The Gospel According to Islam · Chapter 5, Jerusalem · Section 22

The end of the public ministry, and the vineyard. 32 verses. With the Qur’an: 3:78; 3:79-80; 3:61-64.

1Then spoke Jesus to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 2All therefore that they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 3All their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 4And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 5And greetings in the market places, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.¹ 6And after two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread; and the chief priests, and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft.

7But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people;² even though many of the people would not fight for Jesus. 8And Jesus knowing that the chief priests and the scribes sought now to take him by force, he hid himself with his disciples.³ 9Thus ended the public ministry of this messenger of God to Israel. He came to his people with a sign from their Lord in that he would make for them the figure of a bird out of clay, and would breath into it and it would become a bird by God’s leave:

10And he would heal those born blind, and the lepers, and would quicken the dead by God’s leave: 11And he would declare unto them what they ate, and what they stored in their houses. 12Surely in this there was sign for them if they did have any faith. 13But they received him not, save a few. 14And the unbelievers plotted and God too planned, and God is the best of planners⁴ 15He made Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the unbelievers plots a means of their own punishment and a means for the coming of the Saviour of the nations.⁵

16And this is the parable concerning the children of Israel and the prophets sent to them. 17A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 18And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from them of the fruit of the vineyard. 19And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 20And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.

21And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 22The lord of the vineyard therefore came and destroyed the husbandmen, and gave the vineyard unto others. 23So likewise God will take away the kingdom of heaven from the children of Israel because of the way they treated John and Jesus and other prophets, and He will give it to the children of Ishmael and Kedar: 24As the Scriptures say, The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. 25This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.⁶

26Thus did God make the coming of Jesus a preparation for the Saviour of the nations, and Jesus did indeed announce his coming. 27As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28And the night Jesus hid himself from the world, he had a vision and he saw a fig tree, very old and without much fruit. 29And he saw people coming to it, and seeking of its fruit that they might satisfy their hunger and thirst, but they find nothing but leaves. 30And Jesus curseth the fig tree and it withered from the roots.

31Then there came another planter from afar and he planted a tree that it might give fruit unto the end of time. 32And people of all kinds came to it and ate of its fruit.⁷

Distorting the Scripture

3:78There are some among them who distort the Book with their tongues to make you think this distortion is from the Book—but it is not what the Book says. They say, “It is from God”—but it is not from God. And so they attribute lies to God knowingly.⁸

Prophets Never Claim Divinity

3:79It is not appropriate for someone who God has blessed with the Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood to say to people, “Worship me instead of God.” Rather, he would say, “Be devoted to the worship of your Lord alone”—in accordance with what these prophets read in the Scripture and what they taught. 3:80And he would never ask you to take angels and prophets as lords. Would he ask you to disbelieve after you have submitted?⁹

Disputes over Jesus

3:61Now, whoever disputes with you O Prophet concerning Jesus after full knowledge has come to you, say, “Come! Let us gather our children and your children, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves—then let us sincerely invoke God’s curse upon the liars.” 3:63If they turn away, then surely God has perfect knowledge of the corruptors. 3:64Say, O Prophet, “O People of the Book! Let us come to common terms: that we will worship none but God, associate none with Him, nor take one another as lords instead of God.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we have submitted to God alone.”¹⁰

Mark 12:38-40; Matt. 23:1-6. Jesus still accepts the authority of Moses, and nothing in his words suggests that the law was about to be abolished; that doctrine is Paul of Tarsus’s (see Paul of Tarsus). He is only disapproving the rigidity, extremism and hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees in general. ↩
Mark 14:1-2; Matt. 26:1-5; Luke 22:1-2. Temple authorities could not catch Jesus by words, so they plan to use force. The disturbance he had caused by casting the traders and money changers out of the temple was serious enough from the point of view of the authorities, but perhaps they may have ignored it were it not the fact that they found Jesus too clever and ambitious to be left alone. The canonical gospels imply that the chief priests had heard that Jesus might be planning to launch himself as the Messiah (Mark 14:61, etc). This might have come from hearsay generated by some of Jesus’ ambiguous claims of Messiahship or the disciples’ public profession of it, or the information might have come from someone close to Jesus, such as Judas Iscariot. In any case, the information had the effect of increasing the authorities’ concern about Jesus, and they decided to arrest him before he went too far. To minimize the public discontent, they planned a secret arrest for the last day of the festival, hoping that the pilgrims will disperse before the news of the action gets out. They did not want to wait for too long either because then Jesus might have left Judea and successfully avoided his arrest. ↩
John 12:34-36. The Gospels do not say how Jesus came to know of the chief priests’s plot. But it seems that Jesus had disciples or sympathizers among the temple authorities (cf. John 18:16), and it was probably such a sympathetic priest who informed Jesus about plans of his arrest. This brought an end to Jesus’ dramatic performance during the last few days of the feast and put him on the defensive. His disappearance from the public scene made the authorities only more determined to arrest him. ↩
Qur’an 3:49-54. Jesus’ public ministry has now come to an end. If at this point we look back at it, it does not appear very successful. We find that by and large Jesus’ people rejected or ignored him. The stories about his extraordinary thaumaturgical performances in Galilee and his bold speech and action in Jerusalem during the festival week won him some admiration, but for the most part this admiration was indifferent and temporary. In Galilee, he managed to make and keep only a few dozens of disciples, while, in Jerusalem, the attention he gained did not win him any real support: there was, for example, no uproar when he was arrested and sentenced.

Yet whatever little following Jesus left behind turned out to be sufficient to provide the desperately needed nucleus for crystalization of discontent within Judaism and in the Roman empire, and there evolved a political force that defeated the two systems that collaborated in trying to put an end to Jesus’ mission. This was the planning of God, the best of planners. ↩
The Qur’an says that God set those who follow Jesus above those who disbelieved until the Day of Resurrection (3:55), and that the message was completed with the revelation to Muhammad (5:3; 61:6). What Jesus began was carried to the nations by the Counsellor whose coming he announced (sections 23 and 24); the church that grew up in his name carried also a reading of him that the Qur’an corrects (4:171; 5:72-75). Both belong to the plan the Qur’an calls God’s (3:54). ↩
Cf. Mark 12:1-12, Matt. 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-18; Isa. 5:1-7. The synoptists no doubt look toward the Gentile mission (even though they have preserved ample evidence to show that the question of such a mission did not arise during Jesus’ life [cf. note 44]). ↩
Cf. Mark 11:12-14, 20. Matt. 21:18-19. ↩
Qur’an 3:78. ↩
Qur’an 3:79-80. ↩
Qur’an 3:61, 63-64. ↩

From the Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas has no Jerusalem narrative, but it keeps sayings that belong to these days. Green agrees with the Qur’an, blue is beyond the measure.

Agrees Thomas 39. The Pharisees and scribes have hidden the keys of knowledge and neither enter nor let others enter. Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. (Compare Matthew 23:13; 10:16.)¹¹
Agrees Thomas 40. A vine planted apart from the Father is unsound and will be uprooted and destroyed. (Compare Matthew 15:13.)¹²
Agrees Thomas 65. A vineyard owner sends servants to collect his share from tenants, who beat them. He sends his son, whom they kill. (Compare Mark 12:1-9.)¹³
Agrees Thomas 66. Show me the stone the builders rejected: it is the cornerstone. (Compare Mark 12:10.)¹⁴
Beyond the measure Thomas 71. Jesus will destroy this house and no one will be able to rebuild it. (Compare Mark 14:58.)¹⁵
Agrees Thomas 102. Woe to the Pharisees, who are like a dog sleeping in the oxen’s feed trough, neither eating nor letting the oxen eat.¹⁶
Agrees Thomas 104. Asked to pray and fast, Jesus asks what sin he has committed. When the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray. (Compare Mark 2:18-20.)¹⁷

Sayings that conflict with the Qur’an, and sayings that only repeat another, are listed with the reason for each on the page of sayings set aside.

From the commentaries on 43:57-65

What the classical commentators wrote on the verses this section rests on, each given in full and folded away until opened. The same texts, with the other passages, are on the classical commentaries.

al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān (d. 310 AH / 923 CE), about 5,960 words

On 43:57

On the interpretation of His words: So We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after. (56) And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (57) (43:56–57)

The reciters differed in reading this. The generality of the Kūfan reciters other than ʿĀṣim read it fa-jaʿalnāhum sulufan, with ḍammah on the sīn and the lām, construing it as the plural of salīf among people, which is the one who goes ahead in front of the people. Al-Farrāʾ related that he heard al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn mention that he had heard the Arabs say: “a salīf of the people has passed”. The generality of the reciters of Medina and Baṣrah, and ʿĀṣim, read it So We made them a precedent (salafan), with fatḥah on the sīn and the lām.

When it is read thus, it may be intended for the group and the individual, the masculine and the feminine, because one says to a people “you are a salaf (predecessor) for us”, and it may be pluralised, so that one says “they are aslāf“; from this is the report related from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “The righteous depart as predecessors (aslāfan).”

Ḥumayd al-Aʿraj used to read it fa-jaʿalnāhum sulafan, with ḍammah on the sīn and fatḥah on the lām, construing it as the plural of sulfah among people, like “a community (ummah) of them” and “a portion (qiṭʿah)”.

The most correct of the readings in this is the reading of those who read it with fatḥah on the sīn and the lām, because it is the choicest dialect and the speech familiar among the Arabs, and the dialects of the Arabs most entitled to have the Book of God read in them are the most eloquent and the most widely known among them. The interpretation of the passage, then, is: So We made these whom We drowned in the sea, of the people of Pharaoh, a vanguard going ahead into the Fire before the disbelievers of your people, O Muḥammad, of Quraysh; and the disbelievers of your people follow upon their track.

The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said about this.

Those who said this

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, His words So We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after, he said: the people of Pharaoh — their disbelievers — are a precedent for the disbelievers of the community of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: So We made them a precedent: in the Fire.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar: So We made them a precedent, he said: a precedent to the Fire.

As for His words and an example for those who came after: He says, and a lesson and an admonition by which the nations after them might be admonished, so that they desist from disbelief in God. The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said about this.

Those who said this

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Abū Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah: and an example for those who came after: that is, an admonition for those who came after.

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: and an example for those who came after: that is, an admonition for those after them.

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: So We made them a precedent and an example, he said: a lesson.

As for His words And when the son of Mary is cited as an example: God, Exalted be His mention, says: And when God likened Jesus, in His bringing him into existence and creating him without a male, to Adam, and compared him to him in that He created him from dust without a male — behold, your people, O Muḥammad, clamour at that and say: Muḥammad wants nothing from us but that we take him as a god whom we worship, as the Christians worshipped the Messiah.

The people of interpretation differed about the interpretation of this. Some of them said the like of what we have said about it.

Those who said this

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour. He said: Quraysh said: Muḥammad only wants us to worship him as the people of Jesus worshipped Jesus.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, who said: When Jesus son of Mary was mentioned, Quraysh were dismayed at it and said: O Muḥammad, why have you mentioned Jesus son of Mary? And they said: Muḥammad wants nothing but that we should do with him as the Christians did with Jesus son of Mary. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: They cite it to you only for argument (43:58).

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, who said: When Jesus was mentioned in the Qurʾān, the polytheists of Quraysh said: O Muḥammad, what do you intend by mentioning Jesus? He said: And they said: He only wants us to love him as the Christians loved Jesus.

Others said: rather, what was meant by this was the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you will come to it (21:98). The polytheists said, when it was sent down: We are content that our gods should be together with Jesus, ʿUzayr and the angels, for all of these are among what is worshipped besides God. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it, and they said: Are our gods better, or he? (43:58).

Those who said this

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: He means Quraysh, when it was said to them Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you will come to it (21:98). Quraysh said to him: Then what of the son of Mary? He said: That one is the servant of God and His messenger. They said: By God, this man wants nothing but that we take him as a lord, as the Christians took Jesus son of Mary as a lord. So God, Mighty and Majestic, said: They cite it to you only for argument; rather they are a contentious people (43:58).

The reciters differed in reading His words cry out (yaṣiddūn). The generality of the reciters of Medina, and a group of the reciters of Kūfah, read it yaṣuddūn, with ḍammah on the ṣād; and some of the reciters of Kūfah and Baṣrah read it yaṣiddūn, with kasrah on the ṣād.

The scholars of the speech of the Arabs differed as to the difference between it when it is read with ḍammah on the ṣād and when it is read with kasrah. Some of the grammarians of Baṣrah said — and some of the Kūfans agreed with them on it — that they are two dialectal forms with one meaning, like yashuddu and yashiddu, and yanummu and yanimmu from namīmah (tale-bearing). Another of them said: whoever reads it with kasrah on the ṣād, its sense is “they clamour”, and whoever reads it with ḍammah, its sense is “they turn aside”. And some of those who read it with kasrah said: he intended “they clamour”, whereas whoever read it with ḍammah intended turning away (ṣudūd) from the truth.

And I was told on the authority of al-Farrāʾ, who said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to me that ʿĀṣim abandoned yaṣuddūn from the reading of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān¹⁸ and read yaṣiddūn. He said: Abū Bakr said: ʿĀṣim related to me, from Abū Razīn, from Abū Yaḥyā, that Ibn ʿAbbās met the nephew of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr and said: Your uncle is indeed an Arab, so how is it that he commits a solecism in His words “idhā qawmuka minhu yaṣuddūn“, when it is only yaṣiddūn?

The correct opinion on this is that they are two well-known readings and two famous dialectal forms with one meaning. We have not found the people of interpretation distinguishing between the meaning of this when it is read with ḍammah and with kasrah; and had its meaning been different, disagreement about its interpretation among its people would have existed, as the disagreement over its reading according to the two dialectal forms exists. But since its meaning is not different, they did not disagree that its interpretation is: “they clamour and are dismayed”. So with whichever of the two readings the reciter reads, he is correct.

Mention of what we have said in the interpretation of this

ʿAlī related to me: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us: Muʿāwiyah related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, His words behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: behold, your people cry out at it: He says, they clamour.

Ibn Ḥumayd related to us: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us: Abū Ḥamzah related to us, from al-Mughīrah al-Ḍabbī, from al-Ṣaʿb ibn ʿUthmān, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to read behold, your people cry out at it (yaṣiddūn), and he used to explain it, saying: they clamour.

Ibn Bashshār related to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us: Sufyān related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās: behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.

Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from Shuʿbah, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us; both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: behold, your people cry out at it: that is, they are dismayed and clamour.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he read it yaṣiddūn: that is, they clamour; and ʿAlī (may God be pleased with him) read yaṣuddūn.

I was told on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: behold, your people cry out at it, he said: they clamour.

On 43:58-60

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And they said, “Are our gods better, or is he?” They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people. (58) He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel. (59) And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding. (60) (43:58–60)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And the polytheists of your people said, O Muḥammad: Are our gods which we worship better, or Muḥammad — so that we should worship Muḥammad and abandon our gods?

It was mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb this is: “Are our gods better, or this one?”

The report concerning this

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, that in the codex (ḥarf) of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb it is: “And they said, Are our gods better, or this one?” — meaning by it Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Others said: Rather, what is meant by it is: Are our gods better, or Jesus?

Those who said this

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī, concerning His words And they said, “Are our gods better, or is he?” They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58): he said: They disputed with him and said: He claims that everyone who is worshipped besides God is in the Fire; well then, we are content that our gods should be together with Jesus, Ezra and the angels — these have all been worshipped besides God. He said: So God sent down the exoneration of Jesus.

Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words Are our gods better (43:58): he said: These people worshipped Jesus, and we worship the angels.

On His words: They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58), up to upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)

As for His words, Exalted be His remembrance, They did not put it to you except for argument, He says, Exalted be His remembrance: They did not set forth this parable to you, O Muḥammad, nor did they say this saying to you, except out of argument and contention with which they contend against you. rather, they are a contentious people: He says, Majestic is His praise: There is not in these polytheists of your people, O Muḥammad, in their disputing with you by that with which they dispute with you, any seeking of the truth; rather, they are a contentious people, who seek out contention by means of falsehood.

It is mentioned from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “No people ever strayed from the truth except that they were given to argument.”

The report concerning this

Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Yaʿlā related to us: al-Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār related to us, from Abū Ghālib, from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people ever strayed after guidance which they had been upon, except that they were given to argument,” and he recited: They did not put it to you except for argument … to the end of the verse (43:58).

Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kindī and Abū Kurayb related to me, both saying: Muḥammad ibn Bishr related to us: Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār related to us, from Abū Umāmah, that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to the people while they were disputing about the Qurʾān, and he grew exceedingly angry, until it was as though vinegar had been poured over his face; then he said (peace and blessings be upon him): “Do not strike one part of the Book of God against another, for no people have ever strayed except that they were given to argument.” Then he recited: They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58).

On His words: He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: Jesus is nothing but a servant from among Our servants, upon whom We bestowed favour by granting him success and faith, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel; He says: and We made him a sign for the Children of Israel, and a proof for Us against them by Our sending him to them to call them to Us. And he is not as the Christians say, that he is the son of God, Exalted — exalted is God above that.

The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said concerning that.

Those who said this

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59): by that He means Jesus son of Mary; Jesus son of Mary was nothing beyond that — he was nothing but a servant upon whom God bestowed favour.

They also said the like of what we have said concerning His words and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59).

Those who said this

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Qatādah: an example for the Children of Israel (43:59) — I think he said: a sign for the Children of Israel.

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59), that is, a sign.

On His words: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And had We willed, O company of the children of Adam, We would have destroyed you and annihilated you all, and set in your place upon the earth angels who would succeed you in it and worship Me. That is like His words, Exalted be His remembrance: If He wills, He can remove you, O people, and bring others; and God is ever Able to do that (4:133), and as He said: If He wills, He can remove you and cause to succeed after you whomever He wills (6:133).

The people of interpretation said the like of what we have said concerning that, except that some of them said: its meaning is: succeeding one another.

Those who said this

ʿAlī related to me: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us: Muʿāwiyah related to me, from ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): He says: succeeding one another.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: populating the earth in your place.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: succeeding one another, in the place of the children of Adam.

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): had God willed, He would have set upon the earth angels succeeding one another.

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60): he said: as successors in your place.

On 43:61-62

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour, so do not doubt it, but follow Me; this is a straight path. (61) And let not Satan avert you; indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy. (62) (43:61–62)

The people of interpretation differed concerning the pronoun (hāʾ) in His words And indeed, he, as to what is meant by it and to whom or what it refers.

Some of them said: It refers to Jesus, and it goes back to him. They said: The meaning of the words is: And indeed Jesus — his appearance is a knowledge by which the coming of the Hour is known, because his appearance is one of its signs, and his descent to the earth is an indication of the passing away of this world and the approach of the Hereafter.

Those who said this

Ibn Bashshār related to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us: Sufyān related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Yaḥyā, from Ibn ʿAbbās: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary.

Ibn al-Muthannā related to us: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from Shuʿbah, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it, except that he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.

Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me: Ghālib ibn Qāʾid related to us: Qays related to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Razīn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he used to read “And indeed, he is a sign (ʿalam) of the Hour”¹⁹; he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.

Abū Kurayb related to us: Ibn ʿAṭiyyah related to us, from Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, from Jābir, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: I do not know whether the people have learnt the interpretation of this verse, or whether they have not grasped it: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”; he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me: my father related to me: my paternal uncle related to me: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary.

Yaʿqūb related to me: Hushaym related to us: Ḥuṣayn informed us, from Abū Mālik, and from ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, that the two of them said concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): they both said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary; and one of the two read it “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: a sign of the Hour is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a sign of the Hour — the Resurrection.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour”: he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a sign of the Hour.

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.

I was told, from al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): meaning the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary and his descent from heaven before the Day of Resurrection.

Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61): he said: the descent of Jesus son of Mary is a knowledge of the Hour, when he descends.

Others said: The pronoun in His words And indeed, he refers to the Qurʾān. They said: The meaning of the words is: And indeed this Qurʾān is a knowledge of the Hour: it teaches you of its coming to pass, and informs you about it and about its terrors.

Those who said this

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah, who said: al-Ḥasan used to say: “And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour” — this Qurʾān.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, who said: People used to say: The Qurʾān is a knowledge of the Hour.

The reciters of the garrison cities were agreed, in the reading of His words And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour (43:61), upon a kasrah on the ʿayn of ʿilm; and there has been related from Ibn ʿAbbās what I have mentioned from him concerning a fatḥah upon it, and likewise from Qatādah and al-Ḍaḥḥāk.

The correct reading in this is the kasrah on the ʿayn, because of the consensus of the authoritative body of reciters upon it.

It has been mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy this is “And indeed, he is a reminder (dhikr) of the Hour”, and that confirms the reading of those who read with a kasrah on the ʿayn in His words knowledge.

On His words: so do not doubt it (43:61)

He says: So be in no doubt about it or about its coming, O people.

As:

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: so do not doubt it (43:61): he said: do not be in doubt about it.

On His words: but follow Me (43:61)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: and obey Me — so act upon what I have commanded you, and desist from what I have forbidden you. this is a straight path: He says: your following Me, O people, in My command and My prohibition is a straight path; He says: a road in which there is no crookedness; rather, it is upright.

On His words: And let not Satan avert you (43:62)

He says, Majestic is His praise: And let not Satan turn you aside from obedience to Me in what I command you and forbid you, so that you forsake it for something else and swerve from the straight path and go astray. indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy: He says: Satan is to you an enemy who calls you to that in which lies your destruction and turns you away from the right course of the way, in order to bring you down into the places of ruin; manifest — he has made his enmity to you manifest by his refusal to prostrate to your father Adam, and by his beguiling him with delusion until he brought him out of the Garden, out of envy and insolence.

On 43:63-64

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, he said: I have come to you with wisdom, and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ; so fear God and obey me. (63) Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path. (64) (43:63–64)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: And when Jesus came to the Children of Israel with the clear proofs, meaning the evident indications. And it was said that what is meant by the clear proofs is the Gospel.

Those who said this

Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatādah: And when Jesus came with the clear proofs (43:63), that is, with the Gospel.

On His words: he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63)

It was said that what is meant by wisdom in this place is prophethood.

Those who said this

Muḥammad related to me: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63): he said: prophethood.

I have already explained the meaning of wisdom in what has gone before of this book of ours, together with its evidences, and I have mentioned the disagreement of those who differed concerning its interpretation, and that dispenses with repeating it.

On His words: and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63)

He says: and to make clear to you, O company of the Children of Israel, some of that wherein you differ of the rulings of the Torah.

As:

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me: al-Ḥasan related to us: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His words and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63): he said: of the alteration of the Torah.

It has been said that the meaning of “some” in this place is in the sense of “all”, and they made that analogous to the saying of Labīd²⁰:

One who forsakes places whenever I am not pleased with them,

unless their fated death should lay hold of some of the souls.

They said: Death does not lay hold of “some” of the souls; the meaning is only: unless their fated death should lay hold of the souls. But there is no great sense in what this speaker said, because Jesus said to them and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ only because there had been among them much disagreement about the affairs of their religion and their worldly life; so he said to them: I shall make clear to you some of that — namely the affair of their religion, apart from the affairs of their worldly life about which they differed; and for that reason he specified what he informed them that he would make clear to them. As for the saying of Labīd, “unless it should lay hold of some of the souls”, he too said that in the same way, because he meant: unless its fated death should lay hold of his own soul; and his soul, from among all souls, is without doubt a part and not the whole.

On His words: so fear God and obey me (43:63)

He says: So fear your Lord, O people, by obeying Him, and dread Him by shunning acts of disobedience to Him; and obey me in what I have commanded you of fearing God and following His command, and of accepting my sincere counsel to you.

On His words: Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him (43:64)

He says: Indeed God — He who has the right over us that we single Him out alone in divinity and devote obedience sincerely to Him — is my Lord and the Lord of all of you; so worship Him alone, and do not associate anything with Him in worship of Him, for that is not fitting, nor is it proper that anything other than He should be worshipped.

On His words: this is a straight path (43:64)

He says: This which I have commanded you — the fearing of God, obedience to me, and the singling out of God alone in divinity — is the straight road, and it is the religion of God, other than which He accepts nothing from any one of His servants.

On 43:65

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: But the factions differed among themselves; so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day. (65) Do they await anything but the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly while they do not perceive? (66) (43:65–66)

The people of interpretation differed concerning those meant by the factions (aḥzāb) whom God mentioned in this place.

Some of them said: By that He meant the group who debated with one another over the matter of Jesus and differed about him.

Those who said this

Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, concerning His words But the factions differed among themselves (43:65): he said: They are the four whom the Children of Israel sent forth, who spoke concerning Jesus.²¹

Others said: Rather, they are the Jews and the Christians.

Those who said this

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī, concerning His words But the factions differed among themselves (43:65): he said: the Jews and the Christians.

The correct opinion on this is to say: Its meaning is: So the sects who differed concerning Jesus son of Mary — from among those whom Jesus called to what he called them to, the fearing of God and acting in obedience to Him — differed among themselves; and they are the Jews and the Christians, and those of the Christians who differed about him; for all of them were factions, scowling in hostility, of divergent desires, despite his making plain to them the matter of his own self and his saying to them: Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path (43:64).

On His words: so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day (43:65)

He says, Exalted be His remembrance: So the valley (wayl) that flows with pus and purulence in Hell is for those who disbelieved in God, who said of Jesus son of Mary other than what Jesus described himself as being in this verse. from the punishment of a painful day: He says: from the punishment of a day that inflicts pain; and the day is described as inflicting pain since the punishment that pains them takes place in it — and that is the Day of Resurrection.

As:

Muḥammad related to us: Aḥmad related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, from al-Suddī: from the punishment of a painful day (43:65): he said: from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

al-Baghawī, Maʿālim al-tanzīl (d. 516 AH / 1122 CE), about 1,400 words

On 43:57-58

So when they had angered Us (43:55), provoked Us to wrath, We took vengeance on them and drowned them all together.

And We made them a precedent (43:56). Ḥamzah and al-Kisāʾī read sulufan with ḍammah on the sīn and the lām. Al-Farrāʾ said: It is the plural of salīf, from salufa, with ḍammah on the lām, yaslufu, that is, to go before. The others read it with fatḥah on the sīn and the lām, as the plural of sālif, like ḥāris and ḥaras, khādim and khadam, and rāṣid and raṣad. Both mean those of the nations who have passed away and gone before. One says salufa yaslufu when someone goes before, and the salaf are those of the forefathers who went before. So We made them go before, that others might take warning from them.

And an example for those who come after: a lesson and an admonition for those who remained after them. It was also said: a precedent to the Fire for the unbelievers of this community, and an example for those who come after them.

And when the son of Mary is cited as an example (43:57). Ibn ʿAbbās and most of the commentators said: The verse was revealed concerning the dispute of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about Jesus (peace be upon him), when His words, Mighty and Majestic, You and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell (21:98) were revealed; and we have recounted it in the sūrah of the Prophets (peace be upon them). Behold, your people cry out at it. The people of Medina and Syria and al-Kisāʾī read yaṣuddūna with ḍammah on the ṣād, that is, they turn away; its parallel is His words, Exalted, turning away from you in aversion (4:61). The others read it with kasrah on the ṣād.

They differed about its meaning. Al-Kisāʾī said: They are two dialectal forms, like yaʿrushūna and yaʿrishūna, shadda ʿalayhi yashuddu and yashiddu, and namma bi-l-ḥadīthi yanummu and yanimmu.

Ibn ʿAbbās said: Its meaning is: they clamour. Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said: they shout. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk said: they cry aloud. Qatādah said: they are dismayed. Al-Quraẓī said: they are vexed. “And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it”, saying: Muḥammad wants nothing from us but that we should worship him and take him as a god, as the Christians worshipped Jesus.

And they say: Are our gods better, or he? (43:58). Qatādah said: By “or he” they mean Muḥammad; so that we should worship him and obey him and abandon our gods.

Al-Suddī and Ibn Zayd said: “or he” means Jesus. They said: Muḥammad claims that everything worshipped besides God is in the Fire; well, we are content for our gods to be with Jesus, Ezra and the angels in the Fire. God, Exalted, said: They cite it, meaning this example, to you only for the sake of argument, disputation by falsehood; for they knew that what is meant by His words “and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell” (21:98) is these idols.

Rather, they are a contentious people.

Abū Saʿīd al-Shurayḥī informed us: Abū Isḥāq al-Thaʿlabī informed us: Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥamshāwī informed us: Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Ḥamdān al-Qaṭīʿī informed us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal related to us: my father related to me: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr related to us: Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār al-Wāsiṭī related to us, from Abū Ghālib, from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people have gone astray after guidance they were upon except that they were given to argument,” and then he recited: They cite it to you only for the sake of argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58).

On 43:59-61

Then He mentioned Jesus, saying: He is not (43:59), he is nothing, meaning Jesus (peace be upon him), but a servant on whom We bestowed favour, by prophethood, and We made him an example, a sign and a lesson, for the Children of Israel, by which they might know the power of God, Mighty and Majestic, over whatever He wills, in that He created him without a father.

And had We willed, We could have made from among you angels (43:60), that is, had We willed, We would have destroyed you and put angels in your place, to succeed in the earth, to be successors to you, populating the earth and worshipping Me and obeying Me. It was also said: succeeding one another.

And he (43:61), meaning Jesus (peace be upon him), is indeed a means of knowledge of the Hour, meaning that his descent is one of the portents of the Hour, by which its nearness is known. Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Hurayrah and Qatādah read “and he is indeed a mark (ʿalam) of the Hour”, with fatḥah on the lām and the ʿayn, that is, a token and a sign.

We have related from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “The son of Mary is surely about to descend among you as a just judge; he will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish the poll-tax, and in his time all religious communities will perish except Islam.”

It is related: “He will descend upon a mountain pass in the Holy Land, wearing two garments dyed pale yellow, with the hair of his head oiled and a spear in his hand, which is the one with which he will kill the Antichrist. He will come to Jerusalem while the people are at the afternoon prayer, and the imam will step back, but Jesus will put him forward and pray behind him according to the law of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he will kill the swine, break the cross, demolish the synagogues and churches, and kill the Christians except those who believe in him.”

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Malīḥī informed us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Nuʿaymī informed us: Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us: Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl related to us: Ibn Bukayr related to us: al-Layth related to us, from Yūnus, from Ibn Shihāb, from Nāfiʿ the client of Abū Qatādah al-Anṣārī, that Abū Hurayrah said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “How will you be when the son of Mary descends among you and your imam is from among you?”

Al-Ḥasan and a group said: “And it”, meaning: and the Qurʾān is indeed a means of knowledge of the Hour; it teaches you of its coming and informs you of its conditions and its terrors. So do not doubt concerning it, have no doubt about it. Ibn ʿAbbās said: do not deny it. And follow me, upon the affirmation of God’s oneness; this, which I am upon, is a straight path.

On 43:62-65

And let not (43:62), let him not turn you away, Satan, from the religion of God; he is indeed a manifest enemy to you.

And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63), with prophethood, and to make plain to you some of that over which you differ, of the rulings of the Torah. Qatādah said: He means the differing of the parties who split into factions over the matter of Jesus. Al-Zajjāj said: What Jesus brought in the Gospel is only some of that over which they differed, and he made plain to them outside the Gospel what they needed.

So fear God and obey me.

God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path. (64) Then the factions differed among themselves; so woe to those who do wrong from the punishment of a painful day. (65) Are they waiting for anything but the Hour (43:66), meaning that it will come to them without fail, so it is as though they are waiting for it, that it should come upon them suddenly, unexpectedly, while they do not perceive?

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān (d. 671 AH / 1273 CE), about 3,460 words

On 43:57

When He, Exalted, said: And ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you: did We appoint, besides the All-Merciful, gods to be worshipped? (43:45), the idolaters seized upon the matter of Jesus and said: “Muḥammad wants nothing but that we take him as a god, just as the Christians took Jesus son of Mary as a god.” Qatādah said this. Something similar is related from Mujāhid, who said: Quraysh said, “Muḥammad wants us to worship him as the people of Jesus worshipped Jesus”, so God sent down this verse. Ibn ʿAbbās said: what is meant by it is the disputation of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning the matter of Jesus, and that the one who struck this comparison was ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā al-Sahmī in the state of his unbelief, when Quraysh said to him that Muḥammad was reciting Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell (21:98) to the end of the verse. He said: “Had I been present with him I would have refuted him.” They said: “And what would you have said to him?” He said: “I would have said to him: this Messiah, the Christians worship him, and the Jews worship ʿUzayr; are these two among the fuel of Hell?” Quraysh marvelled at his words and considered that he had defeated him in argument, and that is the meaning of His word they clamour (yaṣiddūn). So God, Exalted, sent down: Indeed those for whom the best has already gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far from it (21:101). Had Ibn al-Zibaʿrā reflected on the verse he would not have objected to it, because He said “and what you worship” and did not say “and whom you worship”; He meant only the idols and the like among things which do not possess reason, and did not mean the Messiah or the angels even though they were worshipped. This has already been treated at the end of Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ. Ibn ʿAbbās related that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Quraysh: “O company of Quraysh, there is no good in anyone who is worshipped besides God.” They said: “Do you not claim that Jesus was a servant and a prophet, and a righteous servant? If he was as you claim, then he was worshipped besides God!” So God, Exalted, sent down And when the son of Mary was put forward as an example, behold, your people clamoured at it (43:57), that is, they raised a din like the din of camels when burdens are loaded upon them. Nāfiʿ, Ibn ʿĀmir and al-Kisāʾī read yaṣuddūn with ḍammah on the ṣād, and its meaning is “they turn away”; al-Nakhaʿī said this. The others read it with kasrah. Al-Kisāʾī said: they are two dialectal forms, like yaʿrishūn and yaʿrushūn, and yanimmūn and yanummūn, and its meaning is “they clamour”. Al-Jawharī said: ṣadda yaṣuddu ṣadīdan, that is, he clamoured. It has been said that with ḍammah it is from ṣudūd, which is turning away, and with kasrah from clamour; Quṭrub said this. Abū ʿUbayd said: had it been from turning away from the truth, it would have been “behold, your people turn away from it” (ʿanhu yaṣuddūn). Al-Farrāʾ said: the two are the same, minhu and ʿanhu. Ibn al-Musayyab said: yaṣuddūn means they clamour. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk said: they cry out. Ibn ʿAbbās said: they laugh. Abū ʿUbaydah said: whoever reads with ḍammah, its meaning is “they turn aside”, so the meaning is: on account of inclination they turn aside; and yaṣiddūn is not made transitive with min. Whoever reads with kasrah, its meaning is “they clamour”, so min is connected with yaṣiddūn, and the meaning is: they clamour at it.

On 43:58

His words, Exalted: And they said: are our gods better, or is he? (43:58), that is, are our gods better, or Jesus? Al-Suddī said this. He said: they disputed with him and said: “If everyone who is worshipped besides God is in the Fire, then we are content that our gods should be together with Jesus and the angels and ʿUzayr”; so God, Exalted, sent down Indeed those for whom the best has already gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far from it (21:101) to the end of the verse. Qatādah said: by or is he they meant Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it is “are our gods better, or this one?”, and that strengthens the statement of Qatādah; so it is an interrogative of affirmation that their gods are better. The Kufans and Yaʿqūb read a-ālihatunā with both hamzahs fully pronounced, while the others softened it; this has already been discussed. They did not put it forward to you except for argument (43:58). “For argument” (jadalan) is a circumstantial accusative, that is, “disputatiously”; meaning, they did not put this example forward to you except out of a desire for disputation, because they knew that what was meant by the fuel of Hell was the inanimate things they had taken as gods. Rather, they are a contentious people (43:58), who dispute by falsehood. In the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Tirmidhī, from Abū Umāmah, who said: the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people went astray after guidance which they were upon except that they were given to argument”; then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: They did not put it forward to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58).

On 43:59-60

His words, Exalted: He is only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59), that is, Jesus is nothing but a servant upon whom God bestowed the favour of prophethood, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59), that is, a sign and a lesson by which the power of God, Exalted, is inferred, for Jesus came into being without a father, and then there was granted to him, in the raising of the dead and the healing of the one born blind and the leper and of all diseases, what was granted to no one else in his time, notwithstanding that the Children of Israel were at that time the best of creation and the most beloved of it to God, Mighty and Majestic, and mankind were beneath them, there being no one in the sight of God, Mighty and Majestic, like them. It has been said that what is meant by the servant upon whom favour was bestowed is Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him), but the first is more evident. And had We willed, We could have made from you (43:60), that is, in place of you, angels who would be successors in your stead; al-Suddī said this. Something similar is related from Mujāhid, who said: angels who would inhabit the earth in place of you. Al-Azharī said: min may be used for substitution, by the evidence of this verse. I say: this meaning has already been treated in Barāʾah²² and elsewhere. It has been said: had We willed, We could have made angels out of human beings, even though it is not the usual course of things, for substances are one genus and the difference lies in the attributes. The meaning is: had We willed, We could have settled the angels upon the earth, and there is no nobility in Our settling them in heaven such that they should be worshipped or that it should be said of them that they are the daughters of God. The meaning of succeeding (43:60) is that they succeed one another; Ibn ʿAbbās said this.

On 43:61-62

His words, Exalted: And indeed he is knowledge of the Hour, so have no doubt about it (43:61). Al-Ḥasan, Qatādah and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: He means the Qurʾān, because it indicates the nearness of the coming of the Hour, or because by it the Hour and its terrors and its conditions are known. Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, al-Suddī and Qatādah also said: it is the coming forth of Jesus (peace be upon him), and that is one of the signs of the Hour, because God will send him down from heaven shortly before the rising of the Hour, just as the coming forth of the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl) is one of the signs of the Hour. Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Hurayrah, Qatādah, Mālik ibn Dīnār and al-Ḍaḥḥāk read wa-innahu la-ʿalamun li-l-sāʿah with fatḥah on the ʿayn and the lām, that is, “a token”. It has been related from ʿIkrimah wa-innahu la-l-ʿilmu with two lāms, and that is contrary to the codices. From ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: On the night the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was taken on the night journey, he met Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them), and they discussed the Hour among themselves. They began with Abraham and asked him about it, but he had no knowledge of it; then they asked Moses, and he had no knowledge of it; so the talk was referred to Jesus son of Mary, and he said: “I have been given a covenant concerning what falls short of its onset; as for its onset, none knows it but God, Mighty and Majestic.” Then he mentioned the coming forth of the Antichrist, and said: “Then I shall descend and kill him.” And he mentioned the ḥadīth; Ibn Mājah transmitted it in his Sunan. In the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim: “And while he is thus”, meaning the false messiah, the Antichrist, “God will send the Messiah son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret on the east side of Damascus, between two garments dyed with saffron, placing his two palms upon the wings of two angels. When he lowers his head drops fall, and when he raises it there roll down from it beads like pearls. No unbeliever who smells the scent of his breath will be permitted to live but will die, and his breath reaches as far as his sight reaches. Then he will seek him out until he overtakes him at the gate of Ludd²³ and kill him”, to the end of the ḥadīth. Al-Thaʿlabī, al-Zamakhsharī and others mentioned from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) will descend from heaven upon a pass of the Holy Land called Afīq,²⁴ between two garments of pale yellow, the hair of his head anointed, and in his hand a lance with which he will kill the Antichrist. He will come to Jerusalem while the people are at the afternoon prayer and the imam is leading them; the imam will step back, but Jesus will put him forward and pray behind him according to the law of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he will kill the swine, break the cross, lay waste the synagogues and churches, and kill the Christians except those who believe in him.” Khālid related from al-Ḥasan, who said: the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The prophets are brothers of one father by different mothers: their mothers are various, but their religion is one. I am the closest of people to Jesus son of Mary, for there is no prophet between me and him. He will be the first to descend; he will break the cross, kill the swine and fight the people for Islam.” Al-Māwardī said: Ibn ʿĪsā related from a group that they said: when Jesus descends, legal obligation (taklīf) will be lifted, so that he will not be a messenger to that age commanding them and forbidding them on behalf of God, Exalted. This is a rejected view, for three reasons: among them the ḥadīth; and because the continuance of this world requires legal obligation in it; and because he descends as one commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. Nor is it to be denied that the command of God, Exalted, to him should be confined to supporting Islam, commanding it and calling to it. I say: it is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim and in Ibn Mājah from Abū Hurayrah, who said: the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Jesus son of Mary will surely descend as a just judge; he will surely break the cross, surely kill the swine, surely abolish the poll-tax (jizyah); the young she-camels will surely be left and no one will go about on them; rancour, mutual hatred and mutual envy will surely vanish; and he will surely call people to wealth, and no one will accept it.” And from him, who said: the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “How will you be when the son of Mary descends among you and your imam is from among you?” In another version: “and he leads you as one of you.” Ibn Abī Dhiʾb said: “Do you know what ‘he leads you as one of you’ means?” I said: “Tell me.” He said: “He leads you by the Book of your Lord and the practice (sunnah) of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).” Our scholars (the mercy of God be upon them) said: this is an explicit text that he descends as a renewer of the religion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), of that part of it which has been effaced, not with a new law; and legal obligation remains, as we have made clear here and in the book al-Tadhkirah. It has been said: And indeed he is knowledge of the Hour means that the raising of the dead by Jesus is a proof of the Hour and of the resurrection of the dead; Ibn Isḥāq said this. I say: it is also possible that the meaning of indeed he is “indeed Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him)” is knowledge of the Hour, by the evidence of his words (peace be upon him): “I and the Hour were sent like these two”, and he joined the index finger and the middle finger; al-Bukhārī and Muslim transmitted it. Al-Ḥasan said: the first of its portents is Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him). so have no doubt about it: do not be uncertain about it, meaning about the Hour; Yaḥyā ibn Sallām said this. Al-Suddī said: do not deny it, and do not dispute about it, for it will assuredly come to pass. and follow me (43:61), that is, in the affirmation of God’s oneness and in what I convey to you from God. This is a straight path (43:61), that is, an upright road to God, that is, to His Garden. Yaʿqūb retained the yāʾ in His words wa-ttabiʿūnī in both states,²⁵ and likewise in wa-aṭīʿūnī; Abū ʿAmr, and Ismāʿīl from Nāfiʿ, retained it in continuous recitation but not in pause, and the others dropped it in both states. And let not Satan turn you away (43:62), that is, do not be deceived by his whisperings and by the specious arguments of the disputing unbelievers, for the laws of the prophets have not differed in the affirmation of God’s oneness, nor in what they reported of the knowledge of the Hour and other things, with what that includes of Garden or Fire. Indeed he is a manifest enemy to you (43:62). This has already been treated in al-Baqarah and elsewhere.

On 43:63-64

His words, Exalted: And when Jesus came with the clear proofs (43:63). Ibn ʿAbbās said: He means the raising of the dead, the healing of diseases, the creating of the bird, the table and other things, and the telling of many hidden matters. Qatādah said: the clear proofs here are the Gospel. he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63), that is, prophethood; al-Suddī said this. Ibn ʿAbbās said: knowledge of what leads to the good and restrains from the ugly. It has been said: the Gospel; al-Qushayrī and al-Māwardī mentioned this. and to make clear to you some of that about which you differ (43:63). Mujāhid said: of the alteration of the Torah. Al-Zajjāj said: the meaning is, “to make clear to you in the Gospel some of that about which you differ concerning the alteration of the Torah”. Mujāhid said: and he made clear to them, outside the Gospel, what they needed. It has been said: he made clear to them some of that about which they differed of the rulings of the Torah, to the extent that they asked him. It is possible that they differed about other things concerning which they did not ask him. It has been said that the Children of Israel differed after the death of Moses about matters of their religion and matters of their worldly life, and he made clear to them the matters of their religion. The position of Abū ʿUbaydah is that “some” (baʿḍ) is in the sense of “all”, and of this is His word, Exalted: some of that which he threatens you with will befall you (40:28). Al-Akhfash cited the words of Labīd:

One who abandons places when I am not content with them, unless the death of some souls lays hold of them.

And death does not lay hold of some souls to the exclusion of others.²⁶ Fate is called ʿalūq and ʿallāqah. Al-Mufaḍḍal al-Bakrī said:

And a woman asking after Thaʿlabah ibn Sayr,²⁷ when the clinging one, death, had already laid hold of Thaʿlabah.

Muqātil said: it is like His words and to make lawful to you some of that which was forbidden to you (3:50), meaning what was made lawful in the Gospel of what had been forbidden in the Torah, such as the flesh of camels, the fat of every animal, and fishing on the Sabbath. So fear God (43:63), that is, beware of associating partners with Him and worship none but God alone. And if this was the saying of Jesus, how can it be permissible that he be a god or the son of a god? and obey me (43:63), in what I call you to of the affirmation of God’s oneness and other things. Indeed God, He is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path (43:64), that is, the worship of God is a straight path, and whatever is other than it is crooked and does not lead the one who travels it to the truth.

On 43:65

His words, Exalted: Then the factions differed among themselves (43:65). Qatādah said: He means “what was between them”. Concerning them there are two views:

The first: that they are the People of the Book among the Jews and the Christians, who contradicted one another; Mujāhid and al-Suddī said this.
The second: the sects of the Christians, the Nestorians, the Melkites and the Jacobites, who differed about Jesus. The Nestorians said: he is the son of God. The Jacobites said: he is God. And the Melkites said: the third of three, one of whom is God. Al-Kalbī and Muqātil said this, and this has already been treated in Sūrat Maryam.²⁸

So woe to those who did wrong (43:65), that is, who disbelieved and associated partners with God, as in Sūrat Maryam. from the punishment of a painful day (43:65), that is, a day whose punishment is painful; and like it is “a sleeping night”, that is, a night in which one sleeps. Are they waiting (43:66): He means the factions; they are waiting for nothing except the Hour (43:66), meaning the Resurrection, that it should come upon them suddenly (43:66), that is, unexpectedly, while they do not perceive (43:66), that is, do not notice. This has already been treated in more than one place. It has been said that the meaning is: the idolaters of the Arabs are waiting for nothing except the Hour; and on this view “the factions” are those idolaters who banded together against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and called him a liar, and this connects with His words, Exalted: They did not put it forward to you except for argument (43:58).

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (d. 774 AH / 1373 CE), about 2,750 words

On 43:57-65

He, Exalted, says, informing of the obstinacy of Quraysh in their disbelief and their deliberate stubbornness and disputation: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57). More than one has said, from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, ʿIkrimah, al-Ḍaḥḥāk and al-Suddī: they laugh, that is, they were delighted by that.

Qatādah said: they are perturbed and they laugh. Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī said: they turn away.

The reason for that was what Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq mentioned in the Sīrah, where he said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) sat one day—according to what has reached me—with al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah in the mosque, and al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith came and sat with them, there being in the gathering more than one of the men of Quraysh. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke, and al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith confronted him, and the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke with him until he silenced him. Then he recited to him and to them: Surely you and what you worship apart from God are the fuel of Hell; to it you shall come down (21:98) and the verses following. Then the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) rose, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā al-Tamīmī came forward and sat down, and al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah said to him: By God, al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith could neither stand up to the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib nor hold his seat²⁹; and Muḥammad has claimed that we and what we worship of these gods of ours are the fuel of Hell. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā said: Now by God, had I found him I would have bested him in argument. Ask Muḥammad: is everything that is worshipped apart from God in Hell together with those who worshipped it? For we worship the angels, the Jews worship ʿUzayr, and the Christians worship the Messiah Jesus son of Mary. Al-Walīd and those who were with him in the gathering marvelled at the words of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā, and they considered that he had argued and disputed well. That was mentioned to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and he said: “Everyone who loves to be worshipped apart from God is with those who worshipped him; for they are only worshipping Satan and whoever commanded them to worship him.” So God, Mighty and Majestic, sent down: Surely those for whom the best has already gone forth from Us—they shall be kept far from it (21:101), that is: Jesus, ʿUzayr and those who were worshipped along with them of the rabbis and monks who passed away in obedience to God, Mighty and Majestic, whom the people of error who worshipped them took as lords apart from God. And there came down, concerning what they mention of their worshipping the angels and that they are the daughters of God: And they say: The Most Merciful has taken a son. Glory be to Him! Nay, they are honoured servants (21:26) and the verses following. And there came down, concerning what is mentioned of the affair of Jesus and that he is worshipped apart from God, and the marvelling of al-Walīd and those present with him at his argument and his disputation: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57), that is: they turn away from your affair on account of that saying of his. Then He mentioned Jesus and said: He is only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel. And had We willed, We could have made of you angels in the earth to succeed. And surely he is a knowledge of the Hour (43:59–61), that is: what I placed in his hands of signs—the reviving of the dead and the curing of illnesses—suffices as a proof of the knowledge of the Hour. He says: so do not doubt concerning it, and follow me; this is a straight path (43:61).

Ibn Jarīr mentioned, from the transmission of al-ʿAwfī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, His words: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57), he said: meaning Quraysh; when it was said to them: Surely you and what you worship apart from God are the fuel of Hell; to it you shall come down (21:98), to the end of the verses, Quraysh said to him: Then what of the son of Mary? He said: “That one is the servant of God and His messenger.” They said: By God, this man wants nothing but that we take him as a lord, as the Christians took Jesus son of Mary as a lord. So God, Exalted, said: They did not put it forth to you except for argument; nay, they are a contentious people (43:58).

Imām Aḥmad said: Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim related to us: Shaybān related to us, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Abū Razīn, from Abū Yaḥyā, the client of Ibn ʿAqīl al-Anṣārī, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: I know a verse of the Qurʾan about which no man has ever asked me, and I do not know whether people know it and so have not asked about it, or whether they have not noticed it so as to ask about it. He said: Then he began to relate to us, and when he rose we blamed one another for not having asked him about it. I said: I shall see to it when he comes tomorrow. When the next day came I said: O Ibn ʿAbbās, you mentioned yesterday that there is a verse of the Qurʾan about which no man has ever asked you, and that you do not know whether people know it or have not noticed it. And I said: Tell me about it, and about those verses you recited before it. He said: Yes. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Quraysh: “O company of Quraysh, there is no one worshipped apart from God in whom there is any good.” Now Quraysh knew that the Christians worship Jesus son of Mary, and what they say about Muḥammad, so they said: O Muḥammad, do you not claim that Jesus was a prophet and a righteous servant among the servants of God? If you are truthful, then their gods are as you people say. He said: So God sent down: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57). I said: What is “yaṣiddūn”? He said: They laugh. And surely he is a knowledge of the Hour (43:61), he said: it is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Resurrection.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Dimashqī related to us: Ādam related to us: Shaybān related to us, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Abū Aḥmad, the client of the Anṣār, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O company of Quraysh, there is no one worshipped apart from God in whom there is any good.” They said to him: Do you not claim that Jesus was a prophet and a righteous servant among the servants of God? Yet he has been worshipped apart from God. So God, Mighty and Majestic, sent down: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57).

Mujāhid said concerning His words: And when the son of Mary was put forth as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (43:57): Quraysh said: Muḥammad only wants us to worship him as the people of Jesus worshipped Jesus. Qatādah said something similar to this.

And His words: And they say: Are our gods better, or he? (43:58). Qatādah said: they say, our gods are better than he. And Qatādah said: Ibn Masʿūd read: “And they say: Are our gods better, or this one?”, meaning Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

And His words: They did not put it forth to you except for argument (43:58), that is: for wrangling, while they knew that it did not apply to the verse, because the verse concerns what has no intelligence, namely His words: Surely you and what you worship apart from God are the fuel of Hell (21:98). Moreover it is an address to Quraysh, and they used to worship only idols and rivals set up beside God; they did not worship the Messiah, so that they might adduce him. Thus it is established that their statement was only disputation on their part, of whose correctness they themselves were not convinced.

Imām Aḥmad (may God, Exalted, have mercy on him) said: Ibn Numayr related to us: Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār related to us, from Abū Ghālib, from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people ever went astray after guidance they were upon except that they were given to disputation.” Then he recited this verse: They did not put it forth to you except for argument; nay, they are a contentious people (43:58).

Al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah and Ibn Jarīr have related it from the ḥadīth of Ḥajjāj ibn Dīnār, with this chain. Then al-Tirmidhī said: ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; we know it only from his ḥadīth. So he said.

It has been related by another route from Abū Umāmah with an addition. Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAyyāsh al-Ramlī related to us: Muʾammal related to us: Ḥammād related to us: Ibn Makhzūm informed us, from al-Qāsim Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shāmī, from Abū Umāmah—Ḥammād said: I do not know whether he traced it back to the Prophet or not—who said: No community went astray after its prophet except that the first of its going astray was the denial of the divine decree (qadar); and no community went astray after its prophet except that they were given to disputation. Then he recited: They did not put it forth to you except for argument; nay, they are a contentious people (43:58).

Ibn Jarīr also said: Abū Kurayb related to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, from ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbbād, from Jaʿfar, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to the people while they were disputing about the Qurʾan, and he became exceedingly angry, until it was as if vinegar had been poured over his face; then he said: “Do not strike one part of the Book of God against another, for no people ever went astray except that they were given to disputation.” Then he recited: They did not put it forth to you except for argument; nay, they are a contentious people (43:58).

And His words: He is only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59), meaning Jesus (peace be upon him): he is nothing but a servant among the servants of God, upon whom God bestowed the favour of prophethood and messengership; and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59), that is: a sign, an argument and a proof of Our power over whatever We will.

And His words: And had We willed, We could have made of you (43:60), that is: in your place, angels in the earth to succeed (43:60). Al-Suddī said: to succeed you in it. Ibn ʿAbbās and Qatādah said: succeeding one another, as you succeed one another. This view entails the first. Mujāhid said: populating the earth in your stead.

And His words: And surely he is a knowledge of the Hour (43:61): the interpretation of Ibn Isḥāq has already been given, that what is meant by it is that with which Jesus (peace be upon him) was sent, of reviving the dead and curing the one born blind and the leper and other illnesses. This is open to question. Further from the mark than this is what Qatādah reported from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, namely that the pronoun in and surely he refers to the Qurʾan. Rather, the correct view is that it refers to Jesus (peace be upon him), for the context is concerned with mentioning him; and then what is meant by it is his descent before the Day of Resurrection, as He, Blessed and Exalted, said: And there is none of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death, that is, before the death of Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him), then and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them (4:159). This meaning is supported by the other reading: “wa-innahu la-ʿalamun li-l-sāʿah”³⁰, that is: a token and a proof of the occurrence of the Hour. Mujāhid said: And surely he is a knowledge of the Hour (43:61), that is: a sign of the Hour is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection. So too has it been related from Abū Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him), Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū al-ʿĀliyah, Abū Mālik, ʿIkrimah, al-Ḥasan, Qatādah, al-Ḍaḥḥāk and others.

The ḥadīths from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) have come down by multiple concurrent transmission (tawātur) that he foretold the descent of Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) before the Day of Resurrection as a just leader and an equitable judge.

And His words: so do not doubt concerning it (43:61), that is: do not be in doubt about it; it will come to pass and happen without fail; and follow me (43:61), that is: in what I inform you of; this is a straight path. And let not Satan hinder you (43:61–62), that is: from following the truth; surely he is to you a manifest enemy. And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:62–63), that is: with prophethood, and that I may make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63).

Ibn Jarīr said: meaning of religious matters, not worldly ones. What he has said is good and sound. He then refuted the view of those who claimed that “some” (baʿḍ) here has the sense of “all”, and who adduced as evidence the verse of the poet Labīd:

Forsaking places when I am not pleased with them,

or else death fastens upon some souls and takes them.

They interpreted it as meaning that he intended all souls. Ibn Jarīr said: He intended only his own soul, and expressed it by “some”. What he has said is possible.

And His words: So fear God (43:63), that is: in what He has commanded you, and obey me (43:63), in what I have brought you; Surely God, He is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path (43:64), that is: I and you are servants of His, in need of Him, sharing together in the worship of Him alone, who has no partner; this is a straight path (43:64), that is: this which I have brought you is the straight path, namely the worship of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, alone.

And His words: Then the factions differed among themselves (43:65), that is: the sects differed and became divided parties concerning him: among them are those who acknowledge that he is the servant of God and His messenger—and that is the truth; among them are those who claim that he is the son of God; and among them are those who say that he is God—exalted be God above their saying in great exaltation. For this reason He said: So woe to those who do wrong from the punishment of a painful Day (43:65).

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

Tanwīr al-Miqbās, Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās (d. compiler d. 817 AH / 1414 CE), about 560 words

On 43:57-65

43:57. And when the son of Mary was cited as an example: they likened him to their gods; behold, your people at it: at the words of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā and his companions; cry out: they laugh.

43:58. And they said: meaning ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zibaʿrā; Are our gods better: O Muḥammad; or he?: meaning Jesus son of Mary: if it is permissible for him to be in the Fire with the Christians, it is permissible for us to be in the Fire with our gods. They did not cite him to you: they did not mention Jesus son of Mary to you; except for argument: except for disputation and contention; rather, they are a contentious people: disputers with falsehood.

43:59. He is not: he is nothing, meaning Jesus son of Mary; but a servant upon whom We bestowed favour: with the message; and he is not like their gods; and We made him an example: a lesson; for the Children of Israel: a child without a father.

43:60. And if We willed, We could have made from you: in your place; and it is said, We could have created from you; angels in the earth to succeed: successors from you, in your stead; and it is said, walking in the earth in your stead.

43:61. And indeed he: meaning the descent of Jesus son of Mary; is a knowledge of the Hour: a clear indication of the coming of the Hour; and it is said, a mark (ʿalam) of the coming of the Hour, if you read it with the fatḥa on the ʿayn and the lām; so do not doubt it: do not be in doubt about it, about the coming of the Hour; and follow me: in the profession of God’s oneness; this: the profession of oneness; is a straight path: an upright religion with which He is pleased, and it is Islam.

43:62. And let him not turn you away: let him not divert you; Satan: from the religion of Islam and the acknowledgement of the coming of the Hour; indeed he is to you a manifest enemy: open in enmity.

43:63. And when Jesus came with clear proofs: with command and prohibition and wonders; he said: I have come to you with wisdom: with command and prohibition and prophethood; and to make clear to you some of that about which you differ: in which you disagree in religion; so fear God: be in awe of God in what He has commanded you; and obey me: follow my counsel and my word.

43:64. Indeed God, He is my Lord: my Creator; and your Lord: your Creator; so worship Him: so declare Him One; this: the profession of oneness; is a straight path: an upright religion with which He is pleased.

43:65. But the factions differed: the Christians; among themselves: between themselves, concerning Jesus: some of them said he is the son of God, and they are the Nestorians; some of them said he is God, and they are the Jacobites (al-Mār Yaʿqūbiyya); some of them said he is His partner, and they are the Melkites; and some of them said he is the third of three, and they are the Marqūsiyya³¹; so woe: severe punishment; to those who do wrong: who formed factions concerning Jesus; from the punishment of a painful Day: agonising.

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

al-Jalālayn, Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (d. 864 AH / 1459 CE and 911 AH / 1505 CE), about 480 words

On 43:57

And when was struck (43:57), was set forth, the son of Mary as an example – when His words, Exalted, came down: You and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell (21:98), the idolaters said: We are content that our gods should be with Jesus, for he was worshipped besides God – behold, your people, that is, the idolaters, at it, at the example, cry out, laugh in delight at what they heard.

On 43:58

And they said: Are our gods better, or he (43:58), that is, Jesus? So we are content for our gods to be with him. They did not strike it, that is, the example, for you except in argument, contention by falsehood, for they knew that mā is for the non-rational and so does not include Jesus (peace be upon him). Nay, but they are a contentious people, vehement in dispute.

On 43:59

He is not (43:59), Jesus is not, but a servant on whom We bestowed favour, through prophethood, and We made him, by his coming into being without a father, an example for the Children of Israel, that is, like a proverb, on account of his strangeness, by which the power of God, Exalted, over whatever He wills is inferred.

On 43:60

And had We willed, We would have made from you (43:60), in your stead, angels in the earth to succeed, by destroying you.

On 43:61

And truly he (43:61), that is, Jesus, is a sign of the Hour, which is known by his descent, so do not doubt it, that is, be not in doubt about it – the nūn of the indicative has been elided from it for the jussive, and the wāw of the pronoun because of the meeting of two unvowelled letters – and say to them: follow me in affirming God’s oneness. This, which I command you, is a path, a way, that is straight.

On 43:62

And let him not turn you away (43:62), divert you from the religion of God, Satan; truly he is to you a manifest enemy, of evident enmity.

On 43:63

And when Jesus came with the clear proofs (43:63), with the miracles and the laws, he said: I have come to you with wisdom, with prophethood and the laws of the Gospel, and to make clear to you some of that over which you differ of the rulings of the Torah, in the matter of religion and otherwise; and he made clear to them the matter of religion. So fear God and obey me.

On 43:64

Truly God, He is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a path (43:64), a way, that is straight.

On 43:65

But the factions differed among themselves (43:65) concerning Jesus: is he God, or the son of God, or the third of three? So woe, a word of punishment, to those who do wrong, who disbelieve by what they said concerning Jesus, from the punishment of a painful day, one that causes pain.

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

al-Durr al-Manthūr, al-Durr al-manthūr fī al-tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE), about 1,450 words

On 43:57-63

His words, Exalted: And when was cited (43:57), and the following verses.

Aḥmad, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Ṭabarānī and Ibn Mardawayh reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Quraysh: “There is no one worshipped apart from God in whom there is any good.” They said: Do you not claim that Jesus was a prophet and a righteous servant among the servants of God, when the Christians have worshipped him? If you are truthful, then he is like their gods. So God sent down: And when the son of Mary was cited as an example, behold, your people cried out at it (43:57). I said: What is yaṣiddūn (“cried out”)? He said: they clamour. And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: it is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Qatādah, who said: When Jesus son of Mary was mentioned, Quraysh were alarmed and said: What is Muḥammad’s purpose in mentioning Jesus son of Mary? Muḥammad wants nothing but that he be treated as the Christians treated Jesus son of Mary. So God said: They cite him to you only for the sake of argument (43:58).

ʿAbd al-Razzāq, al-Firyābī, Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Mardawayh reported by several routes from Ibn ʿAbbās that he used to read it yaṣiddūn, that is, with the kasrah on the ṣād; he said: it means they clamour.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq and ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī that he read yaṣuddūn with the ḍammah on the ṣād.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Ibrāhīm: yaṣiddūn (43:57); he said: they turn away.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Saʿīd ibn Maʿbad, the nephew of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr al-Laythī, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said to me: What is the matter with your uncle, that he reads this verse idhā qawmuka minhu yaṣuddūn? It is not so; it is only behold, your people cried out at it (43:57): behold, they clamour; behold, they shout.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: behold, your people cried out at it (43:57); he said: they shout.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Mujāhid, al-Ḥasan and Qatādah the like of it.

Ibn Mardawayh reported from ʿAlī: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recite yaṣiddūn with the kasrah.

Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, Aḥmad, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, al-Tirmidhī, who declared it sound, Ibn Mājah, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Ḥākim, who declared it sound, Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān reported from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people went astray after guidance they were upon except that they were given to argument.” Then he recited this: They cite him to you only for the sake of argument (43:58), to the end of the verse.

Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim reported from Abū Umāmah that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to the people while they were disputing about the Qurʾan, and he grew exceedingly angry, as though vinegar had been poured over his face, and then said: “Do not strike one part of the Book of God against another, for no people ever went astray except that they were given to argument.” Then he recited: They cite him to you only for the sake of argument (43:58), to the end of the verse. And Ibn Abī Ḥātim reported from Abū Umāmah, who said: No community went astray after its prophet except that they were given to argument. Then he recited: They cite him to you only for the sake of argument (43:58).

Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr reported from Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No people stirred up a trial (fitnah) except that they were given argument for it, and no people stirred in a trial except that they became slaughtered victims of it.”

Ibn ʿAdī and al-Kharāʾiṭī in Masāwiʾ al-Akhlāq reported from Abū Umāmah, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Lying is one of the doors of hypocrisy, and the sign of hypocrisy is that a man be argumentative and contentious.”

ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr reported from Qatādah, who said: When God mentioned Jesus in the Qurʾan, the polytheists of Mecca said: Muḥammad only wants us to love him as the Christians loved Jesus. He said: They cite him to you only for the sake of argument (43:58); he said: they said this only in order to argue. He is but a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59); he said: God’s prophet Jesus was nothing beyond that: he was a righteous servant upon whom God bestowed favour; and We made him an example (43:59); he said: a sign; for the Children of Israel (43:59). And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60); he said: succeeding one another in the place of the children of Adam.

Ibn Mardawayh reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that the polytheists came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and said to him: Tell us about what is worshipped apart from God: where are they? He said: “In the Fire.” They said: And the sun and the moon? He said: “And the sun and the moon.” They said: Then what of Jesus son of Mary? So God sent down: He is but a servant upon whom We bestowed favour, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59).

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr reported from Mujāhid: We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60); he said: populating the earth in your stead.

Al-Firyābī, Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, Musaddad, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Ḥākim, who declared it sound, and al-Ṭabarānī reported by several routes from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61), that he said: the coming forth of Jesus before the Day of Resurrection.

Al-Ḥākim, who declared it sound, and Ibn Mardawayh reported from Ibn ʿAbbās, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: “The coming forth of Jesus before the Day of Resurrection.” And ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Abū Hurayrah: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: the coming forth of Jesus; he will remain on the earth forty years, and those forty will be like four years; he will perform the pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr reported from Mujāhid: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: a sign of the Hour is the coming forth of Jesus son of Mary before the Day of Resurrection.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr reported from al-Ḥasan: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: the descent of Jesus.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr reported from Qatādah: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: The descent of Jesus is a sign (ʿalam) of the Hour; and some people say: the Qurʾan is a sign of the Hour.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Shaybān, who said: Al-Ḥasan used to say: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: this Qurʾan.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from ʿĀṣim that he read And indeed he is a sign (ʿilm) of the Hour (43:61) with the kasrah on the ʿayn.

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd reported from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, who said: I read it in the codex of Ubayy: wa-innahu la-dhikrun li-l-sāʿah (“And indeed he is a reminder of the Hour”).

Ibn Jarīr reported by several routes from Ibn ʿAbbās: And indeed he is a sign of the Hour (43:61); he said: the descent of Jesus.

Ibn Jarīr reported from Mujāhid: and that I may make clear to you some of that about which you differ (43:63); he said: some of the alteration of the Torah.

Read this commentary with the other passages on its own page.

al-Saʿdī, Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī tafsīr kalām al-Mannān (d. 1376 AH / 1956 CE), about 1,280 words

On 43:57

He, Exalted, says: And when the son of Mary was cited as an example, that is, when his worship was forbidden and his worship was placed on the same footing as the worship of idols and rivals, behold, your people, those who deny you, at it, that is, on account of this example that was cited, raise a clamour (43:57), that is, they persist in their dispute with you, shout, and claim that they have prevailed and triumphed in their argument.

On 43:58

And they said: Are our gods better, or is he?, meaning Jesus, since the worship of all of them was forbidden and they were joined together in the threat against whoever worships them; and there was also revealed His words, Exalted: Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you shall come to it (21:98). The form of their wrongful argument was that they said: it is established with us and with you, O Muḥammad, that Jesus is one of the servants of God brought near, who have the good final outcome; so why have you made him and our objects of worship equal in forbidding the worship of all of them?! Were your argument not false, it would not be self-contradictory! And why did you say: Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you shall come to it (21:98)?! This wording, according to their claim, includes both the idols and Jesus; so is this anything but a contradiction? And the contradiction of an argument is evidence of its falsity! This is the furthest extent of what they adduce in establishing this doubt, over which they rejoiced and were glad, and began to raise a clamour and congratulate one another. Yet it is, praise be to God, among the weakest and most false of doubts; for God’s placing the prohibition of worshipping the Messiah on the same footing as the prohibition of worshipping idols is because worship is the right of God, Exalted, which none of created beings deserves, neither the angels brought near, nor the prophets sent as messengers, nor any created being besides them; so what doubt is there in making the prohibition of worshipping Jesus and the prohibition of worshipping others equal?!

On 43:59

The superiority of Jesus (peace be upon him) and his being brought near to his Lord contain nothing that indicates a difference between him and them in this respect; he is only as He, Exalted, said: He was no more than a servant upon whom We bestowed favour, of prophethood, wisdom, knowledge and action, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel (43:59), by which they recognise the power of God, Exalted, to bring him into existence without a father. As for His words, Exalted, Indeed you and what you worship besides God are the fuel of Hell; you shall come to it (21:98), the answer concerning it is from three aspects:

The first: that in His words Indeed you and what you worship besides God, the word what (mā) is a noun used for that which lacks reason, and the Messiah and his like do not fall under it.
The second: that the address is to the polytheists who were in Mecca and its surroundings, and they worshipped only idols and graven images, and did not worship the Messiah.
The third: that God said after this verse: Indeed those for whom the best has gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far from it (21:101); and there is no doubt that Jesus and the other prophets and friends of God are included in this verse.

On 43:60

Then He, Exalted, said: And if We willed, We could have made from you angels in the earth, succeeding one another (43:60), that is, We could have made in your place angels who would succeed you in the earth and would be in the earth, so that We would send to them angels of their own kind. As for you, O company of human beings, you cannot bear that angels be sent to you; so it is of God’s mercy towards you that He sent to you messengers of your own kind, from whom you are able to receive.

On 43:61

And indeed he is a sign of the Hour, that is, Jesus (peace be upon him) is indeed a proof of the Hour, and that the One who is able to bring him into existence from a mother without a father is able to raise the dead from their graves; or: Jesus (peace be upon him) will indeed descend at the end of time, and his descent will be one of the signs of the Hour. So do not doubt it, that is, do not doubt the coming of the Hour, for doubting it is disbelief; and follow me, by complying with what I have commanded you and avoiding what I have forbidden you; this is a straight path (43:61), leading to God, Mighty and Majestic.

On 43:62

And let not Satan turn you away, from what God has commanded you; indeed he, that is, Satan, is to you a manifest enemy (43:62), eager to lead you astray, expending his utmost effort in that.

On 43:63

And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, which indicate the truth of his prophethood and the soundness of what he brought them, such as giving life to the dead, healing the one born blind and the leper, and other such signs, he said, to the Children of Israel: I have come to you with wisdom, prophethood and the knowledge of what ought to be done in the manner in which it ought to be done, and to make clear to you some of that over which you differ, that is, I make clear to you the correct position in it and the answer to it, so that by this the confusion is removed from you. So he (peace be upon him) came completing and perfecting the law of Moses (peace be upon him) and the rulings of the Torah, and brought some alleviations that called for submission to him and acceptance of what he brought them. So fear God and obey me (43:63), that is, worship God alone, without partner, comply with His command, avoid His prohibition, believe in me and affirm my truthfulness, and obey me (43:63).

On 43:64

Indeed God, He is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path (43:64). In this is the affirmation of the oneness of lordship (tawḥīd al-rubūbiyya), in that God is the One who nurtures all His creation with blessings of every kind, outward and inward; the affirmation of the oneness of worship (tawḥīd al-ʿubūdiyya), through the command to worship God alone, without partner; the declaration by Jesus (peace be upon him) that he is one of the servants of God, not as the Christians said of him, that he is the son of God or the third of three; and the declaration that this which has been mentioned is a straight path leading to God and to His Garden.

On 43:65

When Jesus (peace be upon him) came to them with this, the factions, those who formed parties in denial, differed among themselves: each one said of Jesus (peace be upon him) a false saying and rejected what he brought, except those whom God guided among the believers, who bore witness to his messengership, affirmed the truth of all that he brought, and said: he is the servant of God and His messenger. So woe to those who do wrong, that is, how intense is the grief of the wrongdoers!, from the punishment of a painful Day (43:65); and how great is their loss on that Day!

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← Section 21 · Contents · Section 23 →

Notes

Matthew 23:13; Luke 11:52. Qur’an 2:75-79 and 3:78 on those who conceal and distort the Book. ↩
Matthew 15:13, which reads “my heavenly Father”. Qur’an 14:26: the evil word is like a bad tree, uprooted. ↩
Mark 12:1-9; Matthew 21:33-41; Luke 20:9-16. The Qur’an records the killing of messengers (2:87; 3:21). It does not say that ʿĪsā was killed (4:157); the parable is read here of the people’s habit toward messengers. ↩
Mark 12:10; Psalm 118:22. Compare the tradition of the brick that completes the house of the prophets (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book of Virtues). ↩
Mark 14:58 gives this as the testimony of false witnesses. Thomas makes it Jesus’ own and leaves out the rebuilding. The Qur’an has no Temple saying. ↩
Matthew 23:13; Luke 11:52. The image of the dog in the manger is an old Greek proverb. Qur’an 62:5 likens those who carry the Torah and do not act upon it to a donkey carrying books. ↩
Mark 2:18-20; Matthew 9:14-15; Luke 5:33-35. Qur’an 2:183 prescribes fasting; the saying defers it rather than abolishing it. ↩
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, ʿĀṣim’s teacher in recitation. ↩
A variant reading, la-ʿalamun (“a sign, a token”), with a fatḥah on the ʿayn, in place of the standard la-ʿilmun (“knowledge”). ↩
Labīd ibn Rabīʿah, the pre-Islamic poet whose ode is one of the Muʿallaqāt; the line is from that ode. ↩
An allusion to the account, related elsewhere on Qatādah’s authority, that the Children of Israel put forward four of their learned men to pronounce on Jesus, and that each gave a different answer about his nature, whence the sects of the Christians arose. ↩
Sūrat al-Tawbah, at Qurʾān 9:38. ↩
Lydda, in Palestine, near Jerusalem. ↩
A pass on the road from the Golan to Tiberias. ↩
That is, both when pausing on the word and when continuing. ↩
That is, Labīd’s “some souls” must mean all souls, since death seizes every soul; hence baʿḍ can mean “all”. ↩
That is, Thaʿlabah ibn Sayyār, shortened for the metre. ↩
At Qurʾān 19:37. ↩
An idiom: he was altogether unable to cope with him. ↩
Reading ʿalam (“token, landmark”) in place of ʿilm (“knowledge”); it is attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, Qatādah and others. ↩
A sect named in the Arabic sources after a certain Marqus (Mark); its identity is uncertain. ↩

Section 22: The end of the public ministry, and the vineyard

Distorting the Scripture

Prophets Never Claim Divinity

Disputes over Jesus

From the Gospel of Thomas

From the commentaries on 43:57-65

On 43:57

On the interpretation of His words: So We made them a precedent and an example for those who came after. (56) And when the son of Mary is cited as an example, behold, your people cry out at it (57) (43:56–57)

Those who said this

Those who said this

Those who said this

Those who said this

Mention of what we have said in the interpretation of this

On 43:58-60

The report concerning this

Those who said this

On His words: They did not put it to you except for argument; rather, they are a contentious people (43:58), up to upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)

The report concerning this

On His words: He was only a servant upon whom We bestowed favour (43:59)

Those who said this

Those who said this

On His words: And had We willed, We could have made of you angels upon the earth, succeeding (43:60)

Those who said this

On 43:61-62

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: And indeed, he is knowledge of the Hour, so do not doubt it, but follow Me; this is a straight path. (61) And let not Satan avert you; indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy. (62) (43:61–62)

Those who said this

Those who said this

On His words: so do not doubt it (43:61)

On His words: but follow Me (43:61)

On His words: And let not Satan avert you (43:62)

On 43:63-64

Those who said this

On His words: he said: I have come to you with wisdom (43:63)

Those who said this

On His words: and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ (43:63)

On His words: so fear God and obey me (43:63)

On His words: Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him (43:64)

On His words: this is a straight path (43:64)

On 43:65

On the interpretation of His words, Exalted: But the factions differed among themselves; so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day. (65) Do they await anything but the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly while they do not perceive? (66) (43:65–66)

Those who said this

Those who said this

On His words: so woe to those who did wrong, from the punishment of a painful day (43:65)

On 43:57-58

On 43:59-61

On 43:62-65

On 43:57

On 43:58

On 43:59-60

On 43:61-62

On 43:63-64

On 43:65

On 43:57-65

On 43:57-65

On 43:57

On 43:58

On 43:59

On 43:60

On 43:61

On 43:62

On 43:63

On 43:64

On 43:65

On 43:57-63

His words, Exalted: And when was cited (43:57), and the following verses.

On 43:57

On 43:58

On 43:59

On 43:60

On 43:61

On 43:62

On 43:63

On 43:64

On 43:65

Notes