As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 152 of 182

As-Saffat 37:152

وَلَدَ ٱللَّهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ

“"Allāh has begotten," and indeed, they are liars.”

Saheeh International

Essence

'Allah has begotten', they say, and they lie: the One who needs nothing has no need of an heir, a helper or a line.

A reflection

Why people want children, and why He does not

Think about why human beings long for children. We want someone to carry our name. We want help when we are old. We want our work and property to pass to someone of our own. We want company, and a kind of continuation after we die. Every one of those longings comes from need and from mortality.

Now hear the claim in this ayah: walada Allāh, Allah has begotten. It quietly imports all of those needs into God. The Quran answers the same claim elsewhere in two words: subḥānahu, huwa al-ghanī. Glory be to Him; He is the Self-Sufficient. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and the earth (10:68).

He needs no heir, because nothing of His passes away. He needs no helper, because nothing is beyond Him. He needs no line to continue Him, because He has no end. Lam yalid wa-lam yūlad: He did not beget and was not begotten (112:3).

This is majesty that humbles us, because it exposes how much of our own striving is driven by need. Picture a businessman in his sixties who has built a company from nothing. He cannot sleep for worrying about which of his sons will take it over, and whether they will ruin it. His whole legacy depends on someone else. He is not wicked for worrying. He is simply mortal.

Allah is not. That is why the claim is so serious. It is not just a mistaken detail. It shrinks the Creator to the size of a creature, with a creature's anxieties.

Some ask whether it is proud for God to insist He needs nothing. But pride is claiming more than is true. This is the plain truth about Him. And it is good news for us: the One we depend on has no needs of His own competing with ours.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.