Surah 21. Al-Anbiya

They demanded, 'Bring him before the eyes of the people, so that they may witness 'his trial'.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They said "Then bring him before the eyes of the people that they may bear witness:"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They asked, 'Was it you who did this to our gods, O Abraham?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They said "Art thou the one that did this with our gods O Abraham?" ²⁷²⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They asked him the formal question. There was no mystery about it. He had already openly threatened to do something to the idols, and people who had heard his threats were there. He now continues his ironic taunt to the idol-worshippers. 'You ask me! Why don't you ask the idols? Doesn't it look as if this big fellow has smashed the smaller ones in a quarrel?' If they do not ask the idols, they confess that the idols have not intelligence enough to answer! This argument is developed in verses 64-67. Note that while the false worshippers laughed at his earnestness, he pays them out by a grim practical joke, which at the same time advances the cause of Truth.

He replied 'sarcastically', 'No, this one- the biggest of them- did it! So ask them, if they can talk!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

He said: "Nay this was done by this is their is their biggest one! Ask them if they can speak intelligently!"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

So they came back to their senses, saying 'to one another', 'You yourselves are truly the wrongdoers!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

So they turned to themselves and said "Surely ye are the ones in the wrong!" ²⁷²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Abraham's biting irony cut them to the quick. What could they say? They turned to each other. Some among them thought he had the best of the argument. They were not keen on idolatry, and they told their fellows that it was useless arguing with Abraham. They all hung their heads in shame. But presently they thought they would face out Abraham, and take his words literally. They said, "You know quite well that idols do not speak!" This was precisely what Abraham wanted them to say, and he delivered his final blow! See n. 2723 below.

Then they 'quickly' regressed to their 'original' mind-set, 'arguing,' 'You already know that those 'idols' cannot talk.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then were they confounded with shame: (they said) "Thou knowest full well that these (idols) do not speak!" ²⁷²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Literally, "they were turned down on their heads" which may suggest a metaphorical somersault, i.e., they recovered from their dawning shame for idolatry and were prepared to argue it out with the youth Abraham. But I think there is better authority for the interpretation I have adopted.

He rebuked 'them', 'Do you then worship- instead of Allah- what can neither benefit nor harm you in any way?

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Abraham) said "Do ye then worship besides Allah things that can neither be of any good to you nor do you harm?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Shame on you and whatever you worship instead of Allah! Do you not have any sense?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

"Fie upon you and upon the things that ye worship besides Allah! have ye no sense?"... ²⁷²³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As soon as they admitted in so many words that the idols could not speak, Abraham delivered his final attack: 'Then why do you worship useless impotent creatures?' After that, there remains nothing but the argument of violence, which they proceed to exercise, being the party in power. 'Burn him at the stake' is an easy cry! But it was not Abraham that suffered: it was his persecutors (xxi. 70).

They concluded, 'Burn him up to avenge your gods, if you must act.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They said "Burn him and protect your gods if ye do (anything at all)!"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

We ordered, 'O fire! Be cool and safe for Abraham!'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 It is reported in a ḥadîth collected by Bukhâri that Abraham (ﷺ) said, while being thrown into the fire, “Allah ˹alone˺ is sufficient ˹as an aid˺ for us and ˹He˺ is the best Protector.”

We said "O fire! be thou cool and (a means of)) safety for Abraham!" ^{2724 2725}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The nature of fire, by all the physical laws of matter, is to be hot. The fire became cool, and a means of safety for Abraham.

Can we form any idea of the place where he passed through the furnace, and the stage in his career at which this happened? He was born in Ur of the Chaldees, a place on the lower reaches of the Euphrates, not a hundred miles from the Persian Gulf. This was the cradle, or one of the cradles, of human civilisation. Astronomy was studied here in very ancient times, and the worship of the sun, moon, and stars was the prevailing form of religion. Abraham revolted against this quite early in life, and his argument is referred to in vi. 74-82. They also had idols in their temples, probably idols representing heavenly bodies and celestial winged creatures. He was still a youth (xxi. 60) when he broke the idols. This was stage No. 2. After this he was marked down as a rebel and persecuted. Perhaps some years passed before the incident of his being thrown into the Fire (xxi. 68-69) took place. Traditionally the Fire incident is referred to a king called Nimrud, about whom see n. 1565 to xi. 69. If Nimrud's capital was in Assyria, near Nineveh (site near modern Mosul), we may suppose either that the king's rule extended over the whole of Mesopotamia, or that Abraham wandered north through Babylonia to Assyria. Various stratagems were devised to get rid of him (xxi. 70), but he was saved by the mercy of Allah. The final break came when he was probably a man of mature age and could speak to his father with some authority. This incident is referred to in xix. 41-48. He now left his ancestral lands, and avoiding the Syrian desert, came to the fertile lands of Aram or Syria, and so south to Canaan, when the incident of xi. 69-76 took place. It is some years after this that we may suppose he built the Ka'ba with Isma'il (ii, 124-29), and his prayer in xiv. 35-41 may be referred to the same time. His visit to Egypt (Gen. xii. 10) is not referred to in the Qur-an.

They had sought to harm him, but We made them the worst losers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then they sought a stratagem against him: but We made them the ones that lost most! ²⁷²⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As they could not get rid of him by open punishment, they tried secret plans, but were foiled throughout. It was not he that lost, but they. On the contrary he left them and prospered and became the progenitor of great peoples.

Then We delivered him, along with Lot, to the land We had showered with blessings for all people.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Abraham and his nephew, Lot, migrated from Babel, Iraq to Jerusalem.

But We delivered him and (his nephew) Lut (and directed them) to the land which We have blessed for the nations. ²⁷²⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The land of Aram or Syria, which in its widest connotation includes Canaan or Palestine. Syria is a well-watered fertile land, with a Mediterranean sea-coast, on which the famous commercial cities of Tyre and Sidon were situated. Its population is very mixed, as it has been a bone of contention between all the great kingdoms and empires of Western Asia and Egypt, and European interest in it dates from the most ancient times.

And We blessed him with Isaac 'as a son' and Jacob 'as a grandson', as an additional favour- making all of them righteous.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We bestowed on him Isaac and as an additional gift (a grandson) Jacob and We made righteous men of every one (of them). ²⁷²⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nafilat has many meanings: (1) booty; (2) extra work or prayer; (3) extra or additional gift; (4) grandson. The two last significations are implied here. Not only was Abraham given a son in his old age; he was given not only Isaac, but several sons, the chief being Isma'il and Isaac, who both joined in burying him (Gen. xxv. 9); and he also saw grandsons. Isma'il is specially mentioned later (xxi. 85) apart from Isaac's line, on account of his special importance for Islam.

We 'also' made them leaders, guiding by Our command, and inspired them to do good deeds, establish prayer, and pay alms-tax. And they were devoted to Our worship.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We made them leaders guiding (men) by Our Command and We sent them inspiration to do good deeds to establish regular prayers and to practice regular charity; and they constantly served Us (and Us only). ²⁷²⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The spiritual lesson from this passage may be recapitulated. The righteous man makes no compromise with evil. If the votaries of evil laugh at him he pays them in their own coin, but he stands firmly by his principles. His firmness causes some confusion among the followers of evil, and he openly declares the faith that is in him. They try, openly and secretly, to injure or kill him, but Allah protects him, while evil perishes from its own excesses.

And to Lot We gave wisdom and knowledge, and delivered him from the society engrossed in shameful practices. They were certainly an evil, rebellious people.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And to Lut too we gave Judgment and Knowledge and We saved him from the town which practiced abominations: truly they were a people given to Evil a rebellious people. ²⁷³⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lot's people were given to unspeakable abominations. His mission was to preach to them. He withstood Evil, but they rejected him. They were punished, but he and his followers were saved. See xv. 61-74; xi. 77-82; and vii. 80-84. A) The date of Noah was many centuries before that of Abraham.

And We admitted him into Our mercy, 'for' he was truly one of the righteous.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We admitted him to Our Mercy: for he was one of the Righteous.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And 'remember' when Noah had cried out to Us earlier, so We responded to him and delivered him and his family¹ from the great distress.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., the believers in his family.

(Remember) Noah when he cried (to Us) aforetime: We listened to his (prayer) and delivered him and his family from great distress. ²⁷³¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The contemporaries of Noah were given to Unbelief, oppression of the poor, and vain disputations. He carried Allah's Message to them, and standing fast in faith, built the Ark, in which he was saved with his followers from the Flood, while the wicked were drowned. See xi. 25-48.

And We made him prevail over those who had rejected Our signs. They were truly an evil people, so We drowned them all.

  - Mustafa Khattab

We helped him against people who rejected Our Signs: truly they were a people given to Evil: so We drowned them (in the Flood) all together.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And 'remember' when David and Solomon passed judgment regarding the crops ruined 'at night' by someone's sheep, and We were witness to their judgments.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And remember David and Solomon when they gave judgment in the matter of the field into which the sheep of certain people had strayed by night: We did witness their judgment.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

We guided 'young' Solomon to a fairer settlement,¹ and granted each of them wisdom and knowledge. We subjected the mountains as well as the birds to hymn 'Our praises' along with David. It is We Who did 'it all'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 A man’s flock of sheep strayed into another man’s vineyard, eating and destroying all his produce. When the two men came to David for judgment, he ruled that the shepherd must give his animals to the vineyard owner in compensation for the damage. On their way out, the two men met young Solomon and the shepherd complained to him. Solomon discussed the case with his father, and suggested that the sheep should be kept with the man who lost his produce so he may benefit from their milk and wool, while the shepherd worked on the farm to restore it to its original state. Eventually the famer would take back his farm in perfect condition, and the sheep would be returned to the shepherd. David was impressed by his son’s insight and approved his fair judgment immediately.

To Solomon We inspired the (right) understanding of the matter: to each (of them) We gave Judgment and Knowledge; it was Our power that made the hills and the birds celebrate Our praises with David: it was We Who did (these things). ^{2732 2733}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The sheep, on account of the negligence of the shepherd, got into a cultivated field (or vineyard) by night and ate up the young plants or their tender shoots, causing damage, to the extent of perhaps a whole year's crop. David was king, and in his seat of judgment he considered the matter so serious that he awarded the owner of the field the sheep themselves in compensation for his damage. The Roman law of the Twelve Tables might have approved of this decision, and on the same principle was built up the Deodand doctrine of English Law, now obsolete. His son Solomon, a mere boy of eleven, thought of a better decision, where the penalty would better fit the offence. The loss was the loss of the fruits or produce of the field of vineyard: the corpus of the property was not lost. Solomon's suggestion was that the owner of the field or vineyard should not take the sheep altogether but only detain them long enough to recoup his actual damage, from the milk, wool, and possibly young of the sheep, and then retum the sheep to the shepherd. David's merit was that he accepted the suggestion, even though it came from a little boy: Solomon's merit was that he distinguished between corpus and income, and though a boy, was not ashamed to put his case before his father. But in either case it was Allah Who inspired the true realisation of justice. He was present and witnessed the affair, as He is present all the time.

Whatever is in the heavens and the earth celebrates the praises of Allah: xvii. 44; Ivii. 1; xvi. 48-50. Even the "thunder repeateth His praises": xiii. 13. All nature ever sings the praises of Allah. David sang in his Psalms, cxlviii. 7-10: "Praise the Lord from the earth, ye ... mountains and all hills; ... creeping things and flying fowl!" All nature sings to Allah's glory, in unison with David, and angels, and men of God. Cf. xxxiv. 10 and xxxviii. 18-19.

We taught him the art of making body armour to protect you in battle. Will you then be grateful?

  - Mustafa Khattab

It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit to guard you from each others violence: will ye then be grateful? ^{2734 2735}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The making of coats of mails is attributed to David. It is defensive armour, and therefore its discovery and supply is associated with deeds of righteousness in xxxiv. 10-11, in contrast with the deadly weapons which man invents for offensive purposes. Indeed, all fighting, unless in defence of righteousness, is mere "violence."

David's good work then was: (1) he was open to learn wisdom wherever it came from; (2) he sang the praises of Allah, in unison with all nature; (3) he made defensive armour. But all these things he did, because of the faculties which Allah had given him, and we must be grateful for this and for all things to Allah.