Surah Faatir: Verse 39 - هو الذي جعلكم خلائف في... - English
Tafsir of Verse 39, Surah Faatir
English Translation
It is He who has made you successors upon the earth. And whoever disbelieves - upon him will be [the consequence of] his disbelief. And the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them in the sight of their Lord except in hatred; and the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them except in loss.English Transliteration
Huwa allathee jaAAalakum khalaifa fee alardi faman kafara faAAalayhi kufruhu wala yazeedu alkafireena kufruhum AAinda rabbihim illa maqtan wala yazeedu alkafireena kufruhum illa khasaranTafsir of Verse 39
Commentary
The word: خَلَائِفَ (khala'if) in verse 39: هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَائِفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ (He is the One who has made you successors (of the past generations) in the earth.) is the plural of: خَلِیفَہ (khalifah) which means deputy or vice-regent. The general sense is that Allah Ta’ ala has let human beings have lands and houses that keep passing on from one to the other. In this phenomena, there is a great lesson - turn to Allah. Then, the statement could also be taken to have been addressed to the ummah of the Holy Prophet t saying, 'After past communities, We made you take their place with authority to make life better around you, so it is your duty that you learn your lesson from what happened to people earlier than you, and hence you, on your part, do not while away precious moments of your life in negligence.
