Tazkirul Quran · Tafsir · in English
Ash-Shu'ara 26:213–227
26:213–220Page 376
فَلَا تَدۡعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا ءَاخَرَ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُعَذَّبِينَ ٢١٣
So do not invoke1 with Allāh another deity and [thus] be among the punished.
وَأَنذِرۡ عَشِيرَتَكَ ٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَ ٢١٤
And warn, [O Muḥammad], your closest kindred.
وَٱخۡفِضۡ جَنَاحَكَ لِمَنِ ٱتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ ٢١٥
And lower your wing [i.e., show kindness] to those who follow you of the believers.
فَإِنۡ عَصَوۡكَ فَقُلۡ إِنِّي بَرِيٓءٞ مِّمَّا تَعۡمَلُونَ ٢١٦
And if they disobey you, then say, "Indeed, I am disassociated from what you are doing."
وَتَوَكَّلۡ عَلَى ٱلۡعَزِيزِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٢١٧
And rely upon the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,
ٱلَّذِي يَرَىٰكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ ٢١٨
Who sees you when you arise1
وَتَقَلُّبَكَ فِي ٱلسَّٰجِدِينَ ٢١٩
And your movement among those who prostrate.1
إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ ٢٢٠
Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
To take anybody other than God to be worthy of worship is the greatest crime in the eyes of God. No one guilty of this crime can escape punishment. It is the duty of the preacher to save himself from polytheism and to call the people to the Truth, primarily those who are near to him. In order to support the Truth, one has to kill one’s ego. That is why there are very few among the highly placed who are prepared to side with the Truth. It often happens that only those who occupy a lower position in society come forward to do so. This poses a serious trial for the preacher of God’s word. He has to guard himself against holding these persons inferior as others do. They must be given equal status in an Islamic society. The true emissary of the Almighty is one whose relation with his Maker is so strong that he passes his lonely nights in restlessness and is often forced to spring out of his bed. He holds his companions who are kneeling to pray to God in the stillness of the night in such high esteem that they become the centre of his attention.
26:221–227Page 376
هَلۡ أُنَبِّئُكُمۡ عَلَىٰ مَن تَنَزَّلُ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ ٢٢١
Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?
تَنَزَّلُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٖ ٢٢٢
They descend upon every sinful liar.
يُلۡقُونَ ٱلسَّمۡعَ وَأَكۡثَرُهُمۡ كَٰذِبُونَ ٢٢٣
They pass on what is heard,1 and most of them are liars.
وَٱلشُّعَرَآءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ ٱلۡغَاوُۥنَ ٢٢٤
And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them.
أَلَمۡ تَرَ أَنَّهُمۡ فِي كُلِّ وَادٖ يَهِيمُونَ ٢٢٥
Do you not see that in every valley they roam1
وَأَنَّهُمۡ يَقُولُونَ مَا لَا يَفۡعَلُونَ ٢٢٦
And that they say what they do not do? -
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَذَكَرُواْ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرٗا وَٱنتَصَرُواْ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا ظُلِمُواْۗ وَسَيَعۡلَمُ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓاْ أَيَّ مُنقَلَبٖ يَنقَلِبُونَ ٢٢٧
Except those [poets] who believe and do righteous deeds and remember Allāh often and defend [the Muslims]1 after they were wronged. And those who have wronged are going to know to what [kind of] return they will be returned.
The extraordinary nature of the Prophet’s discourse was so telling that even those who denied the truth could not contradict what he had to say. So, they told their people, in order to satisfy them, that he was a magician or a sorcerer and that his superb preaching was due to his being a magician or a charmer, and not to his being a prophet. Similarly, they used to say that the Qur’an was the work of a poet. The answer to this was that it was enough to compare the prophet with the magicians and poets and then see the difference between them. A world of difference would be found between them and no serious-minded person would confuse the one with the other. The basis of poetry is imagination and not facts and realities. That is why poets have flights of fancy, allowing their ideas to go hither and thither. Unlike the poets, the Prophet and his companions focussed their entire attention upon God—the greatest Reality. Their lives were ideal examples of harmony between preaching and practice. Deep knowledge of God (ma‘rifah) made them remember their Creator on all occasions. They were extremely cautious and, if they took action against anyone, it was only in self-defence. One who is not serious about the life Hereafter cannot be serious about leading a God-oriented life in this world.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences