Surah Ankabut ayat 51 Tafsir Quran 29:51

﴿أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَرَحْمَةً وَذِكْرَىٰ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ﴾
[ العنكبوت: 51]

29:51 And is it not sufficient for them that We revealed to you the Book which is recited to them? Indeed in that is a mercy and reminder for a people who believe.

Is it not sufficient for them regarding what they have demanded that We have revealed to you the Book the Qur’ān which is recited to them? — as it constitutes a ongoing sign that will never terminate in contrast to the signs mentioned. Surely in that Book is mercy and a reminder an admonition for a people who believe.

Do they -the infidels- not consider it enough that We have sent down to you -O Muhammad- the Book -the Quran- to recite to them the truth that guides into all truth! This by itself evokes reminiscence of Allahs mercy and blessings and a reminder to a people who acknowledge His system of faith and worship

The Idolators' demand for Signs, and the Response Allah tells us how the idolators stubbornly demanded signs, meaning that they wanted signs to show them that Muhammad was indeed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, just as Salih was given the sign of the she-camel.
Allah says: قُلْ ( Say ) -- `O Muhammad' -- إِنَّمَا الاٌّيَـتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ ( The signs are only with Allah ) meaning, `the matter rests with Allah, and if He knew that you would be guided, He would respond to your request, because it is very easy for Him to do that.
Yet He knows that you are merely being stubborn and putting me to the test, so He will not respond to you.' This is like the Ayah, وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِالاٌّيَـتِ إِلاَّ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا الاٌّوَّلُونَ وَءَاتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ النَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةً فَظَلَمُواْ بِهَا ( And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them.
And We sent the she-camel to Thamud as a clear sign, but they did her wrong ) ( 17:59 ). وَإِنَّمَآ أَنَاْ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ ( and I am only a plain warner ) means, `I have been sent to you only as a warner to bring a clear warning; all I have to do is convey the Message of Allah to you.
' مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا ( He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom He sends astray, for him you will find no guide to lead him. ) ( 18:17 ) لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ( Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills ) ( 2:272 ).
Then Allah shows us how ignorant and foolish they were when they demanded a sign to prove to them that what Muhammad ﷺ had brought to them was true.
He brought them a great Book which falsehood cannot reach, neither from before it or behind it, it was greater than all other miracles, for the most eloquent of men could not match it or produce ten Surahs, or even one Surah like it. أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ( Is it not sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them ) means, `is it not sufficient as a sign for them that We have sent down to you this great Book which tells them about what happened before their time, what will happen after they are gone, and passes judgement between them.
Even though you are an unlettered man who can neither read nor write, and you have not mixed with any of the People of the Book.
Yet you brought them news of what was said in the first Scriptures showing what is right in the matters that they dispute over, and bringing clear and obvious truth.
' As Allah says: أَوَلَمْيَكُن لَّهُمْ ءَايَةً أَن يَعْلَمَهُ عُلَمَاءُ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ ( Is it not a sign to them that the learned scholars of the Children of Israel knew it (to be true )) ( 26:197 ) وَقَالُواْ لَوْلاَ يَأْتِينَا بِـَايَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ أَوَلَمْ تَأْتِهِمْ بَيِّنَةُ مَا فِى الصُّحُفِ الاٍّولَى ( They say: "Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord" Has there not come to them the proof of that which is in the former Scriptures ) ( 20:133 ) Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«مَا مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ مِنْ نَبِيَ إِلَّا قَدْ أُعْطِيَ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ مَا مِثْلُهُ آمَنَ عَلَيْهِ الْبَشَرُ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ الَّذِي أُوتِيتُهُ وَحْيًا أَوْحَاهُ اللهُ إِلَيَّ، فَأَرْجُو أَنْ أَكُونَ أَكْثَرَهُمْ تَابِعًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَة»
( There is no Prophet who was not given some miracles that would make the people believe in him.
What I have been given is revelation which Allah reveals to me, and I hope that I will have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection. )" It was also recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Indeed Allah has said: إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لَرَحْمَةً وَذِكْرَى لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ( Verily, herein is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe. ) In this Qur'an there is mercy, that is, explanation of the truth and removal of falsehood, and a reminder to the believers of the punishment that is to come to the disbelievers and sinners.
Then Allah says: قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ شَهِيداً ( Say: "Sufficient is Allah for a witness between me and you..." ) `He knows best the words of denial that you utter, and he knows what I am telling you about Him and that He has sent me.
If I were telling lies about Him, He would have executed His vengeance upon me,' as Allah says elsewhere: وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الاٌّقَاوِيلِ - لأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ - ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ - فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَـجِزِينَ g( And if he had forged a false saying concerning Us, We surely would have seized him by his right hand, and then We certainly would have cut off his aorta, and none of you could have withheld Us from (punishing ) him.) ( 69:44-47 ).
`But I am telling the truth in what I say to you about Him, so He has supported me with clear miracles and definitive evidence.' يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ ( He knows what is in the heavens and the earth. ) means, nothing is hidden from Him at all. وَالَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ بِالْبَـطِلِ وَكَفَرُواْ بِاللَّهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْخَـسِرُونَ ( And those who believe in falsehood, and disbelieve in Allah, it is they who are the losers. ) means, on the Day of Resurrection, they will be punished for what they did, and will get what they justly deserve for rejecting the truth and following falsehood, for disbelieving in the Messengers of Allah ﷺ even when there was proof that they were telling the truth, and for worshipping false gods with no evidence.
Allah will punish them for all that, for He is All-Wise and All-Knowing.

(29:51) Does it not suffice for them (as a Sign) that We revealed to you the Book that is recited to them? *91 Surely there is mercy and good counsel in it for those who believe. *92

And is it not sufficient for them meaning

*91) That is, " A Book like the Qur'an has been sent down to you in spite of your being unlettered.
Is it not by itself a great miracle which should convince the people of your Prophethood? Do they yet need another miracle after this? The other miracles were the miracles for those who witnessed them.
But this miracle is ever present in front of them.
It is being recited before them almost daily; they can witness it as and when they like.
Even after such an assertion and argument by the Qur'an the audacity of those who try to prove that the Holy Prophet was literate is astonishing.
The fact, however, is that the Qur'an here has presented in clear terms the Holy Prophet's being illiterate as a strong proof of his Prophet hood.
The traditions which lend support to the claim that the Holy Prophet could read and write, or had learnt reading and writing later in life, stand rejected at first glance, for no tradition opposed to the Qur'an can be acceptable.
Then these traditions in themselves are too weak to become the basis for an argument.
One of these is a tradition from Bukhari that when the peace treaty of Hudaibiya was being written down, the representative of the disbelievers of Makkah objected to the word Rasul Allah being added to the name of the Holy Prophet.
At this the Holy Prophet ordered the writer ( Hadrat `Ali ) to cross out the word Rasul-Allah and write Muhammad bin 'Abdullah instead.
Hadrat `Ali refused to cross out Rasul-Allah.
Then the Holy Prophet took it in his own hand, struck out the word himself and wrote Muhammad bin `Abdullah.
But this tradition from Bara' bin `Azib appears at four places in Bukhari and at two places in Muslim and everywhere in different words: ( 1 )At one place in Bukhari ( Kitab-us-S, ulh ) the words of this tradition are to the effect: "The Holy Prophet told Hadrat `Ali to strike out the words.
He submitted that he could not do that.
At last, the Holy Prophet crossed them out with his own hand." ( 2 ) In the same book the second tradition is to the effect: "Then he ( the Holy Prophet ) said to `Ali: Cross out Rasul-Allah.
He said: By God, I shall never cross out your name.
At last, the Holy Prophet took the document and wrote: This is the treaty concluded by Muhammad bin `Abdullah." ( 3 ) The third tradition, again from Bara' bin `Azib is found in Kitab-ul-Jizia in Bukhari to the effect: "The Holy Prophet himself could not write.
He said to `Ali: Cross out Rasul-Allah.
He submitted: By God, I shall never cross out these words.
At this, the Holy Prophet said: Show me the place where these words arc written.
He showed him the place, and the Holy Prophet crossed out the words with his own hand." ( 4 ) The fourth tradition is in Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Maghazi to the effect: "So the Holy Prophet took the document although he did not know writing, and he wrote: This is the treaty concluded by Muhammad bin `Abdullah." ( 5 ) Again from Bara' bin `Azib there is a tradition in Muslim ( Kitab-ul-Jihad ) saying that on Hadrat `Alt's refusal the Holy Prophet himself wiped off the words Rasul-Allah.
" ( 6 ) The second tradition from him in the same book says, " The Holy Prophet said to `Ali: Show me where the word Rasul Allah is written.
Hadrat `Ali showed him the place, and he wiped it off and wrote Ibn `Abdullah.
The disparity in the traditions clearly indicates that the intermediary reporters have not reported the words of Hadrat Bara' bin `Azib ( may Allah be pleased with him ) accurately.
Therefore, none of these reports can be held as r perfectly reliable so that it could be said with certainty that the Holy Prophet had written the words "Muhammad bin `Abdullah' with his own hand.
Probably when Hadrat 'Ali, refused to wipe off the word Rasul-Allah, the Holy Prophet might have himself wiped it off after finding, out the place where it was written, and then might have got the word Ibn `Abdullah substituted by him or by some other writer.
Other traditions show that there were two writers who were writing down the peace treaty; Hadrat `Ali and Muhammad bin Maslamah ( Fath al-Sari, Vol.
V, p.
217 ).
Therefore, it is not impossible that what one writer did not do was got done by the other writer.
However, if the Holy Prophet actually wrote his name with his own hand, there are plenty instances of this in the world.
The illiterate people learn to write their own name although they cannot read or write anything else.
The other tradition on whose basis it has been claimed that the Holy Prophet was literate, has been reported by Ibn Abi Shaibah and `Umar bin Shabbah from Mujahid.
It says: " The Holy Prophet had learnt reading and writing before his death. " But in the first place, it is a weak tradition on account of its links as said by Hafiz Ibn Kathir: " It is weak: it has no basis. " Secondly, it is weak otherwise also, for if the Holy Prophet had really learnt reading and writing later in life, it would have become a well known fact.
Many of the Companions would have reported it, and it would also have been known from which person ( or persons ) he had learnt this.
But no one except one man, 'Aun bin 'Abdullah, from whom Mujahid heard this, has reported it.
And this 'Aun was not even a Companion,, but a follower of the Companions, who dces not at aII tell from which Companion ( or Companions ) he got this information.
Evidently, on the basis of such weak traditions nothing which contradicts well known facts can become acceptable.

*92) That is, " The revelation of this Book is, without any doubt, a great bounty of AIIah, and it contains great admonitions for the people.
But only those people can benefit by it, who believe in it. "
 

The Idolators' demand for Signs, and the Response Allah tells us how the idolators stubbornly demanded signs, meaning that they wanted signs to show them that Muhammad was indeed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, just as Salih was given the sign of the she-camel.
Allah says: قُلْ ( Say ) -- `O Muhammad' -- إِنَّمَا الاٌّيَـتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ ( The signs are only with Allah ) meaning, `the matter rests with Allah, and if He knew that you would be guided, He would respond to your request, because it is very easy for Him to do that.
Yet He knows that you are merely being stubborn and putting me to the test, so He will not respond to you.' This is like the Ayah, وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِالاٌّيَـتِ إِلاَّ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا الاٌّوَّلُونَ وَءَاتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ النَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةً فَظَلَمُواْ بِهَا ( And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them.
And We sent the she-camel to Thamud as a clear sign, but they did her wrong ) ( 17:59 ). وَإِنَّمَآ أَنَاْ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ ( and I am only a plain warner ) means, `I have been sent to you only as a warner to bring a clear warning; all I have to do is convey the Message of Allah to you.
' مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا ( He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom He sends astray, for him you will find no guide to lead him. ) ( 18:17 ) لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ( Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills ) ( 2:272 ).
Then Allah shows us how ignorant and foolish they were when they demanded a sign to prove to them that what Muhammad ﷺ had brought to them was true.
He brought them a great Book which falsehood cannot reach, neither from before it or behind it, it was greater than all other miracles, for the most eloquent of men could not match it or produce ten Surahs, or even one Surah like it. أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِهِمْ أَنَّآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ( Is it not sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them ) means, `is it not sufficient as a sign for them that We have sent down to you this great Book which tells them about what happened before their time, what will happen after they are gone, and passes judgement between them.
Even though you are an unlettered man who can neither read nor write, and you have not mixed with any of the People of the Book.
Yet you brought them news of what was said in the first Scriptures showing what is right in the matters that they dispute over, and bringing clear and obvious truth.
' As Allah says: أَوَلَمْيَكُن لَّهُمْ ءَايَةً أَن يَعْلَمَهُ عُلَمَاءُ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ ( Is it not a sign to them that the learned scholars of the Children of Israel knew it (to be true )) ( 26:197 ) وَقَالُواْ لَوْلاَ يَأْتِينَا بِـَايَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ أَوَلَمْ تَأْتِهِمْ بَيِّنَةُ مَا فِى الصُّحُفِ الاٍّولَى ( They say: "Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord" Has there not come to them the proof of that which is in the former Scriptures ) ( 20:133 ) Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «مَا مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ مِنْ نَبِيَ إِلَّا قَدْ أُعْطِيَ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ مَا مِثْلُهُ آمَنَ عَلَيْهِ الْبَشَرُ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ الَّذِي أُوتِيتُهُ وَحْيًا أَوْحَاهُ اللهُ إِلَيَّ، فَأَرْجُو أَنْ أَكُونَ أَكْثَرَهُمْ تَابِعًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَة» ( There is no Prophet who was not given some miracles that would make the people believe in him.
What I have been given is revelation which Allah reveals to me, and I hope that I will have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection. )" It was also recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Indeed Allah has said: إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لَرَحْمَةً وَذِكْرَى لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ( Verily, herein is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe. ) In this Qur'an there is mercy, that is, explanation of the truth and removal of falsehood, and a reminder to the believers of the punishment that is to come to the disbelievers and sinners.
Then Allah says: قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ شَهِيداً ( Say: "Sufficient is Allah for a witness between me and you..." ) `He knows best the words of denial that you utter, and he knows what I am telling you about Him and that He has sent me.
If I were telling lies about Him, He would have executed His vengeance upon me,' as Allah says elsewhere: وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الاٌّقَاوِيلِ - لأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ - ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ - فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَـجِزِينَ g( And if he had forged a false saying concerning Us, We surely would have seized him by his right hand, and then We certainly would have cut off his aorta, and none of you could have withheld Us from (punishing ) him.) ( 69:44-47 ).
`But I am telling the truth in what I say to you about Him, so He has supported me with clear miracles and definitive evidence.' يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ ( He knows what is in the heavens and the earth. ) means, nothing is hidden from Him at all. وَالَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ بِالْبَـطِلِ وَكَفَرُواْ بِاللَّهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْخَـسِرُونَ ( And those who believe in falsehood, and disbelieve in Allah, it is they who are the losers. ) means, on the Day of Resurrection, they will be punished for what they did, and will get what they justly deserve for rejecting the truth and following falsehood, for disbelieving in the Messengers of Allah ﷺ even when there was proof that they were telling the truth, and for worshipping false gods with no evidence.
Allah will punish them for all that, for He is All-Wise and All-Knowing.

( Is it not enough for them ) i.e. for the people of Mecca as a sign for your prophethood, O Muhammad, ( that We have sent down unto thee the Scripture ) We sent down Gabriel with the Qur’an ( which is read unto them ) and relating to them the commands, prohibitions and the events of past nations? ( Lo! Herein ) i.e. in the Qur’an ( verily is mercy ) that saves from chastisement, for those who believe in it, ( and a reminder ) an admonition ( for folk who believe ) in Muhammad ( pbuh ) and in the Qur’an.

Is it not sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book (the Quran) which is recited to them? Verily, herein is mercy and a reminder (or an admonition) for a people who believe.

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