Al-'Ankabut · Makki · ayah 68 of 69

Al-'Ankabut 29:68

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُۥٓ ۚ أَلَيْسَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْكَـٰفِرِينَ

“And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allāh or denies the truth when it has come to him? Is there not in Hell a [sufficient] residence for the disbelievers?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The fuller entry is at 39:32; here the ayah gives its verdict on the question before: trusting falsehood and denying truth.

A reflection

The verdict on the question before it

A near twin of this ayah stands at 39:32, where its fuller entry lives. Here it does a particular job: it answers the ayah before it.

That ayah asked two things. 'Do they believe in falsehood, and deny Allah's blessing?' (29:67). This one names both as wrongs. To give Allah a partner is to forge a lie about Him, the commentaries say. To reject the Messenger and the Book is to deny the truth when it came. The question had two halves, and the verdict has two halves.

One commentator marks the strangeness of the trade. They accepted a piece of carved wood as a god. They refused a man of known lineage, presented to them as a messenger. The falsehood was a lifeless thing they made. The truth was a living man they knew.

The surah has been building this case through sanctuary, rescue and rain. Here, near its close, it states the charge plainly.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.