Hud 11:123 · Hud · Arabic, translation, recitation

Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"All that is hidden in the heavens and earth belongs to God, and all authority goes back to Him. So [Prophet], worship Him, and put your trust in Him: your Lord is never unaware of what you [people] are doing."

Pickthall (classic)+

"And Allah's is the Invisible of the heavens and the earth, and unto Him the whole matter will be returned. So worship Him and put thy trust in Him. Lo! thy Lord is not unaware of what ye (mortals) do."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"To Allah do belong the unseen (secrets) of the heavens and the earth, and to Him goeth back every affair (for decision): then worship Him, and put thy trust in Him: and thy Lord is not unmindful of aught that ye do."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

Allah, the Exalted, informs that He is the All-Knower of the unseenof the heavens and the earth and that unto Him is the final return.

He explains that everyone who does a deed, He will give them their deed (reward for it) on the Day of Reckoning. Unto Him belongs the creation and the command. Then He, the Exalted, commands that He should be worshipped and relied upon, for verily, He is sufficient for whoever trusts and turns to Him. Concerning His statement,

وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

(And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.) This means, `The lies (of the disbelievers) against you O Muhammad are not hidden from Him. He is the All-Knower of the conditions of His creatures and He will give them the perfect recompense for their deeds in this life and the Hereafter. He will aid you (Muhammad) and His party over the disbelievers in this life and in the Hereafter.' This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Hud, and all praises and thanks are due to Allah.

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

О Мухаммад! Неверующие не извлекают пользы из увещеваний и всевозможных наставлений. Покажи им ясные знамения, и пусть они продолжают исповедовать свою религию. Вы же исповедуйте религию Аллаха. И пусть они дожидаются того, что произойдет с вами. Вы же дождитесь того, что произойдет с ними. Всевышний провел четкую грань между двумя группами Своих рабов. Он одарил победой тех, кто обратился в правую веру, и подавил своих неверующих врагов. Ему известно все сокровенное на небесах и на земле, и ничто не способно сокрыться от Него. Деяния всех творений возвращаются к Нему, после чего Он отделяет дурные поступки от благих. Людям надлежит поклоняться Ему и по мере возможностей выполнять все, что им приказано выполнять. При этом они должны уповать на своего Господа, который не предает забвению их добрые и злые деяния. Напротив, Он объемлет их своим знанием, и все они записаны письменной тростью. А это значит, что Он непременно вынесет свой приговор и свершит справедливое возмездие.

Difference: Blameworthy and Praiseworthy

When it was said in the fifth verse (118) - ` had your Lord willed, He would have made all the people a single community' - the sense is that had it been the will of Allah, He would have made all human beings accept Islam by force. All of them would have then become nothing but Muslims without any difference remaining between them. But, such are the dictates of His wisdom that, in this world, Allah Ta` ala does not compel anyone to do something. Instead, He has entrusted man with a kind of choice under which he could do whatever good or bad he wishes to do. Then, human temperaments differ, ways differ and deeds differ. The outcome is that there always will be some people who would keep at loggerheads against the true faith - of course, with the exception of those whom Allah Ta` ala has blessed with His mercy, that is, those who have been following the noble prophets.

This tells us that ` difference' at this place means hostility and op-position to the true faith and the teachings of prophets. The difference based on Ijtihad, which is inevitable among religious authorities and jurists of Islam, an ongoing process since the period of the Sahabah, is not included under this purview, nor is it contrary to Divine mercy. In fact, it is the very dictate of Allah's wisdom and mercy. Those who have declared the differences among Mujtahid Imams to be counter to Mercy in terms of this verse, have done something which is itself counter to the context of this verse as well as counter to the consistent practice of the Sahabah and Tabi` in.

واللہُ سُبحَانہ و تعالیٰ اَعلم

And Allah is Pure and High and He knows everything best.