qul law shāa l-lahu mā talawtuhu ʿalaykum walā adrākum bihi faqad labith'tu fīkum ʿumuran min qablihi afalā taʿqilūna
Translation
Say, "If Allāh had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you, for I had remained among you a lifetime before it.516 Then will you not reason?"
Notes
[516] The Prophet (ﷺ) lived among his people forty years before receiving any revelation.
Verse 16 of Surah Yunus (10:16), a Meccan surah, is in juz 11, on page 210 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
Listen to verse 16 of Surah Yunus
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Tafsir of verse 16
Al-Mukhtasar
Say to them O Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): If Allah had willed I would not have recited the Qur’ān to you, and it would not have been conveyed to you. And if Allah had willed, you would not have come to know this Qur’ān from my mouth. For I have lived among you for a long time- for forty years, not reading or writing, nor did I seek this type of knowledge or search for it. Can you not reason and realise that what I have brought you is from Allah, and not invented by myself?
Say, “If Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. I have spent a lifetime20 among you before this. Do you not then understand?”
Notes
[20] i.e., forty years before receiving revelation.
Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): "If Allâh had so willed, I should not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. Verily, I have stayed amongst you a life time before this. Have you then no sense?"
Say: If Allah had so willed I should not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. I dwelt among you a whole lifetime before it (came to me). Have ye then no sense?
Say: "If Allah had so willed, I should not have rehearsed it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. A whole life-time before this have I tarried amongst you: will ye not then understand?"
Say: If Allah had desired (otherwise) I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have taught it to you; indeed I have lived a lifetime among you before it; do you not then understand?
Say, "If Allah had (so) decided, in no way would I have recited it (i.e. the Qur'an) to you, neither would He have made you realize (what) it is. So I have already lingered among you an age even before it. Do you not consider?".
Those who associated [others] with Allāh will say, "If Allāh had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything." Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but misjudging."
And those who associate others with Allāh say, "If Allāh had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him." Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except [the duty of] clear notification?
