Bees (Al-Nahl)
Verses 24-25 GROUP_562 16.24-25
24
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم مَّاذَا أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُواْ أَسَاطِيرُ الأَوَّلِينَ
When they are asked, ‘What is it that your Lord has sent down?’ they say, ‘Stories of the ancients.’
25
لِيَحْمِلُواْ أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُم بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلاَ سَاء مَا يَزِرُونَ
Let them bear all their own burdens on Resurrection Day as well as some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without any knowledge. How evil the load with which they shall be burdened!
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Commentary
(a) It has been recorded in traditions that when the Prophet Muhammad declared his prophethood in Makkah, the news gradually spread and reached the other Arab tribes. Whenever they met the chiefs of Makkah, they used to ask their opinion about the man who had claimed to be a prophet. In reply to this, the chiefs of Makkah used to cast doubt upon his personality and his discourse. (Tafsir al-Mazhari). One of the ways of doing this was to distort or twist whatever was said. For instance, there is some mention of prophets in the Quran. This they could have referred to as ‘the history of previous prophets’, but they called it ‘the stories and tales of the ancient people’. Turning people away from the call of Truth or making them doubtful made them guilty of the worst crime in the eyes of God, because not only had they themselves gone astray, but they had become the means of misguiding others.