Verse. 311

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : allah declared then his divine oneness, saying: (allah (himself) is witness) even if no one else bears witness (that there is no god save him. and the angels) do also bear witness to that (and the men of learning) and the prophets and the believers bear witness to that. (maintaining his creation in justice, there is no god save him, the almighty) in his vengeance against those who do not believe in him, (the wise) and he has commanded that none shall be worshipped except him.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : god bears witness, [that is to say] he has made it clear to his creation through proofs and signs, that there is no god, none that is truly worshipped in existence, except him, he has borne witness to this, and the angels, [have also borne witness to this] by affirming it, and those of knowledge, from among the prophets and the believers, through [their] conviction and in words; upholding, constantly and uniquely maintaining his creations with justice, (qā’iman, ‘upholding’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier and is governed by the import of the statement [implied to be something like] tafarrada, ‘he alone is [upholding]…’); there is no god except him (he has repeated it for emphasis); the mighty, in his kingdom, the wise, in his actions.

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (allah (himself) is witness that there is no allah save him…) [3:18]. said al-kalbi: “when the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, appeared in medina, two rabbis from syria, came to see him. when they saw medina, one of them said to his companion: ‘how similar is this city to the city from which will emerge the prophet of the end of times’. when they entered in on the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, they recognized him by his attributes and description. they asked: ‘are you muhammad?’ ‘yes!’ he answered. ‘and you are also ahmad?’ he said: ‘i am!’ they said: ‘we will ask you about witnessing; we shall believe in you if you do inform us about it’. the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘do ask me!’ they said: ‘tell us about the greatest witness in allah’s scripture’. allah, exalted is he, revealed to his prophet (allah (himself) is witness that there is no allah save him. and the angels and the men of learning (too are witness)…). the two men embraced islam and believed in the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace”.

Sahl al-Tustari

تفسير : god bears witness…he [sahl] said:that is, god knows and makes clear (bayyana) …that there is no god but he. he is witness to himself by himself; and this is particular to his essence. he called to witness those of his creatures whom he called to witness before their creation, according to his knowledge. consequently, the people possessed of his gnosis (maʿrifa) are made aware that he had full knowledge of everything that will be before it was actually brought into existence. hence, [god’s] oneness (tawḥīd) is independent of existentiated beings (dūn al-akwān), just as god was a witness to himself by himself before the existence of creation.ʿabd al-wāḥid said:i was with ayyūb al-sakhtiyānī when he saw a porter carrying wood. i asked him, ‘do you have a lord?’ to which he replied, ‘is the likes of me questioned about his lord?’ so i said to him, ‘if you have a creator as you claim, why do you work with wood?’ then the man indicated to the sky, and lo and behold, the wood became gold! we were both amazed by him on account of this. then he said, ‘o god! i have no need for this’, so the gold turned back to wood just as it was before. so we said to him, ‘what led you to do this?’, to which he replied, ‘i am [god’s] slave, so i carry this in order that i should not forget who i am.’ his words: