Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/218)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“Then all explanations will be obscured from them on that Day, so they will not question one another. (66) But as for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, perhaps they will be among those who prosper. (67) Your Lord creates whatever He wills and chooses; they have no choice in the matter. Glory be to Allah, exalted is He above what they associate with Him. (68) Your Lord knows what their hearts conceal and what they disclose. (69) He is Allah; there is no god worthy of worship but Him. All praise belongs to Him in this world and the Hereafter. His is the judgment, and to Him you will be returned. (70)”

“Then all explanations will be obscured from them”: that is, the reports and excuses will be hidden from them. Mujahid said: “Their proofs.” “On that Day”: thus, they will have neither excuse nor proof. “So they will not question one another”: they will not respond. Qatadah said: “They will not offer arguments.” It was also said: They will remain silent; none of them will ask another.

“But as for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, perhaps they will be among those who prosper”—that is, the blessed and saved.

Allah the Exalted says: “Your Lord creates whatever He wills and chooses.” This verse was revealed in response to the polytheists when they said, “Why was this Quran not sent down to a great man from one of the two cities?”—meaning al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah or Urwah ibn Masud al-Thaqafi (1). Allah the Exalted informed them that He does not send messengers according to their choice.

His saying: “They have no choice in the matter.” It was said that “what” is affirmative, meaning: Allah chooses what is best and most beneficial for them (2). It was also said that it is negative (3), meaning: the choice does not belong to them, and they have no right to choose in opposition to Allah, as He the Exalted says: “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice in their affair” (al-Ahzab 33:36).

“Choice” is a noun derived from “choosing” and used in place of the verbal noun. It may also mean “the one chosen,” as when it is said: “Muhammad is Allah’s chosen one from among His creation.” Then He declared Himself far above such association, saying: “Glory be to Allah, exalted is He above what they associate with Him.”

“Your Lord knows what their hearts conceal and what they disclose”—that is, what they make manifest.

“He is Allah; there is no god worthy of worship but Him. All praise belongs to Him in this world and the Hereafter.” His close servants praise Him in this world, and they will praise Him in the Hereafter, in Paradise. “His is the judgment”—that is, the final decision between all created beings. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

(1) See al-Suyuti, Asbab al-Nuzul, printed in the margin of Tafsir al-Jalalayn, pp. 288-289. (2) This is also al-Tabari’s preferred view, 20:100-101. See also al-Bahr al-Muhit, 7:129. (3) This view was also preferred by al-Nahhas in Maʻani al-Quran, 5:194. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said (3:398): “The correct view is that it is negative, as Ibn Abi Hatim likewise narrated from Ibn Abbas and others. The context affirms that He alone possesses creation, decree, and choice, and that He has no equal in this. Hence He says: ‘Glory be to Allah, and exalted is He above what they associate with Him’—that is, the idols and rivals which neither create nor choose anything.”

﴿فَعَمِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَنْبَاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ فَهُمْ لَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (٦٦) فَأَمَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُفْلِحِينَ (٦٧) وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ (٦٨) وَرَبُّكَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ (٦٩) وَهُوَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي الْأُولَى وَالْآخِرَةِ وَلَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ (٧٠) ﴾ ﴿فَعَمِيَتْ﴾ خَفِيَتْ وَاشْتَبَهَتْ ﴿عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَنْبَاءُ﴾ أَيِ: الْأَخْبَارُ وَالْأَعْذَارُ، وَقَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: الْحُجَجُ، ﴿يَوْمَئِذٍ﴾ فَلَا يَكُونُ لَهُمْ عُذْرٌ وَلَا حُجَّةٌ، ﴿فَهُمْ لَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ﴾ لَا يُجِيبُونَ، وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ: لَا يَحْتَجُّونَ، وَقِيلَ: يَسْكُتُونَ لَا يَسْأَلُ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا. ﴿فَأَمَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُفْلِحِينَ﴾ السُّعَدَاءِ النَّاجِينَ. قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ﴾ نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الْآيَةُ جَوَابًا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ حِينَ قَالُوا: "لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ"، يَعْنِي: الْوَلِيدَ بْنَ الْمُغِيرَةِ، أَوْ عُرْوَةَ بْنَ مَسْعُودٍ الثَّقَفِيَّ (١) ، أَخْبَرَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَنَّهُ لَا يَبْعَثُ الرُّسُلَ بِاخْتِيَارِهِمْ. قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ﴾ قِيلَ: "مَا" لِلْإِثْبَاتِ، مَعْنَاهُ: وَيَخْتَارُ اللَّهُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ، أَيْ: يَخْتَارُ مَا هُوَ الْأَصْلَحُ وَالْخَيْرُ (٢) . وَقِيلَ: هُوَ لِلنَّفْيِ (٣) أَيْ: لَيْسَ إِلَيْهِمُ الِاخْتِيَارُ، وَلَيْسَ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَخْتَارُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ، كَمَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: "وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ" (الْأَحْزَابِ-٣٦) ، "وَالْخِيَرَةُ": اسْمٌ مِنَ الِاخْتِيَارِ يُقَامُ مَقَامَ الْمَصْدَرِ، وَهِيَ اسْمٌ لِلْمُخْتَارِ أَيْضًا كَمَا يُقَالُ: مُحَمَّدٌ خِيرَةُ اللَّهِ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ. ثُمَّ نَزَّهَ نَفْسَهُ فَقَالَ: ﴿سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ﴾ ﴿وَرَبُّكَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ﴾ يُظْهِرُونَ. ﴿وَهُوَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي الْأُولَى وَالْآخِرَةِ﴾ يَحْمَدُهُ أَوْلِيَاؤُهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَيَحْمَدُونَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، ﴿وَلَهُ الْحُكْمُ﴾ فَصْلُ الْقَضَاءِ بَيْنَ الْخَلْقِ. قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ ﵄:

(١) انظر أسباب النزول للسيوطي بهامش الجلالين ص (٢٨٨-٢٨٩) . (٢) وهو ترجيح الطبري: ٢٠ / ١٠٠-١٠١، وانظر: البحر المحيط: ٧ / ١٢٩. (٣) ورجح هذا: النحاس في معاني القرآن: ٥ / ١٩٤، قال الحافظ ابن كثير: (٣ / ٣٩٨) : "والصحيح أنها نافية كما نقله ابن أبي حاتم عن ابن عباس وغيره أيضا. فإن المقام في بيان انفراده تعالى بالخلق والتقدير والاختيار وأنه لا نظير له في ذلك، ولهذا قال: "سبحان الله وتعالى عما يشركون" أي: من الأصنام والأنداد التي لا تخلق ولا تختار شيئا".