Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:58
Say, "If I had that for which you are impatient, the matter would have been decided between me and you, but Allah is most knowing of the wrongdoers."
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 لَوْ أَنَّ عِنْدِي مَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ بِهِ لَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالظَّالِمِينَ (6:58) (Say: If I possessed that which you seek to hasten, then the matter between me and you would have been decided. And Allah knows best the wrongdoers. (58))
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to these who set up alongside their Lord gods and idols, who reject you regarding that with which you have come to them, and who ask you to bring them a sign, out of haste for the punishment: if there were in my hand that which you seek to hasten of punishment — "then the matter between me and you would have been decided," and then it would be settled in the swiftest manner, in that I would hasten to bring you what you ask of me thereof and what you seek to hasten; but that lies in the hand of Allah, who knows best the time at which He sends it down upon the wrongdoers — those who place their worship, which is due to Allah alone, in a wrong place, and who worship alongside Him the gods and the idols — and He knows best the time of the requital upon them and the state of the decision between me and them.
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It has also been said: the meaning of His word "then the matter between me and you would have been decided" is: by the slaughtering of death.
13304 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: It has reached me concerning His word "then the matter would have been decided," he said: the slaughtering of death.
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I suspect that the speaker of this statement derived it from His word And warn them of the Day of regret, when the matter will be decided while they are in heedlessness [sūrat Maryam: 39], for there has been transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ concerning this a report that points to the meaning which this speaker mentions regarding "the deciding of the matter." But His word "then the matter between me and you would have been decided" has nothing to do with that; this is only a command from Allah, exalted is His mention, to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, that he should say to the one who pressed him to hasten the deciding of the matter between him and them — through their word that he should bring them a sign — : if the punishment and the signs were in my hand and with me, then I would hasten to bring you what you ask of me thereof; but that lies in the hand of Him who knows better what sets His creation aright than I do and than all His creation.