Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi

Ayah by Ayah

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Tafheem-ul-Quran - Abul Ala Maududi translation for Surah Al-Qasas — Ayah 78

28:78
قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أُوتِيتُهُۥ عَلَىٰ عِلۡمٍ عِندِيٓۚ أَوَلَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدۡ أَهۡلَكَ مِن قَبۡلِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلۡقُرُونِ مَنۡ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنۡهُ قُوَّةٗ وَأَكۡثَرُ جَمۡعٗاۚ وَلَا يُسۡـَٔلُ عَن ذُنُوبِهِمُ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمُونَ ٧٨
He replied: "All this has been given to me on account of a certain knowledge that I have."1 Did he not know that Allah had destroyed before him those who were stronger in might2 than he and were more numerous in multitude? The wicked are not asked about their acts of sin.3
Footnotes
  • [1] That is, “Did this person who was proud of being so knowledgeable and wise and well informed and capable never know that people with greater wealth and grandeur and power and might than him had lived before him in the world, and Allah at last, had annihilated them completely? If capability and skill and competence are the only factors conducive to worldly progress, then why didn’t these virtues avail them when they were destroyed? And if the worldly progress of a person is a sure proof that Allah is pleased with him and approves of his deeds and qualities, then why were those people doomed to destruction at all?”
  • [2] The words of the text can have two meanings: (1) “Whatever I have obtained is by virtue of my own ability. It is not a bounty which somebody else might have given me as a favor without my deserving it as a right, and now I may have to render thanks for it by giving a portion of it to those who have not been given anything, as a favor, or give some of it in charity so that the bounty is not withdrawn from me.” (2) “I think God has given me this wealth in view of my qualities and excellences. Had I not been a likable person, He would not have given me all this. That He has bestowed on me all kinds of blessings is a proof that I am His favorite and he approves of the way of life that I am following.”
  • [3] That is, “The criminals have always been claiming to be the best people, who are free from every evil, but their punishment is not dependent on their own confessions. Whenever they are seized; they are not seized on the basis of their own confessions of sins, etc.”
  • [4] Qira’at: Hamza and Al-Kesa’i read it as: “. . . the ones who have departed from their religion . . .”
  • [5] Qira’at: Yaʻqub read it as: “. . . for him there are ten (others) like it . . .”
  • [6] Qira’at: Nafieʻ, Ibn Kathir, Abu ʻAmr, Abu Jaʻfar and Yaʻqub read it as: “. . . a truly upright religion . . .”