The Quran

148

Preface

سَيَقولُ الَّذينَ أَشرَكوا لَو شاءَ اللَّهُ ما أَشرَكنا وَلا آباؤُنا وَلا حَرَّمنا مِن شَيءٍ ۚ كَذٰلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذينَ مِن قَبلِهِم حَتّىٰ ذاقوا بَأسَنا ۗ قُل هَل عِندَكُم مِن عِلمٍ فَتُخرِجوهُ لَنا ۖ إِن تَتَّبِعونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِن أَنتُم إِلّا تَخرُصونَ

Yusuf Ali

Those who give partners (to God. will say: “If God had wished, we should not have given partners to Him nor would our fathers; nor should we have had¹ any taboos.” So did their ancestors argue falsely, until they tasted of Our wrath. Say: “Have ye any (certain) knowledge? If so, produce it before us. Ye follow nothing but conjecture: ye do nothing but lie.”

As used by the Pagans, the argument is false, for it implies (a) that men have no personal responsibility, (b) that they are the victims of a Determinism against which they are helpless, and (c) that they might therefore go on doing just what they liked. It is also inconsistent, for if (b) is true, (c) cannot be true. Nor is it meant to be taken seriously.