Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:83
And that was Our [conclusive] argument which We gave Abraham against his people. We raise by degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing.
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 the words of the Exalted: And that is Our argument, which We gave to Ibrāhīm against his people. We raise in ranks whom We will. Truly, your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing (6:83).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His word "And that is Our argument": the saying of Ibrāhīm to his polytheistic opponents from among his people: "Which of the two parties has the greater right to security?" — the one who worships a single Lord, sincere to Him in religion and worship, or the one who worships many lords? And their answer to him, by which they said: "Rather, he who worships a single Lord has the greater right to security," and their verdict in his favor and against themselves — therein lay the cutting off of their excuse, the collapse of their argument, and the exaltation of Ibrāhīm's argument above them. This, then, is the argument that Allah gave to Ibrāhīm against his people, as in the following:
13513 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And that is Our argument, which We gave to Ibrāhīm against his people," he said: they are "those who believe and do not mix their belief with wrongdoing."
13514 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Ibrāhīm said when he asked: "Which of the two parties has the greater right to security?", he said: this is the argument of Ibrāhīm. And His word: "which We gave to Ibrāhīm against his people," means: We taught it to Ibrāhīm, We made him perceive it and made it known to him — "against his people; We raise in ranks whom We will."
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The reciters differ over the reading of this.
Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Baṣra read it: "We raise the ranks (darajāti) of whom We will," by annexing "the ranks" to "whom," in the meaning: We raise the ranks for whom We will.
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Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it: "We raise ranks (darajātin) of whom We will," with tanwīn on "the ranks," in the meaning: We raise whom We will in ranks.
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"The ranks" (al-darajāt) is the plural of "rank" (daraja), and that is the step. Their origin is the steps of a ladder and its rungs, and then it is used for the elevation of stations and ranks.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct verdict on this, in my view, is that one says: they are two readings, both recited by leading reciters, and their meaning is close to one another. For he whose rank is raised is thereby raised in the steps; and he who is raised in the steps, his rank is raised. With whichever of the two the reciter recites, he attains what is correct therein.
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The meaning of the words is therefore: "And that is Our argument, which We gave to Ibrāhīm against his people," and by it We raised his rank above them, and by it We honored him above them in this world and in the Hereafter. As for this world, in it We gave him his reward; and as for the Hereafter, there he is among the righteous — "We raise in ranks whom We will," that is, by what he did of that and of other than that.
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And as for His word: "Truly, your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing," this means: truly, your Lord, O Muḥammad, is "All-Wise" in the governance of His creatures, and in inspiring His prophets with the arguments against their communities who denied them and rejected the oneness of their Lord, and in all the rest of His ordaining — "All-Knowing" of that to which the affair of His messengers and of those to whom they are sent will come: whether the persistence of the communities in their denial of them and their destruction thereupon, or their turning back and their repentance from that by acknowledging the oneness of Allah, the Exalted whose praise is exalted, confirming His messengers, and returning to His obedience.
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The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: So take, O Muḥammad, for yourself and for your people who deny you and the polytheists, an example in your father, My intimate friend Ibrāhīm, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and endure what befalls you from them as he endured it; for I am Knowing of that to which your affair and their affair will come, and All-Wise in the ordaining concerning you and concerning them.
