Surah 6. Al-An'am, Ayah 91
| وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ إِذْ قَالُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ بَشَرٍ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ۗ قُلْ مَنْ أَنْزَلَ الْكِتَابَ الَّذِي جَاءَ بِهِ مُوسَىٰ نُورًا وَهُدًى لِلنَّاسِ ۖ تَجْعَلُونَهُ قَرَاطِيسَ تُبْدُونَهَا وَتُخْفُونَ كَثِيرًا ۖ وَعُلِّمْتُمْ مَا لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا أَنْتُمْ وَلَا آبَاؤُكُمْ ۖ قُلِ اللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- maa qadaro 'allaah h.aqq qadr -hi 'idh qaalo maa anzala 'allaah calaa bashar min shay' qul man anzala al- kitaab 'alladhe jaa'a bi- -hi mosaa nor(an) wa- huda(n) li- an- naas tajcalon -hu qaraat.es tubdon -haa wa- tukhfon kather(an) wa- cullimtum maa lam taclamo 'antum wa- laa 'aabaa' -kum qul 'allaah thumma dhar -hum fe khawd. -him yalcabon |
| Pickthall | : | And they measure not the power of Allah its true measure when they say: Allah hath naught revealed unto a human being. Say (unto the Jews who speak thus): Who revealed the Book which Moses brought, a light and guidance for mankind, which ye have put on parchments which ye show, but ye hide much (thereof), and by which ye were taught that which ye knew not yourselves nor (did) your fathers (know it)? Say: Allah. Then leave them to their play of cavilling. |
| Asad | : | For, no true understanding of God have they when they say, "Never has God revealed anything unto man." Say: "Who has bestowed from on high the divine writ which Moses brought unto men as a light and a guidance, [and] which you treat as72 [mere] leaves of paper, making a show of them the while you conceal [so] much - although you have been taught [by it] what neither you nor your forefathers had ever known?"73 Say: "God [has revealed that divine writ]!" - and then leave them to play at their vain talk. |
| Malik | : | Those people have not valued the attributes of Allah, the way His attributes should be valued, who say: "Allah has never revealed anything to a human being." Ask them: "Who then sent down the Book (Torah) which Musa brought, a light and guidance for mankind? You have transcribed it on separate sheets, publishing some and suppressing much of that given knowledge, which neither you nor your forefathers previously possessed." If they do not answer, then just say: "Allah" and leave them alone with the discourse of their useless arguments. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | No just estimate of Allah do they make when they say: "Nothing doth Allah send down to man (by way of revelation)": Say: "Who then sent down the Book which Moses brought? a light and guidance to man: but ye make it into (separate) sheets for show while ye conceal much (of its contents): therein were ye taught that which ye knew not neither ye nor your fathers." Say: "Allah (sent it down)": then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. 909 910 911 |
Note - 72Lit., "which you make into": but it should be remembered
that the verb ja'lahu has also the abstract meaning of
"he considered it to be" or "regarded it as" or "treated
it as" (Jawhari, Raghib, et al.): a significance often
met with in the Qur'an.
|
Note - 73This passage is obviously addressed to those followers of
the Bible who pay lip-service to its sacred character as
a revealed scripture but, in reality, treat it as "mere
leaves of paper" - that is, as something that is of
little consequence to their own conduct: for, although
they pretend to admire the moral truths which it
contains, they conceal from themselves the fact that
their own lives have remained empty of those truths.
|
Note - 909Qadara: to weight, judge, or estimate the value or
capacity of anything; to have power so to do. Cf. Qadir
in iv. 149 and n. 655. The Jews who denied the
inspiration of Muhammad had a good answer in their own
books about the inspiration of Moses. To those who do not
believe in Moses, the answer is more general: is it a
just estimate of God to think either that He has not the
power or the will to guide mankind, seeing that He is
Omnipotent and the Source of all good? If you say that
guidance comes, not through an inspired book or man, but
through our general intelligence, we point to the
spiritual ignorance of "you and your ancestors" the sad
spiritual darkness of men and nations high in the
intellectual scale.
|
Note - 910Cf. v. 47 and n. 750, and v. 49. In those passages
Guidance (in practical conduct) is put before Light (or
spiritual insight), as they refer to ordinary or average
men. Here Light (or spiritual insight) is put first as
the question is: does God send inspiration?
|
Note - 911The Message to Moses had unity: it was one Book. The
present Old Testament is a collection of odd books
("sheets") of various kinds: see Appendix II. end of S.
v. In this way you can make a show, but there is no
unity, and much of the spirit is lost or concealed or
overlaid. The same applies to the New Testament: see
Appendix III, after Appendix II.
|
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Lit., "which you make into": but it should be remembered that the verb ja'lahu has also the abstract meaning of "he considered it to be" or "regarded it as" or "treated it as" (Jawhari, Raghib, et al.): a significance often met with in the Qur'an. |
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This passage is obviously addressed to those followers of the Bible who pay lip-service to its sacred character as a revealed scripture but, in reality, treat it as "mere leaves of paper" - that is, as something that is of little consequence to their own conduct: for, although they pretend to admire the moral truths which it contains, they conceal from themselves the fact that their own lives have remained empty of those truths. |
| |
Qadara: to weight, judge, or estimate the value or capacity of anything; to have power so to do. Cf. Qadir in iv. 149 and n. 655. The Jews who denied the inspiration of Muhammad had a good answer in their own books about the inspiration of Moses. To those who do not believe in Moses, the answer is more general: is it a just estimate of God to think either that He has not the power or the will to guide mankind, seeing that He is Omnipotent and the Source of all good? If you say that guidance comes, not through an inspired book or man, but through our general intelligence, we point to the spiritual ignorance of "you and your ancestors" the sad spiritual darkness of men and nations high in the intellectual scale. |
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Cf. v. 47 and n. 750, and v. 49. In those passages Guidance (in practical conduct) is put before Light (or spiritual insight), as they refer to ordinary or average men. Here Light (or spiritual insight) is put first as the question is: does God send inspiration? |
| |
The Message to Moses had unity: it was one Book. The present Old Testament is a collection of odd books ("sheets") of various kinds: see Appendix II. end of S. v. In this way you can make a show, but there is no unity, and much of the spirit is lost or concealed or overlaid. The same applies to the New Testament: see Appendix III, after Appendix II. |
