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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Fussilat 41:47

Word by word

۞ إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ ٱلسَّاعَةِ ۚ وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِن ثَمَرَٰتٍ مِّنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِۦ ۚ وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَآءِى قَالُوٓا۟ ءَاذَنَّـٰكَ مَا مِنَّا مِن شَهِيدٍ

To Him [alone] is attributed knowledge of the Hour. And fruits emerge not from their coverings nor does a female conceive or give birth except with His knowledge. And the Day He will call to them, "Where are My 'partners'?" they will say, "We announce to You that there is [no longer] among us any witness [to that]."

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Everyone will be requited according to His Deedsمَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ(Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself;) means, the benefit of which will come to him.وَمَنْ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيْهَا(and whosoever does evil, it is against himself.) means, the consequences of that will come back on him.وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّـمٍ لِّلْعَبِيدِ(And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) servants) means, He only punishes people for their sins, and He does not punish anyone except after establishing proof against him and sending a Messenger to him.

Knowledge of the Hour is with Allah Alone

Then Allah says:إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ(To Him is referred the knowledge of the Hour.) meaning, no one knows about that apart from Him. Muhammad ﷺ , the leader of mankind, said to Jibril, who is one of the leading angels, when he asked him about the Hour:«مَا الْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِل»(The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking.)" And Allah says:إِلَى رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَـهَآ(To your Lord belongs the term thereof.) (79:44)لاَ يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَآ إِلاَّ هُوَ(None can reveal its time but He) (7:187).وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِن ثَمَرَتٍ مِّنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنْثَى وَلاَ تَضَعُ إِلاَّ بِعِلْمِهِ(No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive nor brings forth (young), except by His knowledge.) means, all of that is known to Him, and nothing is hidden from your Lord the weight of a speck of dust on the earth or in the heaven.

Allah says:وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا(not a leaf falls, but He knows it) (6:59).يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمِلُ كُلُّ أُنثَى وَمَا تَغِيضُ الاٌّرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ عِندَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ(Allah knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs fall short or exceed. Everything with Him is in (due) proportion) (13:8).وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلاَ يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَـبٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ(And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book.

Surely, that is easy for Allah.) (35:11)وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَآئِى(And on the Day when He will call unto them (saying): "Where are My (so-called) partners") means, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will call out to the idolators before all of creation and say, "Where are My partners whom you worshipped besides Me"قَالُواْ ءَاذَنَّاكَ(They will say: "We inform You...") means, `we tell You,'مَا مِنَّا مِن شَهِيدٍ(that none of us bears witness to it.) means, `not one of us will bear witness today that You have any partner.'وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يَدْعُونَ مِن قَبْلُ(And those whom they used to invoke before (in this world) shall disappear from them, ) means, they will go away, and will be of no benefit to them.وَظَنُّواْ مَا لَهُمْ مِّن مَّحِيصٍ(and they will perceive that they have no place of refuge) means, they will have no way of escaping from the punishment of Allah.

This is like the Ayah:وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ فَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُمْ مُّوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُواْ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا(And the criminals shall see the Fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from there.) (18:53)

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَ‌بِيٌّ (Is it a non- Arabic [ book ] and an Arab [ messenger ]? - 44) The original word used for non-Arabic in the text is a'jamiyy (with hamza before the letter 'ain) which is an Arabic term for ` ineloquent speech', while ` ajam' (without hamzah in its beginning) means any nation other than Arabs. Therefore ` ajamiyy is a person who is non-Arab, even though he may speak eloquently, and a'jamiyy is a person who cannot speak eloquently (Qurtubi). The use of the word أَعْجَمِيٌّ ajamiyy in this verse means that if We had revealed the Qur'an in any language other than Arabic, then the Quraysh who are the first addressees of the Qur'an would have complained that they did not understand this Book and would have said wonderingly that the prophet is an ` Arab, but the book is ajamiyy which is ineloquent.قلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاءٌ (Say, "For those who believe, it is guidance and cure. - 44) Two attributes of The noble Qur'an are stated here.

One is that Qur'an gives guidance - such guidance in all spheres of life as is beneficial and useful for human beings. The second attribute is that the Qur'an is cure. That it is a cure for spiritual ailments like kufr, shirk, arrogance, jealousy, greed, etc. is quite obvious, but is also cure for bodily ailments, as has been proved by experience of treating patients through Qur'anic prayers which has been successful.أُولَـٰئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ (Such people are being called from a distant place. - 44) This is a similitude. A person who understands what is being said, the Arabs say to him, اَنتَ تسمَعُ مِن قَرِیب (you are listening from a near place) and if a person does not understand the discourse, they say to him اَنتَ تُنَادٰی مِن بَعِید (you are being called from a distant place) (Qurtubi).

The meaning is that since these people do not intend to listen and to understand the directions of the Qur'an, their ears are almost deaf and their eyes are blind, therefore teaching them the Qur'anic guidance is like calling someone from such a distant place that the voice does not reach his ears.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

إلى الله تعالى وحده لا شريك له يُرْجَع علم الساعة، فإنه لا يعلم أحد متى قيامها غيره، وما تخرج من ثمرات من أوعيتها، وما تحمل مِن أنثى ولا تضع حَمْلها إلا بعلم من الله، لا يخفى عليه شيء من ذلك. ويوم ينادي الله تعالى المشركين يوم القيامة توبيخًا لهم وإظهارًا لكذبهم: أين شركائي الذين كنتم تشركونهم في عبادتي؟ قالوا: أعلمناك الآن ما منا من أحد يشهد اليوم أن معك شريكًا.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

ثم قال : ( إليه يرد علم الساعة ) أي : لا يعلم ذلك أحد سواه ، كما قال - صلى الله عليه وسلم - وهو سيد البشر لجبريل وهو من سادات الملائكة - حين سأله عن الساعة ، فقال : " ما المسئول عنها بأعلم من السائل " ، وكما قال تعالى : ( إلى ربك منتهاها ) [ النازعات : 44 ] ، وقال ( لا يجليها لوقتها إلا هو ) [ الأعراف : 187 ] .وقوله : ( وما تخرج من ثمرات من أكمامها وما تحمل من أنثى ولا تضع إلا بعلمه ) أي : الجميع بعلمه ، لا يعزب عن علمه مثقال ذرة في الأرض ولا في السماء . وقد قال تعالى : ( وما تسقط من ورقة إلا يعلمها ) [ الأنعام : 59 ] ، وقال جلت عظمته : ( يعلم ما تحمل كل أنثى وما تغيض الأرحام وما تزداد وكل شيء عنده بمقدار ) [ الرعد : 8 ] ، وقال ( وما يعمر من معمر ولا ينقص من عمره إلا في كتاب إن ذلك على الله يسير ) [ فاطر : 11 ] .وقوله : ( ويوم يناديهم أين شركائي ) أي : يوم القيامة ينادي الله المشركين على رءوس الخلائق : أين شركائي الذين عبدتموهم معي ؟ ( قالوا آذناك ) أي : أعلمناك ، ( ما منا من شهيد ) أي : ليس أحد منا اليوم يشهد أن معك شريكا ،

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.