Verses translated in Urdu & English. Urdu translation has attached numbers which can take you to its tafseer. English version of tafseer is also included at the end.
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
قَدۡ خَسِرَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَذَّبُوۡا بِلِقَآءِ اللّٰہِ ؕ حَتّٰۤی اِذَا جَآءَتۡہُمُ السَّاعَۃُ بَغۡتَۃً قَالُوۡا یٰحَسۡرَتَنَا عَلٰی مَا فَرَّطۡنَا فِیۡہَا ۙ وَ ہُمۡ یَحۡمِلُوۡنَ اَوۡزَارَہُمۡ عَلٰی ظُہُوۡرِہِمۡ ؕ اَلَا سَآءَ مَا یَزِرُوۡنَ ﴿۳۱﴾ وَ مَا الۡحَیٰوۃُ الدُّنۡیَاۤ اِلَّا لَعِبٌ وَّ لَہۡوٌ ؕ وَ لَلدَّارُ الۡاٰخِرَۃُ خَیۡرٌ لِّلَّذِیۡنَ یَتَّقُوۡنَ ؕ اَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ ﴿۳۲﴾ قَدۡ نَعۡلَمُ اِنَّہٗ لَیَحۡزُنُکَ الَّذِیۡ یَقُوۡلُوۡنَ فَاِنَّہُمۡ لَا یُکَذِّبُوۡنَکَ وَ لٰکِنَّ الظّٰلِمِیۡنَ بِاٰیٰتِ اللّٰہِ یَجۡحَدُوۡنَ ﴿۳۳﴾ وَ لَقَدۡ کُذِّبَتۡ رُسُلٌ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِکَ فَصَبَرُوۡا عَلٰی مَا کُذِّبُوۡا وَ اُوۡذُوۡا حَتّٰۤی اَتٰہُمۡ نَصۡرُنَا ۚ وَ لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِکَلِمٰتِ اللّٰہِ ۚ وَ لَقَدۡ جَآءَکَ مِنۡ نَّبَاِی الۡمُرۡسَلِیۡنَ ﴿۳۴﴾ وَ اِنۡ کَانَ کَبُرَ عَلَیۡکَ اِعۡرَاضُہُمۡ فَاِنِ اسۡتَطَعۡتَ اَنۡ تَبۡتَغِیَ نَفَقًا فِی الۡاَرۡضِ اَوۡ سُلَّمًا فِی السَّمَآءِ فَتَاۡتِیَہُمۡ بِاٰیَۃٍ ؕ وَ لَوۡ شَآءَ اللّٰہُ لَجَمَعَہُمۡ عَلَی الۡہُدٰی فَلَا تَکُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡجٰہِلِیۡنَ ﴿۳۵﴾ اِنَّمَا یَسۡتَجِیۡبُ الَّذِیۡنَ یَسۡمَعُوۡنَ ؕؔ وَ الۡمَوۡتٰی یَبۡعَثُہُمُ اللّٰہُ ثُمَّ اِلَیۡہِ یُرۡجَعُوۡنَ ﴿ ۳۶﴾ وَ قَالُوۡا لَوۡ لَا نُزِّلَ عَلَیۡہِ اٰیَۃٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّہٖ ؕ قُلۡ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ قَادِرٌ عَلٰۤی اَنۡ یُّنَزِّلَ اٰیَۃً وَّ لٰکِنَّ اَکۡثَرَ ہُمۡ لَا یَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ﴿۳۷﴾ وَ مَا مِنۡ دَآبَّۃٍ فِی الۡاَرۡضِ وَ لَا طٰٓئِرٍ یَّطِیۡرُ بِجَنَاحَیۡہِ اِلَّاۤ اُمَمٌ اَمۡثَالُکُمۡ ؕ مَا فَرَّطۡنَا فِی الۡکِتٰبِ مِنۡ شَیۡءٍ ثُمَّ اِلٰی رَبِّہِمۡ یُحۡشَرُوۡنَ ﴿۳۸﴾ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَذَّبُوۡا بِاٰیٰتِنَا صُمٌّ وَّ بُکۡمٌ فِی الظُّلُمٰتِ ؕ مَنۡ یَّشَاِ اللّٰہُ یُضۡلِلۡہُ ؕ وَ مَنۡ یَّشَاۡ یَجۡعَلۡہُ عَلٰی صِرَاطٍ مُّسۡتَقِیۡمٍ ﴿۳۹﴾ قُلۡ اَرَءَیۡتَکُمۡ اِنۡ اَتٰىکُمۡ عَذَابُ اللّٰہِ اَوۡ اَتَتۡکُمُ السَّاعَۃُ اَغَیۡرَ اللّٰہِ تَدۡعُوۡنَ ۚ اِنۡ کُنۡتُمۡ صٰدِقِیۡنَ ﴿۴۰﴾ بَلۡ اِیَّاہُ تَدۡعُوۡنَ فَیَکۡشِفُ مَا تَدۡعُوۡنَ اِلَیۡہِ اِنۡ شَآءَ وَ تَنۡسَوۡنَ مَا تُشۡرِکُوۡنَ ﴿٪۴۱﴾
نقصان میں پڑ گئے وہ لوگ جنہوں نے اللہ سے اپنی ملاقات کی اطلاع کو جُھوٹ قرار دیا۔ جب اچانک وہ گھڑی آجائے گی تو یہی لوگ کہیں گے ”افسوس! ہم سے اس معاملہ میں کیسی تقصیر ہُوئی“۔ اور اِن کا حال یہ ہوگا کہ اپنی پیٹھوں پر اپنے گناہوں کا بوجھ لادے ہوئے ہوں گے۔ دیکھو ! کیسا بُرا بوجھ ہے جو یہ اُٹھارہے ہیں۔ دُنیا کی زندگی تو ایک کھیل اور ایک تماشا ہے،20 حقیقت میں آخرت ہی کا مقام اُن لوگوں کے لیے بہتر ہے جو زیاں کاری سے بچنا چاہتے ہیں، پھر کیا تم لوگ عقل سے کام نہ لوگے؟
اے محمدؐ ! ہمیں معلوم ہے کہ جو باتیں یہ لوگ بناتے ہیں ان سے تمہیں رنج ہوتا ہے، لیکن یہ لوگ تمہیں نہیں جھٹلاتے بلکہ یہ ظالم دراصل اللہ کی آیات کا انکار کر رہے ہیں۔21 تم سے پہلے بھی بہت سے رسُول جھٹلائے جا چکے ہیں، مگر اس تکذیب پر اور اُن اذیّتوں پر جو انہیں پہنچائی گئیں، انہوں نے صبر کیا، یہاں تک کہ انہیں ہماری مد پہنچ گئی۔ اللہ کی باتوں کو بدلنے کی طاقت کسی میں نہیں ہے،22 اور پچھلے رسُولوں کے ساتھ جو کچھ پیش آیا اس کی خبریں تمہیں پہنچ ہی چکی ہیں۔ تاہم اگر ان لوگوں کی بے رخی تم سے برداشت نہیں ہوتی تو اگر تم میں کچھ زور ہے تو زمین میں کوئی سرنگ ڈھونڈو یا آسمان میں سیڑھی لگاوٴ اور ان کے پاس کوئی نشانی لانے کی کوشش کرو۔23 اگر اللہ چاہتا تو ان سب کو ہدایت پر جمع کرسکتا تھا، لہٰذا نادان مت بنو۔24 دعوتِ حق پر لبیک وہی لوگ کہتے ہیں جو سُننے والے ہیں، رہے مُردے،25 تو انہیں تو اللہ بس قبروں ہی سے اُٹھائے گا اور پھر وہ ﴿اس کی عدالت میں پیش ہونے کے لیے﴾ واپس لائے جائیں گے۔
یہ لوگ کہتے ہیں کہ اِس نبی پر اس کے ربّ کی طرف سے کوئی نشانی کیوں نہیں اُتری؟ کہو، اللہ نشانی اتارنے کی پُوری قدرت رکھتا ہے، مگر ان میں سے اکثر لوگ نادانی میں مُبتلا ہیں۔26 زمین میں چلنے والے کسی جانور اور ہوا میں پروں سے اُڑنے والے کسی پرندے کو دیکھ لو، یہ سب تمہاری ہی طرح کی انواع ہیں، ہم نے ان کی تقدیر کے نوشتے میں کوئی کسر نہیں چھوڑی ہے، پھر یہ سب اپنے ربّ کی طرف سمیٹے جاتے ہیں۔ مگر جو لوگ ہماری نشانیوں کو جھٹلاتے ہیں وہ بہرے اور گونگے ہیں، تاریکیوں میں پڑے ہوئےہیں۔27 اللہ جسے چاہتا ہے بھٹکا دیتا ہے اور جسے چاہتا ہے سیدھے رستے پر لگا دیتا ہے۔28 ان سے کہو، ذرا غور کرکے بتاوٴ ، اگر کبھی تم پر اللہ کی طرف سے کوئی بڑی مصیبت آ جاتی ہے یا آخری گھڑی آ پہنچتی ہے توکیا اس وقت تم اللہ کے سوا کسی اور کو پُکارتے ہو؟ بولو اگر تم سچّے ہو۔ اس وقت تم اللہ ہی کو پُکارتے ہو، پھر اگر وہ چاہتا ہے تو اس مصیبت کو تم پر سے ٹال دیتا ہے۔ ایسے موقعوں پر تم اپنے ٹھیرائے ہوئے شریکوں کو بُھول جاتے ہو۔29 ؏۴
Surah Al-An’am (6:31–41)
Losers indeed are those who declared false the news of their meeting with Allah. When the Hour suddenly comes upon them, these very people will say, “Alas! How we fell short in this matter!” And their state will be that they carry the burden of their sins upon their backs. Behold! What an evil burden it is that they bear! The life of this world is nothing but play and amusement;²⁰ in truth, the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who wish to guard themselves against loss. Will you not, then, use your reason?
O Muhammad (peace be upon him)! We know that what these people say grieves you; yet it is not you whom they deny. Rather, these wrongdoers are in fact rejecting the signs of Allah.²¹ Many messengers before you were also denied, but they bore with patience this denial and the persecution inflicted upon them, until Our help reached them. No one has the power to change the words of Allah,²² and the accounts of what befell the earlier messengers have already reached you. Nevertheless, if the indifference of these people is unbearable to you, then, if you have any strength, seek out a tunnel into the earth or set up a ladder into the sky and try to bring them a sign.²³ Had Allah willed, He could have gathered them all upon guidance; so do not be among the ignorant.²⁴ Only those who listen respond to the call of truth. As for the dead,²⁵ Allah will simply raise them from their graves, and then they will be brought back (to appear in His court).
These people say, “Why has no sign been sent down to this Prophet from his Lord?” Say: Allah has full power to send down a sign, but most of them are steeped in ignorance.²⁶ Look at any creature that moves upon the earth, or any bird that flies on its wings in the air: they are all communities like you. We have left nothing lacking in the record of their destiny. Then they are all gathered to their Lord. But those who deny Our signs are deaf and dumb, lying in darkness.²⁷ Allah lets go astray whom He wills, and sets on the straight path whom He wills.²⁸ Say to them: “Think it over and tell me: if ever a great calamity from Allah befalls you, or the final Hour arrives, do you then call upon anyone other than Allah? Speak, if you are truthful. At that time it is Allah alone whom you call upon, and then, if He wills, He removes that calamity from you. On such occasions you forget the partners you have set up beside Him.”²⁹
(End of Ruku 4)
Surah Al-An’am, Note 20
This does not mean that the life of this world has no seriousness to it, or that it was created merely as play and amusement. What it actually means is that, compared with the real and lasting life of the Hereafter, this life is like a person diverting himself for a while with play and recreation before returning to the real, serious business at hand.
It has also been likened to play and amusement for another reason. Because reality is hidden here, there are many causes for people who lack insight and judge only by appearances to fall into misconceptions. Caught in these misconceptions, people adopt such strange ways of conduct, contrary to the actual reality of things, that their lives become nothing more than play and spectacle.
For example, a person who sits here as a king is, in reality, no different from the make-believe king of the theatre, who appears in splendour wearing a crown and issues orders as though he were truly a king, though true kingship has not so much as touched him. At a single signal from the director he is deposed, imprisoned, and even sentenced to death.
Spectacles of this kind are being staged all over this world. In one place, needs are supposedly being fulfilled at the shrine of some saint or goddess, though there is not the slightest trace of any power to fulfil needs there. In another place, someone is displaying feats of knowledge of the unseen, though there is not even a hint of such knowledge in him. Elsewhere, someone has set himself up as the provider of people’s sustenance, though the poor man is himself dependent on someone else for his own provision. Somewhere else, a person imagines himself to be the one who grants honour and disgrace, benefit and harm, and beats the drums of his own grandeur as though he were the god of all the creatures around him. Yet the mark of servitude is stamped on his forehead, and a single small jolt of fortune could topple him from his seat of grandeur and have him trampled under the feet of the very people over whom, until yesterday, he was playing god.
All these games being played in the few short days of worldly life will come to an abrupt end the moment death arrives. As soon as a person crosses that border, he will reach the realm where everything will be exactly in accordance with reality. There, every husk of the misconceptions of worldly life will be peeled away, and each person will be shown how much of the substance of truth he has brought with him: the substance that alone can carry any weight or value in the scales of truth.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 21
The fact is that until Muhammad (peace be upon him) began reciting the revelations of Allah, all the people of his community regarded him as trustworthy (al-Amin) and truthful (al-Sadiq), and had complete confidence in his honesty. They began calling him a liar only when he started conveying the message from Allah. Even in this second phase, there was no one among them who dared to call him a liar on a personal level. Not even his fiercest opponent ever accused him of having told a lie in any worldly matter. Whatever denial they directed at him was directed at him only in his capacity as a prophet.
His greatest enemy was Abu Jahl, and it is narrated from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that once, while speaking with the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself, Abu Jahl said: Inna la nukadhdhibuka wa lakin nukadhdhibu ma ji’ta bihi, “We do not call you a liar, but we declare false what you have brought.”
On the occasion of the Battle of Badr, Akhnas ibn Shariq asked Abu Jahl in private: “There is no one here besides you and me. Tell me truthfully, do you consider Muhammad truthful or a liar?” He replied: “By God, Muhammad is a truthful man; he has never told a lie in his whole life. But if the standard (liwa’), the provision of water to pilgrims (siqayah), the custodianship of the Ka’bah (hijabah), and prophethood all fall to the share of Banu Qusayy, then tell me, what is left for the rest of Quraysh?”
It is for this reason that Allah is consoling His Prophet here: the denial is not really of you but of Us. And when We are bearing it with forbearance and patience, granting respite after respite, why should you be distressed?
Surah Al-An’am, Note 22
That is, no one has the power to alter the law that Allah has laid down for the struggle between truth and falsehood. It is inevitable that those devoted to the truth be tried in the furnace of trials for a long period. They must give proof of their patience, their honesty, their self-sacrifice and devotion, the firmness of their faith, and their reliance on Allah. Passing through a period of hardships and difficulties, they must nurture within themselves those qualities that can be nurtured only in this arduous mountain pass. And at the outset, they must demonstrate victory over jahiliyyah (ignorance) using nothing but the weapons of pure moral excellence and righteous character.
In this way, once they have proven themselves the most worthy, the help of Allah will arrive at exactly its appointed time to take them by the hand. Before that time, no one can bring it, however hard they try.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 23
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw that long stretches of time had passed in admonishing this people and that they would not come to the right path by any means, a wish would often arise in his heart: if only Allah would manifest some sign that would break their disbelief and make them acknowledge his truthfulness. This verse answers that very wish.
The meaning is: do not act out of impatience. Continue patiently along the method, order, and gradual progression by which We are having this work carried out. If miracles were to be the means, could We not have used them Ourselves? But We know that this is not the right way to bring to success the task you have been charged with: an intellectual and moral revolution, and the building of a righteous civilisation.
Nevertheless, if you cannot bear patiently with the present stagnation of these people and the hardness of their denial, and you think it necessary to show them some tangible sign to break this stagnation, then exert yourself. If you have any power, burrow into the earth or climb into the sky and try to bring some miracle that you believe would be enough to turn their doubt into certainty. But do not expect Us to fulfil this wish of yours, for there is no place for such a measure in Our scheme.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 24
That is, if the only aim were that all human beings somehow become rightly guided, what need would there have been to send prophets, reveal scriptures, have the believers struggle against the disbelievers, and take the call to truth through the stages of a gradual movement? That could have been accomplished by a single creative command of Allah. But Allah does not wish to do this work in that way.
His purpose is that the truth be presented to people with reasoned arguments. Then those among them who use sound thinking and recognise the truth should believe in it by their own free choice. They should mould their characters to its pattern and prove their moral superiority over the followers of falsehood. Through the attraction of their powerful reasoning, their lofty ideal, their better principles of life, and their pure character, they should keep drawing the righteous elements of humanity toward themselves. And through continuous struggle against falsehood, they should reach the goal of establishing the true din (way of life) by the path of natural progression. Allah will guide them in this work, and at every stage He will keep giving them whatever help they make themselves deserving of.
But if anyone wishes that Allah abandon this natural path and, merely by the force of His overpowering might, wipe out corrupt ideas and spread sound thinking among people, or destroy a corrupt social order and build a righteous civilisation in its place, that will never happen. It is contrary to Allah’s wisdom, under which He created man in this world as a responsible being. He has given him powers of action, granted him freedom to obey or disobey, allowed him a period of respite for the test, and fixed a time of judgement to reward and punish him according to his efforts.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 25
“Those who listen” refers to people whose consciences are alive, who have not suspended the use of their reason and thought, and who have not locked the doors of their hearts with prejudice and stubbornness. In contrast, “the dead” are those who, as slaves to the beaten track, go on following it like the blind, and are unwilling to accept anything that departs from that track, even if it is the plain truth.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 26
“Sign” here means a tangible miracle. What Allah means by this statement is that the reason a miracle is not being shown is not that We are incapable of showing it. Rather, there is another reason, which these people fail to understand purely out of their own ignorance.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 27
The meaning is this: if you are not simply eager for a spectacle, but genuinely want to see a sign in order to find out whether what this Prophet is calling you to is the truth, then open your eyes and look. Signs upon signs are spread all around you.
Take any single species among the animals of the earth or the birds of the air and reflect on its life. See how its structure has been made precisely suited to its condition. See how faculties exactly matching its natural needs have been placed in its instincts. See how arrangements are being made for its sustenance. See how a destiny has been fixed for it, whose limits it can neither go beyond nor fall short of. See how every single animal, down to the tiniest insect, is being looked after, watched over, protected, and guided in the very place where it is. See how it is being put to work according to a fixed scheme, how it has been kept bound to a set of laws, and how the cycle of its birth, reproduction, and death continues with complete regularity.
If you were to reflect on just this one sign among the countless signs of God, you would realise that the concept of God’s oneness (tawhid) and His attributes that this Prophet is presenting to you, and the way of life he is inviting you to adopt in accordance with that concept, is the very truth. But you neither open your own eyes and look, nor listen to anyone who tries to explain. You lie in the darkness of ignorance and want to be entertained with displays of the wonders of divine power.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 28
Allah’s leading astray means this: a person who prefers ignorance is not granted the ability (tawfiq) to study the signs of God. And if a prejudiced student who is not seeking reality does observe the signs of God, the pointers to the truth remain hidden from his sight, while things that entangle him in misconceptions keep pulling him further and further from the truth. In contrast, Allah’s guidance means that a seeker of truth is granted the ability to benefit from the means of knowledge, and keeps finding in Allah’s signs the pointers that lead him to reality.
Examples of all three of these conditions come before us in abundance every day. There are a great many people before whom countless signs of Allah lie spread out, both in the universe around them and within themselves, yet they look at them like animals and learn no lesson. Then there are many people who study zoology, botany, biology, geology, astronomy, physiology, anatomy, and other branches of science, and who research history, archaeology, and the social sciences. They come across signs that could fill the heart with faith. But because they begin their study with prejudice, and have nothing in view except this world and its benefits and gains, they find no sign during their observation that leads them to the truth. On the contrary, every sign that comes before them pulls them, perversely, toward atheism, unbelief, materialism, and naturalism.
Yet in contrast to them, there is no shortage of people who look at this workshop of the universe with open eyes, and whose state is this:
برگِ درختانِ سبز در نظرِ ہوشیار ہر ورقے دفتریست معرفتِ کردگار
To the discerning eye, every leaf of the green trees is a whole volume on the knowledge of the Creator.
Surah Al-An’am, Note 29
The previous verse said: you demand a sign, while the reality is that signs upon signs lie spread all around you. In this connection, attention was first drawn, by way of example, to observing the life of animals. Now a second sign is being pointed out, one that exists within the very selves of those who deny the truth.
When a calamity strikes a person, or death stands before him in its terrifying form, he sees no refuge other than the shelter of the one God. On such occasions even the most hardened polytheists forget their deities and begin calling upon the One God. Even the most diehard atheist spreads out his hands in prayer before God. It is this sign that is presented here to show the truth. It is proof that the testimony to God-consciousness and tawhid is present within every human soul. However many veils of heedlessness and ignorance may be cast over it, sooner or later it rises to the surface.
It was through witnessing this very sign that Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, was granted the gift of faith. When Makkah was conquered at the hands of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Ikrimah fled toward Jeddah and boarded a boat bound for Abyssinia. On the way, a violent storm arose and the boat was in danger. At first, the passengers kept calling on goddesses and gods. But when the storm grew fiercer and they became certain the boat would sink, they all began saying: “This is no time to call upon anyone but Allah. Only if He wills can we be saved.”
At that moment Ikrimah’s eyes were opened, and his heart cried out: “If there is no helper here besides Allah, why should there be one anywhere else? This is the very thing that righteous servant of Allah has been explaining to us for twenty years, and we have been fighting him for no reason.”
This was the decisive moment in Ikrimah’s life. Then and there he made a pledge to God: “If I survive this storm, I will go straight to Muhammad (peace be upon him) and place my hand in his.” He fulfilled this pledge. He later came, not only embraced Islam, but spent the rest of his life striving in the cause of Islam.
