The Quran

Preface

وَحاجَّهُ قَومُهُ ۚ قالَ أَتُحاجّونّي فِي اللَّهِ وَقَد هَدانِ ۚ وَلا أَخافُ ما تُشرِكونَ بِهِ إِلّا أَن يَشاءَ رَبّي شَيئًا ۗ وَسِعَ رَبّي كُلَّ شَيءٍ عِلمًا ۗ أَفَلا تَتَذَكَّرونَ

Yusuf Ali

His people disputed¹ with him. He said: “(Come) ye to dispute with me, about God, when He (Himself) hath guided me? I fear not (the beings) ye associate with God. Unless my Lord willeth, (nothing can happen). My Lord comprehendeth in His knowledge all things. Will ye not (yourselves) be admonished?

The story of Abraham is highly instructive for all men in quest of truth. If spiritual enlightenment goes so far as to take a man beyond his ancestral worship, people will come to dispute with him. They will frighten him with the dire consequences of his dissent. What does he care? He has found the truth. He is free from superstitious fears, for has he not found the true God, without Whose Will nothing can happen? On the contrary, he knows that it is the godless who have just grounds for fear. And he offers admonition to them, and arguments that should bring them the clearness of truth instead of the vagueness and mystery of superstition-the security of Faith instead of the haunting fear of those who have no clear guidance. (R).