Surah Nahl >> Currently viewing Surah Nahl Ayat 89 (16:89)

Surah Nahl Ayat 89 in Arabic Text

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

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 89

Sahih International
And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves. And We will bring you, [O Muhammad], as a witness over 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.

Yusuf Ali
One day We shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and We shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims.

Abul Ala Maududi
(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, and serves as a guidance and mercy and glad tidings to those who have submitted to Allah.

Muhsin Khan
And (remember) the Day when We shall raise up from every nation a witness against them from amongst themselves. And We shall bring you (O Muhammad SAW) as a witness against these. And We have sent down to you the Book (the Quran) as an exposition of everything, a guidance, a mercy, and glad tidings for those who have submitted themselves (to Allah as Muslims).

Pickthall
And (bethink you of) the day when We raise in every nation a witness against them of their own folk, and We bring thee (Muhammad) as a witness against these. And We reveal the Scripture unto thee as an exposition of all things, and a guidance and a mercy and good tidings for those who have surrendered (to Allah).

Dr. Ghali
And the Day We will make to rise again in every nation a witness against them from among themselves, and We will cause you (The prophet) to come as a witness against these. And We have been sending down on you the Book as an evident (exposition) of everything, and as a guidance, and a mercy, and as good tidings to Muslims (i.e., those who surrender to Allah).

Abdel Haleem
The day will come when We raise up in each community a witness against them, and We shall bring you [Prophet] as a witness against these people, for We have sent the Scripture down to you explaining everything, and as guidance and mercy and good news to those who devote themselves to God.

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور جس دن ہم ہر امت میں انہی میں سے ان کے مقابلے پر گواه کھڑا کریں گے اور تجھے ان سب پر گواه بنا کر ﻻئیں گے اور ہم نے تجھ پر یہ کتاب نازل فرمائی ہے جس میں ہر چیز کا شافی بیان ہے، اور ہدایت اور رحمت اور خوشخبری ہے مسلمانوں کے لیے

Quran 16 Verse 89 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Nahl ayat 89, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

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.

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.

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