Commentary on Tafsir al-Jalalayn: “What is said to you” of denial “is nothing but” like “what has been said to the messengers before you. Indeed, your Lord is the Owner of forgiveness”

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

Nothing is said to you, [O Muhammad], except what was already said to the messengers before you

ما يقال لك إلا ما قد قيل للرسل من قبلك

[Fussilat 41:43]

to the end of it

Nothing is said to you

ما يقال لك

[Fussilat 41:43]

The commentator said: “of denial” meaning, and of mockery and ridicule and the like.

except what was already said to the messengers before you

إلا ما قد قيل للرسل من قبلك

[Fussilat 41:43]

And among that is their saying: “He is a sorcerer and a madman,” as Allah the Exalted said:

Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said, "A magician or a madman."

كَذَلِكَ مَا أَتَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا قَالُوا سَاحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

[Al-Dhariyat: 52]. Everyone says this word to the Messenger, and it is possible that the meaning is:

What is said to you

ما يقال لك

from the revelation

is nothing but what has been said to the messengers before you

إلا ما قد قيل للرسل من قبلك

meaning, like it. The verse allows for both meanings, and there is no obstacle to intending both. “

What is said to you is nothing but

ما يقال لك إلا

what has been said to the messengers before you

ما قد قيل للرسل من قبلك

” His saying: “nothing but like” The author added

For example

مثل

and it is known that his saying:

is nothing but what has been said

إلا ما قد قيل

does not equal his saying: “nothing but like” The author resorted to this because what was said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is not, in its exact wording, what was said to those before him. However, it is better to say: the verse is to be taken at its apparent meaning, that what was said to the Messenger was said to those before him, and as I mentioned just now,

Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said, "A magician or a madman."

كذلك ما أتى الذين من قبلِهم من رسول إلا قالوا ساحر أو مجنون

[Adh-Dhariyat 51:52]

it is said: They said the same words, but their language was not the language of the Arabs.

except what was already said to the messengers before you. Indeed, your Lord is a possessor of forgiveness and a possessor of painful penalty.

إلا ما قد قيل للرسل من قبلك إن ربك لذو مغفرة وذو عقاب أليم

[Fussilat 41:43]

This sentence contains an invitation for the deniers to believe. If they do not believe, they have exposed themselves to punishment. It is an invitation to believe because of His saying:

indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness

إن ربك لذو مغفرة

[Ar-Ra'd 13:6]

{Move forward, O youth, on the pillar, move forward with the people}

indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness

إن ربك لذو مغفرة

[Ar-Ra'd 13:6]

meaning, as if He is saying: So believe, and you will be forgiven. This is like His saying, the Exalted:

Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them

قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَنتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُمْ مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ

[Al-Anfal 8:38]

a possessor of painful penalty.

وذو عقاب أليم

[Fussilat 41:43]

meaning: If they do not believe, in it is encouragement and in it is warning. The encouragement is in His saying:

the Owner of forgiveness

لذو مغفرة

and the warning is:

the Owner of a painful punishment

لذو عقاب أليم

The punishment is retribution, and “painful” means “pain-inflicting.” The form *fa'il* often comes to mean *muf'il* in the Arabic language, as the poet said:
Is it from the scent of the hearing caller that keeps me awake, while my companions are asleep?
“The hearing” means “the one who makes one hear.”

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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