Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (418)

(30) “Thus We sent you to a nation before which other nations had passed away, so that you might recite to them what We revealed to you, yet they disbelieve in the Most Merciful. Say, ‘He is my Lord; there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. In Him I place my trust, and to Him I turn in repentance.’”

Allah Most High says to His Prophet Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—“Thus We sent you” to your people to call them to guidance. “Before which other nations had passed away”—among whom We had sent Our messengers. You are therefore not the first of the messengers, such that they should find your mission objectionable. Nor do you speak of your own accord; rather, you recite to them Allah’s verses, which He revealed to you and which purify hearts and refine souls.

Yet your people disbelieve in the Most Merciful. They did not respond with acceptance and gratitude to His mercy and kindness—the greatest of which was that We sent you to them as a messenger and revealed a Book to you. Instead, they met them with denial and rejection. Will they not take heed from the denying generations that passed away before them and consider how Allah seized them for their sins?

“Say, ‘He is my Lord; there is no deity worthy of worship except Him.’” This encompasses both forms of monotheism: the oneness of Allah in worship and His oneness in lordship.

He is my Lord, who has nurtured me with His blessings ever since He brought me into existence; and He is my God, “in whom I place my trust” in all my affairs, “and to whom I turn in repentance”—that is, I return to Him in all my acts of worship and in all my needs.

﴿٣٠﴾ ﴿كَذَلِكَ أَرْسَلْنَاكَ فِي أُمَّةٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهَا أُمَمٌ لِتَتْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمُ الَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ يَكْفُرُونَ بِالرَّحْمَنِ قُلْ هُوَ رَبِّي لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ مَتَابِ﴾ . يقول تعالى لنبيه محمد ﷺ: ﴿كَذَلِكَ أَرْسَلْنَاكَ﴾ إلى قومك تدعوهم إلى الهدى ﴿قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهَا أُمَمٌ﴾ أرسلنا فيهم رسلنا، فلست ببدع من الرسل حتى يستنكروا رسالتك، ولست تقول من تلقاء نفسك، بل تتلو عليهم آيات الله التي أوحاها الله إليك، التي تطهر القلوب وتزكي النفوس. والحال أن قومك يكفرون بالرحمن، فلم يقابلوا رحمته وإحسانه -التي أعظمها أن أرسلناك إليهم رسولا وأنزلنا عليك كتابا- بالقبول والشكر بل قابلوها بالإنكار والرد، أفلا يعتبرون بمن خلا من قبلهم من القرون المكذبة كيف أخذهم الله بذنوبهم، ﴿قُلْ هُوَ رَبِّي لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ﴾ وهذا متضمن للتوحيدين توحيد الألوهية وتوحيد الربوبية. فهو ربي الذي رباني بنعمه منذ أوجدني، وهو إلهي الذي ﴿عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ﴾ في جميع أموري ﴿وَإِلَيْهِ مَتَابِ﴾ أي: أرجع في جميع عباداتي وفي حاجاتي.