offer them sincere counsel, for they neither offer you sincere counsel nor show you affection.

“Neither your relatives nor your children will benefit you on the Day of Resurrection. He will judge between you, and Allah is All-Seeing of what you do. There has certainly been for you an excellent example in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: ‘Indeed, we are free of you and of whatever you worship besides Allah. We reject you, and enmity and hatred have arisen between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone’—except for Abraham’s saying to his father: ‘I will surely seek forgiveness for you, though I have no power to avail you against Allah in any way. Our Lord, upon You we have relied, to You we have turned in repentance, and to You is the final return.’” (3–4)

“Neither your relatives” means: let not your blood relatives, kinsfolk, and children who are in Mecca induce you or lead you to betray the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the believers, to abandon sincere counsel toward them, and to take their enemies as allies. For neither your relatives “nor your children,” for whose sake you disobeyed Allah, will benefit you “on the Day of Resurrection. He will judge between you,” admitting those who obey Him into Paradise and those who disobey Him into the Fire.

Asim and Ya'qub read it as yafsilu (He will judge), with an opened ya and a light sad pronounced with kasra. Hamza and al-Kisa'i read it as yufassilu (He will distinguish), with a damma on the ya and a geminated sad pronounced with kasra. [Ibn Amir read it as yufassalu (it will be decided), with a damma on the ya and a geminated sad pronounced with fatha.] (1) The others read it as yufsalu (it will be decided), with a damma on the ya and a light sad pronounced with fatha. “And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.”

“There has certainly been for you an excellent example”—that is, a fine model—“in Abraham and those with him,” among the people of faith, “when they said to their people,” among the polytheists: “Indeed, we are free of you”—the plural of bari' (one free of or disassociated from)—“and of whatever you worship besides Allah. We reject you”: that is, we repudiate and reject your religion. “Enmity and hatred have arisen between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone.” He commands Hatib and the believers to follow the example of Abraham, peace be upon him, and the believers who were with him, in disassociating themselves from the polytheists.

“Except for Abraham’s saying to his father: ‘I will surely seek forgiveness for you.’” That is, you have an excellent example in Abraham and his conduct, except in his seeking forgiveness for his polytheist father. Abraham, peace be upon him, had said to his father, “I will surely seek forgiveness for you,” but then disassociated himself from him, as we mentioned in Surah al-Tawbah. (2) “Though I have no power to avail you against Allah in any way.” Abraham says to his father: I can be of no avail to you, nor can I ward off Allah’s punishment from you if you disobey Him and associate partners with Him. “Our Lord, upon You we have relied”—this is what Abraham and the believers with him say—“and to You we have turned in repentance, and to You is the final return.”

“Our Lord, do not make us a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our Lord. Indeed, You alone are the Almighty, the All-Wise.” (5)