Al-Furqaan 25:42
The Criterion · ayah 42 of 77
In kada layudillunaAAan alihatina lawla an sabarnaAAalayha wasawfa yaAAlamoona heena yarawna alAAathabaman adallu sabeela
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"He might almost have led us astray from our gods if we had not stood so firmly by them.’ When they see the punishment, they will know who is furthest from the path."
Pickthall (classic)+
"He would have led us far away from our gods if we had not been staunch to them. They will know, when they behold the doom, who is more astray as to the road."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
""He indeed would well-nigh have misled us from our gods, had it not been that we were constant to them!" - Soon will they know, when they see the Penalty, who it is that is most misled in Path!"
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
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Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
How the Disbelievers mocked the Messenger
Allah tells us how the disbelievers mocked the Messenger when they saw him. This is like the Ayah,
(And when the disbelievers see you, they take you not except for mockery) (21:36), which means that they tried to find faults and shortcomings in him. Here Allah says:
(And when they see you, they treat you only in mockery (saying): "Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a Messenger") i.e., they said this by way of belittling and trying to undermine him, so Allah put them in their place, and said:
(And indeed Messengers before you were mocked at) (6:10)
(He would have nearly misled us from our gods,) They meant: `he nearly turned us away from worshipping idols, and he would have done so, had we not been patient and persevered in our ways.' So Allah said, warning and threatening them:
(And they will know, when they see the torment...)
They took Their Desires as their gods and were more astray than Cattle
Then Allah tells His Prophet that if Allah decrees that someone will be misguided and wretched, then no one can guide him except Allah, glory be to Him:
(Have you seen him who has taken as his god his own vain desire) meaning, whatever he admires and sees as good in his own desires becomes his religion and his way. As Allah says:
(Is he then, to whom the evil of his deeds is made fair seeming. So that he consider it as good. Verily, Allah sends astray whom he wills.) 35:8
(Would you then be a guardian over him) Ibn `Abbas said: "During the Jahiliyyah, a man would worship a white rock for a while, then if he saw another that looked better, he would worship that and leave the first." Then Allah said:
(Or do you think that most of them hear or understand) meaning, they are worse than grazing cattle. Cattle only do what they were created to do, but these people were created to worship Allah Alone without associating partners with Him, but they worship others with Him, even though evidence has been established against them and Messengers have been sent to them.