ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ
And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "Allah." Say, "Then have you considered what you invoke besides Allah? If Allah intended me harm, are they removers of His harm; or if He intended me mercy, are they withholders of His mercy?" Say, "Sufficient for me is Allah; upon Him [alone] rely the [wise] reliers."
Tafsir
Verse range: 39:38
This is due to the manifest nature of the evidence and the clarity of the path, for it has been established in the intellects that contingent beings must necessarily terminate at the Necessary Existent. The Glorious Name is the doer of an omitted verb; that is, "Allah created them."
(Say, "Have you then considered what you invoke besides Allah?")—intended as a rebuke to them—(If Allah intended me any harm, are they removers of His harm?)—that is: since the Creator of the upper and lower worlds is Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He), as you have confessed, then inform me: if Allah (Glorified be He) intends me harm, can your deities remove that harm from me? The particle fa (then) occurs as the answer to an implied conditional. Some have said the estimation is: "If there is no creator other than Him (Exalted is He), then is it possible for anyone else to remove what He has willed of harm?" It is also permitted that it is a conjunction to an implied phrase, meaning: "Have you reflected after having confessed, and then considered what you invoke?"
(Or [if] He intended me a mercy)—that is, or if He intended me a benefit—(are they restrainers of His mercy?)—so as to prevent it from reaching me. Al-A‘raj, Shaybah, ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd, ‘Isa (with a differing narration), Abu ‘Amr, and Abu Bakr read kashifat (removers) and mumsikat (restrainers) with tanwin in both, and the accusative case for what follows them.
The attribution of the intent of harm and mercy to his own self (peace and blessings be upon him) is to cast the argument back into their own throats, as they had threatened him with the shame of the idols. It also serves to signal the sincerity of the counsel. Harm was mentioned first because its removal is more urgent. It is said that [the feminine plural forms] kashifat and mumsikat were used according to how they describe them [the idols] with femininity, to draw attention to their complete weakness.
(Say, "Allah is sufficient for me.")—He, Majestic is His glory, is sufficient in all my affairs, in obtaining good and repelling evil. It is narrated from Muqatil that when he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them, they remained silent, so this was revealed.
(In Him [alone] do the reliant trust.)—not in anyone else, in everything—due to their knowledge that everything other than Him is under His sovereignty (Exalted is He).
