سُوْرَةُ الْاَنْۣبِيَآءِ
Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 3
لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّجْوَى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ هَلْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ ۖ أَفَتَأْتُونَ ٱلسِّحْرَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ ﴿3﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
With their hearts occupied (with evil things). Those who do wrong, conceal their private counsels, (saying): "Is this (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) more than a human being like you? Will you submit to magic while you see it?"
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
لَاهِيَةًۭ
lāhiyatan
Distracted
قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ
qulūbuhum
their hearts
وَأَسَرُّوا۟
wa-asarrū
And they conceal
ٱلنَّجْوَى
l-najwā
the private conversation
ٱلَّذِينَ
alladhīna
those who
ظَلَمُوا۟
ẓalamū
[they] wronged
هَلْ
hal
Is
هَـٰذَآ
hādhā
this
إِلَّا
illā
except
بَشَرٌۭ
basharun
a human being
مِّثْلُكُمْ ۖ
mith'lukum
like you
أَفَتَأْتُونَ
afatatūna
So would you approach
ٱلسِّحْرَ
l-siḥ'ra
the magic
وَأَنتُمْ
wa-antum
while you
تُبْصِرُونَ
tub'ṣirūna
see (it)
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
(Ayah 3) ➊ {لَاهِيَةً قُلُوْبُهُمْ وَ اَسَرُّوا النَّجْوَى …: ’’ لَاهِيَةً ‘‘ ’’ لَهِيَ يَلْهٰي ‘‘} (ع) or {’’ لَهَا يَلْهُوْ‘‘} (ن) is the feminine active participle form. {’’ لَهْوٌ‘‘} is that thing which distracts a person from his necessary and important tasks to some other activity. (Raghib) Just as materialistic people abandon concern for the Hereafter and are only engrossed in seeking the world. In today’s sciences and arts, there is nothing that reminds one of the Hereafter; rather, all these enlightenments are day by day taking people further away from the thought of death and the Hereafter. See also Surah Ar-Rum (6, 7).
➋ { وَ اَسَرُّوا النَّجْوَى :} Here, there is a famous question in grammar: when the subject is explicit, whether it is singular, dual, or plural, the verb comes with the singular form. Here, despite the subject {’’ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا ‘‘} being explicit, why has the verb come in the plural form? The answer is that the subject of {’’ اَسَرُّوا ‘‘} is a plural pronoun and {’’ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا ‘‘} is its substitute, meaning the disbelievers, through mutual secret consultation, decided to keep people away from you (peace be upon him) by secretly agreeing to say this to the people, and the reason for keeping it secret was that if people found out that this was their decided statement, they would not be influenced by it.
➌ {هَلْ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ … :} That is, he is not an angel, but a human being like you; now, when he shows miracles and people are being captivated by hearing this speech, all of this is magic. The disbelievers criticized his (peace be upon him) prophethood in two ways: first, that he is a human and a human cannot be a prophet. Allah Almighty has mentioned this in several places, for example, see Surah Bani Isra’il (94), Taghabun (6), Qamar (24), Mu’minun (33, 34), Furqan (7), and Ibrahim (10). Previously, the disbelievers and polytheists used to say that a human cannot be a prophet; nowadays, some people say that a prophet cannot be a human—the point is the same, «{ بَلْ قَالُوْا مِثْلَ مَا قَالَ الْاَوَّلُوْنَ }» [المؤمنون : ۸۱ ] “Rather, they said as the former ones said.” Allah Almighty refuted this ahead. The second criticism was that the Qur’an is not the word of Allah but magic. Allah Almighty has also mentioned this criticism of the disbelievers in several places, for example, see Surah Muddathir (24) and Dhariyat (52).
➋ { وَ اَسَرُّوا النَّجْوَى :} Here, there is a famous question in grammar: when the subject is explicit, whether it is singular, dual, or plural, the verb comes with the singular form. Here, despite the subject {’’ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا ‘‘} being explicit, why has the verb come in the plural form? The answer is that the subject of {’’ اَسَرُّوا ‘‘} is a plural pronoun and {’’ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا ‘‘} is its substitute, meaning the disbelievers, through mutual secret consultation, decided to keep people away from you (peace be upon him) by secretly agreeing to say this to the people, and the reason for keeping it secret was that if people found out that this was their decided statement, they would not be influenced by it.
➌ {هَلْ هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ … :} That is, he is not an angel, but a human being like you; now, when he shows miracles and people are being captivated by hearing this speech, all of this is magic. The disbelievers criticized his (peace be upon him) prophethood in two ways: first, that he is a human and a human cannot be a prophet. Allah Almighty has mentioned this in several places, for example, see Surah Bani Isra’il (94), Taghabun (6), Qamar (24), Mu’minun (33, 34), Furqan (7), and Ibrahim (10). Previously, the disbelievers and polytheists used to say that a human cannot be a prophet; nowadays, some people say that a prophet cannot be a human—the point is the same, «{ بَلْ قَالُوْا مِثْلَ مَا قَالَ الْاَوَّلُوْنَ }» [المؤمنون : ۸۱ ] “Rather, they said as the former ones said.” Allah Almighty refuted this ahead. The second criticism was that the Qur’an is not the word of Allah but magic. Allah Almighty has also mentioned this criticism of the disbelievers in several places, for example, see Surah Muddathir (24) and Dhariyat (52).
