Qur'an 2:258
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| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Sura | al-Baqara (Qur'an 2) |
| Verse | 258 |
| Juz' | 3 |
| Topic | The argument of Abraham with Nimrod about God |
Qur'an 2:258 recounts the theological debate between Prophet Abraham (a) and a figure described in the Qur'an as one "to whom Allah had given the kingdom."[1] Exegetes identify this individual as Nimrod, the King of Babylon,[2] who laid claim to divinity.[3]
In the verse, Abraham defines God as the One who grants life and causes death.[4] Nimrod responds with a fallacy,[5] asserting that he possesses the same power.[6] To demonstrate this, he purportedly released a condemned prisoner and executed another individual.[7] Some reports suggest that Abraham subsequently challenged Nimrod to restore life to the one he had killed.[8] Following this, Abraham presented a cosmic argument: "Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east; so bring it from the west."[9] Unable to refute this, Nimrod was silenced.[10] The Qur'an describes his reaction with the phrase fa-buhita lladhi kafar ("Thereat the faithless one was dumbfounded").[11] The verse concludes by affirming that God does not guide the wrongdoers,[12] implying that those who willfully reject the truth are denied Divine Guidance.[13] This debate is widely believed to have occurred after Abraham survived being thrown into the fire.[14]
| “ | أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
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” |
| “ | Have you not regarded him who argued with Abraham about his Lord, because Allah had given him kingdom? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is He who gives life and brings death,’ he replied, ‘I [too] give life and bring death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed Allah brings the sun from the east; now you bring it from the west.’ Thereat the faithless one was dumbfounded. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.
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| — Qur'an 2:258 | ||
'Allama Tabataba'i posits that while Qur'an 2:257 establishes the principle of Divine Guidance, the subsequent verses illustrate the methods by which it is achieved. Thus, Qur'an 2:258 highlights intellectual reasoning as a pathway to guidance, whereas Qur'an 2:259 offers an example of sensory or witnessed guidance.[15] Abdullah Jawadi Amuli connects these verses through the theme of divine guardianship, citing Qur'an 2:258 through 2:260 as illustrative examples.[16] Similarly, Muhammad Jawad Maghniyya interprets this verse as a case study of a disbeliever who, having chosen Taghut (idolatry/tyranny) as his guardian over God, has descended from light into darkness.[17]
Notes
- ↑ Sayyid Quṭb, Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān, 1412 AH, vol. 1, p. 297.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 286.
- ↑ Ḥusaynī Hamadānī, Anwār-i dirakhshān, 1404 AH, vol. 2, p. 316.
- ↑ Qur'an 2:258.
- ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i nūr, 1383 Sh, vol. 1, p. 417.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 2, p. 288.
- ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 54.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1404 AH, vol. 1, p. 86.
- ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, 1378 Sh, vol. 3, p. 25; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 2, p. 287.
- ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 5, p. 65.
- ↑ Qur'an 2:258.
- ↑ Qur'an 2:258.
- ↑ Ṭāliqānī, Partawī az Qurʾān, 1362 Sh, vol. 2, p. 214.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 2, p. 290.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 359.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i tasnīm, 1389 Sh, vol. 12, p. 263.
- ↑ Mughniyya, al-Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 1, p. 406.
References
- Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i tasnīm. Qom: Asra, 1389 Sh.
- Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Sayyid Muḥammad. Tabyīn al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-ʿUlūm, 2nd ed., 1423 AH.
- Ḥusaynī Hamadānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Anwār-i dirakhshān. Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Bahbūdī. Tehran: Kitābfurūshī-yi Luṭfī, 1st ed., 1404 AH.
- Sayyid Quṭb, Ibrāhīm Ḥusayn Shādhilī. Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān. Beirut/Cairo: Dār al-Shurūq, 17th ed., 1412 AH.
- Ṭāliqānī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. Partawī az Qurʾān. Tehran: Shirkat-i Sahāmī-yi Intishār, 4th ed., 1362 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
- Ṭayyib, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Aṭyab al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Islām, 2nd ed., 1378 Sh.
- Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Malāk, 2nd ed., 1419 AH.
- Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Tafsīr al-ṣāfī. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Tehran: Intishārāt al-Ṣadr, 2nd ed., 1415 AH.
- Qarāʾatī, Muḥsin. Tafsīr-i nūr. Tehran: Cultural Center of Lessons from the Quran, 11th ed., 1383 Sh.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Edited by Sayyid Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāʾirī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 3rd ed., 1404 AH.
- Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. al-Tafsīr al-kāshif. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1424 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed., 1374 Sh.
- Mīrzā Khusrawānī, ʿAlī Riḍā. Tafsīr-i khusrawī. Edited by Muḥammad Bāqir Bahbūdī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, 1st ed., 1390 AH.