Surah An-Nahl Ayah 40 (16:40) — Meaning & Tafsir | Quran.GG

Surah An-Nahl, Ayah 40

16:40 · Meaning and tafsir

إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَىْءٍ إِذَآ أَرَدْنَـٰهُ أَن نَّقُولَ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ ٤٠

Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is.

Surah An-Nahl 16:40 in Arabic with its translation: “Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is.”

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Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)

The Resurrection after Death is true, there is Wisdom behind it, and it is easy for Allah

Allah tells us that the idolators swore by Allah their strongest oaths, meaning that they made oaths swore fervently that Allah would not resurrect the one who died. They considered that to be improbable, and did not believe the Messengers when they told them about that, swearing that it could not happen. Allah said, refuting them:

بَلَى

(Yes), meaning it will indeed happen,

وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا

(a promise (binding) upon Him in truth,) - meaning it is inevitable,

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most of mankind know not.) means, because of their ignorance they oppose the Messengers and fall into disbelief. Then Allah mentions His wisdom and the reason why He will resurrect mankind physically on the Day of Calling (between the people of Fire and of Paradise). He says,

Continue reading the tafsir of ayahs 38–40

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Has a Rasul of Allah appeared in India and Pakistan too?

From verse 36 in the present Surah: وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّ‌سُولًا (And We did raise a messenger among every people), as well as from verse 24 of Surah Fatir: وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ‌ (And there is no group of people among whom there has not been a warner - 35:24), it outwardly appears that messen-gers may have also been sent to areas now known as India and Pakistan - whether residents of the area, or located in another country whose deputies or emissaries had reached there. Then, there is the verse of Surah Al-Qasas: لِتُنذِرَ‌ قَوْمًا مَّا أَتَاهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ‌ (so that you may warn a people unto whom came no warner - 28:46). The sense released by the verse is that no warner had come before him to the people unto whom the Holy Prophet ﷺ was sent. This can be answered by saying that this obviously refers to the people of Arabia who became the first addressees of the prophetic mission of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ - the fact being that no prophet since Sayyidna Ismail (علیہ السلام) had appeared among them. Therefore, the title given to these people in the Holy Qur'an was "Ummiyyin" (the unlettered ones). This does not necessarily imply that no prophet came before him in the rest of the world as well. Allah knows best.

Tazkirul Quran

The present world is so constituted that Truth and untruth are not always clearly distinguishable from each other due to the trial of man. As such there is always scope for denial of the truth. Ways of contradicting valid arguments can always be found and some device or the other can be resorted to to cast doubt on established facts. This is entirely against the scheme of the universe. In physical sciences it is possible to reach some definite results. Similarly, in respect of human beings, the truth should be brought out into the open. This proves the need for the Judgement Day to take place. Shah Abdul Qadir Dehlavi writes, ‘In this world many things remained doubtful; some accepted God and some denied Him, so there must be another world where disputes are resolved; truth and falsehood are distinguished; and the accepter and the rejecter are rewarded according to their deeds.’

Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.