| وَيَقُولُونَ لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ آيَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ ۖ فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا الْغَيْبُ لِلَّهِ فَانْتَظِرُوا إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الْمُنْتَظِرِينَ |
| Asad | : | NOW THEY [who deny the truth] are wont to ask, "Why has no miraculous sign ever been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer?"30 Say, then: "God's alone is the knowledge of that which is beyond the reach of human perception.31 Wait, then, [until His will becomes manifest:] verily, I shall wait with you!" |
| Malik | : | In regards to their saying: "Why has not a sign been sent down to him (Muhammad) from his Rabb?" Tell them: " Allah Alone has the knowledge of the unseen. Wait if you will: I too shall wait with you." |
| Mustafa Khattab | : | They ask, “Why has no ˹other˺ sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “˹The knowledge of˺ the unseen is with Allah alone. So wait! I too am waiting with you.” |
| Pickthall | : | And they will say: If only a portent were sent down upon him from his Lord! Then say (O Muhammad): The Unseen belongeth to Allah. So wait! Lo, I am waiting with you. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | They say: "Why is not a Sign sent down to him from his Lord?" Say: "The Unseen is only for Allah (to know). Then wait ye: I too will wait with you." 1408 |
| Transliteration | : | Wayaqooloona lawla onzila AAalayhi ayatun min rabbihi faqul innama alghaybu lillahi faintathiroo innee maAAakum mina almuntathireena |
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I.e., on Muhammad, in order to "prove" that he is truly a bearer of God's message (a sceptical objection which resumes the theme enunciated in verses {1-2} and {15-17} above); see also 6:37 and {109} and the corresponding notes, especially note [94]. The pronoun "they" refers to both categories of deniers of the truth spoken of in the preceding passages: the atheists or agnostics "who do not believe that they are destined to meet God", as well as those who, while believing in God, "ascribe a share in His divinity" to all manner of imaginary intercessors or mediators (see verse {18} above). |
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This answer relates not merely to the question as to why God has not bestowed on Muhammad a "miraculous sign" of his prophethood, but also to the "why" of his having been chosen for his prophetic mission. See in this connection 2:105 ("God singles out for His grace whom He wills") and {3:73-74} ("God is infinite, all-knowing, singling out for His grace whom He wills"). |
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Their demand for a Sign is disingenuous. All nature and revelation furnishes them with incontestable Signs. What they want is the Book of the Unseen opened out to them like the physical leaves of a book. But they forget that a physical Book is on a wholly different plane from Allah's Mysteries, and that their physical natures cannot apprehend the mysteries. They must wait. Truth will also wait. But the waiting in the two cases is in quite different senses. Cf. vi. 158 and ix. 52. |
