Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:7
And even if We had sent down to you, [O Muhammad], a written scripture on a page and they touched it with their hands, the disbelievers would say, "This is not but obvious magic."
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: وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ كِتَابًا فِي قِرْطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوهُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ لَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَذَا إِلا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ ("And even had We sent down to you a writing on parchment, and they had touched it with their hands, then those who disbelieve would surely say: This is nothing but plain sorcery.") (7)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah, exalted is His mention, to His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning this people who set up alongside their Lord the idols, the deities, and the false gods. He, exalted is His mention, says: how would they comprehend the signs, or how would they come, through the proofs of Allah, His signs, and His evidences, to perceive the falsehood of disbelief in Allah and the denial of your prophethood in which they persist — while they, on account of their obstinate resistance to the truth and their turning away from right guidance, if I were to send down upon you, O Muḥammad, the revelation that I have sent down upon you through My messenger, upon a parchment which they behold with their own eyes and touch with their hands (22), and which they look at and from which they read, suspended between the heaven and the earth, containing the truth of that to which you call them and the correctness of that which you bring them concerning My oneness and My sending down — those who set up others as equals to Me and thus assign partners to Me in My oneness would surely say: "in hādhā illā siḥrun mubīn" (this is nothing but plain sorcery), that is to say: this which you have brought us is nothing but sorcery with which you have bewitched our eyes; it has no reality and no validity (23) = "mubīn" (plain). He says: plain to whoever ponders it and considers it, that it is sorcery without reality. (24)
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, a group of the people of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
13073 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah, exalted is His mention: "kitāban fī qirṭāsin fa-lamasūhu bi-aydīhim" (a writing on parchment and they had touched it with their hands), he said: they touched it and looked at it, but did not believe in it.
13074 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "wa-law nazzalnā ʿalayka kitāban fī qirṭāsin fa-lamasūhu bi-aydīhim" (and even had We sent down to you a writing on parchment and they had touched it with their hands), he says: they beheld it with their own eyes = "la-qāla alladhīna kafarū in hādhā illā siḥrun mubīn" ("then those who disbelieve would surely say: This is nothing but plain sorcery").
13075 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "wa-law nazzalnā ʿalayka kitāban fī qirṭāsin fa-lamasūhu bi-aydīhim" (and even had We sent down to you a writing on parchment and they had touched it with their hands), he says: if We were to send down from the heaven leaves in which there was a writing, and they were to touch them with their hands, that would only increase them in denial.
13076 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "wa-law nazzalnā ʿalayka kitāban fī qirṭāsin" (and even had We sent down to you a writing on parchment), the leaves.
13077 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "fī qirṭāsin" (on parchment), he says: on a leaf = "fa-lamasūhu bi-aydīhim la-qāla alladhīna kafarū in hādhā illā siḥrun mubīn" ("and they had touched it with their hands, then those who disbelieve would surely say: This is nothing but plain sorcery").
