إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِٱلْمُهْتَدِينَ 117
Translations
Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who strays from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.
Transliteration
Inna rabbaka huwa a'lamu man yadillu 'an sabilihi wa huwa a'lamu bil-muhtadin
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah affirms that Allah alone possesses perfect knowledge of those who stray from His path and those who are guided. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi, the ayah serves as a reassurance to the Prophet (peace be upon him) that despite his efforts in da'wah, Allah's knowledge encompasses all outcomes and choices—some will reject faith while others will accept it—and this division is not a failure on the Prophet's part but within Allah's eternal wisdom and knowledge. The verse emphasizes divine omniscience as a source of comfort and establishes that guidance and misguidance are ultimately known and determined by Allah's infinite wisdom.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in Surah Al-An'am, a Meccan surah that extensively addresses the themes of tawhid (monotheism), divine knowledge, and the rejection faced by the Prophet from the Quraysh. The verse occurs in a context where the Prophet is being consoled regarding those who reject his message, reinforcing that his responsibility is only to convey, while the ultimate outcome rests with Allah's knowledge and will.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Each soul knows what it has put forward and kept back' (Surah Al-Infitar 82:5) relates to the theme of personal accountability. Additionally, the hadith in Surah Al-Isra' (17:84) 'Each one knows best the form in which he was created' reflects the broader theme of Allah's comprehensive knowledge of human nature and choices.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers that while we should strive to guide others toward righteousness, ultimate outcomes rest with Allah's knowledge and wisdom—freeing us from despair when our efforts meet resistance and encouraging trust in Divine providence. It also reminds us that Allah's knowledge is absolute and perfect, beyond human comprehension, so we should not judge people's faith or disbelief based on outward appearances, as only Allah knows the true state of hearts.