Tafseer Ibn Kathir of SABA' [47]

47. Say: ”Whatever wage I might have asked of you is yours. My wage is from Allah only, and He is a Witness over all things.'' 48. Say: ”Verily, my Lord sends down the truth, the All-Knower of the Unseen.'' 49. Say: ”The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.'' 50. Say: ”If (even) I go astray, I shall stray only to my own loss. But if I remain guided, it is because of the Revelation of my Lord to me. Truly, He is All-Hearer, Ever Near.'' Allah commands His Messenger to say to the idolators:

(Whatever wage I might have asked of you is yours.) meaning, `I do not want anything for conveying the Message of Allah to you, advising you and telling you to worship Allah.'

My wage is from Alla0h only, means, rather I will seek the reward for that with Alla0h.

and He is a Witness over all things. means, He knows all things, and He knows everything about me and the manner in which I am conveying the Message to you, and He knows all about you.

(Say: ”Verily, my Lord sends down the truth, the All-Knower of the Unseen.'') This is like the Ayah:

(He sends the Revelation by His command to any of His servants He wills) (40:15). meaning, He sends the angel to whomsoever He wills of His servants among the people on earth, and He is the All-Knower of the Unseen; nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him in the heavens or on earth.

(Say: ”The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.'') means, truth and the great Law have come from Allah, and falsehood has gone and has perished and vanished. This is like the Ayah:

(Nay, We fling the truth against the falsehood, so it destroys it, and behold, it is vanished) (21:18). When the Messenger of Allah entered Al-Masjid Al-Haram on the day of the conquest of Makkah, and found those idols standing around the Ka`bah, he started to hit the idols with his bow, reciting,

(And say: ”The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished. Surely, the falsehood is ever bound to vanish.'') (17:81), and:

(Say: ”The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.'') This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i.

(Say: ”If (even) I go astray, I shall stray only to my own loss. But if I remain guided, it is because of the Revelation of my Lord to me...'') means, all good comes from Allah, and in what Allah sends down of revelation and clear truth there is guidance and wisdom. So whoever goes astray, does so by himself, as `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said when he was asked about some issue. He said, ”I will say what I think, and if it is correct, then it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, then it is from me and from the Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger have nothing to do with it.''

Truly, He is All-Hearer, Ever Near. means, He hears all the words of His servants, and He is always near to respond to them when they call on Him. An-Nasa0 0 recorded the HÙ„ad0th of Abu Mu0sa0 which also appears in the Two SÙ„ahÙ„0hÙ„s:

(You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent; you are calling upon One Who is All-Hearer, Ever Near and Responsive.)