Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:8
And they say, "Why was there not sent down to him an angel?" But if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided; then they would not be reprieved.
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: وَقَالُوا لَوْلا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ وَلَوْ أَنْزَلْنَا مَلَكًا لَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ ثُمَّ لا يُنْظَرُونَ ("And they said: 'Why has no angel been sent down to him?' And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided, and then they would not be granted respite") (6:8).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: These deniers of My signs, who liken peers to Me and set up equals as gods, said, O Muḥammad, to you — when you called them to My oneness and to the acknowledgment of My Lordship, and when you had brought them the signs and lessons that you brought them, and confronted them with the arguments by which you cut off their excuse —: Why has no angel from heaven in his [own] form descended to you, who confirms you in what you have brought us, and who testifies on your behalf to the truth of what you claim, namely that Allah has sent you to us! As the Exalted has said, reporting about the polytheists in their statement against the Prophet of Allah, ﷺ: وَقَالُوا مَالِ هَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الأَسْوَاقِ لَوْلا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِيرًا ("And they said: 'What is with this messenger, that he eats food and walks about in the markets? Why has no angel been sent down to him, so that he would be a warner with him?'") [sūrat al-Furqān: 7].
"And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided, and then they would not be granted respite", He says: and if We had sent down an angel as they asked, and they had then become disbelievers and had not believed in Me and in My messenger, then the punishment would have come upon them immediately and not deferred, and they would not be granted respite so that they would be reprieved in the punishment to return in repentance, as He did with the nations before them, who asked for the signs and then, after their coming, became disbelievers — by the hastening of the punishment and the withholding of respite, as:
13078 - 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: "And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided, and then they would not be granted respite", he says: then the punishment would have come upon them.
13079 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided, and then they would not be granted respite", he says: and if We had sent down to them an angel, and they then would not believe, then they would not be granted respite.
13080 - 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, the Exalted: "Why has no angel been sent down to him?" — in his [own] form — "And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided", [then] the Hour would have arrived.
13081 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of his father, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "the matter would have been decided", he said: then the Hour would have arrived.
13082 - al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided", he said: he says: if Allah had sent down an angel and they then would not believe, then He would have hastened the punishment for them.
* * *
And others said concerning this what [follows below]:
13083 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra informed us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "And if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided, and then they would not be granted respite", he said: if an angel in his [own] form had come to them, then they would have died, and then they would not be granted respite, not even for the duration of a blink of an eye.
* * *
