your Lord — and the "hāʾ" (the suffix) in His word "bihi" (in it/Him) refers to the Lord, mighty and exalted is He. "What you wish to hasten is not with me," he says: that which you wish to hasten of the punishments from Allah and His chastisement is not in my hand, and I am not capable of it. And that is because when Allah sent His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ with the profession of His oneness, and he called them to Allah and informed them that he was His Messenger to them, they said: Is dit anders dan een mens zoals jullie? Zullen jullie dan naar de tovenarij gaan terwijl jullie het kunnen zien? [Surah al-Anbiyāʾ: 3]. And they said concerning the Qurʾān: it is a jumble of dreams. And some of them said: no, it is a fabrication that he has fabricated. And others said: no, Muḥammad is a poet, so let him bring us a sign as the former ones were sent. Then Allah said to His Prophet ﷺ: Answer them that the signs are in the hand of Allah, not in your hand, and that you are only a messenger, and that nothing rests upon you except the conveyance of that with which you have been sent, and that Allah will decide the truth concerning them and concerning you, and thereby will judge between you and them, so that the truthful one among you may become distinct from the lying one. "And He is the best of those who decide," that is to say: and He is the best of those who clarify and distinguish between the truthful and the lying, and the most just of them, for in His judgment and His decision there falls no injustice in favor of anyone on account of a bond which that one has to Him, nor on account of kinship, nor on account of connection, and in His decision there is no injustice, for He accepts no bribe in the judgments so as to commit injustice thereby. He is therefore the most just of judges and the best of those who decide.
And it has been transmitted to us that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it states: (And He is the swiftest of those who decide).
13302 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he said: in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it states: (He decides the truth and He is the swiftest of those who decide).
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The Qurʾān-reciters differed concerning the reading of His word "yaquṣṣu l-ḥaqq" (He recounts the truth).
The majority of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Medina and some of the reciters of the People of Kufa and Basra read it: "The judgment belongs only to Allah, yaquṣṣu l-ḥaqq" with the ṣād, in the meaning of "recounting the narrative (al-qaṣaṣ)," and they explained that by the word of Allah, the Exalted whose praise is exalted: Wij verkondigen aan jou het schoonste verhaal [Surah Yūsuf: 3]. And this is transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās.
13303 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "He recounts the truth," and he said: Wij verkondigen aan jou het schoonste verhaal.
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And a group of the reciters of Kufa and Basra read this: (The judgment belongs only to Allah, yaqḍī l-ḥaqq — He decides the truth) with the ḍād, derived from "al-qaḍāʾ" (the decision), in the meaning of judging and settling by means of the decision, and they tested the soundness of that against His word "and He is the best of those who decide," and against the fact that the settling between adversaries occurs only by means of the decision (qaḍāʾ), not by means of recounting (qaṣaṣ).
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And this reading is, according to us, the more correct of the two readings, for the reason which we have mentioned on behalf of its proponents.
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The meaning of the statement is then: The judgment concerning that which you wish to hasten, O polytheists, of the chastisement of Allah, and concerning that which is between me and you, belongs only to Allah, who commits no injustice in His judgment, and in whose hand lie the creation and the command; He decides the truth between me and you, and He is the best of those who decide between us by His decision and His judgment.
