dhālika hudā l-lahi yahdī bihi man yashāu min ʿibādihi walaw ashrakū laḥabiṭa ʿanhum mā kānū yaʿmalūna
Translation
That is the guidance of Allāh by which He guides whomever He wills of His servants. But if they had associated others with Allāh, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
Verse 88 of Surah Al-An’am (6:88), a Meccan surah, is in juz 7, on page 138 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 88
Al-Mukhtasar
The guidance they received was Allah’s guidance, which He grants to whomever of His servants He wills. If they had associated others as partners to Allah, then their actions would be void, because associating partners with Allah nullifies good actions.
This is Allah’s guidance with which He guides whom He wills of His slaves. If they were to associate others with Him, all their deeds would have been nullified.
This is the Guidance of Allâh with which He guides whomsoever He wills of His slaves. But if they had joined in worship others with Allâh, all that they used to do would have been of no benefit to them.
Such is the guidance of Allah wherewith He guideth whom He will of His bondmen. But if they had set up (for worship) aught beside Him, (all) that they did would have been vain.
This is the guidance of Allah: He giveth that guidance to whom He pleaseth, of His worshippers. If they were to join other gods with Him, all that they did would be vain for them.
This is Allah's guidance, He guides thereby whom He pleases of His servants; and if they had set up others (with Him), certainly what they did would have become ineffectual for them.
That is the Guidance of Allah; He guides by it whomever He decides of His bondmen; and if they associated anything (with Him), indeed whatever they were doing would be frustrated for them.
And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allāh, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers.
If Allāh had intended to take a son, He could have chosen from what He creates whatever He willed. Exalted is He; He is Allāh, the One, the Prevailing.
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
Allāh has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance [i.e., mention] of Allāh. That is the guidance of Allāh by which He guides whom He wills. And one whom Allāh sends astray - for him there is no guide.
And if Allāh should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
It is Allāh who sends the winds, and they stir the clouds and spread them in the sky however He wills, and He makes them fragments so you see the rain emerge from within them. And when He causes it to fall upon whom He wills of His servants, immediately they rejoice
How wretched is that for which they sold themselves - that they would disbelieve in what Allāh has revealed through [their] outrage that Allāh would send down His favor upon whom He wills from among His servants. So they returned having [earned] wrath upon wrath. And for the disbelievers is a humiliating punishment.
Said Moses to his people, "Seek help through Allāh and be patient. Indeed, the earth belongs to Allāh. He causes to inherit it whom He wills of His servants. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous."
Their messengers said to them, "We are only men like you, but Allāh confers favor upon whom He wills of His servants. It has never been for us to bring you evidence except by permission of Allāh. And upon Allāh let the believers rely.
