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Meccan · Surah 12 of 114

Yusuf 12:40

Joseph · ayah 40 of 111

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءًۭ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَٰنٍ ۚ إِنِ ٱلْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ ۚ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Ma taAAbudoona min doonihi illaasmaan sammaytumooha antum waabaokumma anzala Allahu biha min sultaninini alhukmu illa lillahi amara allataAAbudoo illa iyyahu thalika addeenualqayyimu walakinna akthara annasi layaAAlamoon

"You worship not besides Him except [mere] names you have named them, you and your fathers, for which Allāh has sent down no evidence. Legislation is not but for Allāh. He has commanded that you worship not except Him. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know."

Saheeh International translation

Recitation by Mishary Alafasy
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Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"All those you worship instead of Him are mere names you and your forefathers have invented, names for which God has sent down no sanction. Authority belongs to God alone, and He orders you to worship none but Him: this is the true faith, though most people do not realize it."

Pickthall (classic)+

"Those whom ye worship beside Him are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers. Allah hath revealed no sanction for them. The decision rests with Allah only, Who hath commanded you that ye worship none save Him. This is the right religion, but most men know not."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

""If not Him, ye worship nothing but names which ye have named,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah hath sent down no authority: the command is for none but Allah: He hath commanded that ye worship none but Him: that is the right religion, but most men understand not..."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

+
ءَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَّفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

(Are many different lords (gods) better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible) to Whose grace and infinite kingdom everything and everyone has submitted in humiliation. Prophet Yusuf explained to them next that it is because of their ignorance that they worship false deities and give them names, for these names were forged and are being transferred from one generation to the next generation. They have no proof or authority that supports this practice, hence his statement to them,

مَّآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـنٍ

(for which Allah has sent down no authority) or proof and evidence. He then affirmed that the judgement, decision, will and kingdom are all for Allah alone, and He has commanded all of His servants to worship none but Him. He said,

ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ

(that is the straight religion,) `this, Tawhid of Allah and directing all acts of worship at Him alone in sincerity, that I am calling you to is the right, straight religion that Allah has ordained and for which He has revealed what He wills of proofs and evidences,'

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most men know not.), and this is why most of them are idolators,

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you eagerly desire it.) 12:103 When Yusuf finished calling them, he started interpreting their dreams for them,

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

+
Вы придумали для своих идолов имена и назвали их богами, а ведь за этими именами ничего не кроется. Ваши идолы совершенно не обладают качествами, благодаря которым они заслуживали бы обожествления. Аллах не повелевал поклоняться этим вымышленным божествам. Напротив, Аллах запретил поступать таким образом и разъяснил порочность идолопоклонства. И если Всевышний Аллах не ниспослал никакого довода в пользу идолопоклонства, то никому не удастся оправдать или обосновать язычество и многобожие. Законодательная власть принадлежит одному Аллаху. Он повелевает и запрещает, издает законы и ниспосылает предписания. Он повелел поклоняться Ему одному и исповедовать единственную правильную религию. Только она помогает людям обрести благо, тогда как все остальные религии являются ошибочными и обрекают своих приверженцев на злосчастье. Если бы люди понимали истинную суть вещей, то они осознали бы огромную разницу между единобожием и язычеством. Однако большинство людей не ведают этого и по этой причине увязают в омуте многобожия. Такими словами Йусуф призывал двух юношей, оказавшихся в темнице вместе с ним, впредь поклоняться только Аллаху и искренне служить Ему одному. Если они ответили на его призыв и покорились истине, то заслужили величайшую милость Господа. А если они отдали предпочтение многобожию, то лишились возможности оправдать свои злодеяния неосведомленностью. Затем святой пророк исполнил обещанное и истолковал увиденные ими сновидения. Йусуф сказал:
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Maʿārif al-Qur'ān

Mufti Shafi Usmani, English

+

After that, he declares his abhorrence for disbelief and his disengagement from the community of disbelievers. Then, with it, he also stresses that he is a member of the House of Prophets and it is their Community that he adheres to and that he is a scion of the House of Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya` qub (علیہم السلام) . We mentioned confidence a little earlier. Customarily, this kind of inherited nobility, a common family trait, is also a source of creating confidence in a person. After that he said: And it is not for us that we associate any partners with Allah. Then, he said that the Taufiq of following a true religion ('the favour of Allah upon us and upon all people' ) was nothing but the Fadl or grace of Allah Ta’ ala, for it was He who, by giving proper understanding, made the acceptance of truth easy on us. But, most of the people do not appreciate this blessing and do not show their gratitude for it. After having said that, he asked the same prisoners to tell him if it was better that human beings should be worshiping many gods, or was it better that one becomes a servant of one Allah alone - whose subduing power is all-dominant. Then he referred to idol worship from a different angle. He told them that their fathers and forefathers have taken some idols as their Lord. As for them, they are no more than a lot of names which they have coined on their own. They have no personal attributes which could become deserving of assigning to them the least fund of power - because all of them are inert. This is something one can see with one's own eyes. The only other method through which they could have been taken as true objects of worship would be that Allah Ta’ ala sends down specific injunctions or commandments to worship them. So, in that case, even if observation and reason had not been willing to accept their godhood but, because of the Divine command, we would have left our observation and reason aside and would have obeyed the command of Allah. But, this is not there either - because Allah Ta ala did not send down any argument or proof for their worship. Instead of that, what He said was but that Law and Sovereignty belonged to Allah Ta ala with no one having a right in it; and the command He gave was no other but that we should not worship anyone or anything other than Allah. Finally, he said: ` This is the only right path - which was bestowed on my forefathers by Allah Ta ala, but most of the people do not know this reality.'

Tafsīr sourced from quran.com's open API. These are classical commentaries; for personal rulings consult a qualified scholar.

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