Surah Al-Ahqaf (46) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8) ➊ { اَمْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ افْتَرٰىهُ:} This is another excuse for not believing. Instead of using "waaw" for conjunction, the particle {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} has been brought, meaning: their statement that this is magic is one thing, but listen to an even stranger thing—they say that he has authored the Qur’an himself and, while lying, has claimed that this is the word of Allah. Whereas in this, they are negating their own statement, because if this is magic, then it is not your (ﷺ) own speech, and if it is your (ﷺ) speech, then it is not magic.

➋ The answer to {قُلْ اِنِ افْتَرَيْتُهٗ فَلَا تَمْلِكُوْنَ لِيْ مِنَ اللّٰهِ شَيْـًٔا: ’’ اِنِ افْتَرَيْتُهٗ ‘‘} is omitted, which is understood from {’’ فَلَا تَمْلِكُوْنَ لِيْ ‘‘}: {’’أَيْ إِنِ افْتَرَيْتُهُ عَاقَبَنِيَ اللّٰهُ عَلَي الْإِفْتِرَاءِ فَلَا تَمْلِكُوْنَ لِيْ مِنَ اللّٰهِ شَيْئًا ‘‘} "That is, say to them: If I have committed the crime of fabricating lies, then surely Allah will punish me for fabricating lies, and you will be of no help to me against Allah." In another place, Allah has said: « وَ لَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْاَقَاوِيْلِ (44) لَاَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِيْنِ (45) ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِيْنَ (46) فَمَا مِنْكُمْ مِّنْ اَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حٰجِزِيْنَ» [ الحاقۃ : ۴۴ تا ۴۷ ] "And if he had fabricated any sayings against Us, We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would have cut off his life artery, and none of you could have prevented Us from doing so."

➌ {هُوَ اَعْلَمُ بِمَا تُفِيْضُوْنَ فِيْهِ … :} That is, when you have reached the point where you call this speech fabrication and human speech, while you have been unable to produce even the smallest surah like it, and it has become clear to everyone that it is not human speech, nor can any human produce such speech, then there is no benefit in arguing with you. I entrust my matter to Allah; He knows well the things you keep inventing—sometimes calling it magic, sometimes soothsaying, sometimes poetry, and sometimes a storm of lies fabricated against Allah. He alone is sufficient to decide between me and you, because He is aware of everything both of us say and is a witness to every occasion.

➍ { وَ هُوَ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْمُ:} The relevance of this sentence at this place is twofold: first, that your calling the Qur’an a fabrication and the Prophet a fabricator is such a great crime that if Allah were not Forgiving and Merciful, but rather a merciless and harsh master, He would not have given you even a moment’s respite. It is only His forgiveness and mercy that, despite such insolence, He does not seize you immediately, but gives you respite so that you may turn back at any time. The second relevance is this encouragement: even now, if you give up this stubbornness, Allah’s forgiveness and mercy await you, because He is both Forgiving and Merciful. There is no limit to His forgiveness or His mercy; whatever you have done, He will still forgive. {’’ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْمُ ‘‘} is the predicate of the pronoun {’’ هُوَ ‘‘}, and with the definite article, exclusivity is created in the speech, meaning: only He is Forgiving and Merciful, and there is no one else who can cover your sins and be exceedingly merciful to you—so where will you run from Him?