Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:173
Or [lest] you say, "It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allah before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?"
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: أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ (173) ("Or lest you should say: Our forefathers ascribed partners [to Allah] before us, and we were a progeny after them; will You then destroy us for what the falsifiers did?")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: We bore witness against you, O you who acknowledge that Allah is your Lord, so that on the Day of Resurrection you would not say: إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ ("Verily, we were heedless of this") — we did not know that, and we were in a state of heedlessness concerning it — "or lest you should say: (Our forefathers ascribed partners [to Allah] before us, and we were a progeny after them)," we followed their path — "(will You then destroy us)" on account of the ascribing of partners (shirk) by those of our forefathers who ascribed partners, and on account of our following their path out of ignorance on our part regarding the truth? And by His word "(for what the falsifiers did)" He means: for what those did who falsely called upon a god other than Allah.
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The reciters differed concerning the recitation of this. Some Meccans and Basrans recited "أَنْ يَقُولُوا" ("lest they should say") with the yāʾ, in the meaning: We bore witness lest they should say, in the manner of reporting about the unseen (in the third person).
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The general body of reciters of Medina and Kufa recited this "(أَنْ تَقُولُوا)" ("lest you should say") with the tāʾ, in the manner of the address of the witnesses to those against whom witness is borne.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view in this is that they are two recitations, both of which are correct in meaning and agree in interpretation, even though their wordings differ, for the Arabs do this in reporting (statements), as Allah has said: لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ ("You shall surely make it clear to the people") and لَيُبَيِّنُنَّهُ ("They shall surely make it clear") [Sūrah Āl ʿImrān: 187]. We have already explained the cases comparable to this in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
