(85–88) “Indeed, He who has enjoined the Quran upon you will surely return you to a place of return. Say, ‘My Lord knows best who has brought guidance and who is in manifest error. You did not expect the Book to be conveyed to you; it came only as a mercy from your Lord. So never be a supporter of the disbelievers. Do not let anyone turn you away from Allah’s signs after they have been sent down to you. Call to your Lord, and never be one of those who associate partners with Him. Do not invoke any other god alongside Allah. There is no god but Him. Everything will perish except His Face. Judgment belongs to Him, and to Him you will be returned.’”
Allah Most High says: “Indeed, He who has enjoined the Quran upon you”—that is, sent it down, prescribed rulings in it, clarified what is lawful and unlawful therein, and commanded you to convey it to all people and to call everyone who is morally accountable to its rulings—it would not befit His wisdom for this worldly life to be the only life, with His servants neither rewarded nor punished. Rather, He will inevitably return you to a place of return where those who did good will be recompensed for their good and evildoers for their disobedience.
You have made the guidance clear to them and shown them the path. If they follow you, that will be their good fortune and happiness. But if they insist on disobeying you, disparaging the guidance you have brought, and preferring their falsehood to the truth, there will remain no room for argument. Nothing will remain but for deeds to be requited by the One who knows the unseen and the visible, and who knows who upholds the truth and who upholds falsehood. Hence He says: “Say, ‘My Lord knows best who has brought guidance and who is in manifest error.’” He already knows that His Messenger is rightly guided and guides others, while his enemies are astray and lead others astray.
“You did not expect the Book to be conveyed to you”—that is, you had neither sought for this Book to be sent down to you, nor prepared yourself for it, nor put yourself forward for it. “It came only as a mercy from your Lord” to you and to His servants. He therefore sent you with this Book, through which He showed mercy to all creation, taught them what they did not know, purified them, and taught them the Book and wisdom, although before that they had been in manifest error. Once you know that it was sent down to you as a mercy from Him, [you will know] that everything it commands and prohibits is a mercy and favor from Allah. Therefore, harbor no unease in your heart about any part of it, nor suppose that something contrary to it would be better or more beneficial.
“So never be a supporter of the disbelievers”—that is, do not assist them in anything that forms part of their disbelief. One way of supporting them is to say of any part of it that it is contrary to wisdom, well-being, or benefit.
“Do not let anyone turn you away from Allah’s signs after they have been sent down to you.” Rather, convey them and put them into effect. Pay no heed to their plotting, do not let them beguile you away from the signs, and do not follow their desires.
“Call to your Lord”—that is, make calling to your Lord your highest purpose and the ultimate aim of your deeds. Reject everything that conflicts with this, whether showing off, seeking renown, or accommodating the aims of those who uphold falsehood. Such things lead to joining them and assisting them in their cause. Hence He says: “And never be one of those who associate partners with Him”—neither in their polytheism nor in its offshoots and branches, which include all acts of disobedience.
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“Do not invoke any other god alongside Allah.” Rather, devote your worship sincerely to Allah, for “there is no god but Him.” No one deserves to be taken as a god, loved, and worshipped except Allah, the Perfect and Everlasting, for “everything will perish except His Face.” Since everything besides Him will perish and vanish, worship directed to something perishing and false is itself false, for its ultimate object is false and its end corrupt. “Judgment belongs to Him” in this world and the Hereafter, “and to Him”—not to anyone else—“you will be returned.”
Since everything besides Allah is false and perishing, while Allah is the Everlasting, besides whom there is no god; since judgment belongs to Him in this world and the Hereafter; and since all creatures will return to Him so that He may recompense them for their deeds, it is incumbent upon every rational person to worship Allah alone, without any partner, to work toward whatever brings him near and draws him close to Him, and to beware of His wrath and punishment and of coming before his Lord without having repented or abandoned his errors and sins.
The exegesis of Sūrat al-Qasas is complete. To Allah belong all praise, laud, and glory, always and forever.
Exegesis of Sūrat al-Ankabūt
It is Meccan.