Back to Surah Al-An'am

Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 126

Surah 6
Verse 126
165 verses
126

وَهَـٰذَا صِرَ ٰ⁠طُ رَبِّكَ مُسۡتَقِیمࣰاۗ قَدۡ فَصَّلۡنَا ٱلۡـَٔایَـٰتِ لِقَوۡمࣲ یَذَّكَّرُونَ

And this is the path of your Lord, [leading] straight. We have detailed the verses for a people who remember.

Scholarly Interpretations(3)

|
You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 6:126 to 6:127

وَهَـذَا صِرَطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيماً

(And this is the path of your Lord leading straight.) that is, Islam, that We have legislated for you, O Muhammad, by revealing this Qur'an to you, is Allah's straight path.

قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الآيَـتِ

(We have detailed Our Ayat...) We have explained the Ayat and made them clear and plain,

لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

(for a people who take heed) those who have sound comprehension and understand what Allah and His Messenger convey to them,

لَهُمْ دَارُ السَّلَـمِ

(For them will be the abode of peace) Paradise,

عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ

(with their Lord.) on the Day of Resurrection. Allah described Paradise as `the abode of peace', because its residents are safe due to their access to the straight path, which conforms to the way of the Prophets. And just as their way was not wicked, they earned the abode of peace which is free from all wickedness.

وَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُم

(And He will be their Wali) Protector, Supporter and Helper,

بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(because of what they used to do,) As reward for their good deeds, Allah has favored them and been generous with them, and awarded them Paradise.

Commentary

In the first (126) of the three verses appearing here, the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and it has been said: وَهَـٰذَا صِرَ‌اطُ رَ‌بِّكَ مُسْتَقِيمًا (And this is the path of your Lord, a straight path). Here, as said by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ عنہما the word: ھذا (hadha: this) refers to the Qur'an, and as said by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ it means Islam (Ruh al-Ma'ni). The sense of the sentence is: This Way is the Way of your Lord, that is, this is a Way which has been proposed by your Lord in His infinite Wisdom, and with Him it finds favour. Here, by attributing the Way to the Lord of all, it has been indicated that the working system of Qur'an and Islam given to him was not for the benefit of Allah Ta` ala, rather, it was for the benefit of those who would act in accordance with it. This is as required by His being the Rabb, the Supreme Nurturer. Through this Way, the purpose is to nurture, train and groom human beings in a manner which would guarantee their eternal well-being.

Then, by bringing in the word: رَبّ (Rabb: Lord) in a state of attribution to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، that is: (Rabbik: your Lord), the impression of a special kindness towards him has been released - that: ` your' Lord has proposed this Way. The delicacy of this attribution can be readily felt by people of taste. Think of a servant of Allah. If he ever happens to find his person placed in even the minor-most frame of reference to his Rabb and مَعبُود Ma` bud, his Lord and the object of his worship and devotion, that would be, for him, the highest possible achievement. And now, if the Lord of lords, the One worship-worthy entity in this whole universe, were to attribute His pristine Person to him and say, "I am yours," what remains there for him to say anything anymore about his wonderful ` kismet!'

After that, the ` existing identity' of this Qur'anic Way has been explained through the word: مُستَقِیم (mustaqim), that is, this path is the straight path. Here too, rather than have 'mustaqim' (straight) as the adjective of صِرَاط ` sirat' (path), it has been placed as an adverb which indicates that the Way has been proposed by the Lord of the universe, and in this, any probability, other than its being straight, just cannot exist. (Ruh al-Mani and Al-Bahr al-Muhit)

The text then says: قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَذَّكَّرُ‌ونَ (We have made the verses elaborate for people who accept the advice).

The word: فَصَّلْنَا (Fassalna: We have made elaborate) is from: تَفصِیل (tafsil) which basically means to describe a subject by analysing it unit by unit. This way comprehending the subject becomes easy. Therefore, the outcome of tafsil is to explain explicitly. So, the sense comes to be: ` We have stated matters of principle explicitly and in details in which there remains no brevity or ambiguity.' After that, by saying: (for people who accept the advice), it was pointed out that, though these statements of the Qur'an are clear, but benefit from them has been derived only by those who ponder over the Qur'an to seek good counsel honestly, that is, doggedness, inherent resistance, opinionatedness, a priori hostility or the barriers of blind adherence to or following of ancestral customs do not come in between as walls.

You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 6:125 to 6:127

Truth by its very nature is so clear that it is not difficult for anyone to understand it. Still, in every age, in spite of the Truth being made clear, countless people do not accept it. This is due to a flawed mentality. One person attaches himself to ‘holy’ beings to the extent that he fears that leaving them will completely destroy him. In the case of another, the fear of the breakdown of the system of his worldly interests is so strong within him that it becomes impossible for him to proceed towards the Truth. Yet another feels that if he accepts anything against the established custom of the time, he might become a stranger to the whole atmosphere of his own society. Man is overcome by such thoughts to the extent that acceptance of Truth appears synonymous with climbing a steep and difficult slope and, simply by looking at it, he loses heart. The case of individuals who do not suffer from any psychological complications is entirely different; they place Truth higher than everything else. They are seekers of the Truth right from the very beginning. So, when the Truth appears before them, they recognise it without delay and, ignoring all excuses and suspicions, they accept it. God reveals His Truth before the people in the shape of signs and symbols. Now, those who have weaknesses in their hearts, make self-made interpretations of these signs to justify their rejection of them, whereas those who have open hearts, discover in these signs their real depth, and make them the nourishment of their minds. Their lives are immediately launched on that straight path which is traversed under the direct guidance of God and which leads a man to enduring success. What God values above all else is a man’s good deeds. One who obeys God will deserve God’s help and will be led to His Abode of Peace. This Abode of Peace is God’s Paradise, where man will lead a life of eternal peace, secure from every kind of grief or trouble. God’s help will be given to individuals in the life after death according to their deeds. Moreover, if a considerable number of people become obedient to God in the world, this group will be given a share of God’s grace in this world also.