قُلِ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَسَلَـٰمٌ عَلَىٰ عِبَادِهِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱصْطَفَىٰٓ ۗ ءَآللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ 59
Translations
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Praise be to Allāh, and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen. Is Allāh better or what they associate with Him?"
Transliteration
Qul al-hamdu lillahi wa-assalamu 'ala 'ibaadihi alladhina istafa. A-allahu khayrun amma yushrikun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
The Prophet is commanded to proclaim that all praise belongs to Allah alone and to send peace upon His chosen servants—the prophets and righteous believers. The ayah then poses a rhetorical question highlighting Allah's supremacy: Is Allah better, or the false gods that the polytheists associate with Him? According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this ayah emphasizes tawhid (monotheism) by contrasting the perfection of Allah with the utter baseness of idols, thereby refuting shirk (polytheism) at its core.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan surah An-Naml during a period of intense opposition to the Prophet's monotheistic message. The surah addresses the polytheists of Mecca, and this particular verse serves as a powerful refutation of their idolatry, directly confronting their practice of associating partners with Allah.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, 'The best supplication is 'Alhamdulillah' (praise be to Allah)' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi). Additionally, the greeting of Assalamu 'alaikum (peace be upon you) practiced among believers exemplifies the implementation of the command to send peace in this ayah.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers to constantly affirm Allah's oneness through praise and to recognize that true peace and blessing come only from following Allah and His chosen servants, not from the pursuit of worldly false gods or material desires that distract from spiritual truth.
Related Ayahs
فَلَمَّا جَآءَ سُلَيْمَـٰنَ قَالَ أَتُمِدُّونَنِ بِمَالٍ فَمَآ ءَاتَىٰنِۦَ ٱللَّهُ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّآ ءَاتَىٰكُم بَلْ أَنتُم بِهَدِيَّتِكُمْ تَفْرَحُونَ
So when they came to Solomon, he said, "Do you provide me with wealth? But what Allāh has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather, it is you who rejoice in your gift.
وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيْمَـٰنَ جُنُودُهُۥ مِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ وَٱلطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ
And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows
فَلَمَّا جَآءَتْ قِيلَ أَهَـٰكَذَا عَرْشُكِ ۖ قَالَتْ كَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ ۚ وَأُوتِينَا ٱلْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهَا وَكُنَّا مُسْلِمِينَ
So when she arrived, it was said [to her], "Is your throne like this?" She said, "[It is] as though it was it." [Solomon said], "And we were given knowledge before her, and we have been Muslims [in submission to Allāh].
قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Proceed [i.e., travel] through the land and observe how was the end of the criminals."