Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, by Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH / 1373 CE). The most read of the commentaries by ḥadīth, which explains the Qur’an by the Qur’an, then by the Prophet’s words, then by the Companions, and weighs the chains it cites.
The complete commentary on The son of Mary as an example (43:57-65), covering 43:57-65.
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 seat1; 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”2, 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).
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (tafsir.app, src=ibn-katheer). Nothing is abridged: every opinion, every report with its chain of transmission, every verse of poetry and every grammatical note is translated. Qur’anic quotations are in bold; the translator’s own notes are confined to the numbered footnotes and identify names, terms and variant readings only. A second translator has not checked the rendering, and the Arabic is linked so that any passage can be compared. The modern editors’ apparatus is not part of the classical text and is not translated.
The son of Mary as an example (43:57-65): all commentaries · The classical commentaries