6:130

يَٰمَعۡشَرَ ٱلۡجِنِّ وَٱلۡإِنسِ أَلَمۡ يَأۡتِكُمۡ رُسُلٞ مِّنكُمۡ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ ءَايَٰتِي وَيُنذِرُونَكُمۡ لِقَآءَ يَوۡمِكُمۡ هَٰذَاۚ قَالُواْ شَهِدۡنَا عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِنَاۖ وَغَرَّتۡهُمُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَشَهِدُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ أَنَّهُمۡ كَانُواْ كَٰفِرِينَ

Ya maAAshara aljinni waalinsi alam yatikum rusulun minkum yaqussoona AAalaykum ayatee wayunthiroonakum liqaa yawmikum hatha qaloo shahidna AAala anfusina wagharrathumu alhayatu alddunya washahidoo AAala anfusihim annahum kanoo kafireena

"O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say, "We bear witness against ourselves"; and the worldly life had deluded them, and they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.

Word by word
  1. يَٰمَعۡشَرَO assembly
  2. ٱلۡجِنِّ(of) [the] jinn
  3. وَٱلۡإِنسِand [the] men
  4. أَلَمۡDid (there) not
  5. يَأۡتِكُمۡcome to you
  6. رُسُلٞMessengers
  7. مِّنكُمۡfrom (among) you
  8. يَقُصُّونَrelating
  9. عَلَيۡكُمۡto you
  10. ءَايَٰتِيMy Verses
  11. وَيُنذِرُونَكُمۡand warning you
  12. لِقَآءَ(of the) meeting
  13. يَوۡمِكُمۡ(of) your day
  14. هَٰذَاۚthis
  15. قَالُواْThey will say
  16. شَهِدۡنَاWe bear witness
  17. عَلَىٰٓagainst
  18. أَنفُسِنَاۖourselves
  19. وَغَرَّتۡهُمُAnd deluded them
  20. ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُthe life
  21. ٱلدُّنۡيَا(of) the world
  22. وَشَهِدُواْand they will bear witness
  23. عَلَىٰٓagainst
  24. أَنفُسِهِمۡthemselves
  25. أَنَّهُمۡthat they
  26. كَانُواْwere
  27. كَٰفِرِينَdisbelievers
Al-An'am · 6:130Makkah

Did messengers not come to you? Yes, we admit it.

The world's glitter deceived them, and they confess


The question on the Day
messengers camereciting, warning
answered
we testifyagainst ourselves
worldly lifedeceived them
Why they ignored it
no one told us
we were distractedby the glitter of this life

On the Day, jinn and humans are asked: did messengers not come to you, reciting My verses and warning you of this Day? They admit it. Ibn Kathir says they were deceived by the beauty, adornment and desires of this life, and wasted their lives rejecting what came.

Your phone has a Quran app, a dozen lectures saved, a friend who reminds you. No one can say they were not told. The danger is not ignorance. It is distraction. You already know enough to act on something.

I will take faith seriously once I learn more.

I have already been reminded. The question is whether the world is distracting me.

Try this

Act today on one thing you already know you should do, instead of learning something new.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

O you assembly of Jinn and humans! "Did not there come to you Messengers from amongst you, reciting unto you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves." It was the life of this world that deceived them. And they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers (130)

Chastising the Jinns and Humans after their Admission that Allah Sent Messengers to Them

Allah will chastise the disbelieving Jinns and humans on the Day of Resurrection, when He asks them, while having better knowledge, if the Messengers delivered His Messages to them,

يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ 

("O you assembly of Jinn and humans! Did not there come to you Messengers from among you?")

We should note here that the Messengers are from among mankind only, not vice versa, as Mujahid, Ibn Jurayj and others from the Imams of Salaf and later generations have stated. The proof for this is that Allah said,

إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِن بَعْدِهِ

(Verily, We have sent the revelation to you as We sent the revelation to Nuh and the Prophets after him.)[4:163], until,

رُّسُلًا مُّبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ

(Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the (coming of) Messengers.)[4:165] Allah said, concerning the Prophet Ibrahim,

وَجَعَلْنَا فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِ النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَابَ

(And We ordained among his offspring prophethood and the Book)[29:27], thus sending the prophethood and the Book exclusively through the offspring of the Prophet Ibrahim. No one has claimed that there were Prophets from among the Jinns before the time of Ibrahim, but not after that. Allah said,

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّا إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ

(And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets.)[25:20], and,

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَىٰ 

(And We sent not before you any but men unto whom We revealed, from among the people of townships.)[12:109]

Therefore, concerning prophethood, the Jinns follow mankind in this regard and this is why Allah said about them,

وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَا إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِّنَ الْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقُرْآنَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُوا أَنصِتُوا فَلَمَّا قُضِيَ وَلَّوْا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِم مُّنذِرِينَ - قَالُوا يَا قَوْمَنَا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَابًا أُنزِلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ وَإِلَىٰ طَرِيقٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ - يَا قَوْمَنَا أَجِيبُوا دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ وَآمِنُوا بِهِ يَغْفِرْ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُجِرْكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ - وَمَن لَّا يُجِبْ دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ فَلَيْسَ بِمُعْجِزٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءُ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And (remember) when We sent towards you a group of the Jinn, listening to the Qur'an. When they stood in the presence thereof, they said: "Listen in silence!" And when it was finished, they returned to their people, as warners. They said: "O our people! Verily, we have heard a Book sent down after Musa, confirming what came before it, it guides to the truth and to the straight way. O our people! Respond to Allah's caller, and believe in him. He (Allah) will forgive you your sins, and will save you from a painful torment (i.e. Hell-fire). And whosoever does not respond to Allah's caller, he cannot escape on earth, and there will be no helpers for him besides Allah. Those are in manifest error.)[46:29-32]

A Hadith collected by At-Tirmidhi stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited Surat Ar-Rahman, to these Jinns, in which Allah said,

سَنَفْرُغُ لَكُمْ أَيُّهَ الثَّقَلَانِ - فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

(We shall attend to you, O you two classes (Jinn and men)! Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both (Jinn and men) deny)[55:31-32] Allah said in this honorable Ayah,

يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِي وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَٰذَا قَالُوا شَهِدْنَا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِنَا

(O you assembly of Jinn and humans! "Did not there come to you Messengers from amongst you, reciting unto you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves.") meaning, we affirm that the Messengers have conveyed Your Messages to us and warned us about the meeting with You, and that this Day will certainly occur. Allah said next,

وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا 

(It was the life of this world that deceived them.) and they wasted their lives and brought destruction to themselves by rejecting the Messengers and denying their miracles. This is because they were deceived by the beauty, adornment and lusts of this life.

وَشَهِدُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ

(And they will bear witness against themselves) on the Day of Resurrection,

أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا كَافِرِينَ

(that they were disbelievers...) in this worldly life, rejecting what the Messengers, may Allah's peace and blessings be on them, brought them.