Tafsir for verse: 5:67
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلرَّسُولُ بَلِّغۡ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ مِن رَّبِّكَۖ وَإِن لَّمۡ تَفۡعَلۡ فَمَا بَلَّغۡتَ رِسَالَتَهُۥۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَعۡصِمُكَ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهۡدِي ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ ٦٧ ﴿67
67O Messenger, convey all that has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you shall not have conveyed His message (at all). Allah shall protect you from the people. Surely, Allah does not lead the disbelieving people to the right path.
AI-Assisted Translation: This translation was produced by AI agents carefully trained over several months and thoroughly reviewed. It does NOT replace the scholarship of traditional scholars and is intended as a step in the right direction to make classical tafsir more accessible. There may still be inaccuracies—please report them promptly so we can improve the translation quality.

Commentary

Convey what has been revealed to you, all that has been revealed to you, and whatever has been revealed to you, do not be cautious in conveying it to anyone. [Mahamud said: "Its meaning is convey without being cautious in conveying it to anyone, nor afraid that something unpleasant will befall you. (And if you do not do it) its meaning is: And if you do not convey all of it as I commanded you, then you have not conveyed His message. Thus, you have not conveyed what you were tasked with in delivering the message, and you have not delivered any of it at all. This is because some of it is not more deserving of delivery than others. It is as if you neglected to deliver all of it, just as one who believes in some of it is like one who does not believe in all of it, due to the interdependence of each part with what the others convey. And since they are thus in the ruling of a single thing, there cannot be a conveyer who is not a conveyer, nor a believer in it who is not a believer. Until he said: "If you say the occurrence of His saying: (Then you have not conveyed His message) is a consequence of the condition, what is the validity of it? I say: There are two aspects to it. One of them is that if you do not represent ..." Ahmad said: And this unity between the condition and the consequence is apparent because its essence is that if you do not convey the message, you have not conveyed the message, with the subject and predicate being identical, so that the predicate does not add anything to it in appearance, like the saying: I am Abu al-Najm and my poetry is my poetry. Thus, he made the predicate about the subject without additional wording, and he meant: And my poetry is my poetry, which is renowned for its eloquence and widely known for its fluency. However, he implied by omitting these attributes that they are inherent to his poetry in the understanding of the listening people, due to his fame for them, and that he was free from mentioning them due to their notoriety and widespread recognition. Likewise, this is intended in the verse because the failure to convey the message is a matter known to people, firmly established in their minds, that it is a great and heinous thing that is condemned for its perpetrator. Rather, the failure to spread knowledge by a scholar is a dreadful matter, let alone concealing the message from the messenger. Thus, he was free from mentioning the additions that differentiate the condition and the consequence, as they are inherently linked to the consequence in understanding. And whoever hears of the failure to convey the message understands what lies beyond it in terms of warning and threat. And the beauty of this style in the Noble Book is in mentioning the condition generally by saying (And if you do not do it) and he did not say: And if you do not convey the message, then you have not conveyed the message, so that the wording would be different. This verbal difference, even if the meaning is the same, is more pleasing in appearance and more eloquent than the repetition of the same wording in the condition and consequence. And this peak was diminished by Abu al-Najm by mentioning the subject with the wording of goodness, and it is right for his eloquence to be overshadowed by his miraculous eloquence, so he is not blamed for that. And this section is like the core of the science of rhetoric, and Allah is the Grantor of success.

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, "Allah sent me with His messages, and I felt constricted by them. So Allah revealed to me, 'If you do not convey My messages, I will punish you.' And He guaranteed for me protection, so I became strong." [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: 'Akhrajahu Is-haq fi Musnadihi. Akhbarana Kulthum bin Muhammad bin Abi Sudrah, hadathana 'Ata al-Khurasani 'an Abi Hurairah wa lam yadkur wa damin li al-'isma faqawit wa dhakarahu al-Wahidi fi al-Wasiti wal-Asbab 'an al-Hasan bi ghayri sanad.'] If you say: What is the validity of His saying, 'So what you did not convey of His message' being a consequence of the condition? I say: There are two aspects to it. The first is that if he does not comply with Allah's command in conveying the messages and conceals them all, it is as if he has not been sent as a messenger, which is a heinous matter, and there is no doubt about its heinousness. It is said: 'If you do not convey even the slightest thing of it, even if it is a single word, you are like one who has committed the heinous act of concealing all of it,' just as the killing of a soul is magnified by His saying: 'So it is as if he has killed all of mankind.' The second is that it is meant: If you do not do so, you will face the consequences that come from concealing the entire revelation. Thus, the cause is placed in the position of the effect, and this is supported by His saying, blessings and peace be upon him, "So Allah revealed to me, 'If you do not convey My messages, I will punish you.'" And Allah will protect you, a promise from Allah with preservation and care. The meaning is: And Allah guarantees you protection from your enemies, so what is your excuse in watching over them? If you say: Where is the guarantee of protection when he was wounded in the face on the Day of Uhud and his incisor was broken? [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: 'Muttafaqun 'alayh min hadith Sahl. Wa qad taqaddama fi tafsir Al-Imran.'] I say: The intended meaning is that He protects him from being killed. And it indicates that he must endure everything less than the soul for the sake of Allah. How severe is the burden placed upon the prophets, blessings and peace be upon them! It is said that it was revealed after the Day of Uhud, and the disbelievers are indicated by His saying: 'Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.' The meaning is that they cannot achieve what they want to bring upon you of destruction. And from Anas: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was guarding until it was revealed, and he stuck his head out from the leather tent and said: 'Depart, O people, for Allah has protected me from the people.' [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: 'Lam ajidhu min hadith Anas, wa qad akhrajahu al-Tirmidhi min riwayati Abi Qadamah al-Harith bin Ubaid 'an Sa'id al-Hariri 'an Abdullah bin Shaqiq 'an Aisha. Wa qala gharib. Wa rawahu ba'duhum 'an al-Hariri mursalan laysa fihi Aisha. Wa rawahu mawsoolan al-Tabari min riwayati Ibn Aliyah 'an al-Hariri walakin rawahu min riwayati Wahb 'an al-Hariri.']

Explore Other Scholars on This Verse

Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 67

Al-ZamakhshariAbū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī
Learn more about Al-Zamakhshari
405 / 2978