18 .

Soorat al-Kahf
( Md k k i )

In the name o f Allah,

the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

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18:1. Praise be to Allah Who has sent down the Book to His slave,
and has not allowed any crookedness therein,
18:2. a straightforward Book to warn of a severe punishment from
Him, and to give glad tidings to the believers who do righteous
deeds, that theirs will be a goodly reward,
18:3. wherein they will abide forever;
18:4. and to warn those who say: Allah has begotten a son.

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18:5. They have no knowledge of such a thing, nor did their forefathers.
Monstrous is the word that comes out of their mouths. What
they say is nothing but a lie.
18:6. Are you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with grief over
them, because they do not believe in this message?

Praising Allah is extolling Him for His attributes which are all
attributes o f perfection, and for His blessings both apparent and
hidden, spiritual and worldly. The greatest o f all His blessings is
His sending down o f this great Book to His slave and M essenger
M uhammad (*§§). So Allah praises Himself, which is an implicit
instruction to people to praise Him for sending the Messenger ( j | | )
to them and sending down the Book to them.
Then He describes this Book as having two attributes which
imply that it is perfect in all aspects. Firstly He states that there is no
crookedness in it, and secondly He affirms that it is straightforward.
Stating that there is no crookedness in it implies that there are no
lies or falsehoods in its stories, no injustice in its commands and
prohibitions, and nothing in it is without purpose.
Affirming that it is straightforward implies that it does not enjoin
anything but that which is good, and it does not speak o f anything
but the most sublime issues, which are the issues that fill the heart
with knowledge, faith and wisdom, such as when it tells us o f the
names, attributes and actions o f Allah, and stories o f the unseen,
future and past. Its commands and prohibitions purify and cleanse
souls, make them grow and perfect them, because they are based on
perfect justice, fairness, sincerity and true servitude to Allah, the Lord
o f the worlds, alone, with no partner or associate. With regard to a
Book that is described in such terms, it is very appropriate that Allah
should praise H im self for having sent it down and that He should
remind His slaves o f this favour.

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(•(to warn o f a severe punishment from Him)? that is, to warn by

means o f this Holy Q ur’an o f the consequences that will result, by
His will and decree, for those who go against his command. This
includes punishment in this world and punishment in the hereafter.
This is also one of His blessings, that He alarms His slaves and warns
them o f that which will cause them harm and destroy them. This is
like the verse in which He, after giving a description o f the fire, says:
(•(...Thus Allah instills fear in His slaves: O My slaves, then fear
Me!)? (az-Zumar 39: 16)
By His m ercy tow ards His slaves, He has decreed severe
punishments for those who go against His command, and He has
explained it to them and described the causes that lead to that.
((and to give glad tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds,
that theirs will be a goodly reward)? that is, and Allah has sent down
to His slaves the Book, to give glad tidings to those who believe in
Him and in His Messengers and Books, those whose faith is complete.
And He enjoined upon them righteous deeds, both obligatory and
encouraged, on the basis of both sincerity and following the teachings
o f the Sunnah.
{(that theirs will be a goodly reward)? - this is the reward that
Allah has made dependent on faith and righteous deeds, the greatest
and most significant of which is attaining the pleasure of Allah and
admittance to paradise, in which there is that which no eye has seen,
no ear has heard, nor has it ever crossed the mind of man.
The fact that the reward is described as goodly indicates that the
reward will not be interrupted by anything that could cause annoyance
or undermine its joy in any way. If there had been any such element
in the reward, it would not have been described as goodly.
Moreover, this goodly reward is one in which {(they will abide
forever)? and it will never leave them and they will never leave it.
Rather it is a life o f ever-increasing bliss. These glad tidings require

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a mention o f the deeds that may lead to that o f which the glad tidings
speak, therefore this Q ur’an refers to every good deed that leads to
that which will bring joy to the heart.
(•(and to warn those who say: Allah has begotten a son)? namely
the Jews, Christians and polytheists who utter such monstrous words.
They are not speaking on the basis o f certain knowledge, or knowledge
that they or their forefathers whom they imitate and follow possessed;
rather they followed nothing but conjecture and whims and desires.
{(Monstrous is the word that comes out of their mouths)? that is, it is
something extremely abhorrent that deserves the severest punishment.
What could be worse than to describe Allah as taking a child, which
implies imperfection and shortcomings, and suggests that someone
other than Him has a share with Him in the attributes of Lordship and
divinity, and is a lie against Him? {(Who does greater evil than he who
fabricates lies against Allah?)? (18:15) Hence Allah says here: {(What
they say is nothing but a lie)? that is, a pure lie in which there is no
element o f truth. See how He proves this notion to be false, gradually
moving from one thing to another that is even more wrong. So first
o f all He says: {(They have no knowledge o f such a thing, nor did
their forefathers^, for speaking about Allah without knowledge is
undoubtedly prohibited and wrong. Then, secondly, He tells us that
it is a reprehensible and abhorrent notion, as He says: {(Monstrous
is the word that comes out o f their mouths^. And, thirdly, He states
that it is a lie and is contrary to the truth.
The Prophet (< i|) was keen for people to be guided and he strove
hard to achieve that; he would rejoice and be happy when people
were guided and he would feel sad and be filled with sorrow for the
misguided disbelievers, out o f compassion and pity towards them.
Therefore Allah instructed him not to be distracted by worry or sorrow
for these people who did not believe in this Q ur’an, as He said later
in this passage: {(Are you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with

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grief over them, because they do not believe?)? (18: 6). And He says
elsewhere:
C ..S o do not let yourself waste away in sorrow for them...)} (Fatir
35: 8)

dAre you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with grief over

them)} that is, with sorrow over them? For your reward is due from
Allah, and if Allah knew o f any good in these people, He would
have guided them, but He knows that they are fit for nothing but the
fire. Therefore He has forsaken them, and they were not guided, so
distracting yourself with worry and sorrow for them will not benefit
you.
There is a lesson in this and similar verses: the one who is instructed
to call people to Allah must convey the message and strive by all
possible means to guide them and block the path o f misguidance
as much as he can, whilst putting his trust in Allah. Then if they are
guided, all well and good, otherwise he should not grieve or feel sad,
for that weakens one’s resolve and saps one’s strength, and there is no
benefit in it. Rather he should carry on and persist in doing what he
is instructed to do and is already doing, for anything other than that
is beyond his means. Allah says to His Prophet (*|§):
{(.. .you [O Muhammad] cannot guide whomever you like... j? (al-Qasas
28: 56)

Moosa (§§50 said:

C -.O m y Lord, I have control only over m yself and my brother...)?
(al-Mci 'idah 5: 25)

In the case o f people other than the Prophets it is even more

appropriate to note that they have no control over the guidance of
others. Allah (4s) says:
o'So admonish [O Muhammad], for you are but sent to admonish;you
have no power over them.)? (al-Ghashiyah 88: 21-22)

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18:7. Verily We have made all that is on earth as an adornment for it,
in order to test them [humankind] and see which o f them are
best in conduct.
18:8. And verily We will reduce all that is on it to a barren wasteland.

Here Allah tells us that He has made all that is on the face o f
the earth, delicious food and drink, fine dwellings, trees, rivers,
crops, fruits, beautiful scenery, elegant gardens, enchanting voices,
delightful images, gold and silver, horses and camels, and so on - all
o f that Allah has made as an adornment for this realm, and as a trial
and test.
*fin order to test them [humankind] and see which o f them are best
in conduct)* that is, the most sincere and correct in deeds. Yet despite
that, Allah will cause all the things mentioned here to diminish, vanish
and come to an end, and the earth will become a barren wasteland, all
its pleasures gone, its rivers cut off, all traces o f goodness disappeared
and its delights vanished. This is the reality o f this world, which Allah
has made clear to us as if we could see it with our own eyes. He warns
us against being deceived by it, and encourages us to seek the realm
where delights will last forever and the one who reaches it will be
blessed; all o f that is out o f mercy towards us. Those who look at
this world as it appears to be, without looking at its reality, will be
deceived by its adornments and finery, so they will live in this world
like animals, enjoying it like grazing cattle, not paying any attention
to the rights o f their Lord or caring to know Him; rather their main
focus is pursuit o f worldly pleasures, regardless o f how they attain
them or indulge in them. When death approaches such a person, he

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