Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 125
Translations
Pickthall
Yusuf Ali
Qur'an Dictionary
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Word | Arabic word | |
(6:125:1) |
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(6:125:2) yuridi wants |
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(6:125:3) l-lahu Allah |
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(6:125:4) |
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(6:125:5) yahdiyahu He guides him |
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(6:125:6) yashraḥ He expands |
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(6:125:7) ṣadrahu his breast |
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(6:125:8) lil'is'lāmi to Islam |
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(6:125:9) |
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(6:125:10) yurid He wants |
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(6:125:11) |
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(6:125:12) yuḍillahu He lets him astray |
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(6:125:13) yajʿal He makes |
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(6:125:14) ṣadrahu his breast |
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(6:125:15) ḍayyiqan tight |
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(6:125:16) ḥarajan and constricted |
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(6:125:17) |
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(6:125:18) yaṣṣaʿʿadu he (were) climbing |
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(6:125:19) |
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(6:125:20) l-samāi the sky |
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(6:125:21) |
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(6:125:22) yajʿalu places |
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(6:125:23) l-lahu Allah |
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(6:125:24) l-rij'sa the filth |
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(6:125:25) |
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(6:125:26) alladhīna those who |
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(6:125:27) |
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(6:125:28) yu'minūna believe |
Explanatory Note
God has set in operation a law that ensures guidance for everyone who wishes to be guided and who takes the necessary action to achieve that guidance. All this remains within the limits of choice given to human beings by way of a test. Within this law, when God wishes to guide a person, “He makes his bosom open wide with willingness towards self- surrender (to God).” He thus receives the concept of surrendering himself to God with willingness and reassurance. Again, in accordance with God’s law that He leaves anyone who turns his back on guidance and closes his mind to it to his own devices, it is said of God that: “He causes his bosom to be tight and constricted.” His mind is shut and he finds difficulty in accepting God’s guidance. He is just like one who “is climbing up into the skies.” This is a mental state described in terms of a physical condition which combines difficult breathing, stress and the exhaustion which accompanies climbing up stage after stage into the skies. The very word chosen here to denote `climbing up’ imparts a sense of difficulty and strenuous physical effort. Thus, the whole scene is in perfect harmony both with the physical condition and the verbal expression describing it.
The scene is concluded with a fitting comment: “Thus does God lay the scourge on the unbelievers.” Just as it is God’s will to cause the bosom of a person who wishes to be guided to open wide with willingness to surrender himself to God, and causes the one who chooses to go astray to find things hard and difficult, so does God lay a scourge on those who do not believe. The Arabic term which is rendered here as `scourge’ has a variety of meanings. It denotes `suffering, blight, ignominy, etc.’ Together, its nuances give us a picture of a person who is completely incapable of rescuing himself. He continues to endure most severe suffering without any hope of salvation.
3. Surah Overview
According to Ibn Abbas, the whole of the Surah was revealed at one sitting at Makkah [during the night]. Asma bint Yazid says, ‘During the revelation of this Surah the Prophet was riding on a she-camel and I was holding her nose-string. The she-camel began to feel the weight so heavily that it seemed as if her bones would break under it.’ We also learn from other narrations that it was revealed during the last year before the migration (Hijrah) and that the Prophet dictated the whole of the Surah the same night that it was revealed. [Mawdudi]
After determining the period of its revelation it is easier to visualize the background of the Surah. Twelve years had passed since the Prophet had been inviting the people to Islam. The antagonism and persecution by the Quraysh had become most savage and brutal and the majority of the Muslims had to migrate to Abyssinia. Additionally, the two great supporters of the Prophet, Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah were no longer there to help him, so he was deprived of all worldly support. In spite of this he carried on his mission. As a result of this all the good people of Makkah and the surrounding clans gradually began to accept Islam but there the community as a whole was still bent on obstinacy and rejection. Therefore if anyone showed an inclination towards Islam they were subjected to taunts and derision, physical violence and social boycott.
It was in these dark circumstances that a ray of hope gleamed from Yathrib, where Islam began to spread freely by the efforts of some influential people of the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who had embraced Islam at Makkah. At that time, none but God knew the great hidden potential in this.
To a casual observer it appeared as if Islam was a weak movement, with no material backing, except for some limited support from the Prophet's own family and a few poor followers. Obviously the latter could not give much help because they themselves were being persecuted.
10. Wiki Forum
11. Tafsir Zone
Overview (Verse 125) Choosing Divine Guidance |
Ibn Kathir (English)
Sayyid Qutb
Sha'rawi
Al Jalalain
Mawdudi
الطبري - جامع البيان
ابن كثير - تفسير القرآن العظيم
القرطبي - الجامع لأحكام
البغوي - معالم التنزيل
ابن أبي حاتم الرازي - تفسير القرآن
ابن عاشور - التحرير والتنوير
ابن القيم - تفسير ابن قيّم
السيوطي - الدر المنثور
الشنقيطي - أضواء البيان
ابن الجوزي - زاد المسير
الآلوسي - روح المعاني
ابن عطية - المحرر الوجيز
الرازي - مفاتيح الغيب
أبو السعود - إرشاد العقل السليم
الزمخشري - الكشاف
البقاعي - نظم الدرر
الهداية إلى بلوغ النهاية — مكي ابن أبي طالب
القاسمي - محاسن التأويل
الماوردي - النكت والعيون
السعدي - تيسير الكريم الرحمن
عبد الرحمن الثعالبي - الجواهر الحسان
السمرقندي - بحر العلوم
أبو إسحاق الثعلبي - الكشف والبيان
الشوكاني - فتح القدير
النيسابوري - التفسير البسيط
أبو حيان - البحر المحيط
البيضاوي - أنوار التنزيل
النسفي - مدارك التنزيل
ابن جُزَيّ - التسهيل لعلوم التنزيل
علي الواحدي النيسابوري - الوجيز
السيوطي - تفسير الجلالين
المختصر في التفسير — مركز تفسير
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Overview (Verse 125) Choosing Divine Guidance |