Surah Al-Haaqqa: Verse 44 - ولو تقول علينا بعض الأقاويل... - English

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ ﴿44﴾ لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ ﴿45﴾ ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ ﴿46﴾

And had he forged some statements in Our name, We would have certainly seized him by the right hand, and then severed his life-astery,…(69:44-46)

The word taqawwul means 'to forge, fabricate or concoct' and the word watin refers to 'aorta or life-artery'. This is the main artery that carries blood from the heart to other parts of the body. Once this artery is cut off, death occurs instantly.

The foregoing verses refute the outrageous thoughts of the disbelievers. They used to accuse the Prophet o ﷺ of being a poet and a soothsayer. They said that the Qur'an was the word of a poet or the word of a soothsayer. The Qur'an denounces their argument - it is not the word of a poet nor the word of a soothsayer; it is a revelation from Allah to His Messenger ﷺ . In other words, in verses [ 37-38] it was claimed that all visible and invisible things prove that the Prophet is Allah's true Messenger and that the Qur'an is Allah's revealed Word and not the imaginary flight of a poet's mind or the wild conjectures of a diviner. In this and the preceding three verses another invincible argument is given in support of his claim. The argument is to the effect that if the Prophet ﷺ had been a forger of lies against Allah, Allah's strong hand would have seized him by the throat and cut off his life-artery and he would have certainly met with a violent death. The invincible argument is put forward in a strong language - assuming the impossible - to make the ignorant realise the worst-case scenario. The expression 'right hand' is used probably because when a convicted criminal is to be executed, the executioner stands in front facing the condemned person. The executioner's left hand faces the guilty person's right hand. The executioner holds the condemned person with his left hand and attacks him with his right hand.

A Cautionary Note

This verse refers to a theoretical situation relating to the Apostle of Allah in particular that lest, God forbid, if he were to concoct a word and impute it to Allah, this is the way he would have been dealt with. A hypothetical situation is a possible situation, not an actual situation. Thus this does not necessarily set down a universal principle that any and every impostor, who lays claim to prophethood, would be destroyed as a matter of general rule. History records that many impostors laid claim to prophethood, but no such destructive punishment was ever imposed on them.

If the Prophet forged anything against Allah, then Allah would punish Him

Allah says,

(And if he had forged a false saying concerning Us,) meaning, `if Muhammad forged something against Us, as they claim, and added or removed anything from the Message, or said anything from himself while attributing it to Us, then We would surely be swift in punishing him. And of course, Muhammad did not do any of this (as the disbelievers claimed).' Thus, Allah says,

(We surely would have seized him by his right hand,) It has been said that this means, `We would seize him by the right hand because it is more stronger in grabbing.'

(And then We certainly would have cut off Al-Watin from him,) Ibn `Abbas said, "It (Al-Watin) refers to the artery of the heart, and it is the vein that is attached to the heart." This has also been said by `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hakim, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Muslim Al-Batin and Abu Sakhr Humayd bin Ziyad. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, "It (Al-Watin) is the heart, its blood, and whatever is near it." Concerning Allah's statement,

(And none of you could have prevented it from him.) means, `none of you would be able to come between Us and him if We wanted to do any of this to him.' The meaning behind all of this is to say that he (Muhammad ) is truthful, righteous and guided because Allah determined what he is to convey from Him, and Allah helps him with fantastic miracles and definite proofs. Then Allah says,

(And verily, this (Qur'an) is a Reminder for those who have Taqwa.) meaning, the Qur'an. This is just as Allah says,

(Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and it (the Qur'an) is blindness for them.") Then Allah says,

(And verily, We know that there are some among you that deny (this Qur'an). ) meaning, with this explanation and clarification, there will still be among you those who reject the Qur'an. Then Allah says,

(And indeed it (this Qur'an) will be an anguish for the disbelievers (on the Day of Resurrection).) Ibn Jarir said, "And verily this rejection will be anguish for the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement." He (Ibn Jarir) also mentioned a similar statement from Qatadah. It is possible that the meaning of the pronoun (it) may also refer to the Qur'an, in which case the verse would mean that the Qur'an and belief in it are a cause of anguish for the disbelievers. This is as Allah says,

(Thus have We caused it (the denial of the Qur'an) to enter the hearts of the criminals. They will not believe in it.) (26:200,201) And Allah said,

(And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire) (34:54). Therefore, Allah says here,

(And verily, it (this Qur'an) is an absolute truth with certainty.) meaning, the right and truthful news in which there is no doubt, suspicion or confusion. Then Allah says,

(So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great.) meaning, He Who sent down this magnificent Qur'an. This is the end of the explanation (Tafsir) of Surat Al-Haqqah. And to Allah belong all praise and blessings.