Quran Quote  :  He governs the entire order of the universe and clearly explains the signs that you may be firmly convinced about meeting your Lord. - 13:2

Quran-16:89 Surah An-nahl English Translation,Transliteration and Tafsir(Tafseer).

وَيَوۡمَ نَبۡعَثُ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٖ شَهِيدًا عَلَيۡهِم مِّنۡ أَنفُسِهِمۡۖ وَجِئۡنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَىٰ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِۚ وَنَزَّلۡنَا عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ تِبۡيَٰنٗا لِّكُلِّ شَيۡءٖ وَهُدٗى وَرَحۡمَةٗ وَبُشۡرَىٰ لِلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ

Transliteration:( Wa yawma nab'asu fee kulli ummmatin shaheedan 'alaihim min anfusihim wa ji'naa bika shaheedan 'alaa haaa'ulaaa'; wa nazzalnaa 'alaikal Kitaaba tibyaanal likulli shai'inw wa hudanw wa rahmatanw wa bushraa lilmuslimeen (section 12) )

89. And that day when We shall raise a witness from every community amongst themselves that they may give [196] evidence against them and O Beloved! We shall bring you as a witness [197] against all those. And We have sent down this Book upon you explaining clearly [198] everything and as a guidance, mercy, and glad tidings for the Muslims [199]. (Kanzul Imaan Translation)

(89) And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves [i.e., their prophet]. And We will bring you, [O Muḥammad], as a witness over these [i.e., your nation]. And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.[711] (Saheen International Translation)

Surah An-Nahl Ayat 89 Tafsir (Commentry)



  • Tafseer-e-Naeemi (Ahmad Yaar Khan)
  • Ibn Kathir
  • Ala-Madudi
  • Shaheen International

196. By this is either meant the Prophets sent to all the nations, or the hands, feets, etc. of every criminal infidel. The first statement is more weighty as is understood from the last part of the verse. It should be remembered that this testimony of the revered Prophets would be against their disbelieving as is understood from the preposition 'on'.

197. From this we learn that the Holy Prophet has seen every condition of his followers as well as every other person, because this testimony of the Holy Prophet will not be based on mere heresay as this would be testimony upon testimony which should be based on seeing. For this reason the Holy Prophet informed the Companions about the two inmates of the grave. One was a backbiter and the other was careless about his urine as reported in Bukhari Shareef. Remember, the outcome of a court case is dependent on the testimony of the witness. Thus, the outcome of the case on the Day of Judgement will depend on the testimony of the Holy Prophet the most exquisite commentary of this can be read in the book SHAAN-E-HABIBUR RAHMAN- The Status of the Beloved of Allah Almighty.

198. This means the Holy QUR'AAN is an illuminating explanation about everything. Says Allah Almighty in (S6: V38) "We have not omitted anything in the Book". Thus when Hazrat Ayesha (May Allah be pleased with her) enquired from the Holy Prophet ? whether anyone's good deeds are equal to the stars in the sky, he immediately replied yes, the good deeds of Hazrat Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) are equal to the stars in the sky. This tells is us that the Holy Prophet fully aware of the total number of the good deeds of all his followers, as well as about the total number of all the big and small stars in the sky. Only he can inform of the equalness in number, who is fully aware of the number of both.

199. It should be remembered that the Holy QUR'AAN's general mercy, general guidance and general prophecies are for the entire world. but its specific and special mercy, and special guidance is for the bleievers only. Here mention is made of this special mercy, special guidance, etc.

 

Ibn-Kathir

89. And on the Day when We resurrect a witness from each nation from among themselves, and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these. And We have revealed the Book (the Qur’an) to you as an explanation of everything, a guidance, a mercy, and good news for the Muslims.


Every Prophet will bear Witness against his Nation on the Day of Resurrection

Allah addressed His servant and Messenger Muhammad , saying:

﴿وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْهِمْ مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَى هَـؤُلآءِ﴾

(And on the Day when We resurrect a witness from each nation from among themselves, and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these.), meaning, your Ummah. The Ayah means: remember that Day and its terrors, and the great honor and high position that Allah has bestowed upon you. This Ayah is like the Ayah with which `Abdullah bin Mas`ud ended when he recited to the Messenger of Allah from the beginning of Surat An-Nisa’. When he reached the Ayah:

﴿فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جِئْنَا مِن كُلِّ أمَّةٍ بِشَهِيدٍ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ عَلَى هَـؤُلاءِ شَهِيداً ﴾

(How (will it be) then, when We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these) ﴿4:41﴾ the Messenger of Allah said to him:

«حَسْبُك»

(Enough.) Ibn Mas`ud said: “I turned to him and saw his eyes streaming with tears.”

The Qur’an explains Everything

﴿وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ﴾

(And We revealed the Book (the Qur’an) to you as an explanation of everything,) Ibn Mas`ud said: “﴿Allah﴾ made it clear that in this Qur’an there is complete knowledge and about everything.” The Qur’an contains all kinds of beneficial knowledge, such as reports of what happened in the past, information about what is yet to come, what is lawful and unlawful, and what people need to know about their worldly affairs, their religion, their livelihood in this world, and their destiny in the Hereafter.

﴿وَهَدَى﴾

(a guidance) means, for their hearts.

﴿وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ﴾

(a mercy, and good news for the Muslims.) Al-Awza`i said:

﴿وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ﴾

(And We have revealed the Book (the Qur’an) as an explanation of everything,) meaning, with the Sunnah. The is the reason why the phrase,

﴿وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ﴾

(And We have revealed the Book to you) is mentioned immediately after the phrase,

﴿وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَى هَـؤُلآءِ﴾

(And We shall bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these. ) the meaning – and Allah knows best – is that the One Who obligated you to convey the Book which He revealed to you, will also ask you about that on the Day of Resurrection.

﴿فَلَنَسْـَلَنَّ الَّذِينَ أُرْسِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَنَسْـَلَنَّ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ﴾

(Then We shall indeed question those (people) to whom it (the Book) was sent and We shall indeed question the Messengers.) (7:6)

﴿فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْـَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ – عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴾

(So by your Lord We question them all about what they did.) (15:92-92)

﴿يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ الرُّسُلَ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَآ أُجِبْتُمْ قَالُواْ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّـمُ الْغُيُوبِ ﴾

(On the Day when Allah gathers the Messengers together and says to them: “What was the response you received (to your Message)” They will say: “We have no knowledge, indeed only You are the Knower of all that is hidden.”) (5:109) And Allah says:

﴿إِنَّ الَّذِى فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْءَانَ لَرَآدُّكَ إِلَى مَعَادٍ﴾

(Verily, He Who obligated the Qur’an upon you (O Muhammad) will surely bring you back to the return.) ﴿28:85﴾ meaning, the One Who gave you the obligation of conveying the Qur’an will bring you back to Him, and your return will be on the Day of Resurrection, and He will question you about you commission of the duty He gave you. This is one of the opinions, and it presents a good understanding of it.

(16:89) (O Muhammad), warn them of the coming of a Day when We shall bring forth a witness against them from each community and We shall bring you forth as a witness against them all; (and it is for that purpose that) We sent down the Book to you which makes everything clear,[86] and serves as a guidance and mercy and glad tidings to those who have submitted to Allah.[87]

Ala-Maududi

(16:89) (O Muhammad), warn them of the coming of a Day when We shall bring forth a witness against them from each community and We shall bring you forth as a witness against them all; (and it is for that purpose that) We sent down the Book to you which makes everything clear,[86] and serves as a guidance and mercy and glad tidings to those who have submitted to Allah.[87]


86. The Quran makes manifest everything on which depends guidance or deviation, success or failure. Whose knowledge is essential for following the right way. What clearly distinguishes truth from falsehood.

In this connection one should guard against that meaning of this sentence and the like in the Quran according to which some people interpret “everything” to mean the knowledge of all sciences, arts, etc. and in order to prove the correctness of their interpretation, they have to pervert the real meaning of the Quran.

87. This Book is a guidance for those who surrender to it as a divine Book and follow it in every aspect of life. Then it will bring Allah’s blessings upon them, and will give them the good news that they will come out successful in the court of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Or, the contrary, those people who reject it shall not only be deprived of guidance and blessing but will also find it as a testimony against themselves on the Day of Resurrection when Allah’s Messenger will stand up to testify against them. This Book will prove to be a strong argument against them. For Allah’s Messenger will say that he had conveyed its message which made manifest the distinction between truth and falsehood.

(89) And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves [i.e., their prophet]. And We will bring you, [O Muḥammad], as a witness over these [i.e., your nation]. And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.[711]

[711]- Those who have submitted themselves to Allāh.

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