You are here: Home » Chapter 60 » Verse 4 » Translation
← Sura 60 →
← Aya 4 →
4
قَد كانَت لَكُم أُسوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ في إِبراهيمَ وَالَّذينَ مَعَهُ إِذ قالوا لِقَومِهِم إِنّا بُرَآءُ مِنكُم وَمِمّا تَعبُدونَ مِن دونِ اللَّهِ كَفَرنا بِكُم وَبَدا بَينَنا وَبَينَكُمُ العَداوَةُ وَالبَغضاءُ أَبَدًا حَتّىٰ تُؤمِنوا بِاللَّهِ وَحدَهُ إِلّا قَولَ إِبراهيمَ لِأَبيهِ لَأَستَغفِرَنَّ لَكَ وَما أَملِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَيءٍ ۖ رَبَّنا عَلَيكَ تَوَكَّلنا وَإِلَيكَ أَنَبنا وَإِلَيكَ المَصيرُ

Yusuf Ali

There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him,1 when they said to their people: “We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides God. we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity2 and hatred for ever,- unless ye believe in God and Him alone”: But not when Abraham said to his father: “I will pray for forgiveness3 for thee, though I have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from God.” (They prayed): “Our Lord!4 in Thee do we trust, and to Thee do we turn in repentance: to Thee is (our) Final Goal.
  • See 9:114. Abraham was tender-hearted, and loyal to his father and his people. He warned them against idolatry and sin, and prayed for his father, but when his father and his people became open enemies of God, Abraham entirely dissociated himself from them, and left his home, his father, his people, and his country. Those with him were his believing wife and nephew Lut and any other Believers that went into exile with him.
  • The enemies of God are enemies of the righteous, and they hate the righteous. Therefore the righteous must cut themselves off eternally from them, unless they repent and come back to God. In that case they receive God’s mercy and are entitled to all the rights of love and brotherhood. This shows that our detestation is for evil, not for men as such so long as there is a chance for repentance. See also verse 7 below. But we must give no chance to Evil for working evil on our Brotherhood at any time.
  • Refer again to 9:114. n. 1365: and n. 5413 above. Abraham’s conduct is not condemned: it was a special case, and is not to be imitated by weaker men, who may fall into sin by thinking too much of sinners.
  • This prayer indicates what our attitude should be. We must trust to God, and not to God’s enemies to protect and befriend ourselves, our families, or those near and dear to us.