Surah Al-Anbiya Ayat 7 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 7
And We sent not before you, [O Muhammad], except men to whom We revealed [the message], so ask the people of the message if you do not know.
Before thee, also, the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: If ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message.
(O Muhammad), even before you We never sent any other than human beings as Messengers, and to them We sent revelation. Ask the People of the Book if you do not know.
And We sent not before you (O Muhammad SAW) but men to whom We inspired, so ask the people of the Reminder [Scriptures – the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel)] if you do not know.
And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men, whom We inspired. Ask the followers of the Reminder if ye know not?
And in no way did We send before you except men to whom We revealed (the Message). So ask (This is addressed to the disbelievers) the Population of the Remembrance, in case you do not know.
And even before your time [Prophet], all the messengers We sent were only men We inspired–– if you [disbelievers] do not know, ask people who know the Scripture––
تجھ سے پہلے جتنے پیغمبر ہم نے بھیجے سبھی مرد تھے جن کی طرف ہم وحی اتارتے تھے پس تم اہل کتاب سے پوچھ لو اگر خود تمہیں علم نہ ہو
Quran 21 Verse 7 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Al-Anbiya ayat 7, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(21:7) (O Muhammad), even before you We never sent any other than human beings as Messengers, and to them We sent revelation.[9] Ask the People of the Book[10] if you do not know.
9. This is the answer to their objection: This man is no more than a human being like yourselves, and therefore, cannot be a Messenger of God. They have been told that the former Prophets, too, whom you also recognize as Prophets, were human beings and were blessed with revelations from Allah.
10. That is, you may have it testified by the Jews, who are the enemies of Islam like you, and are teaching you the ways to oppose it, that all the Messengers including Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) were human beings.
Ibn-Kathir
7. And We sent not before you but men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know. 8. And We did not place them in bodies that did not eat food, nor were they immortals. 9. Then We fulfilled to them the promise. So We saved them and those whom We willed, but We destroyed Al-Musrifin.
Here Allah refutes those who denied that human Messengers could be sent:
(And We sent not before you but men to whom We revealed.) meaning, all the Messengers who came before you were men, human beings. There were no angels among them. This is like the Ayat:
(And We sent not before you any but men unto whom We revealed, from among the people of townships) ﴿12:109﴾
(Say: “I am not a new thing among the Messengers…) ﴿46:9﴾ Allah tells us that the previous nations denied that and said:
(“Shall mere men guide us”) ﴿64:6﴾. So Allah says here:
(So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know.) meaning, ask the people of knowledge among the nations such as the Jews and Christians and other groups: `were the Messengers who came to you human beings or angels’ Indeed they were human beings. This is a part of the perfect blessing of Allah towards His creation: He sent to them Messengers from among themselves so that they could receive the Message from them and learn from them.
(And We did not place them in bodies that did not eat food…) meaning, rather they had bodies that ate food, as Allah says:
(And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets) ﴿25:20﴾ meaning, they were human beings who ate and drank like all other people, and they went to the marketplaces to earn a living and engage in business; that did not affect them adversely or reduce their status in any way, as the idolators imagined.
(And they say: “Why does this Messenger eat food, and walk about in the markets. Why is not an angel sent down to him to be a warner with him Or (why) has not a treasure been granted to him, or why has he not a garden whereof he may eat”) ﴿25:7-8﴾
(nor were they immortals) meaning, in this world; on the contrary, they lived, then they died.
(And We granted not to any human being immortality before you) ﴿21:34﴾ But what distinguished them from others was that they received revelation from Allah, and the angels brought down to them from Allah His rulings concerning His creation, what He commanded and what He prohibited.
Then We fulfilled to them the promise. the promise that their Lord made to destroy the evildoers. Allah fulfilled His promise and did that. He says:
(So We saved them and those whom We willed,) meaning, their followers among the believers,
(but We destroyed Al-Musrifin.) meaning, those who disbelieved the Message brought by the Messengers.
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