Surah Al Anbiya Tafseer

Had We intended to take a pastime, We could surely have taken it from Us, if We were going to do (that).

Ibn Abi Najih said, narrating from Mujahid:

لَوْ أَرَدْنَا أَن نَّتَّخِذَ لَهْوًا لاَّتَّخَذْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا

(Had We intended to take a pastime, We could surely have taken it from Us),

"Meaning, `From Ourself,' He is saying, `We would not have created Paradise or Hell or death or the resurrection or the Reckoning."'

إِن كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ

if We were going to do (that).

Qatadah, As-Suddi, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and Mughirah bin Miqsam said:

"This means, `We will not do that."'

Mujahid said,

every time the word

أَن

(if) is used in the Qur'an, it is a negation