Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 83 of 165

Al-An'am 6:83

وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ ۚ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَـٰتٍ مَّن نَّشَآءُ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ

“And that was Our [conclusive] argument which We gave Abraham against his people. We raise by degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Ibrahim's winning argument was Allah's gift, and Allah raises whom He wills step by step, by a wisdom and knowledge that miss nothing.

A reflection

The winning line was handed to him

Three ayat earlier, Ibrahim stood alone against a crowd and won the argument. Now Allah speaks about that argument, and the possessive is striking. Wa-tilka ḥujjatunā: and that was Our argument. Ātaynāhā Ibrāhīm: We gave it to Ibrahim.

The man who spoke it does not get to own it. One classical commentator draws the lesson directly. The argument took shape in Ibrahim's mind because Allah gave it and made it plain to him. The same commentator notes that Allah speaks here in the plural of majesty, as great kings do. That signals how great a gift this was.

Picture a university debating final. A second-year student closes with a line that silences the hall: 'If your god can be stolen, it was never guarding you.' She wins. That night, on the phone, her grandmother laughs. She used to say exactly that when the girl was seven, about a lost lucky charm. The winning line was never hers. It was planted years before the competition existed.

This is where the ego shrinks. Every insight we are proud of has a history we did not write. A clear thought arrives, or a phrase lands at the right moment, and we call it brilliance. The ayah calls it a gift.

Why does Allah claim the argument at all? Not because He needs the credit; He is free of all need. One reflective commentary says the claim magnifies the argument itself. A proof that Allah taught His Friend is strong enough to cut off every stubborn objection. Claiming it does not shrink Ibrahim. It honours him, and it shows the rest of us where to send our thanks.

One classical derivation adds a picture. Ḥujja may come from the root of setting out on a road to a destination. On that view, an argument is the road by which truth is reached. Ibrahim walked it, but Allah laid it.

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.