6.53
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And even so) thus (do We try) test (some of them by others) the Arab by the client and the noble by the lowly person. This was revealed about 'Uyaynah Ibn Hisn al-Fazari, 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, Umayyah Ibn Khalaf al-Jumahi, al-Walid Ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi, Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham, Suhayl Ibn 'Amr and their likes among the leaders of the Quraysh who were tested by the clients, (that they) i.e. 'Uyaynah Ibn Hisn al-Fazari and his lot (say: Are these) i.e. Salman and his fellow believers (they whom Allah favoureth) with faith (among us? Is not Allah best aware of the thanksgivers) of the believers, those who deserve such favour?
And even so We have tried We have tested some of them by others that is the noble one by the commoner the rich man by the poor man preferring the latter one by giving him precedence in attaining faith so that they the noble ones and the rich may say in disavowal ‘Are these the poor the ones whom God has favoured from among us?’ with guidance? In other words so that they may say if what they follow is true guidance they would not have preceded us in attaining it. God exalted be He says Is God not best aware of those who are thankful? to Him to guide them? Indeed He is.
And even so We have tried, that is, with the like of such tremendous trial and affliction, We have tried, some of them, who are the veiled, by others, for those who are veiled, seeing from those [others] nothing but their form and their evil state outwardly as well as their poverty and need and not seeing their worth and their [spiritual] level and their goodly state inwardly, despise them and their eyes scorn them with regard to what they enjoy of wealth, repute, comfort and an easy life, and so they say [the following] about them: 'Are these the ones whom God has favoured from among usḍ', with guidance, sarcastically, when by God these they are the ones whose living is the most wholesome, their state and their waystation the most exalted and their measure and level the most magnificent before God and before those who know them, as Noah, peace be upon him, said Nor do I say to those whom your eyes scorn that God will not give them any good [Q. 11:31]: nay indeed, good and nothing but good is what God has given them. Is God not best aware of those who are thankfulḍ, who are thankful to Him in reality by employing the grace of their existence, their attributes and their limbs and what He sustains them with in the way of provisions and sources of livelihood in acts of obedience to God. Thus they give thanks to Him in return for the outward grace by worshipping [Him] and conceptualising this [grace] as issuing from the Gracious One and expending it in acts that are pleasing to God; and in return for the grace of [having] limbs [they give thanks to Him] by using these [limbs] to worship Him and to wayfare upon His path, to actualise knowledge of Him and to know His attributes; and in return for the grace of attributes [they thank Him] by effacing them in God and by admitting their inability to [truly] know Him, thank Him and worship Him; and in return for the grace of existence [they thank Him] by means of annihilation in the source of presential vision such that God shows His appreciation of their effort by means of [granting them] existence bestowed from [His Name] the Truth and teaches them that He is the Appreciative One who is thanked for Himself by means of Himself, and that none except Him is able to [truly] thank Him. Hence they say, 'Glory be to You: we have not come to know You in the way You truly deserve. Glory be to You: we have not worshipped You as You truly deserve to be worshipped'. That is His knowledge of their gratitude and His recompense [of it] from Him.
The Messenger Neither has the Key to Allah's Treasures, Nor Knows the Unseen
Allah said to His Messenger,
قُل لاَّ أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِندِى خَزَآئِنُ اللَّهِ
(Say: "I don't tell you that with me are the treasures of Allah.'') meaning, I do not own Allah's treasures or have any power over them,
وَلا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ
(nor (that) I know the Unseen,) and I do not say that I know the Unseen, because its knowledge is with Allah and I only know what He conveys of it to me.
وَلا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّى مَلَكٌ
(nor I tell you that I am an angel.) meaning, I do not claim that I am an angel. I am only a human to whom Allah sends revelation, and He honored me with this duty and favored me with it.
إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلاَّ مَا يُوحَى إِلَىَّ
(I but follow what is revealed to me.) and I never disobey the revelation in the least.
قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ
(Say: "Are the blind and the one who sees equal'') meaning, `Is the one who is guided, following the truth, equal to the one misled'
أَفَلاَ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ
(Will you not then consider) In another Ayah, Allah said;
(Shall he then who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, be like him who is blind But it is only the men of understanding that pay heed.) 13:19 Allah's statement,
(And warn therewith those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord, when there will be neither a protector nor an intercessor for them besides Him,) means, warn with this Qur'an, O Muhammad,
(those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord,) on the Day of Resurrection,
لَيْسَ لَهُمْ مِّن دُونِهِ وَلِىٌّ وَلاَ شَفِيعٌ
(when there will be neither a protector nor an intercessor for them besides Him, ) for on that Day, they will have no relative or intercessor who can prevent His torment if He decides to punish them with it,
لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ
(so that they may have Taqwa.) Therefore, warn of the Day when there will be no judge except Allah,
لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ
(so that they may have Taqwa.) and thus work good deeds in this life, so that their good deeds may save them on the Day of Resurrection from Allah's torment, and so that He will grant them multiple rewards.
Prohibiting the Messenger from Turning the Weak Away and the Order to Honor Them
(And turn not away those who invoke their Lord, morning and evening seeking His Face.) meaning, do not turn away those who have these qualities, instead make them your companions and associates. In another Ayah, Allah said;
(And keep yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.)18:28 Allah's statement,
يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ
(invoke their Lord...) refers to those who worship Him and supplicate to Him,
بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِىِّ
(morning and evening.) referring to the obligatory prayers, according to Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, Mujahid, Al-Hasan and Qatadah. In another Ayah, Allah said;
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُـمْ ادْعُونِى أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
(And your Lord said, "Invoke Me, I will respond (to your invocation).'') 40:60, I will accept your supplication. Allah said next,
يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ
(seeking His Face.) meaning, they seek Allah's Most Generous Face, by sincerity for Him in the acts of worship and obedience they perform. Allah said;
(You are accountable for them in nothing, and they are accountable for you in nothing,) This is similar to the answer Nuh gave to his people when they said,
أَنُؤْمِنُ لَكَ وَاتَّبَعَكَ الاٌّرْذَلُونَ
(Shall we believe in you, when the meekest (of the people) follow you'') 26:111. Nuh answered them,
(And what knowledge have I of what they used to do Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know.) 26:112-113, meaning, their reckoning is for Allah not me, just as my reckoning is not up to them. Allah said here,
فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّـلِمِينَ
(that you may turn them away, and thus become of the wrongdoers.) meaning, you will be unjust if you turn them away. Allah's statement,
وَكَذلِكَ فَتَنَّا بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ
(Thus We have tried some of them with others) means, We tested, tried and checked them with each other,
(That they might say: "Is it these (poor believers) that Allah has favored from amongst us'') This is because at first, most of those who followed the Messenger of Allah were the weak among the people, men, women, slaves, and only a few chiefs or noted men followed him. Nuh, was also addressed by his people
(Nor do we see any follow you but the meekest among us and they (too) followed you without thinking.) 11:27 KHeraclius, emperor of Rome, asked Abu Sufyan, "Do the noblemen or the weak among people follow him (Muhammad )'' Abu Sufyan replied, "Rather the weak among them.'' Heraclius commented, "Such is the case with followers of the Messengers.'' The idolators of Quraysh used to mock the weak among them who believed in the Prophet and they even tortured some of them. They used to say, "Are these the ones whom Allah favored above us,'' meaning, Allah would not guide these people, instead of us, to all that is good, if indeed what they embraced is good. Allah mentioned similar statements in the Qur'an from the disbelievers,
لَوْ كَانَ خَيْراً مَّا سَبَقُونَآ إِلَيْهِ
(Had it been a good thing, they (weak and poor) would not have preceded us to it!) 46:11, and,
(And when Our clear verses are recited to them, those who disbelieve say to those who believe: "Which of the two groups is best in position and station.'') 19:73 Allah said in reply,
(And how many a generation (past nations) have We destroyed before them, who were better in wealth, goods and outward appearance) 19:74. Here, Allah answered the disbelievers when they said,
("Is it these (poor believers) that Allah has favored from amongst us'' Does not Allah know best those who are grateful) Meaning is not Allah more knowledgeable of those who thank and appreciate Him in statement, action and heart Thus Allah directs these believers to the ways of peace, transfers them from darkness to light by His leave, and guides them to the straight path. In another Ayah, Allah said;
(As for those who strive hard for Us (Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths (i.e. Allah's religion). And verily, Allah is with the doers of good'') 29:69. An authentic Hadith states,
(When those who believe in Our Ayat come to you, say: "Salamun `Alaykum'' (peace be on you);) means, honor them by returning the Salam and give them the good news of Allah's exclusive, encompassing mercy for them. So Allah said;
كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ
(your Lord has written Mercy for Himself,) meaning, He has obliged His Most Honored Self to grant mercy, as a favor, out of His compassion and beneficence,
أَنَّهُ مَن عَمِلَ مِنكُمْ سُوءًا بِجَهَالَةٍ
(So that, if any of you does evil in ignorance...) as every person who disobeys Allah does it in ignorance,
ثُمَّ تَابَ مِن بَعْدِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ
(and thereafter repents and does righteous good deeds,) by repenting from the sins that he committed, intending not to repeat the sin in the future, but to perform righteous deeds,
فَأَنَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(then surely, He is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.) Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
(When Allah finished with the creation, He wrote in a Book that He has with Him above the Throne, `My mercy prevails over My anger'.) This Hadith was also recorded in the The Two Sahihs.
6.51-53
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
That is, "You should pay special attention only to those who believe that One Day they shall have to go before Allah to render an account of their deeds and who do not cherish any such false hopes that somebody's intercession and help will save them. It is because this "Admonition" can produce good effect only on such people and not on those who are so absorbed in the enjoyment of the pleasures of this world that they never think of their death or of going before Allah. Likewise, this "Admonition" will fall flat on those who are making merry in this world, deluding themselves into believing that no harm will come to them in the Hereafter because of their `spiritual' relation with such and such a saint or because such and such a holy person will intercede with Allah in their behalf or because such a one has already made atonement for them. Obviously, no admonition can be beneficial to such people."
In this passage Allah has answered one of the objections that me big chiefs of the Quraish used to raise in regard to the followers of the Holy Prophet. They would say that none but the lowest stratum of society, consisting of slaves, menials and the like, had accepted Islam: they would taunt him of having such companions as Bilal, `Ammar, Suhaib, Khabbab, etc., and ask in a jeering way, "Are these the only (honorable) people from amongst us, upon whom Allah has showered His blessings?" They did not rest content with making fun of their poor condition, but also passed stinging remarks about their past shortcomings, saying. "Just have a look at the past history of such and such people, who are today forming the "pious" group of the believers." Allah has advised His Prophet not to be disheartened by their unkind remarks.
That is, "If they had done something wrong in the past, they themselves shall be accountable for it and not you, for everyone shall get the reward of the good or evil one has done. Therefore, no good deed of yours will be put to their credit, nor will you be burdened with any evil deed of theirs. They come to you merely as seekers after truth and it will be injustice to look down upon them and drive them away."
That is, "By bestowing the blessing of Islam at the outset on the poor and indigent and those who held a low position in society, We have involved the upper rich and proud class in trial."
