Study the Quran

Tafsir

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

Al-Ma'idah 5:60

Word by word

قُلْ هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّ مِّن ذَٰلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ مَن لَّعَنَهُ ٱللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ ٱلْقِرَدَةَ وَٱلْخَنَازِيرَ وَعَبَدَ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا وَأَضَلُّ عَن سَوَآءِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ

Say, "Shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that as penalty from Allāh? [It is that of] those whom Allāh has cursed and with whom He became angry and made of them apes and pigs and slaves of ṭāghūt. Those are worse in position and further astray from the sound way."

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

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

Consideration of the Addressee : A Principle of Da'wah

The condition of a people who were under the curse and wrath of Allah has been introduced through a similitude in the next verse (60) which begins with: قُلْ هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُم[ Should I (not) tell you...]. In fact, this condition applied to these very addressees. The occasion demanded that they should have been the ones to be directly charged with the blame. But, the Qur'an has changed the mode of direct address into the form of a similitude (to show consideration). This shows us a distinctive method of Da'wah (Call) as used by prophets, that is, never say things in a manner which makes the addressees angry.

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.