Ornaments of Gold (Al-Zukhruf)
Verses 26-30 GROUP_1296 43.26-30
26
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّنِي بَرَاء مِّمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ
Call to mind when Abraham said to his father and his people, ‘I disown utterly that which you worship.
27
إِلَّا الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي فَإِنَّهُ سَيَهْدِينِ
[I worship] only Him who created me, and He will certainly guide me,’
28
وَجَعَلَهَا كَلِمَةً بَاقِيَةً فِي عَقِبِهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
and he left these words to endure among his descendants, so that they might return [to God].
29
بَلْ مَتَّعْتُ هَؤُلَاء وَآبَاءهُمْ حَتَّى جَاءهُمُ الْحَقُّ وَرَسُولٌ مُّبِينٌ
Yes, I gave the good things of this life to these [men] and their fathers, until the truth came to them, and a messenger expounding things clearly,
30
وَلَمَّا جَاءهُمُ الْحَقُّ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ وَإِنَّا بِهِ كَافِرُونَ
but when the truth came to them, they said, ‘This is sorcery, and we reject it.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) Abraham’s proclamation of the Unity of God as mentioned here was made by him during the last days of his mission. This was not simply a string of words: it was the sum and substance of a great history. When he attained the age of awareness, he discovered that the only Being worth worshipping by man was God. Except for Him, all other gods were false and without foundation. He built up his life solely on the basis of this belief and preached it among his family members and the people of his community. In complete disregard of personal or other considerations, he was steadfast in this belief for a very long time, so much so that his being a believer in the one God came to define his identity. After a lifetime spent in this way, when he left his native place and repeated the above-mentioned words, they naturally left a permanent impression. His words were such that people used to remember them whenever his name was mentioned. This strong tradition laid down by Abraham should have served as a milestone for the coming generations. But absorption in worldly interests made them neglectful of it and they became so careless and forgetful of it that in a later period, when one of God’s messengers came to remind them of this past lesson, they rejected him.