27:13 But when Our light-giving messages came unto them, they said, "This is clearly [but] spellbinding deception!" [See note on 10:76. The people referred to as "they" are Pharaoh and his nobles.]
27:14 - and in their wickedness and self-exaltation they rejected them, although their minds were convinced of their truth: and behold what happened in the end to those spreaders of corruption!
27:15 AND, INDEED, We granted [true] knowledge [I.e., spiritual insight.] unto David and Solomon [as well]; and both were wont to say: All praise is due to God, who has [thus] favoured us above many of His believing servants!"
27:16 And [in this insight] Solomon was [truly] David's heir; and he would say: "O you people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and have been given [in abundance] of all [good] things: this, behold, is indeed a manifest favour [from God]!"
27:17 And [one day] there were assembled before Solomon his hosts of invisible beings, [Apart from 114:6, which contains the earliest Quranic reference to the concept of jinn, the above is apparently the oldest instance where this concept occurs in the personalized form of "invisible beings". (For a fuller discussion, see Appendix III.)] and of men, and of birds; and then they were led forth in orderly ranks,
27:18 till, when they came upon a valley [full] of ants, an ant exclaimed: "O you ants! Get into your dwellings, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you without [even] being aware [of you]!"
27:19 Thereupon [Solomon] smiled joyously at her words, and said: "O my Sustainer! Inspire me so that I may forever be grateful for those blessings of Thine with which Thou hast graced me and my parents, [In this instance, Solomon evidently refers to his own understanding and admiration of nature (cf. 38:31-33 and the corresponding notes) as well as to his loving compassion for the humblest of God's creatures, as a great divine blessing: and this is the Quranic moral of the legendary story of the ant.] and that I may do what is right [in a manner] that will please Thee; and include me, by Thy grace, among Thy righteous servants!"
27:20 And [one day] he looked in vain for [a particular one of] the birds; and so he said: How is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Or could he be among the absent?
27:21 [If so,] I will punish him most severely or will kill him unless he bring me a convincing excuse!" [Lit., a clear evidence. The threat of "killing" the hoopoe is, of course, purely idiomatic and not to be taken literally.]
27:22 But [the hoopoe] tarried but a short while; and [when it came] it said: "I have encompassed [with my knowledge] something that thou hast never yet encompassed [with thine] - for I have come to thee from Sheba with a tiding sure! [Thus, we are parabolically reminded that even the most lowly being can - and on occasion does - have knowledge of things of which even a Solomon in all his wisdom may he ignorant (Razi) - a reminder which ought to counteract the ever-present danger (fitnah) of self-conceit to which learned men, more than anyone else, are exposed (Zamakhshari). As regards the kingdom of Sheba, see note on 34:15.]
27:23 "Behold, I found there a woman ruling over them; and she has been given [abundance] of all [good] things, and hers is a mighty throne,
27:24 And I found her and her people adoring the sun instead of God; and Satan has made these doings of theirs seem goodly to them, and [thus] has barred them from the path [of God], so that they cannot find the right way:
27:25 [for they have come to believe] that they ought not to adore God -[I.e., their own immoral impulses (which is the meaning of ash-shaytan in this context) had persuaded them that they should not submit to the idea of man's responsibility to a Supreme Being who, by definition, is "beyond the reach of human perception" but should worship certain perceivable natural phenomena instead.] [although it is He] who brings forth all that is hidden in the heavens and on earth, [An allusion to the appearance and disappearance of the sun and other celestial bodies which the Sabaeans - in common with almost all the Semites of antiquity - used to worship, (Cf. the story of Abraham's search for God in 6:74 ff.)] and knows all that you would conceal as well as all that you bring into the open:
27:26 God, save whom there is no deity - the Sustainer, in awesome almightiness enthroned!" [See surah 9:129.]
27:27 Said [Solomon]: "We shall see whether thou hast told the truth or art one of the liars!
27:28 Go with this my letter and convey it to them; and thereafter withdraw from them and see what [answer] they return."
27:29 [When the Queen had read Solomon's letter,] she said: "O you nobles! A truly distinguished letter has been conveyed unto me.
27:30 Behold, it is from Solomon, and it says, `In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace:
27:31 [God says:] Exalt not yourselves against Me, but come unto Me in willing surrender!' " [My interpolation, at the beginning of this verse, of the words "God says" is based on the fact that, within the context of the above legend, the information brought by the hoopoe is the very first link between the kingdoms of Sheba and of Solomon. In the absence of any previous contact, hostile or otherwise, there would have been no point whatever in Solomon's telling the people of Sheba that they should not "exalt themselves" against or above himself. On the other hand, the narrative of the hoopoe makes it clear that the Sabaeans did "exalt themselves" against God by worshipping the sun and by being convinced "that they ought not to worship God" (verses 24 - 25 above). Hence, Solomon, being a prophet, is justified in calling upon them, in the name of God, to abandon this blasphemy and to surrender themselves to Him. (Cf. the almost identical phrase, "Exalt not yourselves against God", in 44:19.)]
27:32 She added: "O you nobles! Give me your opinion on the problem with which I am now faced; [Lit., "on this case [or "problem"] of mine".]I would never make a [weighty] decision unless you are present with me."
27:33 They answered: "We are endowed with power and with mighty prowess in war - but the command is thine; consider, then, what thou wouldst command."
27:34 Said she: "Verily, whenever kings enter a country they corrupt it, [In this context - as pointed out by all classical commentators - the term dukhul undoubtedly connotes "entering by force (anwatan)", whether it be by armed invasion or by usurpation of political power from within the country. The term muluk, lit., "kings", may he understood to denote also persons who, while not being "kings" in the conventional sense of this word, wrongfully seize and forcibly hold absolute power over their "subjects".] and turn the noblest of its people into the most abject. And this is the way they [always] behave? [Thus, the Queen of Sheba rules out force as a suitable method for dealing with Solomon. Implied in her statement is the Quranic condemnation of all political power obtained through violence (anwatan) inasmuch as it is bound to give rise to oppression, suffering and moral corruption.]
27:35 Hence, behold, I am going to send a gift to those [people], and await whatever [answer] the envoys bring back."
27:36 Now when [the Queen's messenger] came unto Solomon, he said: "Do you people mean to add to my wealth? But that which God has given me [I.e., not only worldly wealth but also faith, wisdom and an insight into realities normally hidden from other men.] is [so much] better than all that He has given you! Nay, it is [only such as] you [I.e., people who prize only material things and have no inkling of spiritual values.] that would rejoice in this gift of yours!
27:37 "Go thou back unto them [that have sent thee]! For, [God says:] `We shall most certainly come upon them with forces which they will never be able to withstand, and shall most certainly cause them to be driven from that [land of theirs], despicable and humbled!' " [Lit., "and they will be humbled". Since the Quran explicitly prohibits all wars of aggression (see 2:190 -194 and the corresponding notes), it is not plausible that this same Quran should place a crude threat of warlike aggression in the mouth of a prophet. We must, therefore, assume that here again, as in verse 31 above, it is God who, through His prophet, warns the people of Sheba of His "coming upon them" - i.e., punishing them - unless they abandon their blasphemous belief that they "ought not" to worship God. This interpretation finds considerable support in the sudden change from the singular in which Solomon speaks of himself in the preceding (as well as in the subsequent) verses, to the majestic plural "We" appearing in the above sentence.]
27:38 [When Solomon learned that the Queen of Sheba was coming,] [I.e., evidently in response to his message (Razi, lbn Kathir).] he said [to his council]: "O you nobles! Which of you can bring me her throne ere she and her followers come unto me in willing surrender to God?" [Lit., "before they come unto me as people who surrender themselves (muslimin)" i.e., to God (see verse 31 above). The term "throne (arsh) is used here and in the sequence - as well as at the end of verse 23 - in its metonymic sense of "dominion" or "regal power" (Raghib). It appears that Solomon intends to confront his guest with an image of her worldly power, and thus to convince her that her "throne" is as nothing when compared with the awesome almightiness of God.]
27:39 Said a bold one of the invisible beings [subject to Solomon]: "I shall bring it to thee ere thou rise from thy council-seat - for, behold, I am powerful enough to do it, [and] worthy of trust!"
27:40 Answered he who was illumined by revela
27:41 [And] he continued: Alter her throne so that she may not know it as hers: let us see whether she allows herself to be guided [to the truth] or remains one of those who will not be guided." [I.e., whether she remains satisfied with perceiving only the outward appearance of things and happenings, or endeavours to fathom their spiritual reality. Seeing that the people of Sheba were, until then, motivated by love of luxury and worldly power. Solomon intends to show the Queen her "throne", or the image of her dominion, as it could be if it were inspired by faith in God and, hence, by a consciousness of moral responsibility.]
27:42 And so, as soon as she arrived, she was asked: "Is thy throne like this?" She answered: "It is as though it were the same!" [Sc., "and yet not quite the same": thus, she expresses doubt - and doubt is the first step in all spiritual progress. She realizes that the "altered throne" is outwardly the same as that which she has left behind; but she perceives intuitively that it is imbued with a spiritual quality which the other did not possess, and which she cannot yet quite understand.] [And Solomon said to his nobles: "She has arrived at the truth without any help from us,] [Thus Tabari, Zamakhshari and lbn Kathir, on whose interpretation of this passage my rendering and the above interpolation are based.] although it is we who have been given [divine] knowledge before her, and have [long ago] surrendered ourselves unto God!
27:43 [And she has recognized the truth] although that which she has been wont to worship instead of God had kept her away [from the right path]: [An allusion to her and her people's worship of celestial bodies (cf. verses 24 - 25 and the corresponding notes).] for, behold, she is descended of people who deny the truth!" [Lit., "she was (sc., "born") of people...", etc. - thus stressing the role of the idolatrous tradition in which she had grown up, and which in the past had made it difficult for her to find the right path. Considering this cultural background, Solomon points out, her awakening at the very moment of her leaving her ancestral environment must be deemed most remarkable and praiseworthy.]
27:44 [After a while] she was told: "Enter this court!" - but when she saw it, she thought that it was a fathomless expanse of water, and she bared her legs. [I.e., in order to wade into it, or perhaps to swim through it, thus braving the seemingly fathomless deep: possibly a symbolic indication of the fear which a human being may feel when his own search after truth forces him to abandon the warm, soothing security of his erstwhile social and mental environment, and to venture into the - as yet - unknown realm of the spirit.] Said he: "Behold, it is [but] a court smoothly paved with glass!" [I.e., not a dangerous, bottomless deep, as it appeared at first glance, but, rather, the firm, glass-clear light of truth: and with her perception of the ever-existing difference between appearance and reality, the Queen of Sheba comes to the end of her spiritual journey.] Cried she: "O my Sustainer! I have been sinning against myself thy worshipping aught but Thee]: but [now] I have surrendered myself, with Solomon, unto the Sustainer of all the worlds!"
27:45 AND [likewise], indeed, We sent unto [the tribe of] Thamud their brother Salih [with this message]: "Worship God alone!" [For the story of the Thamud and their prophet Salih, see notes on 7:73. [My interpolation of the word "likewise" at the beginning of this verse is based on the fact that Salih's message to the tribe of Thamud is identical with that of Solomon to the Queen of Sheba - which, in itself, is an indication of the sameness of the fundamental truths underlying all revealed religions.] - and, behold, they were [split into] two factions contending with one another.
27:46 Said [Salih to the erring ones]: Why do you seek to hasten the coming upon you of evil instead of hoping for the good?" [Lit., "hasten the evil before the good": cf. 13:6 and the corresponding note; also the second sentence of 10:50.] Why do you not, rather, ask God to forgive you your sins, so that you might be graced with His mercy?"
27:47 They answered: "We augur evil from thee and those that follow thee!" [See surah 7:131.] Said he: "Your destiny, good or evil, rests with God yea, you are people undergoing a test!" [Sc., "who has tied every human being's destiny (ta ir) to his neck": see 17:13 and the corresponding note.]
27:48 Now there were in the city nine men who were wont to commit deeds of depravity all over the land, and would not reform; [Or "nine clans", since, in the above context, the term raht is liable to either of these two interpretations. The "city" referred to is evidently the region known as Al-Hijr, in northern Hijaz (cf. surah 7:73). In contrast with the preceding story of the Queen of Sheba's eager way to faith, the stories of the tribe of Thamud and (in verses 54 -58) of Lot's people are meant to call attention to the hostility which a call to righteousness so often evokes in people who are strong but vain, or, alternatively, weak and addicted to senseless passions.]
27:49 [and] after having bound one another by an oath in God's name, they said: [Lit., "by God". As is evident from 7:73 ff. and from the above allusion, the Thamud did have a vague notion of God, but their erstwhile faith had been overlaid by their excessive arrogance and thus deprived of all spiritual value.] "Indeed, we shall suddenly fall upon him and his household by night [and slay them all]; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, `We did not witness the destruction of his household - and, behold, we are indeed men of truth!' "
27:50 And so they devised an evil scheme; but We devised a subtle scheme (of Our own), and they perceived it not.
27:51 Behold, then, what all their scheming came to in the end: We utterly destroyed them and their people, all of them;
27:52 and [now] those dwellings of theirs are empty, [ruined] as an outcome of their evil deeds. In this, behold, there is a message indeed for people of [innate] knowledge -
27:53 seeing that We saved those who had attained to faith and were conscious of Us,
27:54 AND [thus, too, did We save] Lot, when he said unto his people: [The story of Lot and the perverted people of Sodom is mentioned in several places, particularly in 7:80 - 84, 11:69 - 83 and 26:60 - 173.] "Would you commit this abomination with your eyes open (to its being against all nature)? [Thus Zamakhshari and Razi, stressing the principle that a revolt against the God-willed nature of heterosexuality is a revolt against God Himself.]
27:55 Must you really approach men with lust instead of women? Nay, but you are people without any awareness (of right and wrong)!"
27:56 But his people's only answer was this: "Expel [Lot and] Lot's followers from your township! Verily, they are folk who make themselves out to be pure!" [See note on 7:82.]
27:57 Thereupon We saved him and his household - all but his wife, whom We willed to be among those that stayed behind - [See note on 7:83; also 11:81 and 66:10, and the corresponding notes.]
27:58 the while We rained a rain [of destruction] upon the others: and dire is such rain upon all who let themselves be warned [to no avail] [Cf. 26:173 and the corresponding note.]
27:59 SAY: "All praise is due to God, and peace be upon those servants of His whom He chose [to be His message-bearers]!" Is not God far better than anything to which men [falsely] ascribe a share in His divinity? [Lit., "Is God better, or that to which they ascribe...", etc.: thus including, by implication, not only deified beings or forces of nature, but also false social and moral values to which custom and ancestral tradition have lent an almost "religious" sanction.]
27:60 Nay - who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you [life-giving] water from the skies? For it is by this means that We cause gardens of shining beauty to grow - [whereas] it is not in your power to cause [even one single of] its trees to grow! Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, they [who think so] are people who swerve [from the path of reason]
27:61 Nay - who is it that has made the earth a fitting abode [Lit., "place of rest" (qarar). But see also 77:25-26 and the corresponding note.] [for living things], and has caused running waters [to flow] in its midst, and has set upon it mountains firm, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water? [See 25:53 and the corresponding notes.] Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, most of those [who think so] do not know [what they are saying]!
27:62 Nay - who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth? [Cf. 2:30 and the corresponding note. In the present instance the accent is on God's having caused man to "inherit the earth" by endowing him with specific faculties and abilities - an implicit denial of man's claim that he is independent and "master of his fate".] Could there be any divine power besides God? How seldom do you keep this in mind!
27:63 Nay - who is it that guides you in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea, [I.e., metonymically, through all the seemingly insoluble complexities of human life.] and sends forth the winds as a glad tiding of His coming grace? [See 7:57 and the corresponding note.] Could there be any divine power besides God? Sublimely exalted is God above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
27:64 Nay - who is it that creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew? [This relates to man's life on earth and his resurrection after bodily death as well as to the this-worldly cycle of birth, death and regeneration manifested in all organic nature.]And who is it that provides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth? [As in 10:31, the term "sustenance" (rizq) has here both a physical and a spiritual connotation; hence the phrase, "out of heaven and earth".] Could there be any divine power besides God? Say: "[If you think so,] produce your evidence - if you truly believe in your claim!" [Lit., "if you are truthful" - the implication being that most people who profess a belief in a multiplicity of divine powers, or even in the possibility of the one God's "incarnation" in a created being, do so blindly, sometimes only under the influence of inherited cultural traditions and habits of thought, and not out of a reasoned conviction.]
27:65 Say: "None in the heavens or on earth knows the hidden reality [of anything that exists: none knows it] save God." [In this context, the term al-ghayb - rendered by me here as "the hidden reality" - apparently relates to the "how" of God's Being, the ultimate reality underlying the observable aspects of the universe and the meaning and purpose inherent in its creation. My repetition, within brackets, of the words "none knows it", i.e., save God, is necessitated by the fact that He is infinite, unlimited as to space, and cannot, therefore, be included among the beings "in the heavens or on earth", who have all been created by Him.] And neither can they [who are living] perceive when they shall be raised from the dead:
27:66 nay, their knowledge of the life to come stops short of the truth: [I.e., they cannot truly visualize the hereafter because its reality is beyond anything that man may experience in this world: and this, it cannot he stressed often enough, is an indirect explanation of the reason why all Quranic references to the conditions, good or bad, of man's life after death are of necessity expressed in purely allegorical terms.] nay, they are [often] in doubt as to its reality: nay, they are blind to it. [I.e., blind to its logical necessity within God's plan of creation. For, it is only on the premise of a life after death that the concept of man's moral responsibility and hence, of God's ultimate judgment can have any meaning; and if there is no moral responsibility, there can be no question of a preceding moral choice; and if the absence of choice is taken for granted, all differentiation between right and wrong becomes utterly meaningless as well.]
27:67 And so, they who are bent on denying the truth are saying: "What! After we have become dust - we and our forefathers - shall we [all], forsooth, be brought forth [from the dead]?
27:68 Indeed, we were promised this - we and our forefathers - in the past as well; it is nothing but fables of ancient times!"
27:69 Say: "Go all over the earth and behold what happened in the end to those [who were thus] lost in sin!" [I.e., those who denied the reality of a life after death and, hence, of man's ultimate responsibility for his conscious doings. As pointed out in the preceding note, the unavoidable consequence of this denial is the loss of all sense of right and wrong: and this, in its turn, leads to spiritual and social chaos, and so to the downfall of communities and civilizations.]
27:70 But do not grieve over them, and neither be distressed by the false arguments which they devise [against Gods messages]. [Lit., "by their scheming". For the Quranic use of the term makr in the sense of "devising false arguments [against something]", see 10:21 and the corresponding note.]
27:71 And [when] they ask, "When is this promise [of resurrection] to be fulfilled? [Answer this, O you who believe in it,] if you are men of truth!" -
27:72 say thou: "It may well be that something of that which [in your ignorance] you so hastily demands has already drawn close unto you." [I.e., the end of their own life, which must precede their resurrection.]
27:73 Now, verily, thy Sustainer is indeed limitless in His bounty unto men - but most of them are bereft of gratitude.
27:74 But, verily, thy Sustainer knows all that their hearts conceal as well as all that they bring into the open:
27:75 for there is nothing [so deeply] hidden in the heavens or on earth but is recorded in [His] clear decree.
27:76 BEHOLD, this Quran explains [For this rendering of the verb yaqussu, see note on 12:3.] to the children of Israel most [of that] whereon they hold divergent views; [I.e., where they differ from the truth made evident to them in their scriptures. The term "children of Israel" comprises here both the Jews and the Christians (Zamakhshari) inasmuch as both follow the Old Testament, albeit in a corrupted form. It is precisely because of this corruption, and because of the great influence, which Jewish and Christian ideas exert over a large segment of mankind, that the Quran sets out to explain certain ethical truths to both these communities. The above reference to "most" (and not all) of the problems alluded to in this context shows that the present passage bears only on mans moral outlook and social life in this world and not on ultimate, metaphysical questions which - as the Quran so often repeats - will be answered only in the hereafter.]
27:77 and, verily, it is a guidance and a grace unto all who believe [in it].
27:78 Verily, [O believer,] thy Sustainer will judge between them in His wisdom - for He alone is almighty, all-knowing.
27:79 Hence, place thy trust in God [alone] - for, behold, that in which thou believest is truth self-evident. [Lit., "thou art [or "standest"] upon the obvious [or "self-evident"] truth".]
27:80 [But,] verily, thou canst not make the dead hear: and [so, too,] thou canst not make the deaf [of heart] hear this call when they turn their backs [on thee] and go away,
27:81 just as thou canst not lead the blind [of heart] out of their error; none canst thou make hear save such as [are willing to] believe in Our messages, and thus surrender themselves unto Us. [This passage corresponds to the oft-repeated Quranic statement that "God guides him that wills [to be guided] (yahdi man yasha)".]
27:82 Now, [as for the deaf and blind of heart -] when the word [of truth] stands revealed against them, [Lit., "comes to pass against them" - i.e., when the truth becomes obvious to them against all their expectations, and thus confounds them utterly: an allusion to the approach of the Last Hour, Resurrection and God's Judgment, all of which they were wont to regard as "fables of ancient times" (cf. verses 67-68 above). Alternatively, the phrase idha waqa a al-qawl alayhim may be understood as when the sentence [of doom] is passed on them", i.e., at the approach of the Last Hour, when it will be too late for repentance.] We shall bring forth unto them out of the earth a creature, which will tell them that mankind had no real faith in Our messages. [The "creature brought forth out of the earth" is apparently an allegory of man's "earthly" outlook on life - in other words, the soul-destroying materialism characteristic of the time preceding the Last Hour. This "creature" parabolically "tells" men that their submergence in exclusively materialistic values - and, hence, their approaching self-destruction - is an outcome of their lack of belief in God. (See also 7:175-176 and the corresponding note.)]
27:83 And on that Day We shall gather from within every community a host of those who gave the lie to Our messages; and they will be grouped [according to the gravity of their sins]
27:84 until such a time as they shall come [to be judged. And] He will say: "Did you give the lie to My messages even though you failed to encompass them with [your] knowledge? [I.e., without having understood them or made any attempt to understand them (Zamakhshari).] Or what was it that [you thought] you were doing?"
27:85 And the word [of truth] will stand revealed against them in the face of [Or: "the sentence [of doom] will have been passed on them in recompense of...", etc.] all the wrong which they had committed, and they will not [be able to] utter a single word [of excuse]:
27:86 for, were they not aware that it is We who had made the night for them, so that they might rest therein, and the day, to make [them] see? [In the present context (as in 10:67 or 40:61) the reference to "night" and "day" has a symbolic significance: namely, man's God-given ability to gain insight through conscious reasoning ("the day that makes them see") as well as through the intuition that comes from a restful surrender to the voice of one's own heart ("the night made for rest") - both of which tell us that the existence of God is a logical necessity, and that a rejection of His messages is a sin against ourselves.] In this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who will believe!
27:87 And on that Day the trumpet [of judgment] will be sounded, and all [creatures] that are in the heavens and all that are on earth will be stricken with terror, except such as God wills [to exempt]: and in utter lowliness all will come unto Him.
27:88 And thou wilt see the mountains, which [now] thou deemest so firm, pass away as clouds pass away: a work of God, who has ordered all things to perfection! [I.e., in perfect consonance with the purpose for which He has created them: which is the approximate meaning of the verb atqana. In this particular instance, stress is laid on the God-willed transitory nature of the world, as we know it, (cf. 14:48 and 20:105 - 107, and the corresponding notes) in contrast with the lasting reality of the life to come.] Verily, He is fully aware of all that you do!
27:89 Whoever shall come [before Him] with a good deed will gain [further] good there from; [Lit., "good shall be his from it", i.e., inconsequence or in result of it (Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj, all of them quoted by Tabari) - thus stressing the Quranic doctrine that what is metaphorically described as "rewards" and "punishments" in the life to come are but the natural consequences, good or bad, of man's attitudes and doings in this world. On a different level, the above phrase may also be understood thus: "Whoever shall come with a good deed will gain something better than [or "through"] it" - an illusion to the fact that whereas the deed itself may be transitory, its merit is enduring (Zamakhshari).] and they will be secure from the terror of that Day.
27:90 But they who shall come with evil deeds - [I.e., those who did only evil, or whose evil deeds greatly outweigh their good deeds (Ibn Kathir).] their faces will be thrust into the fire, [and they will be asked:] "Is this aught but a just requital for what you were doing [in life]?" [Lit., "Are you requited for anything else than...", etc.]
27:91 [SAY, O Muhammad:] "I have been bidden to worship the Sustainer of this City - [I.e., Mecca, where the first temple dedicated to the One God was built (cf. 3:96).] Him who has made it sacred, and unto whom all things belong: and I have been bidden to be of those who surrender themselves to Him,
27:92 and to convey this Quran [to the world]." Whoever, therefore, chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and if any wills to go astray, say [unto him]: "I am only a warner.
27:93 And say: "All praise is due to God! In time He will make you see [the truth of] His messages, and then you shall know them [for what they are]." And thy Sustainer is not unmindful of whatever you all may do.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
28:1 Ta. Sin. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
28:2 These are messages of a divine writ clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. 2 [For an explanation of the above rendering of the adjective mubin, see note on 12:1.]
28:3 We [now] convey unto thee some of the story of Moses and Pharaoh, setting forth the truth for [the benefit of] people who will believe.
28:4 Behold, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into castes. [Lit., "parties" or "sects" - here undoubtedly referring to the division of people into "high" and "low-born": a division which the Quran utterly condemns. The group which, as mentioned in the next sentence, Pharaoh "deemed utterly low" were the Israelites, who had been placed on the lowest rung of the Egyptian social scale and were deprived of almost all human rights.] One group of them he deemed utterly low; he would slaughter their sons and spare (only) their women: for, behold, he was one of those who spread corruption [on earth].
28:5 But it was Our will to bestow Our favour upon those [very people] who were deemed [so] utterly low in the land, and to make them forerunners in faith. [Lit., "leaders" or "exemplars" (a immah, sing. imam) - an allusion to the historical fact that the Hebrews were the first to accept a monotheistic creed in a clear, unequivocal formulation, and thus became the forerunners of both Christianity and Islam.] and to make them heirs [to Pharaoh's glory],
28:6 and to establish them securely on earth, and to let Pharaoh and Haman [This Haman, who is mentioned several times in the Quran as Pharaoh's chief adviser, is not to be confused with the Persian Haman of the Old Testament (The Book of Esther iii ff). Most probably, the word "Haman" as used in the Quran is not a proper name at all but the Arabicized echo of the compound designation Ha-Amen given to every high priest of the Egyptian god Amon. Since at the time in question the cult of Amon was paramount in Egypt, his high priest held a rank second only to that of the reigning Pharaoh. The assumption that the person spoken of in the Quran as Haman was indeed the high priest of the cult of Amon is strengthened by Pharaoh's demand (mentioned in verse 38 of this surah as well as in 40:36-37) that Haman erect for him "a lofty tower" from which he could "have a look at [or "ascend to"] the god of Moses": which may be, among other things, an allusion to the hieratic purpose of the great pyramids of Egypt and to the function of the high priest as their chief architect.] and their hosts experience through those [children of Israel] the very thing against which they sought to protect themselves. [The Egyptians - obviously remembering the earlier, alien Hyksos dynasty that had invaded Egypt and subsequently allied itself with the Hebrews (see surah 12:43) - feared that the latter might in the future, too, make common cause with foreign invaders (cf. Exodus i, 10): and to protect themselves against this danger, they decided - as mentioned in several places in the Quran as well as in the Bible - to have every male Hebrew child killed.]
28:7 And so, [when he was born,] We inspired [thus] the mother of Moses: Suckle him [for a time], and then, when thou hast cause to fear for him, cast him into the river, [Sc., "and he will be saved": cf. 20:39.] and have no fear and do not grieve - for We shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of Our message-bearers!"
28:8 And [some of] Pharaoh's household [As is evident from the next verse as well as from 66:11, it was Pharaoh's own wife.] found [and spared] him: for [We had willed] that he becomes an enemy unto them and [a source of] grief, seeing that Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts were sinners indeed!
28:9 Now the wife of Pharaoh said: "A joy to the eye [could this child be] for me and thee! Slay him not: he may well be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son!" And they had no presentiment [of what he was to become].
28:10 On the morrow, however, an aching void grew up in the heart of the mother of Moses, and she would indeed have disclosed all about him [I.e., disclose his true identity in the hope that he would he returned to her.] had We not endowed her heart with enough strength to keep alive her faith [in Our promise]. [Lit., "so that she might be of those who have faith".]
28:11 And so she said to his sister, "Follow him" - and [the girl] watched him from afar, while they [who had taken him in] were not aware of it,
28:12 Now from the very beginning We caused him to refuse the breast of [Egyptian] nurses; and [when his sister came to know this,] she said: "Shall I guide you to a family that might rear him for you, and look after him with good will?"
28:13 And thus We restored him to his mother, so that her eye might he gladdened, and that she might grieve no longer, and that she might know that God's promise always comes true - even though most of them know it not!
28:14 Now when [Moses] reached full manhood and had become mature [of mind]. We bestowed upon him the ability to judge [between right and wrong] as well as [innate] knowledge: for thus do We reward the doers of good. [This statement, almost entirely identical with 12:22 (where it refers to Joseph), stresses the supreme divine blessing of spiritual consciousness (ilm in its deepest significance) combined with rational thought, as expressed in the concept of hukm, the "ability to judge [between right and wrong]". As is evident from 26:20, Moses reached this spiritual maturity after the events described in verses 15 ff.]
28:15 And [one day] he entered the city at a time when [most of] its people were [resting in their houses,] unaware of what was going on [in the streets]; [Lit., "at a time of its people's unawareness".] and there he encountered two men fighting with one another - one of his own people, [I.e., of the Hebrews.] and the other of his enemies. And the one who belonged to his own people cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies - whereupon Moses struck him down with his fist, and [thus] brought about his end. [But then] he said [to himself]: "This is of Satan's doing! Verily, he is an open foe, leading [man] astray!" [Regarding the reference to "Satan's doing", see first half of note on 15:17. In the present instance, verses 16 -17 seem to indicate that it was the Israelite, and not the Egyptian, who had been in the wrong (cf. next note). Apparently, Moses had come to the assistance of the Israelite out of an instinctive sense of racial kinship without regard to the rights and wrongs of the case; but immediately afterwards he realized that he had committed a grave sin not only by killing, however inadvertently, an innocent person, but also by basing his action on a mere tribal - or, as would describe it today, racial or national - prejudice. Evidently, this is the purport of the above Quranic segment of the story of Moses. Its moral has been stressed and explained by the Prophet on many occasions: cf. his famous saying, "He is not of us who proclaims the cause of tribal partisanship (asabiyyah); and he is not of us who fights in the cause of tribal partisanship; and he is not of us who dies in the cause of tribal partisanship" (Abu Daud, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Mutim). When he was asked to explain the meaning of "tribal partisanship", the Prophet answered, it means helping thine own people in an unjust cause" (ibid., on the authority of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa).
28:16 [And] he prayed: O my Sustainer! Verily, I have sinned against myself! Grant me, then, Thy forgiveness!" And He forgave him - for, verily, He alone is truly forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
28:17 Said he: "O my Sustainer! [I vow] by all the blessings which Thou hast bestowed on me: Nevermore shall I aid such as are lost in sin!" [According to Ibn Abbas and Muqatil (both of them quoted by Baghawi), "this is an indication that the Israelite whom Moses had helped was a denier of the truth (kafir)" - i.e., in the moral sense of this definition. (See also last sentence of verse 86 of this surah.)]
28:18 And next morning he found himself in the city, looking fearfully about him, when lo! the one who had sought his help the day before [once again] cried out to him [for help (Sc., "against another Egyptian".) whereupon] Moses said unto him: "Behold, thou art indeed, most clearly, deeply in the wrong! [Lit., "lost in grievous error" or "deviating from what is right".]
28:19 But then [Sc., "swayed once again by his feeling of kinship with the Israelite", as indicated in the subsequent reference to the Egyptian as "their [common] enemy".] as soon as he was about to lay violent hands on the man who was their [common] enemy, the latter exclaimed: "O Moses, dost thou intend to slay me as thou didst slay another man yesterday? Thy sole aim is to become a tyrant in this land, for thou dost not care to be of those who would set things to rights!"
28:20 And [then and there] a man came running from the farthermost end of the city, and said: "O Moses! Behold, the great ones [of the kingdom] are deliberating upon thy case with a view to killing thee! Begone, then: verily, I am of those who wish thee well!"
28:21 So he went forth from thence, looking fearfully about him, and prayed: "O my Sustainer! Save me from all evildoing folk!"
28:22 And as he turned his face towards Madyan, he said [to himself]: "It may well be that my Sustainer will [thus] guide me onto the right path" [The inhabitants of Madyan (called Midian in the Bible) were Arabs of the Amorite group. Since they were racially and linguistically closely related to the Hebrews, they could he counted upon to help Moses in his plight. For the geographical location of the region of Madyan, see note on 7:85.]
28:23 NOW WHEN he arrived at the wells [Lit., "water" or "waters".] of Madyan, he found there a large group of men who were watering [their herds and flocks]; and at some distance from them he came upon two women who were keeping back their flock. He asked [them]: "What is the matter with you?" They answered: "We cannot water [our animals] until the herdsmen drive [theirs] home - for [we are weak and] our father is a very old man."
28:24 So he watered [their flock] for them: and when he withdrew into the shade and prayed: "O my Sustainer! Verily, in dire need am I of any good which Thou mayest bestow upon me!"
28:25 [Shortly] afterwards, one of the two [maidens] approached him, walking shyly, and said: "Behold, my father invites thee, so that he might duly reward thee for thy having watered [our flock] for us." And as soon as [Moses] came unto him and told him the story [of his life], he said: "Have no fear! Thou art now safe from those evildoing folk!"
28:26 Said one of the two [daughters]: "O my father! Hire him: for, behold, the best [man] that thou couldst hire is one who is [as] strong and worthy of trust [as he]!"
28:27 [After some time, the father] said: "Behold, I am willing to let thee wed one of these two daughters of mine on the understanding that thou wilt remain eight years in my service; and if thou shouldst complete ten [years], that would be [an act of grace] from thee, for I do not want to impose any hardship on thee: [on the contrary,] thou wilt find me, if God so wills, righteous in all my dealings." [Lit., "one of the righteous".]
28:28 Answered [Moses]: "Thus shall it be between me and thee! Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, let there be no ill will against me. And God be witness to all that we say!"
28:29 And when Moses had fulfilled his term and was wandering with his family [in the desert], he perceived a fire on the slope of Mount Sinai; [For an explanation of Moses' wanderings in the desert, see note on 20:10; for that of the allegory of the "fire", note on 27:7-8. Throughout this work, the noun at-tur ("the mountain") is being rendered as "Mount Sinai", for it is to this and to no other mountain that the Quran invariably refers in the above term.] [and so] he said to his family: "Wait here. Behold, I perceive a fire [far away]; perhaps I may bring you from there some tiding, [Sc., "as to which way we are to pursue".] or [at least] a burning brand from the fire, so that you might warm yourselves.
28:30 But when he came close to it, a call was sounded from the right-side bank of the valley, out of the tree [burning] on blessed ground: [As in 19:52 and 20:80, the reference to the "right" side has a connotation of "blessedness": see in his respect note on 74:39. As regards the "blessed ground", see note on the expression "twice-hallowed valley" in 20:12. The "tree" referred to in the above verse is obviously identical with the "burning bush" of the Bible (Exodus iii. 2).] "O Moses! Verily, I am God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!"
28:31 And [then He said]: "Throw down thy staff!" But as soon as [Moses] saw it move rapidly, as if it were a snake, he drew back [in terror], and did not [dare to] return. [The miracle of the staff has, possibly, a symbolic significance: see surah 20:21.] [And God spoke to him again:] "O Moses! Draw near, and have no fear - for, behold, thou art of those who are secure [in this world and in the next]! [Cf. 27:10 - "no fear need the message-bearers have in My Presence".]
28:32 "[And now] put thy hand into thy bosom: it will come forth [shining] white, without blemish. [See note on 7:108.] And [henceforth] hold thine arm close to thyself, free of all fear. [As pointed out by Zamakhshari, the above idiomatic sentence is a metonym recalling a well-known gesture of terror - the involuntary stretching-forth of one's hands or arms when suddenly faced with something terrifying; conversely, the "holding of one's arm [lit., "wing"] close to oneself" is expressive of freedom from fear. In the present instance, the phrase echoes the concluding words of verse 31 - "behold, thou art of those who are secure (in this world and in the next)".] "These, then, shall be the two signs [of thy bearing a message] from thy Sustainer [The "two signs" (burhanan) may be understood as Moses' ability to remain, by virtue of his certainty of God's omnipresence, forever free of all physical or moral fear, as well as his ability to show that appearance and reality are not always identical.] unto Pharaoh and his great ones - for, behold, they are people depraved!"
28:33 Said [Moses] "O my Sustainer! I have slain one of them, and so I fear that they will slay me. [Sc., "and thus make it impossible for me to accomplish my mission": for, as regards himself, Moses was henceforth free of fear.]
28:34 And my brother Aaron - he is far better in speech than I am. [Cf. 20:27-28 and 26:12-13, as well as the corresponding notes.] Send him, therefore, as a helper, so that he might [more eloquently] bear witness to my speaking the truth: for I fear indeed that they will give me the lie."
28:35 Said He: "We shall strengthen thine arm through thy brother, and endow both of you with power, so that they will not be able to touch you: [Lit., "so that they will not reach you".] by virtue of Our messages shall you two, and all who follow you, prevail!"
28:36 But as soon as Moses came unto them with Our clear messages [Pharaoh and his great ones] said: "All this is nothing but spellbinding eloquence devised [by man]: [See note on 74:24, which is the earliest Quranic instance of the term sihr in the above connotation.] and never did we hear [the like of] this, [nor has it ever been heard of] in the time of our forebears of old!"
28:37 And Moses replied: "My Sustainer knows best as to who comes with guidance from Him, and to whom the future belongs! [For an explanation of the above phrase, see surah 6:135.] Verily, never will evildoers attain to a happy state!"
28:38 Whereupon Pharaoh said: "O you nobles! I did not know that you could have any deity other than myself [In view of the fact that the ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods, this observation is not to be taken literally; but since each of the Pharaohs was regarded as an incarnation of the divine principle as such, he claimed - and received - his people's adoration as their "Lord All-Highest" (cf. 79:24), combining within himself, as it were, all the qualities attributable to gods.] Well, then, O Haman, kindle me a fire for [baking bricks of] clay, and then build me a lofty tower, that haply I may have a look at the god of Moses [Or: "ascend to the god of Moses". Whichever of the two meanings is given to the verb ittaliu, Pharaoh's demand for a "lofty tower" is not only an allusion to the building of one of the great pyramids, but also a derisory, contemptuous reference to Moses' concept of God as an all-embracing Power, inconceivably high above all that exists.] - although, behold, I am convinced that he is of those who [always] tell lies!"
28:39 Thus arrogantly, without the least good sense, [lit., "without (any) truth" or "justification" (bi-ghayr al-haqq).] did he and his hosts behave on earth - just as if they thought that they would never have to appear before Us [for judgment]! [Lit., "and they thought that they would not be brought back to Us". There is no doubt that the ancient Egyptians did believe in a life after death, and that this belief included the concept of a divine judgment as well. Since, however, the particular Pharaoh whom Moses confronted is said to have behaved with an arrogance opposed to all good sense, the Quran - by implication - likens his attitude to that of a person who does not believe in resurrection and in man's ultimate responsibility before God: hence my rendering of the conjunctive particle wa at the beginning of the above clause as "just as if".]
28:40 And so We seized him and his hosts and cast them into the sea: and behold what happened in the end to those evildoers:
28:41 [We destroyed them,] and We set them up as archetypes [of evil] that show the way to the fire [of hell]; [Lit., "archetypes (aimmah) inviting to the fire". This is the pivotal sentence of the above fragment of the story of Moses. Just as verses 15 - 16 are meant to draw our attention to the sin of tribal or racial prejudice, the present reference to Pharaoh as an "archetype [of evil]" points to the fact that false pride (takabbur) and arrogance {istikbar) are truly "satanic" attitudes of mind, repeatedly exemplified in the Quran by Iblis's symbolic "revolt" against God (for the meaning of which see note on 2:34 and note on 15:41). Inasmuch as they are intrinsically evil, these "satanic" impulses lead to evil actions and, consequently, to a weakening or even a total destruction of man's spiritual potential: which, in its turn, is bound to cause suffering in the hereafter.] and [whereas] no succour will come to them on Resurrection Day,
28:42 We have caused a curse to follow them in this world as well; [I.e., in the pejorative connotation universally given to the adjective "pharaonic". It is to be noted that the term lanah, here rendered as "curse", primarily denotes "estrangement" (ibad), i.e., from all that is good and, hence, really desirable.] and on Resurrection Day they will find themselves among those who are bereft of all good. [I.e., among those who by their own actions will have removed themselves from God's grace: a meaning given to the term maqbuh, in this context, by most of the classical commentators and philologists (cf. Lisan al Arab, Taj al-Arus, etc.).]
28:43 And [then,] indeed, after We had destroyed those earlier generations [of sinners], We vouchsafed unto Moses [Our] revelation as a means of insight for men, [By virtue of its being the first instance of a divinely-inspired Law, the Torah inaugurated a new phase in mankind's religious history (cf. the reference to the children of Israel as "forerunners in faith" in verse 5 of this surah).] and as a guidance and grace, so that they might bethink themselves [of Us].
28:44 NOW [as for thee, O Muhammad,] thou wert not present on the sunset slope [of Mount Sinai] when We imposed the Law upon Moses, nor wert thou among those who witnessed [his times]: [Implying that the story of Moses as narrated in the Quran could not have come to Muhammad's knowledge otherwise than through revelation: consequently, the Quran as such must obviously be a result of divine revelation. The term al-amr, rendered above as "the Law", is the Arabic equivalent of he Hebrew word torah ("law" or "precept"), the commonly accepted title of the revelation granted to Moses.]
28:45 nay, but [between them and thee] We brought into being [many] generations, and long was their span of life. And neither didst thou dwell among the people of Madyan, conveying Our messages unto them: [I.e., "thou art not the first of Our apostles, O Muhammad: We have sent thee to the people of thy time just as We sent Shuayb to the people of Madyan (Ad-Dahhak, as quoted by Razi).] nay, but We have [always] been sending [Our message-bearers unto man].
28:46 And neither wert thou present on the slope of Mount Sinai when We called out [to Moses]: [According to some of the classical commentators, this second reference to "the slope of Mount Sinai" contains an allusion to the divine assurance mentioned in 7:156: "My grace overspreads everything . . ." (Tabari, Razi). This interpretation is most plausible in view of the subsequent reference to Muhammad's mission as "an act of thy Sustainer's grace (rahmah)".] but [thou, too, art sent] as an act of thy Sustainer's grace, to warn people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might bethink themselves [of Us];
28:47 and [We have sent thee] lest they say [on Judgment Day], when disaster befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought, "O our Sustainer, if only Thou had sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed Thy messages, and would have been among those who believe!"
28:48 And yet, now that the truth has come unto them from Us, they say, "Why has he not been vouchsafed the like of what Moses was vouchsafed?" [As the Quran frequently points out, the basic ethical truths enunciated in it are the same as those of earlier revelations. It is this very statement which induced the opponents of Muhammad - in his own time as well as in later timees - to question the authenticity of the Quran: "If it had really been revealed by God," they argue, "would so many of its propositions, especially its social laws, differ so radically from the laws promulgated in that earlier divine writ, the Torah?" By advancing this argument (and quite apart from the question of whether the text of the Bible as we know it today has or has not been corrupted in the course of time), the opponents of Muhammad's message deliberately overlook the fact, repeatedly stressed in the Quran, that the earlier systems of law were conditioned by the spiritual level of a particular people and the exigencies of a particular chapter of human history, and therefore had to he superseded by new laws at a higher stage of human development (see in this connection the second paragraph of 5:48 and the corresponding note). However, as is evident from the immediate sequence - and especially from the last sentence of this verse - the above specious argument is not meant to uphold the authenticity of the Bible as against that of the Quran, but, rather, aims at discrediting both - and, through them, the basic religious principle against which the irreligious mind always revolts: namely, the idea of divine revelation and of man's absolute dependence on and responsibility to God, the Ultimate Cause of all that exists.] But did they not also, before this, deny the truth of what Moses was vouchsafed? [For] they do say, "Two examples of delusion, [seemingly] supporting each other!" [A contemptuous allusion, on the one hand, to Old-Testament predictions of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (cf. surah 2:42), and, on the other, to the oft-repeated Quranic statement that this divine writ had been revealed to "confirm the truth of earlier revelations". As regards my rendering of the term sihr (lit., "magic" or "sorcery") as "delusion" - and occasionally as "spellbinding eloquence" - see note on 74:24.] And they add, "Behold, we refuse to accept either of them as true!"
28:49 Say: "Produce, then, [another] revelation from God which would offer better guidance than either of these two [I.e., the Torah and the Quran. The Gospel is not mentioned in this context because, as Jesus himself had stressed, his message was based on the Law of Moses, and was not meant to displace the latter.] - [and] I shall follow it, if you speak the truth!"
28:50 And since they cannot respond to this thy challenge, [Lit., "if they do not respond to thee", implying that they are unable to accept the above challenge.] know that they are following only their own likes and dislikes: and who could be more astray than he who follows [but] his own likes and dislikes without any guidance from God? Verily, God does not grace with His guidance people who are given to evildoing!
28:51 NOW, INDEED, We have caused this word [of Ours] to reach mankind step by step, so that they might [learn to] keep it in mind. [Lit., "We have caused this word to reach them gradually": this meaning is implied in the verbal form wassalna, which - like the grammatically identical form nazzalna - points to the gradual, step-by-step revelation of the Quran during the twenty-three years of Muhammad's prophetic ministry.]
28:52 As for those unto whom We have vouchsafed revelation aforetime - they [are bound to] believe in this one [as well]; [This is both a statement of historical fact - alluding to conversions of Jews and Christians in Muhammad's lifetime - and a prophecy. It must, however, be understood that, in the above context, God's "vouchsafing" revelation implies a conscious, sincere acceptance of its teachings by those to whom it has been conveyed: for it is this sincerity that has enabled them - or will enable them - to realize that the Quran preaches the same ethical truths as those forthcoming from earlier revelations. (Cf. 26:196-197 and the corresponding notes.)]
28:53 and whenever it is [clearly] conveyed unto them, they [are bound to] profess, "We have come to believe in it, for, behold, it is the truth from our Sustainer - and, verily, even before this have we surrendered ourselves unto Him!"
28:54 These it is that shall receive a twofold reward for having been patient in adversity, and having repelled evil with good, [See note on the identical phrase in 13:22. In the present context, the reference to "patience in adversity" and "repelling evil with good" evidently relates to the loss of erstwhile communal links, social ostracism, and all manner of physical or moral persecution which is so often the lot of persons who accept religious tenets different from those of their own community.] and having spent on others out of what We provided for them as sus
28:55 and, whenever they heard frivolous talk, [This obviously refers to attempts, based on prejudice, at deriding the spiritual re-orientation of the person concerned.] having turned away from it and said: "Unto us shall be accounted Our deeds, and unto you, your deeds. Peace be upon you - [but] we do not seek out such as are ignorant [of the meaning of right and wrong]."
28:56 VERILY, thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest: but it is God who guides him that wills [to be guided]; [Or: "God guides whomever He wills" - either of these two renderings being syntactically correct. According to several extremely well authenticated Traditions, the above verse relates to the Prophet's inability to induce his dying uncle Abu Talib, whom he loved dearly and who had loved and protected him throughout his life, to renounce the pagan beliefs of his ancestors and to profess faith in God's oneness. Influenced by Abu Jahl and other Meccan chieftains, Abu Talib died professing, in his own words, "the creed of Abd al-Muttalib" (Bukhari) or, according to another version (quoted by Tabari), "the creed of my ancestors (al-ashyakh)". However, the Quranic statement "thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest" has undoubtedly a timeless import as well: It stresses the inadequacy of all human endeavours to "convert" any other person, however loving and loved, to one's own beliefs, or to prevent him from falling into what one regards as error, unless that person wills to be so guided.] and He is fully aware of all who would let themselves be guided. [The above rendering of the expression al-muhtadin conforms to the interpretations offered in this context by many classical commentators - e.g., "those who accept guidance" (Zamakhshari), "everyone who in time would find the right way" (Razi), "those who are prepared (mustaiddin) for it" (Baydawi), "all who deserve guidance" (lbn Kathir), and so forth. Thus, God's guidance is but the final act of His grace with which He rewards all who desire to be guided. For a further consideration of this problem, the reader is referred to Zamakhshari's illuminating remarks quoted in the note on 14:4.]
28:57 Now some say, "If we were to follow the guidance to which thou invitest us, we would be torn away from our very soil!" [Lit., If we were to follow the guidance together with thee, we would be snatched away from our land" (or "our soil"). This passage has obviously twofold connotation. On the historical plane, it echoes an objection voiced by many pagan Meccans to Muhammad's preaching: "If we were to accept thy call, most of the other tribes would regard this as a betrayal of our common ancestral beliefs, and would drive us away from our land." In a more general, timeless sense it reflects the hesitation of so many people - of whatever period, environment or religious persuasion - who, while realizing the truth of a new spiritual call, are yet fearful of acknowledging it as true lest this acknowledgment cause a total breach between them and their community and thus, as were, cut the ground from under their feet.] Why - have We not established for them a sanctuary secure, to which, as a provision from Us, shall be gathered the fruits of all (good) things? [Like the preceding expression of fear, this Quranic answer, too, can be understood in two senses. In the limited, historical sense it is an allusion to Abraham's prayer that the land around the Kabah be made secure for all times and its natural barrenness be compensated by fruitful help from outside (cf. 14:35 - 41 also 2:126), and to God's acceptance of this prayer: thus, the Prophet's Meccan contemporaries are reminded that they need not fear to be dispossessed of this holy land so long as they remain righteous and trust in God. In its purely spiritual connotation, on the other hand, the "sanctuary secure" is God's promise - referred to in verse 61 below - that all who have faith in Him and are conscious of their responsibility to Him shall be graced with a sense of inner peace in this world and with enduring bliss in the life to come; and since they are thus to be rewarded with the "fruits" of all their good deeds, "no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve" (cf. 2:62, 3:170, 5:69, 6:48, 7:35, 10:62, 46:13). See also note on 29:67.] But most of them are unaware [of this truth].
28:58 And how many a community that [once] exulted in its wanton wealth and ease of life have We destroyed, so that those dwelling-places of theirs - all but a few - have never been dwelt-in after them: for it is indeed We alone who shall remain when all else will have passed away! [Lit., "We are indeed (kunna) the inheritors". For an explanation of my rendering of this phrase, see note on 15:23. The above passage stresses the insignificance and brittleness of all worldly "advantages" as compared with the imperishable good of divine guidance.]
28:59 Yet, withal, thy Sustainer would never destroy a community without having [first] raised in its midst an apostle who would convey unto them Our messages; [Sc., "and thus make them aware of the meaning of right and wrong": cf. 6:130 - 132 and the corresponding notes.] and never would We destroy a community unless its people are wont to do wrong [to one another]. [Cf. in this connection note on 11:117. All the three passages referred to in this as well as the preceding note (i.e., 6:130 -132, 11:117 and 28:59) are interdependennt and must, therefore, be read side by side. The present passage connects with verse 58 above and its reference to "wanton wealth and ease of life", for the sake of which people so often wrong one another.]
28:60 And [remember:] whatever you are given [now] is but for the [passing] enjoyment of life in this world, and for its embellishment - whereas that which is with God is [so much] better and more enduring. Will you not, then, use your reason?
28:61 Is, then, he to whom We have given that goodly promise which he shall see fulfilled [on his resurrection] [See second note on verse 57 above.] comparable to one on whom We have bestowed [all] the enjoyments of this worldly life but who, on Resurrection Day, will find himself among those that shall be arraigned [before Us]? [Sc., "for having misused Our gifts and attributed them to powers other than Us".]
28:62 For, on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: "Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?" [Lit., "those partners of Mine whom you supposed [to exist]": see notes on 6:22-23.] -
28:63 [whereupon] they against whom the word [of truth] shall thus stand revealed [I.e., in the very fact of God's calling them to account (cf. 27:82 and the corresponding note). As the sequence shows, the persons thus addressed are the "leaders of thought" supposed to have set the community's faulty standards of social behaviour and moral valuation; and since they are primarily responsible for the wrong direction, which their followers have taken, they will be the first to suffer in the life to come.] will exclaim: O our Sustainer! Those whom we caused to err so grievously, we but caused to err as we ourselves had been erring. [I.e., "we did not lead them astray out of malice, but simply because we ourselves had been led astray by our predecessors". This "answer" is, of course, evasive, but it is quoted here to show that man's attachment to false - but nevertheless, almost deified - values and concepts based on stark materialism is, more often than not, a matter of "social continuity": in other words, the validity of those materialistic pseudo-values is taken for granted simply because they are time-honoured, with every generation blindly subscribing to the views held by their forebears. In its deepest sense, this passage - as so many similar ones throughout the Quran - points to the moral inadmissibility of accepting an ethical or intellectual proposition as true on no other grounds than that it was held to be true by earlier generations.] We [now] disavow them before Thee: it was not us that they worshipped!" [In other words, they were but wont to worship their own passions and desires projected onto extraneous beings. See in this connection 10:28 and 34:41 and the corresponding notes.]
28:64 And [they] will be told: "Call [now] unto those [beings or powers] to whom you were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity!" [Lit., "those [God-]partners of yours".] -- and they will call unto them [for help], but those [fake objects of worship] will not respond to them: whereupon they will see the suffering [that awaits them - the suffering which could have been avoided] if only they had allowed themselves to be guided! [For this rendering of the phrase law kanu yahtadun, see second note on verse 56 above.]
28:65 And on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: "How did you respond to My message bearers?" [This connects with the first sentence of verse 59, which has been explained in the corresponding note. The present verse clearly implies that those sinners had not responded to the guidance offered them by God's apostles. As in many other instances in the Quran, God's "question" is but meant to stress a moral failure, which by now has become obvious to man's self-accusing conscience.] -
28:66 but all arguments and excuses will by then have been erased from their minds, [Lit., "will on that Day have become obscured to them". The operative noun anba, which literally denotes "tidings", has here the compound meaning of "arguments and excuses" (Tabari).] and they will not [be able to] obtain any [helpful] answer from one another. [I.e., they will all be equally confused. For the above rendering of la yatasa alun (lit., "they will not [be able to] ask one another"), see the explanations of this phrase advanced by Baghawi, Zamakhshari and Baydawi.]
28:67 But as against this - anyone who repents [I.e., during his life in this world. For an explanation of this stress on repentance - which flows from one's realization of moral failure -- see the last note on 24:31.] and attains to faith and does righteous deeds may well [hope to] find himself among those who achieve a happy state [in the life to come].
28:68 AND [thus it is:] thy Sustainer creates whatever He wills; and He chooses [for mankind] whatever is best for them. [Some of the classical commentators incline to interpret the ma in the phrase ma kana lahum al-khirah as a particle of negation and the noun khirah as "choice" or "freedom of choice", thus giving to this phrase the meaning of "He chooses, [but] they [i.e., human beings) have no freedom of choice". To my mind, however, this interpretation conflicts not only with the immediately preceding passages but with the tenor of the Quran as a whole, which insists throughout on man's responsibility for (and, hence, on relative freedom in) choosing between right and wrong - and this side by side with its stress on God's unlimited power to determine the factual course of events. Hence, I prefer to base my rendering on the interpretation advanced and convincingly argued by Tabari, who regards the crucial particle ma not as a negation but as a relative pronoun synonymous with alladhi ("that which" or "whatever"), and understands the noun khirah in its primary significance of "that which is chosen" or "preferred", i.e., because it is considered to be the best: in another word, as a synonym of khayr. Zamakhshari refers to this interpretation with evident approval (without, however, mentioning Tabari specifically), and enlarges upon it thus: "God chooses for mankind whatever is best (ma huwa khayr) and most beneficial (aslah) for them, for He knows better than they themselves do what is good for them."] Limitless is God in His glory, and sub
28:69 And thy Sustainer knows all that their hearts conceal as well as all that they bring into the open:
28:70 for He is God, save whom there is no deity. Unto Him all praise is due, at the beginning and at the end [of time]; [Or: "in this first [i.e., present life] as well as in the life to come".] and with Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back.
28:71 Say: "Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be night about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you light? [Lit., "who [i.e., "where"] is a deity...", etc., obviously implying that no such "deity" exists.] Will you not, then, listen [to the truth]?"
28:72 Say: "Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be daylight about you, without break, until the Day of Resurrection - is there any deity other than God that could bring you [the darkness of] night, wherein you might rest? Will you not, then, see [the truth]?" [I.e., "Will you not recognize the miracle of planned and purposeful creation?"]
28:73 For it is out of His grace that He has made for you the night and the day, so that you might rest therein as well as seek to obtain [what you need] of His bounty: and [He gave you all this] so that you might have cause to be grateful.
28:74 AND ON THAT DAY [I.e., the Day of Resurrection - thus reverting to the theme enunciated in verses 62-66 above.] He will call unto those [that shall have been arraigned before His judgment seat], and will ask: "Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity?" [This repetition of God's "question", already mentioned in verse 62 above, is meant to stress the utter inability of the sinners concerned to justify their erstwhile attitude rationally; hence my interpolation at the beginning of the next verse.]
28:75 And [they will remain silent: for by then] We will have called forth witnesses from within every community, [I.e., the prophets who had appeared at various stages of man's history, and who will now bear witness that they had duly conveyed God's message to the people for whom it was meant.] and will have said [unto the sinners]: "Produce an evidence for what you have been claiming!" [Lit., "Produce your evidence" - i.e., for the possibility of anyone or anything having a share in God's divinity.] And so they will come to understand that all truth is God's [alone]; [I.e., that He is the Ultimate Reality, and that whatever is or could be is an outcome of His will alone.] and all their false imagery will have forsaken them. [For the meaning of the phrase ma kanu yaftarun (lit., "all that they were wont to invent" - rendered by me here as well as in 6:24,7:53, 10:30, 11:21 and 16:87 as "all their false imagery"); see also note on 6:22. A specific instance of such "false imagery" the futility of man's relying on his own wealth and worldly power - is illustrated in the immediately following legend of Qarun (see next note).]
28:76 [NOW,] BEHOLD, Qarun was one of the people of Moses; [The structure of the above sentence is meant to show that even a person who had been a follower of one of the greatest of Gods apostles was not above the possibility of sinning under the influence of false pride and self-exaltation - a particular example of the "false imagery" referred to in the preceding passage. The conventional "identification" of Qarun with the Korah of the Old Testament (Numbers xvi) is neither relevant nor warranted by the Quranic text, the more so as the purport of this legend is a moral lesson and not a historical narrative. This, by the way, explains also the juxtaposition, elsewhere in the Quran (29:39 and 40:24), of Qarun with Pharaoh, the arch-sinner.] but he arrogantly exalted himself above them - simply because We had granted him such riches that his treasure-chests alone would surely have been too heavy a burden for a troop of ten men or even more. [The term usbah denotes a company of ten or more (up to forty) persons; since it is used here metonymically, pointing to the great weight involved, it is best rendered as above. The noun mafatih is a plural of both miftah or ("key") and maftah ("that which is under lock and key", i.e., a "hoard of wealth" or "treasure chest"), which latter meaning is obviously the one intended in the present context.] When [they perceived his arrogance,] his people said unto him: "Exult not [in thy wealth], for, verily, God does not love those who exult [in things vain]!
28:77 Seek instead, by means of what God has granted thee, [the good of] the life to come, [I.e., by spending in charity and on good causes.] without forgetting, withal, thine own [rightful] share in this world; [Lit., "and do not forget...", etc.: a call to generosity and, at the same time, to moderation (cf. 2:143 - "We have willed you to be a community of the middle way"). and do good [unto others] as God has done good unto thee; and seek not to spread corruption on earth: for, verily, God does not love the spreaders of corruption!"
28:78 Answered he: "This [wealth] has been given to me only by virtue of the knowledge that is in me!" [I.e., "as a result of my own experience, shrewdness and ability" (cf. 39:49 and the corresponding note).] Did he not know that God had destroyed [the arrogant of] many a generation that preceded him - people who were greater than he in power, and richer in what they had amassed? But such as are lost in sin may not be asked about, their sins. [Obviously implying that "such as are lost in sin" (al-mujrimun) are, as a rule, blind to their own failings and, therefore, not responsive to admonition.]
28:79 And so he went forth before his people in all his pomp; [and] those who cared only for the life of this world would say, "Oh, if we but had the like of what Qarun has been given! Verily, with tremendous good fortune is he endowed!"
28:80 But those who had been granted true knowledge said: "Woe unto you! Merit in the sight of God [Lit., "God's reward" sc., "of spiritual merit".] is by far the best for any who attains to faith and does what is right: but none save the patient in adversity can ever achieve this [blessing]."
28:81 And thereupon We caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling; and he had none and nothing to succour him against God, nor was he of those who could succour themselves. [Lit., "he had no host whatever to succour him...", etc. Qarun's being "swallowed by the earth" may possibly be metaphor of a catastrophic, unforeseen loss - from whatever cause - of all his worldly goods and, thus, of his erstwhile grandeur.]
28:82 And on the morrow, those who but yesterday had longed to be in his place exclaimed: "Alas [for our not having been aware] that it is indeed God [alone] who grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whichever He wills of His creatures! Had not God been gracious to us, He might have caused [the earth] to swallow us, too! Alas [for our having forgotten] that those who deny the truth can never attain to a happy state!"
28:83 As for that [happy] life in the hereafter, We grant it [only] to those who do not seek to exalt themselves on earth, nor yet to spread corruption: for the future belongs to the God-conscious. [This last clause makes it clear that, in order to have spiritual value, man's "not seeking" worldly grandeur or self-indulgence in things depraved must be an outcome, not of indifference or of a lack of opportunity, but solely of a conscious moral choice.]
28:84 Whosoever shall come [before God] with a good deed will gain [further] good therefrom; [See note on the identical phrase in 27:89.] but as for any who shall come with an evil deed - [know that] they who do evil deeds will not be requited with more than [the like of] what they have done. [Cf. 6:60 and the corresponding note.]
28:85 VERILY, [O believer,] He who has laid down this Quran in plain terms, making it binding on thee, [According to Mujahid (as quoted by Tabari), the phrase farada alayka is almost synonymous with ataka, "He gave [it] to thee". This, however, elucidates only one part of the above complex expression, which, I believe, has here a meaning similar to that of faradnaha ("We laid it down in plain terms") occurring in the first verse of surah 24 An-Nur) and explained in the corresponding note. In the present context, the particle alayka ("upon thee"}, with its pronominal suffix, gives to the above clause the additional meaning of a moral obligation on the part of the recipient of the Quranic message to conform his or her way of life to its teachings; hence my compound rendering of the phrase.] will assuredly bring thee back [from death] to a life renewed. [The term maad denotes, literally, "a place [or "a state"] to which one returns", and, tropically, one's "ultimate destination" or "ultimate condition"; in the present context, it is obviously synonymous with "life in the hereafter". This is how most of the classical authorities interpret the above phrase. But on the vague assumption that this passage is addressed exclusively to the Prophet, some commentators incline to the view that the noun has here a specific, purely physical connotation - "a place of return" - allegedly referring to God's promise to His Apostle (given during or after the latter's exodus from Mecca to Medina) that one day he would return victoriously to the city of his birth. To my mind, however, the passage has a much deeper meaning, unconnected with any place or specific point in history: it is addressed to every believer, and promises not only a continuation of life after bodily death but also a spiritual rebirth, in this world, to anyone who opens his heart to the message of the Quran and comes to regard it as binding on himself.] Say [unto those who reject the truth]: My Sustainer knows best, as to who is right-guided [Lit., "as to who comes with guidance".] and who is obviously lost in error!"
28:86 Now [as for thyself, O believer,] thou couldst never foresee [Lit., "hope" or "expect".] that this divine writ would [one day] be offered to thee: but [it did come to thee] by thy Sustainer's grace. Hence, never uphold those who deny the truth [of divine guidance],
28:87 and never let them turn thee away from God's messages after they have been bestowed upon thee from on high: instead [Lit., "and".] summon [all men] to thy Sustainer. And never be of those who ascribe divinity to aught but Him,
28:88 and never call upon any other deity side by side with God. There is no deity save Him. Everything is bound to perish, save His [eternal] self. [See 55:26-27 and the corresponding note.] With Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
29:1 Alif. Lam. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
29:2 DO MEN THINK that on their [mere] saying, "We have attained to faith", they will be left to themselves, and will not be put to a test?
29:3 Yea, indeed, We did test those who lived before them; and so, [too, shall be tested the people now living: and] most certainly will God mark out those who prove themselves true, and most certainly will He mark out those who are lying. [I.e., to others and/or to themselves (see note on verse 11 below).
29:4 Or do they think - they who do evil deeds [while claiming to have attained to faith] - that they can escape Us? Bad, indeed, is their judgment!
29:5 Whoever looks forward [with hope and awe] to meeting God [on Resurrection Day, let him be ready for it]: for, behold, the end set by God [for everyone's life] is bound to come - and He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing!
29:6 Hence, whoever strives hard [in God's cause] does so only for his own good: for, verily, God does not stand in need of anything in all the worlds!
29:7 And as for those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds, We shall most certainly efface their [previous] bad deeds, and shall most certainly reward them in accordance with the best that they ever did.
29:8 Now [among the best of righteous deeds which] We have enjoined upon man [is] goodness towards his parents; [Cf. 31:14 -15 and the corresponding note.] yet [eeven so,] should they endeavour to make thee ascribe divinity, side by side with Me, to something which thy mind cannot accept [as divine], obey then, not: [Lit., "something of which thou hast no knowledge": i.e., in this particular case, "something which conflicts with thy knowledge that none and nothing can have any share in Gods qualities or powers". According to Razi, this phrase may also allude to concepts not evolved through personal knowledge but, rather, acquired through a blind, uncritical acceptance of other people's views (taqlid).] [for] it is unto Me that you all must return, whereupon I shall make you [truly] understand [the right and wrong of] all that you were doing [in life].
29:9 But as for those who have attained to faith and have done righteous deeds, We shall most certainly cause them to join the righteous [in the hereafter as well].
29:10 Now there is among men many a one who says [of himself and of others like him], "We do believe in God" - but whenever he is made to suffer in God's cause, he thinks that persecution at the hands of man is as [much to be feared, or even more than,] God's chastisement; [I.e., the suffering which is bound to befall in the hereafter all who abandon their faith for fear of being persecuted in this world. It is to be borne in mind that a mere outward renunciation of faith under torture or threat of death is not considered a sin in Islam, although martyrdom for the sake of one's faith is the highest degree of merit to which man can attain.] whereas, if succour from thy Sustainer comes [to those who truly believe] [I.e., when it is no longer risky to be counted as one of them.] he is sure to say. "Behold, we have always been with you!" Is not God fully aware of what is in the hearts of all creatures?
29:11 [Yea-] and most certainly will God mark out those who have [truly] attained to faith, and most certainly will He mark out the hypocrites. [This is probably the earliest occurrence of the term munafiq in the chronology of Quranic revelation. Idiomatically, the term is derived from the noun nafaq, which denotes an underground passage" having an outlet different from the entry, and signifying, specifically, the complicated burrow of a field-mouse, a lizard, etc., from which the animal can easily escape or in which it can outwit a pursuer. Tropically, the term munafiq describes a person who is "two-faced", inasmuch as he always tries to find an easy way out of any real commitment, be it spiritual or social, by adapting his course of action to what promises to be of practical advantage to him in the situation in which he happens to find himself. Since a person thus characterized usually pretends to be morally better than he really is, the epithet munafiq may roughly be rendered as "hypocrite". It should, however, be noted that whereas this Western term invariably implies conscious dissembling with the intent to deceive others, the Arabic term munafiq may also be applied - and occasionally is applied in the Quran - to a person who, being weak or uncertain in his beliefs or moral convictions, merely deceives himself. Hence, while using in my rendering of the Quranic text the conventional expression "hypocrite", I have endeavoured to point out the above differentiation, whenever possible and necessary, in my explanatory notes.]
29:12 And [He is aware, too, that] they who are bent on denying the truth speak [thus, as it were,] to those who have attained to faith: "Follow our way [of life], and we shall indeed take your sins upon ourselves!" [The above "saying" of the deniers of the truth is, of course, but a metonym for their attitude towards the believers: hence my interpolation, between brackets, of the words "as it were". The implication is that people who deny the validity of any spiritual commitment arising out of one's faith in "something that is beyond the reach of human perception" (al-ghayb) - in this case, the existence of God - are, as a rule, unwilling to tolerate such a faith and such a commitment in others as well: and so they endeavour to bring the believers to their way of thinking by a sarcastic, contemptuous reference to the alleged irrelevance of the concept of "sin" as such.] But never could they take upon themselves [Lit., "bear" - implying a reduction of the burden which the others would have to bear (Razi). See also next note.] aught of the sins of those [whom they would thus mislead]: behold, they are liars indeed!
29:13 Yet most certainly will they have to bear their own burdens, and other burdens besides their own; [Cf. the Prophet's saying: "Whoever calls [others] unto the right way shall have a reward equal to the [combined] rewards of all who may follow him until Resurrection Day, without anything being lessened of their rewards; and whoever calls unto the way of error will have to bear a sin equal to the [combined] sins of all who may follow him until Resurrection Day, without anything being lessened of their sins" (Bukhari).] and most certainly will they be called to account on Resurrection Day for all their false assertions!
29:14 And, indeed, [in times long past] We sent forth Noah unto his people, [This passage connects with verse 2 above. "We did test those who lived before them". The story of Noah and of his failure to convert his people occurs in the Quran several times, and most extensively in 11:25 - 48. In the present instance it is meant to illustrate the truth that no one - not even a prophet - can bestow faith on another person (cf. 28:56 - "thou canst not guide aright everyone whom thou lovest"). The same purport underlies the subsequent references, in verses 16 - 40, to other prophets.] and he dwelt among them a thousand years bar fifty; [Sc., "and despite this great length of time was unable to convince them of the truth of his mission". The identical figure - 950 years - is given in the Bible (Genesis ix, 29) as Noah's life span. By repeating this element of the Biblical legend, the Quran merely stresses the fact that the duration of a prophet's mission has nothing to do with its success or failure, since "all true guidance is God's guidance"
29:15 but We saved him, together with all who were in the ark, which We then set up as a symbol [of Our grace] for all people [to remember].
29:16 And Abraham, [too, was inspired by Us] when he said unto his people: "Worship God, and be conscious of Him: this is the best for you, if you but knew it!
29:17 You worship only [lifeless] idols instead of God, and [thus] you give visible shape to a lie! [Lit., you create a lie".] Behold, those [things and beings] that you worship instead of God have it not in their power to provide sustenance for you: seek, then, all [your] sustenance from God, and worship Him [alone] and be grateful to Him: [for] unto Him you shall be brought back!
29:18 "And if you give [me] the lie - well, [other] communities have given the lie [to Gods prophets] before your time: but no more is an apostle bound to do than clearly deliver the message [entrusted to him]."
29:19 Are then they [who deny the truth] not aware of how God creates [life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew? This, verily, is easy for God! [This passage -consisting of verses 19 - 23 - is parenthhetically placed in the midst of the story of Abraham, connecting with the latter's reference to resurrection at the end of verse 17 ("unto Him you shall he brought back"). The ever-recurring emergence, decay and re-emergence of life, so vividly exemplified in all organic nature, is often cited in the Quran not merely in support of the doctrine of resurrection, but also as evidence of a consciously-devised plan underlying creation as such - and, thus, of the existence of the Creator.]
29:20 Say: "Go all over the earth and behold how [wondrously] He has created [man] in the first instance: and thus, too, will God bring into being your second life for, verily, God has the power to will anything! [Cf., for example, 23:12 -14, which alludes to mans coming into existence out of most primitive elements, and gradually evolving into a highly complex being endowed not only with a physical body but also with a mind, with feelings, and instincts.]
29:21 He causes to suffer whomever He wills, and bestows His mercy on whomever He wills; and unto Him you shall be made to return:
29:22 and never - not on earth and not in the skies - can you [hope to] elude Him: and you have none to protect you from God, and none to bring you succour."
29:23 And [thus it is:] they who are bent on denying the truth of God's messages and of their [ultimate] meeting with Him - it is they who abandon all hope of My grace and mercy: and it is they whom grievous suffering awaits [in the life to come]. [Implying that such people deprive themselves of God's grace and mercy (which is the twofold significance of the term rahmah in this context) by rejecting all belief in His existence: in other words, belief in God - or one's readiness to believe in Him - is, in and by itself, already an outcome of His grace and mercy, just as suffering in the hereafter is an outcome of ones being "bent on denying the truth".]
29:24 Now [as for Abraham,] his people's only answer was, "Slay him, or burn him!" - [Lit., "the answer of his people was nothing but that they said" - thus connecting with the passage ending with verse 18.] but God saved him from the fire. [See note on 21:69.] Behold, in this [story] there are messages indeed for people who will believe!
29:25 And [Abraham] said: "You have chosen to worship idols instead of God for no other reason than to have a bond of love in the life of this world, [Lit., "solely out of love".] between yourselves [and your forebears]: [Thus Razi, explaining this idol-worship is a result of a mere blind imitation (taqlid) of attitudes inherited from past generations.] but then, on Resurrection Day, you shall disown one another and curse one another - for the goal of you all will be the fire, and you will have none to succour you.
29:26 Thereupon [his brother's son] Lot came to believe in him and said: "Verily, I [too] shall forsake the domain of evil [and turn] to my Sustainer: for, verily, He alone is almighty, truly wise!" [For an explanation of the concept of hijrah and of my above rendering of the term muhajir, see surah 2, note 203, and surah 4, note 24. In the present instance this term is obviously used in both its physical and spiritual senses, analogous to the earlier allusion (in 19:48 - 49) to Abraham's "withdrawal" (itizal) from his evil, native environment and to his physical migration to Harran (in northern Mesopotamia), and thence to Syria and Palestine. The story of lot (Lut) is mentioned in the Quran several times, and particularly in 11:69 - 83.]
29:27 And [as for Abraham,] We bestowed upon him Isaac and [Isaac's son] Jacob, [I.e., in addition to Ishmael (lsmail). who had been born some years earlier (cf. 21:72).] and caused prophethood and revelation to continue among his offspring. And We vouchsafed him his reward in this world; [Among other things, by making him "a leader of men"
29:28 And Lot, [too, was inspired by Us] when he said unto his people: "Verily, you commit abominations such as none in all the world has ever committed before you!
29:29 Must you indeed approach men [with lust], and thus cut across the way [of nature]? [This particular interpretation of the phrase taqta un as-sabil is advanced by Baghawi and (on the authority of Al-Hasan) by Zamakhshari; Razi adopts it exclusively and without reservation.] - and must you commit these shameful deeds in your open] assemblies?" But his people's only answer was, "Bring down upon us God's chastisement, if thou art a man of truth!"
29:30 [And] he prayed: "O my Sustainer! Succour Thou me against these people who spread corruption!"
29:31 And so, when Our [heavenly] messengers came to Abraham with the glad tiding [of the birth of Isaac], [See 11:69 ff., as well as the first half of the corresponding note.] they [also] said, "Behold, we are about to destroy the people of that land, for its people are truly evildoers!" [The term qaryah has here, as so often in classical Arabic, the connotation of "land", in this instance comprising the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.]
29:32 [And when Abraham] exclaimed, "But Lot lives there!" - they answered: We know fully well who is there; most certainly we shall save him and his household - all but his wife: she will indeed be among those that stay behind." [See notes on 7:83 and 11:81. In the present instance, as well as in the next verse, the past-tense auxiliary verb kanat is meant to stress the inevitability of the future event referred to; hence, "she will indeed be...", etc.]
29:33 And when Our messengers came unto Lot, he was sorely grieved on their account, seeing that it was beyond his power to shield them; [See note on 11:77.] but they said: "Fear not, and grieve not! Behold, we shall save thee and thy household - all but thy wife: she will indeed be among those that stay behind.
29:34 Verily, we shall bring down upon the people of this land a horror from heaven in requital of all their iniquitous doings!"
29:35 And [so it happened; and] thereof, indeed, We have left a clear sign for people who use their reason. [This is an allusion to the Dead Sea - known to this day as Bahr Lut ("The Sea of Lot") - which covers most of the region in which Sodom and Gomorrah were once situated. Its waters contain so high a percentage of sulphur and potash that no fish or plants can live in them.]
29:36 AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shuayb [See note on 7:85. The story of Shuayb and his people appears in greater detail in 11:84 - 95.] who thereupon said: "O my people! Worship God [alone], and look forward to the Last Day, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption!"
29:37 But they gave him the lie. Thereupon an earthquake overtook them: and then they lay lifeless, in their very homes, on the ground. [See note on 7:78 (a passage, which relates to the tribe of Thamud), and note on 7:91.]
29:38 AND [the tribes of] Ad and Thamud [See notes on 7:65, and 7:73.] [too, did We destroy -] as should have become obvious to you from [whatever there remains of] their dwellings. [As regards the tribe of Ad, the above seems to be an allusion to their one-time capital, the legendary "Iram the many-pillared" (mentioned in the Quran only once, namely, in 89:7). It has since been buried by the moving sand dunes of Al-Ahqaf (a region between Uman and Hadramawt, within the great South-Arabian desert of Rub al-Khali); it is said, however, that its traces are occasionally uncovered by strong winds. For an explanation of the reference to the dwellings of the Thamud, see note on 7:74.] [They perished] because Satan had made their [sinful] doings seem goodly to them, and thus had barred them from the path [of God] despite their having been endowed with the ability to perceive the truth. [Thus, the Quran implies that it is man's "ability to perceive the truth" (istibsar) that makes him morally responsible for his doings and, hence, for his failure to resist his own evil impulses - which is evidently the meaning of "Satan" in this context. See in this connection 14:22 and the corresponding notes.]
29:39 And [thus, too, did We deal with] Qarun and Pharaoh, and Haman: [As regards Qarun, see 28:76 ff. and, in the corresponding note; for Haman, note on 28:6. The common denominator between these two and Pharaoh is their false pride (takabbur) and arrogance (istikbar), which cause them to become "archetypes of evil" (cf. 28:41 and the corresponding note). A similar attitude of mind is said to have been characteristic of the tribes of Ad and Thamud, mentioned in the preceding verse.] to them had come Moses with all evidence of the truth, but they behaved arrogantly on earth [and rejected him]; and withal, they could not escape [Us].
29:40 For, every one of them, did We take to task for his sin: and so, upon some of them We let loose a deadly storm wind; and some of them were overtaken by a [sudden] blast; [Sc., "of Gods punishment": cf. note on 11:67.] and some of them We caused to be swallowed by the earth: and some of them We caused to drown. And it was not God who wronged them, but it was they who had wronged themselves.
29:41 The parable of those who take [beings or forces] other than God for their protectors is that of the spider which makes for itself a house: for, behold, the frailest of all houses is the spiders house. Could they but understand this!
29:42 Verily, God knows whatever it is that men invoke instead of Him [Lit., "whatever thing they invoke instead of Him": i.e., He knows the nothingness of those false objects of worship (Zamakhshari), irrespective of whether they be imaginary deities, or deified saints, or forces of nature, or even false concepts or ideas; but He also knows the weakness of the human heart and mind and, hence, the hidden motivation of all such irrational worship.] - for He alone is almighty, truly wise.
29:43 And so We propound these parables unto man: but none can grasp their innermost meaning save those who [of Us] are aware [Inasmuch as awareness of the existence of God is here postulated as a prerequisite of a full understanding of the Quranic parables (and, by implication, allegories as well), the above verse should be read side by side with the statement that the Quran is meant to be "a guidance for all the God-conscious, who believe in the existence of a reality which is beyond the reach of human perception" (see 2:2 -3 and the corresponding note).]
29:44 [[and hence are certain that] God has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with [an inner] truth: [I.e., endowed with meaning and purpose: see second note on 10:5. In other words, belief in the existence of a meaning and a purpose underlying the creation of the universe is a logical corollary of ones belief in God.] for, behold, in this [very creation] there is a message indeed for all who believe [in Him].
29:45 CONVEY [unto others] whatever of this divine writ has been revealed unto thee, [If we assume that verses 45 - 46 are addressed not merely to the Prophet but to believers in general (an assumption which is strengthened by the plural form of address in the last clause of verse 45 and throughout verse 46), the above phrase may be taken to mean "whatever of the divine writ has revealed itself to thy understanding".] and be constant in prayer: for, behold, prayer restrains [man] from loathsome deeds and from all that runs counter to reason; [For an explanation of this rendering of the term and concept of al-munkar, see second note on 16:90.] and remembrance of God is indeed the greatest [good]. And God knows all that you do.
29:46 And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner - unless it be such of them as are bent onn evildoing [Sc., "and are therefore not accessible to friendly argument": the implication being that in such cases all disputes should a priori be avoided. As regards religious discussions in general, see note on 16:125.] - and say: "We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you: or our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that We [all] surrender ourselves."
29:47 For it is thus [I.e., "in this spirit": a reference to the sameness of the fundamental truths in all revealed religions.] that We have bestowed this divine writ from on high upon thee [O Muhammad]. And they to whom we have vouchsafed this divine writ believe in it [I.e., "they to whom We grant the ability to understand this divine writ".] - just as among those [followers of earlier revelation] there are some who believe in it. And none could knowingly reject Our messages unless it be such as would deny [an obvious] truth: [This rendering of the verb jahada - in the present instance and in verse 49 below (as well as in 31:32, 40:63 or 41:28) - in the sense of a person's denying or rejecting something which he knows to be true is based on the authority of Zamakhshari's Asas.]
29:48 for, [O Muhammad,] thou hast never been able to recite any divine writ ere this one [was revealed], nor didst thou ever transcribe one with your own hand [Lit., "with thy right hand" - the term yamin being used here metonymically, denoting no more than one's "own hand". It is historically established that Muhammad, the "unlettered prophet" (cf. 7:157 and 158), could neither read nor write, and could not, therefore, have derived his extensive knowledge of the contents of earlier revelations from the Bible or other scriptures: which - as the Quran points out - ought to convince any unprejudiced person that this knowledge must have come to him through divine revelation.] - or else, they who try to disprove the truth [of thy revelation] might indeed have had cause to doubt [it]. [The participial noun mubtil is derived from the verb abtala, "he made a false [or "vain"] claim", or "tried to disprove the truth [of something]", or "to reduce [something] to nothing", or "to prove [it] to be of no account" or "null and void", or "unfounded", "false", "spurious", etc., irrespective of whether the object is true or false, authentic or spurious, valid or unfounded (Lisan al-Arab and Taj al-Arus).]
29:49 Nay, but this [divine writ] consists of messages clear to the hearts of all who are gifted with [innate] knowledge [Lit., "self-evident (bayvinat) in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge" - the term ilm having here the connotation of intuitive, spiritual perception.] - and none could knowingly reject Our messages unless it be such as would do wrong [to themselves].
29:50 And yet they say, "Why have no miraculous signs ever been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer?" Say: "Miracles are in the power of God alone; [See note on 6:109.] and as for me - I am but a plain warner."
29:51 Why - is it not enough for them that We have bestowed this divine writ on thee from on high, to be conveyed [by thee] to them? [I.e., "are the contents of this revelation not enough for them to make them grasp its intrinsic truth without the help of `miraculous proofs' of its divine origin?" (Cf. note on the last sentence of 7:75.)] For, verily, in it is [manifested Our] grace, and a reminder to people who will believe.
29:52 Say [unto those who will not believe]: "God is witness enough between me and you! He knows all that is in the heavens and on earth; and they who are bent on believing in what is false and vain, and thus on denying God - it is they, they who shall be the losers!"
29:53 Now they challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement: [See note on 8:32.] and indeed, had not a term been set [for it by God], that suffering would already have come upon them! But indeed, it will most certainly come upon them of a sudden, and they will be taken unawares.
29:54 They challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement: but, verily, hell is bound to encompass all who deny the truth -
29:55 [encompass them] on the Day when suffering will overwhelm them from above them and from beneath their feet, [I.e., from all directions and from many causes.] whereupon He shall say: "Taste [now the fruit of] your own doings!"
29:56 O YOU servants of Mine who have attained to faith! Behold, wide is Mine earth: worship Me, then, Me alone! [Implying that since the earth offers innumerable, multiform facilities to human life, there is no excuse for forgetting God "owing to the pressure of adverse circumstances". Whenever or wherever the worship of God - in its essential, and not merely liturgical sense - becomes impossible, the believer is obliged to "forsake the domain of evil" (which, as explained in note on 4:97, is the innermost meaning of the concept of hijrah) and to "migrate unto God", that is, to a place where it is possible to live in accordance with one's faith.]
29:57 Every human being is bound to taste death, [and] in the end unto Us shall all be brought back:
29:58 whereupon unto those who have attained to faith and wrought good works We shall most certainly assign mansions in that paradise through which running waters flow, therein to abide: how excellent a reward for those who labour -
29:59 those who are patient in adversity and in their Sustainer place their trust!
29:60 And how many a living creature is there that takes no thought of its own sustenance; [Lit., "that does not bear [or "assume responsibility for"] its sustenance" - i.e., is either too weak to fend for itself or (according to Al-Hasan, as quoted by Zamakhshari) does not store up provisions for the morrow. This passage connects with the reference at the end of the preceding verse to "those who in their Sustainer place their trust".] [the while] God provides for it as [He provides] for you - since He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing.
29:61 And thus it is [with most people]: [Regarding my rendering of lain as "thus it is: if...," etc., see note on 30:51. The people spoken of in the sequence are such as do acknowledge the existence of God but have only a vague idea as to what this acknowledgment implies on should imply.] if thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and made the sun and the moon subservient [to His laws]?" - they will surely answer, "God." How perverted, then, are their minds! [See second note on 5:75. The perversion consists in their thinking that they really "believe in God" and nevertheless worshipping false values and allegedly "divine" powers side by side with Him: all of which amounts to a virtual denial of His almightiness and uniqueness.]
29:62 God grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, to whichever He wills of His creatures: for, behold, God has full knowledge of everything. [Sc., "and, hence knows what is really good and, from the viewpoint of His unfathomable plan, necessary for each living being".]
29:63 And thus it is: if thou ask them, "Who is it that sends down water from the skies, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless?" - they will surely answer, "God." Say thou: "[Since this is so,] all praise is due to God [alone]!" But most of them will not use their reason:
29:64 for, [if they did, they would know that] the life of this world is nothing but a passing delight and a play - whereas, behold, the life in the hereafter is indeed the only [true] life: if they but knew this!
29:65 And so, when they embark on a ship [and find themselves in danger], they call unto God, [at that moment] sincere in their faith in Him alone; but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, they [begin to] ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity:
29:66 and thus [The particle li prefixed to the subsequent verbs yakfuru ("they show [utter] ingratitude") and yatamattau ("they enjoy" or "go on enjoying") their worldly life") is not an indication of intent ("so that" or "in order that") but merely of a causal sequence; in the above context, it may be appropriately rendered as "and thus".] they show utter ingratitude for all that We have vouchsafed them, and go on [thoughtlessly] enjoying their worldly life.
29:67 Are they, then, not aware that We have set up a sanctuary secure [for those who believe in Us], the while all around them men are being carried away [by fear and despair]? [See note on the second paragraph of 28:57. In contrast to the "sanctuary secure" the inner peace and sense of spiritual fulfillment which God bestows on those who truly believe in Him - the atheist or agnostic is more often than not exposed to fear of the Unknown and a despair born of the uncertainty as to what will happen to him after death.] Will they, then, [continue to] believe in things false and vain, and thus deny God's blessings.
29:68 And who could be more wicked than he who attributes his own lying inventions to God, [I.e., by persuading himself that there is, side by side with God or even independently of Him, any "power" that could govern men's destinies.] or gives the lie to the truth when it comes unto him [through revelation]? Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who [thus] deny the truth?
29:69 But as for those who strive hard in Our cause -We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead unto Us: [Lit., "Our paths". The plural used here is obviously meant to stress the fact - alluded to often in the Quran - that there are many paths, which lead to a cognizance (marifah) of God.] for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
30:1 Alif. Lam. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
30:2 Defeated have been the Byzantines
30:3 in the lands close-by; yet it is they who, notwithstanding this their defeat, shall be victorious
30:4 within a few years: [for] with God rests all power of decision, first and last. [Lit., "before and after". The defeats and victories spoken of above relate to the last phases of the centuries-long struggle between the Byzantine and Persian Empires. During the early years of the seventh century the Persians conquered parts of Syria and Anatolia, "the lands close-by", i.e., near the heartland of the Byzantine umpire; in 613 they took Damascus and it 614, Jerusalem; Egypt fell to them in 615-16, and at the same time they laid siege to Constantinople itself. At the time of the revelation of this surah - about the seventh year before the hijrah, corresponding to 615 or 616 of the Christian era - the total destruction of the Byzantine Empire seemed imminent. The few Muslims around the Prophet were despondent on hearing the news of the utter discomfiture of the Byzantines, who were Christians and, as such, believed in the One God. The pagan Quraysh, on the other hand, sympathized with the Persians who, they thought, would vindicate their own opposition to the One-God idea. When Muhammad enunciated the above Quran-verses predicting a Byzantine victory "within a few years", this prophecy was received with derision by the Quraysh. Now the term bid (commonly rendered as "a few") denotes any number between three and ten; and, as it happened, in 622 - i.e., six or seven years after the Quranic prediction - the tide turned in favour of the Byzantines. In that year, Emperor Heraclius succeeded in defeating the Persians at Issus, south of the Taurus Mountains, and subsequently drove them out of Asia Minor. By 624, he carried the war into Persian territory and thus put the enemy on the defensive: and in the beginning of December, 626, the Persian armies were completely routed by the Byzantines.] And on that day will the believers [too, have cause to] rejoice
30:5 in God's succour: [This is a prediction of the battle of Badr, which was to take place eight or nine years later, in the month of Ramadan,
30:6 [This is] God's promise. Never does God fail to fulfill His promise - but most people know [it] not:
30:7 they know but the outer surface of this world's life, whereas of the ultimate things they are utterly unaware. [The term al-akhirah circumscribes, in this context, both the inner reality of this world's life and the ultimate reality of the hereafter.]
30:8 Have they never learned to think for themselves? [Lit., "Have they never thought within themselves?"] God has not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them without [an inner] truth and a term set [by Him]: [I.e., in contrast to God, who is eternal and unlimited, everything created is limited and subject to change and termination. As regards my rendering of illa bil-haqq (lit., "otherwise than with [or "in"] truth) as without [an inner] truth", see note on the second sentence of 10:5.] and yet, behold, there are many people who stubbornly deny the truth that they are destined to meet their Sustainer!
30:9 Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time? Greater were they in power than they are; and they left a stronger impact on the earth, and built it up even better [Lit., "more". The phrase can also be rendered as "peopled it [or "dwelt in it"] in great numbers".] than these [are doing]; and to them [too] came their apostles with all evidence of the truth: and so, [when they rejected the truth and thereupon perished,] it was not God who wronged them, but it was they who had wronged themselves.
30:10 And once again: [For this particular rendering of thumma, see 6:38.] evil is bound to be the end of those who do evil by giving the lie to God's messages and deriding them.
30:11 GOD CREATES [man] in the first instance, and then brings him forth anew: [I.e., He will bring him forth anew: cf. 10:4 and the corresponding note. (A more general formulation of the same statement is found in verse 27 of this surah.)] and, in the end, unto Him you all will be brought back.
30:12 And when the last Hour dawns, those who were lost in sin will be broken in spirit
30:13 for they will have no intercessors in the beings to whom they were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity, [Lit., "among their [God-] partners" (see 6:22).] seeing that [by then] they themselves will have ceased to believe in their erstwhile blasphemous fancies. [Lit., "they will have rejected those [God-] partners of theirs".]
30:14 And when the Last Hour dawns - on that Day will all [men] be sorted out:
30:15 as for those who attained to faith and did righteous deeds, they shall be made happy in a garden of delight;
30:16 but as for those who refused to acknowledge the truth and gave the lie to Our messages - and (thus) to the announcement [See note on 7:147.] of a life to come - they will be given over to suffering.
30:17 EXTOL, then, God's limitless glory when you enter upon the evening hours, and when you rise at morn;
30:18 and [seeing that] unto Him is due all praise in the heavens and on earth, [glorify Him] in the afternoon as well, and when you enter upon the hour of noon. [I.e., "remember God at all times". Apart from this general exhortation, the hours mentioned above circumscribe the times of the five daily prayers incumbent upon a Muslim. The "evening hours" indicate the prayer after sunset (maghrib) as well as that after nightfall (isha).]
30:19 He [it is who] brings forth the living out of that which is dead, and brings forth the dead out of that which is alive, and gives life to the earth after it had been lifeless: and even thus will you be brought forth [from death to life]
30:20 And among His wonders is this: He creates you out of dust - [See second half of note on 3:59, and note on 23:12.] and then, lo! you become human beings ranging far and wide!
30:21 And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind. [Lit., "from among yourselves" (see 4:1).] so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!
30:22 And among his wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colours: for in this, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are possessed of [innate] knowledge!
30:23 And among His wonders is your sleep, at night or in daytime, as well as your [ability to go about in] quest of some of His bounties: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who [are willing to] listen!
30:24 And among His wonders is this: He displays before you the lightning, giving rise to [both] fear and hope, [I.e., hope of rain - an oft-recurring Quranic symbol of faith and spiritual life (cf. 13:12).] and sends down water from the skies, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who use their reason!
30:25 And among His wonders is this: the skies and the earth stand firm at His behest. [Cf. 13:2, where God is spoken of as having "raised the skies without any supports that you could see" - a phrase explained in the corresponding note.] [Remember all this: for] in the end, when He will call you forth from the earth with a single call - lo! you will [all] emerge [for judgment].
30:26 For, unto Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will.
30:27 And He it is who creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew: [Although this statement is phrased in almost exactly the same words as in verse 11 above (as well as in 10:4), it evidently has here a more general purport, relating not only to man and mans individual resurrection but to the creation and constant re-creation of all life.] and most easy is this for Him, since His is the essence of all that is most sublime in the heavens and on earth, and He alone is almighty, truly wise. [Primarily, the term mathal denotes a "likeness" or "similitude", and hence is often used in the Quran (e.g., in the next verse) in the sense of "parable". Occasionally, however, it is synonymous with sifah, which signifies the intrinsic "attribute", "quality" or "nature" of a thing, concept or living being (cf. the reference to "the nature of Jesus" and "the nature of Adam" in 3:59). With reference to God, who is sublimely exalted above anything that men may devise by way of definition (see 6:100 and the corresponding note), the expression mathal clearly points to a quality of being entirely different from all other categories of existence, inasmuch as there is "nothing like unto Him"
30:28 He propounds unto you a parable drawn from your own life: [Lit., "a parable (mathal) from yourselves".] Would you [agree to] have some of those whom your right hands possess [I.e., slaves or persons otherwise subject to ones authority.] as [full-fledged] partners in whatever We may have bestowed upon you as sustenance, so that you [and they] would have equal shares in it, and you would fear [to make use of it without consulting] them, just as you might fear [the more powerful of] your equals? [Lit., "yourselves" - i.e., "those who are equal to you in status". The question is, of course, rhetorical, and must be answered in the negative. But if (so the implied argument goes) a human master would not willingly accept his slaves as full-fledged partners - even though master and slave are essentially equal by virtue of the humanness common to both of them (Zamakhshari) - how can man regard any created beings or things as equal to Him who is their absolute Lord and Master, and is beyond comparison with anything that exists or could ever exist? (Parables with a similar purport are found in 16:75-76.) Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who use their reason.
30:29 But nay - they who are bent on evildoing follow but their own desires, without having any knowledge (of the truth). [In this instance, the phrase alladhina zalamu ("they who are bent on evildoing") relates to those who deliberately ascribe divinity or divine powers to anyone or anything beside God, thus yielding to a desire for divine or semi-divine "mediators" between themselves and Him. Inasmuch as such a desire offends against the concept of God's omniscience and omnipresence, its very existence shows that the person concerned does not really believe in Him and, therefore, does not have the least knowledge of the truth.] And who could guide those whom God has [thus] let go astray, and who (thereupon) have none to succour them? [For an explanation of God's "letting man go astray", see note on the second sentence of 14:4, as well as note on 2:7.]
30:30 AND SO, set thy face steadfastly towards the [one ever-true] faith, [I.e., "surrender thy whole being"; the term "face" is often used metonymically in the sense of one's "whole being".] turning away from all that is false, [For this rendering of hanif, see note on 2:135.] in accordance with the natural disposition which God has instilled into man: [See 7:172 and the corresponding note. The term fitrah, rendered by me as "natural disposition", connotes in this context man's inborn, intuitive ability to discern between right and wrong, true and false, and, thus, to sense God's existence and oneness. Cf. the famous saying of the Prophet, quoted by Bukhari and Muslim: "Every child is born in this natural disposition; it is only his parents that later turn him into a `Jew', a `Christian', or a `Magian'." These three religious formulations, best known to the contemporaries of the Prophet, are thus contrasted with the "natural disposition" which, by definition, consists in man's instinctive cognition of God and self-surrender (Islam) to Him. (The term "parents" has here the wider meaning of "social influences" or "environment").] [for,] not to allow any change to corrupt what God has thus created [Lit., "no change shall there be [or "shall be made"] in God's creation (khalq)". i.e., in the natural disposition referred to above (Zamakhshari). In this context, the term tabdil ("change") obviously comprises the concept of "corruption".] - this is the [purpose of the one] ever-true faith; but most people know it not.
30:31 [Turn, then, away from all that is false,] turning unto Him [alone]; and remain conscious of Him, and be constant in prayer, and be not among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him,
30:32 [or] among those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighting in but what they themselves hold [by way of tenets]. [See 6:159, 21:92 - 93 and 23:52 - 53, as well as the corresponding notes.]
30:33 NOW [thus it is:] when affliction befalls men, they cry out unto their Sustainer, turning unto Him [for help]; but as soon as He lets them taste of His grace, lo! some of them [begin to] ascribe to other powers a share in their Sustainer's divinity, [see note on 16:54.]
30:34 [as if] to prove their ingratitude for all that We have granted them! Enjoy, then, your [brief] life: but in time you will come to know [the truth]!
30:35 Have We ever bestowed upon them from on high a divine writ [Lit., "a warrant" or "authority" (sultan), in this context obviously denoting a revelation.] which would speak [with approval] of their worshipping aught beside Us? [Lit., "of that which they were wont to associate [with Us]". Cf. second paragraph of 35:43 and the corresponding note.]
30:36 And [thus it is:] when we let men taste [Our] grace, they rejoice in it; but if evil befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought [See 4:79 and the corresponding note.] - lo! they lose all hope!
30:37 Are they, then, not aware that it is God who grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills? In this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who will believe!
30:38 Hence, give his due to the near of kin, as well as to the needy and the wayfarer; [Cf. 17:26.] this is best for all who seek God's countenance: for it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state!
30:39 Whatever ye put out at usury to increase it with the substance of others shall have no increase from God: but whatever ye shall give in alms, as seeking the face of God, shall be doubled to you.
30:40 IT IS GOD who has created you, and then has provided you with sustenance, and then will cause you to die, and then will bring you to life again. Can any of those beings or powers to whom you ascribe a share in His divinity [Lit., "any of your [God-] partners". Cf. note on 6:22.] do any of these things? Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
30:41 [Since they have become oblivious of God,] corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of what men's hands have wrought: and so [The prefix li in li-yudhiqahum does not indicate here a purport or intent ("so that" or "in order that"), but is a lam al-aqibah, i.e., a prefix expressing a factual consequence (best rendered as "thereupon" or "and so").] He will let them taste [the evil of] some of their doings, so that they might return [to the right path]. [Thus, the growing corruption and destruction of our natural environment, so awesomely - if as yet only partially - demonstrated in our time, is here predicted as "an outcome of what men's hands have wrought", i.e., of that self-destructive - because utterly materialistic - inventiveness and frenzied activity which now threatens mankind with previously unimaginable ecological disasters: an unbridled pollution of land, air and water through industrial and urban waste, a progressive poisoning of plant and marine life, all manner of genetic malformations in men's own bodies through an ever widening use of drugs and seemingly "beneficial" chemicals, and the gradual extinction of many animal species essential to human well-being. To all this may be added the rapid deterioration and decomposition of man's social life, the all-round increase in sexual perversion, crime and violence, with, perhaps, nuclear annihilation as the ultimate stage: all of which is, in the last resort, an outcome of man's oblivion of God and, hence, of all absolute moral values, and their supersession by the belief that material "progress" is the only thing that matters.]
30:42 Say: "Go all over the earth, and behold what happened in the end to those [sinners] who lived before [you]: most of them were wont to ascribe divine qualities to things or beings other than God." [I.e., they worshipped material comfort and power, and thus lost sight of all spiritual values and, in the end, destroyed themselves.]
30:43 Set, then, thy face steadfastly towards the one ever-true faith, [See verse 30 above, as well as the corresponding notes; also 3:19 - "the only [true] religion in the sight of God is [man's] self-surrender unto Him".] ere there come from God a Day [of reckoning - the Day] which cannot be averted. On that Day all will be sundered:
30:44 he who has denied the truth will have to bear [the burden of] his denial, whereas all who did what is right and just will have made goodly provision for themselves,
30:45 so that He might reward, out of His bounty, those who have attained to faith and done righteous deeds. Verily, He does not love those who refuse to acknowledge the truth -
30:46 for among His wonders is this: He sends forth [His messages as He sends forth] the winds that bear glad tidings, [The mention of God's messages, interpolated by me between brackets, is justified by the verses which precede and follow this passage. Moreover, it is only by means of such an interpolation that the symbolic purport of the above reference to "the winds that bear glad tidings" can be made fully obvious.] so that He might give you a taste of His grace [through life-giving rains], and that ships might sail at His behest, and that you might go about in quest of some of His bounties, and that you might have cause to be grateful.
30:47 And indeed, [O Muhammad, even] before thee did We send forth apostles - each one unto his own people [Lit., "did We send apostles to their [own] people": see note on 10:74.] - and they brought them all evidence of the truth: and then, [by causing the believers to triumph,] We inflicted Our retribution upon those who [deliberately] did evil: for We had willed it upon Ourselves to succour the believers.
30:48 It is God who sends forth the winds [of hope], [As in verse 46 above, the reference to "the winds" has here a symbolic significance, namely, spiritual life and hope; hence my interpolation.] so that they raise a cloud - whereupon He spreads it over the skies as He wills, and causes it to break up so that thou seest rain issue from within it: and as soon as He causes it to fall upon whomever He wills of His servants - lo! they rejoice,
30:49 even though a short while ago, [just] before it was sent down upon them, they had abandoned all hope!
30:50 Behold, then, [O man,] these signs of God's grace - how He gives life to the earth after it had been lifeless! Verily, this Selfsame [God] is indeed the One that can bring the dead back to life: for He has the power to will anything!
30:51 But thus it is: if [The particle la in (lit., "indeed, if ...") is often used in the Quran to express the recurrent, typical character of the attitude or situation referred to in the sequence; in all such cases it may be suitably rendered as "thus it is: if ...", etc.] We send a wind [that scorches their land], and they see it turn yellow, they begin, after that [erstwhile joy], to deny the truth [of Our almightiness and grace]! [For a full explanation of this verse, see 11:9 and the corresponding notes.]
30:52 And, verily, thou canst not make the dead hear: and [so, too,] thou canst not make the deaf [of heart] hear this call when they turn their backs [on thee] and go away,
30:53 just as thou canst not lead the blind [of heart] out of their error: none canst thou make hear [thy call] save such as [are willing to] believe in Our messages, and thus surrender themselves unto Us. [Cf. the identical passage in 27:80-81 and the corresponding note.]
30:54 IT IS GOD who creates you [all in a states of weakness, and then, after weakness, ordains strength [for you], and then, after [a period of] strength, ordains [old-age] weakness and grey hair. [In the original, this sentence is formulated in the past tense ("has created you" and "has ordained"), stressing the recurrent character of man's life-phases. In translation, this recurrence can be suitably expressed by using the present tense.] He creates what He wills; and He alone is all-knowing, infinite in His power.
30:55 [He it is who will cause you to die, and in time will resurrect you.] [This interpolation - the meaning of which is elliptically implied here - shows the connection of the present passage with the preceding one, as well as with verses 11-16 and 27.] And when the Last Hour dawns, those who had been lost in sin will swear that they had not tarried [on earth] longer than an hour: thus were they wont to delude themselves [all their lives]! [The illusory character of man's earthbound concept of "time" is brought out in the Quran in several places. In the above context stress is laid, firstly, on the relativity of this concept - i.e., on the infinitesimal shortness of our life on earth as compared with the timeless duration of life in the hereafter (cf., for instance, 10:45 or 17:52) - and, secondly, on the resurrected sinners' self-deluding excuse that their life on earth had been too short to allow them to realize their errors and mend their ways. It is to this second aspect of the problem that the Quran alludes in the words, "thus were they wont to delude themselves" (lit., "to be turned away", i.e., from the truth). For an explanation of the verb yu fikun, see the second note on 5:75.]
30:56 But those who [in their lifetime] were endowed with knowledge [See the last note on 16:27.] and faith will say: "Indeed, you have been tardy in [accepting as true] what God has revealed, [Lit., "with regard to (fi) God's revelation (kitab)", i.e., that the dead shall be resurrected and judged by Him. It is to be noted that the verb labitha signifies "he waited [for something] or he was tardy [with regard to something]" as well as "he stayed [in a place]" or "he remained". Evidently, in verse 55 ma labithu has the meaning of "they had not stayed" or "remained", while in verse 56 labithtum denotes "you have been tardy" or "you have waited".] [and you have waited] until the Day of Resurrection: this, then, is the Day of Resurrection: but you - you were determined not to know it! [Lit., "you were wont not to know" - i.e., "you persistently closed your mind to this promise".]
30:57 And so, on that Day their excuse will be of no avail to those who were bent on evildoing, nor will they be allowed to make amends.
30:58 AND, INDEED, We have propounded unto men all kinds of parables in this Quran. [See note on the first clause of 39:27.] But thus it is: if thou approach them with any [such] message, those who are bent on denying the truth are sure to say, "You are but making false claims!"
30:59 In this way does God seal the hearts of those who do not [want to] know [the truth]. [For an explanation of God's "sealing" the hearts of such people, see note on 2:7.]
30:60 Remain, then, patient in adversity: verily, Gods promise [of resurrection] is true indeed - so let not those who are devoid of all inner certainty disquiet thy mind!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
31:1 Alif. Lam. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
31:2 THESE ARE MESSAGES of the divine writ, full of wisdom, [See note on 10:1.]
31:3 providing guidance and grace unto the doers of good
31:4 who are constant in prayer and dispense charity: [The term az-zakah seems to have here its more general meaning of "charity" rather than the legal connotation of "purifying dues" (see note on 2:43), the more so as the above passage has a close inner resemblance to 2:2 - 4, where "spending on others out of what We provide as sustenance" is described as one of the characteristics of the God-conscious.] for it is they, they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come!
31:5 It is they who follow the guidance [that comes to them] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state!
31:6 But among men there is many a one that prefers a mere play with words [to divine guidance], [Lit., "among the people there is he who [or "such as"] takes playful [or "idle"] talk in exchange", i.e., for divine guidance: apparently an allusion to a pseudo-philosophical play with words and metaphysical speculations without any real meaning behind them (cf. note on 23:67). Contrary to what some of the commentators assume, the above statement does not refer to any one person (allegedly a contemporary of the Prophet) but describes a type of mentality and has, therefore, a general import.] so as to lead [those] without knowledge astray from the path of God, and to turn it to ridicule: for such there is shameful suffering in store.
31:7 For, whenever Our messages are conveyed to such a one, he turns away in his arrogance [Cf. 23:66-67.] as though he had not heard them - as though there were deafness in his ears. Give him, then, the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come].
31:8 [As against this,] verily, those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds shall have gardens of bliss,
31:9 to abide therein in accordance with God's true promise: for He alone is almighty, truly wise. [Commenting on the above three verses, Razi points out, firstly, that the deliberate contrast between the plural in the promise of "gardens (jannat) of bliss" and the singular in that of "suffering" (adhab) is meant to show that God's grace surpasses His wrath (cf. note on 6:12); and, secondly, that the use of the expression "to abide therein" in connection with the mention of paradise only, and not with that of otherworldly suffering (or hell), is an indication that whereas the enjoyment of the former will be unlimited in duration, suffering in what is described as "hell" will be limited.]
31:10 He [it is who] has created the skies without any supports that you could see, [See note on 13:2.] and has placed firm mountains upon the earth, lest it sway with you, [See note on 16:15.] and has caused all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon. And We [This is another of the many Quranic instances where the personal pronoun relating to God is suddenly changed - in this instance, from "He" to "We" - in order to indicate that God, being infinite, cannot be circumscribed by any pronoun applicable to created, finite beings, and that the use of such pronouns with reference to Him is no more than a concession to the limited nature of every human language.] send down water from the skies, and thus We cause every noble kind [of life] to grow on earth. [Lit., "thereon". As in 26:7, the term zawj has here the significance of "a kind".]
31:11 [All] this is God's creation: show Me, then, what others than He may have created! Nay, but the evildoers [Sc., "who ascribe divine powers to beings or things other than God".] are obviously lost in error!
31:12 and, indeed, we granted this wisdom unto Luqman: [Popularly (though without sufficient justification) identified with Aesop, Luqman is a legendary figure firmly established in ancient Arabian tradition as a prototype of the sage who disdains worldly honours or benefits and strives for inner perfection. Celebrated in a poem by Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (better known under his pen-name Nabighah adh-Dhubyani), who lived in the sixth century of the Christian era, the person of Luqman had become, long before the advent of Islam, a focal point of innumerable legends, stories and parables expressive of wisdom and spiritual maturity: and it is for this reason that the Quran uses this mythical figure - as it uses the equally mythical figure of Al-Khidr in surah 18 - as a vehicle for some of its admonitions bearing upon the manner in which man ought to behave.] "Be grateful unto God - for he who is grateful [unto Him] is but grateful for the good of his own self; whereas he who chooses to be ungrateful [ought to know that], verily, God is self-sufficient, ever to be praised!"
31:13 And, lo, Luqman spoke thus unto his son, admonishing him: "O my dear son! [Lit., "O my little son" - a diminutive idiomatically expressive of endearment irrespective of whether the son is a child or a grown man.] Do not ascribe divine powers to aught beside God: for, behold, such [a false] ascribing of divinity is indeed an awesome wrong!
31:14 "And [God says:] `We have enjoined upon man goodness towards his parents: his mother bore him by bearing strain upon strain, and his utter dependence on her lasted two years: [Lit., "his weaning is [or "takes place"] within two years". According to some philologists, the term fisal circumscribes the entire period of conception, gestation, birth and earliest infancy (Taj al-Arus): in brief, the period of a child's utter dependence on its mother.] [hence, O man,] be grateful towards Me and towards thy parents, [and remember that] with Me is all journeys' end. [Thus, gratitude towards parents, who were instrumental in one's coming to life, is here stipulated as a concomitant to man's gratitude towards God, who is the ultimate cause and source of his existence (cf. 17:23-24).]
31:15 "`[Revere thy parents;] yet should they endeavour to make thee ascribe divinity, side by side with Me, to something which thy mind cannot accept [as divine], [Lit., "something of which thou hast no knowledge", i.e., "something which is contrary to thy knowledge that divine qualities are God's alone" (cf. 29:8).] obey them not; but [even then] bear them company in this world's life with kindness, and follow the path of those who turn towards Me. In the end, unto Me you all must return; and thereupon I shall make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life].'
31:16 "O my dear son," [continued Luqman,] "verily, if there be but the weight of a mustard-seed, and though it be [hidden] in a rock, or in the skies, or in the earth, God will bring it to light: [Nothing is hidden from God and He will bring forth: i.e., take account of it.] for, behold, God is unfathomable [in His wisdom], all-aware [For my rendering of latif as "unfathomable", see surah 6:103.]
31:17 "O my dear son! Be constant in prayer, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and bear in patience whatever [ill] may befall thee: this, behold, is something to set one's heart upon!
31:18 "And turn not thy cheek away from people in [false] pride, and walk not haughtily on earth: for, behold, God does not love anyone who, out of self- conceit, acts in a boastful manner.
31:19 "Hence, be modest in thy bearing, and lower thy voice: for, behold, the ugliest of all voices is the [loud] voice of asses..."
31:20 ARE YOU NOT aware that God has made subservient to you all [I.e., "has enabled you to derive benefit from all, etc. (Cf. note on 14:32-33.)] that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and has lavished upon you His blessings, both outward and inward? [I.e., both visible and invisible benefits, as well as both physical and intellectual (or spiritual) endowments.] And yet, among men there is many a one that argues about God without having any knowledge [of Him], without any guidance, and without any light-giving revelation;
31:21 and when such [people] are told to follow that which God has bestowed from on high, they answer, "Nay, we shall follow that which we found our forefathers believing in and doing!" Why - [would you follow your forefathers] even if Satan had invited them unto the suffering of the blazing flame? [Regarding the implications of the term "Satan" in this context, see note on 2:14 and on 15:17. As in many other places in the Quran, the above verse expresses an oblique condemnation of the principle and practice of taqlid (see Razi's observations quoted in note on 26:74).]
31:22 Now whoever surrenders his whole being unto God, [See note on 2: l12.] and is a doer of good withal, has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing: for with God rests the final outcome of all events.
31:23 But as for him who is bent on denying the truth - let not his denial grieve thee: unto Us they must return, and then We shall make them [truly] understand all that they were doing [in life]: for, verily, God has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].
31:24 We will let them enjoy themselves for a short while - but in the end We shall drive them into suffering severe.
31:25 AND THUS it is [with most people]: if [For the above rendering of la in, see surah 30:51.] thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth?" - they will surely answer, "God." Say: "[Then you ought to know that] all praise is due to God!"- for most of them do not know [what this implies]. [I.e., they give the above answer unthinkingly, following a vague habit of thought, without realizing that a cognition of God as the Ultimate Cause of all existence logically postulates one's full surrender to Him, and to Him alone.]
31:26 Unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth. Verily, God alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due!
31:27 And if all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea [were] ink, with seven [morel seas yet [Lit., "after that".] added to it, the words of God would not be exhausted: for, verily, God is almighty, wise. [Cf. a similar passage in 18:109.]
31:28 [For Him,] the creation of you all and the resurrection of you all is but like [the creation and resurrection of] a single soul: [I.e., in view of His almightiness, there is no difference between the creation and resurrection of many and of one, just as every single soul is as much within His ken as is all mankind.] for, verily, God is all-hearing, all-seeing.
31:29 Art thou not aware that it is God who makes the night grow longer by shortening the day, and makes the day grow longer by shortening the night, and that He has made the sun and the moon subservient [to His laws], each running its course for a term set [by Him] [See note on 13:2.] - and that God is fully aware of all that you do?
31:30 Thus it is, because God alone is the Ultimate Truth, [See surah 20:114.] so that all that men invoke instead of Him is sheer falsehood; and because God alone is exalted, truly great!
31:31 Art thou not aware how the ships speed through the sea by God's favour, so that He might show you some of His wonders? Herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God].
31:32 For [thus it is with most men:] when the waves engulf them like shadows [of death], they call unto God, sincere [at that moment] in their faith in Him alone: but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, some of them stop half-way [between belief and unbelief] [Cf. 17:67, as well as 29:65, which says - in a similar context - that "they (begin to) ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity" (yushrikun). The parable of a storm at sea is, of course, a metonym applying to every kind of danger that may beset man in life.] Yet none could knowingly reject Our messages unless he be utterly perfidious, ingrate.
31:33 O MEN! Be conscious of your Sustainer, and stand in awe of the Day on which no parent will be of any avail to his child, nor a child will in the least avail his parent! Verily, God's promise [of resurrection] is true indeed: let not, then, the life of this world deludes you, and let not [your own] deceptive thoughts about God delude you! [For instance, the self-deluding expectation, while deliberately committing a sin, that God will forgive it (Said ibn Jubayr, as quoted by Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari) According to Tabari, the term gharur denotes "anything that deludes" (ma gharra) a person in the moral sense, whether it be Satan, or another human being, or an abstract concept, or (as in 57:14) "wishful thinking".]
31:34 Verily, with God alone rests the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come: and He [it is who] sends down rain; and He [alone] knows what is in the wombs: [This relates not merely to the problem of the sex of the as yet unborn embryo, but also to the question of whether it will be born at all, and if so, what its natural endowments and its character will be, as well as what role it will be able to play in life: and life itself is symbolized by the preceding mention of rain, and the end of all life in this world, by the mention of the Last Hour.] whereas no one knows what he will reap tomorrow, and no one knows in what land he will die, Verily. God [alone] is all-knowing, all-aware.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
32:1 Alif. Lam. Mim. [See appendix II]
32:2 The bestowal from on high of this divine writ issues, beyond any doubt, from the Sustainer of all the worlds:
32:3 and yet, [Cf. note on 10:38.] they [who are bent on denying the truth] assert, "[Muhammad] has invented it!" Nay, but it is the truth from thy Sustainer, enabling thee to warn [this] people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might follow the right path.
32:4 IT IS GOD who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness. [See note on 7:54.] You have none to protect you from God, and none to intercede for you [on Judgment Day]: will you not, then, bethink yourselves?
32:5 He governs all that exists, from the celestial space to the earth; and in the end all shall ascend unto Him [for judgment] on a Day the length whereof will be [like] a thousand years of your reckoning. [I.e., the Day of Judgment will seem to be endless to those who are judged. In the ancient Arabic idiom, a day that is trying or painful is described as "long", just as a happy day is spoken of as "short" (Maraghi XXI, 105).]
32:6 Such is He who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind: [See second note on surah 6:73.] the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace,
32:7 who makes most excellent everything that He creates. [I.e., He fashions every detail of His creation in accordance with the functions intended for it, irrespective of whether those functions can be understood by us or are beyond the reach of our perception. In the text, the passage comprising verses 7-9 is in the past tense; but since it relates to a continuous act of creation, it signifies the present and the future as well as the past, and may, therefore, be suitably rendered in the present tense.] Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay; [Cf. note on 23:12. In view of the next verse, this "beginning" of man's creation seems to allude to the basic composition of the human body as such, as well as to each individual's pre-natal existence in the separate bodies of his parents.]
32:8 then He causes him to be begotten [Lit., "He caused [i.e., as pointed out in note on verse 7 above, "He causes"] his procreation [or "his begetting"] to be out of...", etc.] out of the essence of a humble fluid;
32:9 and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit: [As in 15:29 and 38:72, God's "breathing of His spirit into man" is a metaphor for the divine gift of life and consciousness, or of a "soul" (which, as pointed out in second note on surah 4:171, is one of the meanings of the term ruh). Consequently, "the soul of every human being is of the spirit of God" (Razi). Regarding the verb sawwahu - rendered by me as "He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be" - see notes on 87:2 and 91:7.] and [thus, O men,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds: [Lit., "hearts" (afidah), which in classical Arabic is a metonym for both "feelings" and "minds"; hence my composite rendering of this term.] [yet] how seldom are you grateful!
32:10 For, [many are] they [who] say, "What! After we have been [dead and] lost in the earth, shall we indeed be [restored to life] in a new act of creation?" Nay, but [by saying this] they deny the truth that they are destined to meet their Sustainer! [Sc., "and thus, by implication, they deny His existence". (Cf. notes on 13:5.)]
32:11 Say: "[One day,] the angel of death who has been given charge of you will gather you, and then unto your Sustainer you will be brought back." PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WHO ARE LOST IN SIN AND REWARDS FOR GOOD DEEDS
32:12 If thou couldst but see [how it will be on Judgment Day], when those who are lost in sin will hang their heads before their Sustainer, [saying:] "O our Sustainer! [Now] we have seen, and we have heard! Return us, then, [to our earthly life] that we may do good deeds: for [now], behold, we are certain [of the truth]!"
32:13 Yet had We so willed, We could indeed have imposed Our guidance upon every human being: [Lit., "We could indeed have given unto every human being (nafs) his guidance", i.e., forcibly: but since this would have deprived man of his ability to choose between right and wrong - and, thus, of all moral responsibility - God does not "impose" His guidance upon anyone (cf. 26:4 and the corresponding note).] but [We have not willed it thus - and so] that word of Mine has come true: "Most certainly will I fill hell with invisible beings as well as with humans, all together!" [See 7:18 as well as the last paragraph of 11:119. As regards the "invisible beings" (jinn), see Appendix III.]
32:14 [And He will say unto the sinners:] "Taste, then, [the recompense] for your having been oblivious of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment] - for, verily, We are [now] oblivious of you: taste, then, [this] abiding suffering for all [the evil] that you were wont to do!"
32:15 ONLY THEY [truly] believe in Our messages who, whenever they are conveyed to them, fall down, prostrating themselves in adoration, and extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise; and who are never filled with false pride;
32:16 [and] who are impelled to rise [Lit., "whose sides [i.e., bodies] restlessly rise".] from their beds [at night] to call out to their Sustainer in fear and hope; and who spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance.
32:17 And [as for all such believers,] no human being can imagine what blissful delights, as yet hidden, await them [in the life to come] as a reward for all that they did. [Lit., "what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of man's really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith: "God says: `I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived" ' (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse (cf. Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f.).]
32:18 Is, then, he who [in his earthly life] was a believer to be compared with one who was iniquitous? [Nay,] these two are not equal!
32:19 As for those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds - gardens of rest await them, as a welcomme [from God], in result of what they did;
32:20 but as for those who are lost in iniquity - their goal is the fire: as oft as they will try to come out of it, they will be thrown back into it; and they will be told, "Taste [now] this suffering through fire which you were wont to call a lie!"
32:21 However, ere [We condemn them to] that supreme suffering, We shall most certainly let them taste of a suffering closer at hand, [Lit., "nearer", i.e., in this world: for an explanation, see note on 52:47.] so that they might [repent and] mend their ways. [Lit., "so that they might return (to righteousness)".]
32:22 And who could be more wicked than he to whom his Sustainer's messages are conveyed and who thereupon turns away from them? Verily, We shall inflict Our retribution on those who are [thus] lost in sin!
32:23 AND, INDEED, [O Muhammad,] We did vouchsafe revelation unto Moses [as well]: so be not in doubt of [thy] having met with the same [truth in the revelation vouchsafed to thee]. [With this passage the discourse returns to the theme enunciated at the beginning of this surah - namely, the divine origin of the revelation granted to Muhammad, which, as the present passage points out, proceeds from the same source as that granted to Moses (the last of the great apostles of God accepted as such by all the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Furthermore, the identity of the fundamental truths in all divine revelations, stressed in the above verse, implies an identity of the moral demands made of the followers of those revelations irrespective of period, race or social environment.] And [just as] We caused that [earlier revelation] to be a guidance for the children of Israel,
32:24 and [as] We raised among them leaders who, so long as they bore themselves with patience and had sure faith in Our messages, guided [their people] in accordance with Our behest [I.e., in accordance with the divine ordinances enunciated in and for their time in the Torah: an allusion to the decline of faith, frequently mentioned in the Quran, among the children of Israel of later times, and the tendency among many of their leaders and learned men to corrupt the text of the Torah and, thus, to "overlay the truth with falsehood" (see, e.g., 2:42, 75, 79, and the corresponding notes).] - [so, too, shall it be with the divine writ revealed unto thee, O Muhammad.] [This interpolation reflects Zamakhshari's commentary on the above passage, to the effect that the Quran is destined to provide guidance and light so long as the community's religious leaders are patient in adversity and steadfast in their faith: an interpretation which implies that the Quran will cease to be of benefit to people who have lost their moral virtues and their faith.]
32:25 VERILY, it is God alone who will decide between men [Lit., "between them".] on Resurrection Day with regard to all on which they were wont to differ. [See surah 2:113; also 22:67-69. In the present instance, this difference of opinion relates to belief in resurrection, on the one hand, and its denial, on the other.]
32:26 [But] can, then, they [who deny the truth] learn no lesson by recalling how many a generation We have destroyed before their time? [For the wider meaning of the term qarn (lit., "generation"), see note on 20:128.] - [people] in whose dwelling-places they [themselves now] walk about? In this, behold, there are messages indeed: will they not, then, listen?
32:27 Are they not aware that it is We who drive the rain onto dry land devoid of herbage, and thereby bring forth herbage of which their cattle and they themselves do eat? Can they not, then, see [the truth of resurrection]?
32:28 But they answer: "When will that final decision take place, if what you [believers] say is true?" [A reference to the statement in verse 25.]
32:29 Say: "On the Day of the Final Decision, their [newly-found] faith will be of no use to those who [in their lifetime] were bent on denying the truth, nor will they be granted respite!" -
32:30 and then leave them alone, and wait [for the truth to unfold as] they, behold, are waiting.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
33:1 PROPHET! Remain conscious of God, and defer not to the deniers of the truth and the hypocrites: for God is truly all-knowing, wise.
33:2 And follow [but] that which comes unto thee through revelation from thy Sustainer: [Lit., "what is revealed to thee from thy Sustainer" - indicating that He is the source of all revelation.] for God is truly aware of all that you do, [O men].
33:3 And place thy trust in God [alone]: for none is as worthy of trust as God.
33:4 NEVER has God endowed any man with two hearts in one body: [Lit., "within him". In the first instance, this connects with the preceding passage, implying that man cannot be truly conscious of God and at the same time defer to the views of "the deniers of the truth and the hypocrites" (Razi). Beyond this, however, the above sentence forms a conceptual link with the sequence, which states that it is against the God-willed laws of nature - and, therefore, unreasonable and morally inadmissible - to attribute to one and the same person two mutually incompatible roles within the framework of human relationships (Zamakhshari).] and [just as] He has never made your wives whom you may have declared to be "as unlawful to you as your mothers' bodies" [truly] your mothers, [This is a reference to the pre-Islamic Arabian custom called zihar, whereby a husband could divorce his wife by simply declaring, "Thou art [henceforth as unlawful] to me as my mother's back", the term zahr ("back") being in this case a metonym for "body". In pagan Arab society, this mode of divorce was considered final and irrevocable; but a woman thus divorced was not allowed to remarry, and had to remain forever in her former husband's custody. As is evident from the first four verses of surah 58 (Al-Mujadalah) - which was revealed somewhat earlier than the present surah - this cruel pagan custom had already been abolished by the time of the revelation of the above verse, and is mentioned here only as an illustration of the subsequent dictum that the "figures of speech [lit., "your sayings"] which you utter with your mouths" do not necessarily coincide with the reality of human relations.] so, too, has He never made your adopted sons [truly] your sons: [I.e., in the sense of blood relationship: hence, the marriage restrictions applying to real sons - and, by obvious implication, daughters as well - do not apply to adoptive children. This statement has a definite bearing on verses 37 ff. below.] these are but [figures of] speech uttered by your mouths - whereas God speaks the [absolute] truth: [Sc., by bringing into being the factual, biological relationship of parent and child in distinction from all man-made, social relationships like husband and wife, or foster-parent and adoptive child. In this connection it should be borne in mind that the Quran frequently uses the metaphor of God's "speech" to express His creative activity.] and it is He alone who can show [you] the right path.
33:5 [As for your adopted children,] call them by their [real] fathers' names: this is more equitable in the sight of God; and if you know not who their fathers were, [call them] your brethren in faith and your friends. [I.e., "make it clear that your relationship is an adoptive one, and do not create the impression that they are your real children" - thus safeguarding their true identity.] However, you will incur no sin if you err in this respect: [I.e., by making a mistake in the attribution of the child's parentage, or by calling him or her, out of love, "my son" or "my daughter".] [what really matters is] but what your hearts intend - for God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
33:6 The Prophet has a higher claim on the believers than [they have on] their own selves, [seeing that he is as a father to them] and his wives are their mothers: [Thus, connecting with the preceding mention of voluntary, elective relationships (as contrasted with those by blood), this verse points to the highest manifestation of an elective, spiritual relationship: that of the God-inspired Prophet and the person who freely chooses to follow him. The Prophet himself is reported to have said: "None of you has real faith unless I am dearer unto him than his father, and his child, and all mankind" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Anas, with several almost identical versions in other compilations). The Companions invariably regarded the Prophet as the spiritual father of his community. Some of them - e.g., Ibn Masud (as quoted by Zamakhshari) or Ubayy ibn Kab, Ibn Abbas and Muawiyah (as quoted by Ibn Kathir) - hardly ever recited the above verse without adding, by way of explanation, "seeing that he is [as] a father to them"; and many of the tabi in -- including Mujahid, Qatadah, lkrimah and Al-Hasan (cf. Tabari and Ibn Kathir) - did the same: hence my interpolation, between brackets, of this phrase. (However, see also verse 40 of this surah and the corresponding note.) As regards the status of the Prophet's wives as the "mothers of the believers", this arises primarily from the fact of their having shared the life of God's Apostle in its most intimate aspect. Consequently, they could not remarry after his death (see verse 53 below), since all the believers were, spiritually, their "children".] and they who are [thus] closely related have, in accordance with God's decree, a higher claim upon one another than [was even the case between] the believers [of Yathrib] and those who had migrated [there for the sake of God]. [See note on the last but one sentence of 8:75. As explained in that note, neither of these two passages (8:75 and 33:6) can be satisfactorily interpreted as bearing on the laws of inheritance: all endeavours to interpret them in that sense only do violence to the logical build-up and inner cohesion of the Quranic discourse. On the other hand, it is obvious that both passages have basically a similar (namely, spiritual) import - with the difference only that whereas the concluding sentences of Al-Anfal refer to the brotherhood of all believers in general, the present passage lays stress on the yet deeper, special relationship between every true believer and God's Apostle.] None the less, you are to act with utmost goodness towards your [other] close friends as well: [I.e., towards all other believers, as stressed so often in the Quran, and particularly in 8:75 (see preceding note): in other words, a believer's exalted love for the Prophet should not blind him to the fact that "all believers are brethren" 49:10. The extremely complex term maruf rendered by me in this context as "innermost goodness", may be defined as "any act [or attitude] the goodness whereof is evident to reason" (Raghib).] this [too] is written down in God's decree.
33:7 AND LO! We did accept a solemn pledge from all the prophets [This parenthetic passage connects with verses 1-3 above, and relates to every prophet's "pledge" - i.e., sacred duty - to convey God's message to man, and thus to act as "a bearer of glad tidings and a warner".] - from thee, [O Muhammad,] as well as from Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary -: for We accepted a most weighty, solemn pledge from [all of] them,
33:8 so that [at the end of time] He might ask those men of truth as to [what response] their truthfulness [had received on earth]. [Cf. 5:109 and, more particularly, 7:6 - "We shall most certainly call to account all those unto whom Our message was sent, and We shall most certainly call to account the message-bearers [themselves]".] And grievous suffering has He readied for all who deny the truth!
33:9 O YOU who have attained to faith! Call to mind the blessings which God bestowed on you (at the time) when [enemy] hosts came down upon you, whereupon We let loose against them a storm wind and [heavenly] hosts that you could not see: [Cf. 3:124-125 and the corresponding note. The present passage (verses 9-27) relates to the War of the Confederates (al -ahzab) - also called the War of the Trench (al -khandaq) - which took place in 5 H. AAt the instigation of the Jewish tribe of Banu n-Nadir, who had been expelled from Yathrib (Medina) after they had broken the treaty binding them to the Muslims, several of the most powerful Arabian tribes formed a confederacy with a view to overcoming, once and for all, the threat posed by Islam to the beliefs and many of the customs of pagan Arabia. In the month of Shawwal, 5 H., a force of well over 12,000 men, composed of the Quraysh and their allies - the Banu Kinanah, Banu Asad and the people of the coastlands (the Tihamah), as well as the great Najdi tribe of Ghatafan and its allies, the Hawazin (or Banu Amir) and Banu Sulaym - converged upon Medina. Forewarned of their coming, the Prophet had ordered a deep trench to be dug around the town - a defensive measure unknown in pre-Islamic Arabia - and thus brought the assault of the Confederates to a halt. At that point, however, another danger arose for the Muslims: the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayzah, who lived in the outskirts of Medina and until then had been allied with the Muslims, broke the treaty of alliance and openly joined the Confederates. Nevertheless, during a siege lasting several weeks all the attempts of the latter to cross the trench - manned by the numerically much weaker and less well-armed Muslims - were repulsed with heavy losses to the attackers; dissensions, based on mutual distrust, gradually undermined the much-vaunted alliance between the Jewish and the pagan Arab tribes; in the month of Dhu l-Qadah their frustration became complete when a bitterly-cold storm wind raged for several days, making life unbearable even for hardened warriors. And so, finally, the siege was raised and the Confederates dispersed, thus ending the last attempt of the pagans to destroy the Prophet and his community.] yet God saw all that you did.
33:10 [Remember what you felt] when they came upon you from above you and from below you, [The Ghatafan group tried to take the trench by assault from the upper, eastern part of the Medina plain, while the Quraysh and their allies launched an attack from its lower, i.e., western part (Zamakhshari), and this obviously in consonance with their original lines of approach - the Ghatafan having come from the highlands (Najd), and the Quraysh from the coastal lowlands (the Tihamah).] and when [your] eyes became dim and [your] hearts came up to [your] throats, and [when] most conflicting thoughts about God passed through your minds: [Lit., "[when] you thought all [manner of] thoughts about God": i.e., "whether He would save you or allow your enemies to triumph".]
33:11 [for] there and then were the believers tried, and shaken with a shock severe.
33:12 And [remember how it was] when the hypocrites and those with hearts diseased [This phrase obviously denotes here the weak of faith among the believers.] said [to one another], "God and His Apostle have promised us nothing but delusions!" [This is a reference to Muhammad's prophetic vision, at the time of digging the trench, of the future Muslim conquest of the whole Arabian Peninsula as well as of the Persian and Byzantine Empires (Tabari). Several authentic Traditions testify to the Prophet's announcement of this vision at the time in question.]
33:13 and when some of them said, "O you people of Yathrib! You cannot withstand [the enemy] here: [I.e., outside the city, defending the trench.] hence, go back [to your homes]!" -- Whereupon a party from among them asked leave of the Prophet, saying, "Behold, our houses are exposed [to attack]!" -- The while they were not [really] exposed: they wanted nothing but to flee.
33:14 Now if their town had been stormed, [Lit., "if entry to them had been forced".] and they had been asked [by the enemy] to commit apostasy, [the hypocrites] would have done so without much delay [Lit., "and would not have tarried more than a little [while]".] --
33:15 although ere that they had vowed before God that they would never turn their backs [on His message]: and a vow made to God must surely be answered for!
33:16 Say: "Whether you flee from [natural] death or from being slain [in battle], flight will not profit you - for, however you fare, [Lit., "for then" or "in that case" (idhan), signifying here "however it may be".] you are not [allowed] to enjoy life for more than a little while!"
33:17 Say: "Who is there that could keep you away from God if it be His will to harm you, or if it be His will to show you mercy?" For, [do they not know that] besides God they can find none to protect them, and none to bring them succour?
33:18 God is indeed aware of those of you who would divert others [from fighting in His cause], as well as of those who say to their brethren, "Come hither to us [and face the enemy]!" -- The while they [themselves] join battle but seldom,
33:19 begrudging you all help. But then, when danger threatens, thou canst see them looking to thee [for help, O Prophet], their eyes rolling [in terror] like [the eyes of] one who is overshadowed by death: yet as soon as the danger has passed, they will assail you [believers] with sharp tongues, begrudging you all that is good! [People like] these have never known faith - and therefore God will cause all their works to come to nought: for this is indeed easy for God.
33:20 They think that the Confederates have not [really] withdrawn; [Sc., "but would come back in force and resume the siege".] and should the Confederates return, these [hypocrites] would prefer to be in the desert, among the bedouin, asking for news about you, [O believers, from far away;] and even were they to find themselves in your midst, they would but make a pretence at fighting [by your side]. [Lit., "they would not fight except a little".]
33:21 VERILY, in the Apostle of God you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe] to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceasingly. [This verse (and the passage that follows) connects with verses 9 - 11 above, and especially with verse 11 - "there and then were the believers tried, and shaken with a shock severe" - which summarizes, as it were, their experiences during the critical days and weeks of the War of the Trench. Although it is addressed, in the first instance, to those early defenders of Medina who were thus exhorted to emulate the Prophet's faith, courage and steadfastness, the above verse is timeless in its import and its validity for all situations and conditions. Since the verb rajawa, as well as the noun-forms rajw, rujuww and raja derived from it, carry the connotation of both "hope" and "fear" (or "awe"), I have rendered yarju accordingly.]
33:22 And [so,] when the believers saw the Confederates [advancing against them], they said, "This is what God and His Apostle have promised us!"- and, "Truly spoke God and His Apostle !" [These seem to be allusions to 29:2 (which may have been one of the last Meccan revelations) as well as to 2:155 and 214 (i.e., verses of the first surah of the Medina period).] -- and all this but increased their faith and their readiness to surrender themselves unto God.
33:23 Among the believers are men who have [always] been true to what they have vowed before God; [Specifically, this verse is said to apply to certain of the Companions who vowed, at the time of the early campaigns, that they would fight until death at the Prophet's side (Zamakhshari); in its wider sense, however, it relates to all efforts involving a supreme sacrifice in God's cause.] and among them are such as have [already] redeemed their pledge by death, and such as yet await [its fulfillment] without having changed [their resolve] in the least.
33:24 [Such trials are imposed upon man] so that God may reward the truthful for having been true to their word, and cause the hypocrites to suffer - if that be His will - or [if they repent,] accept their repentance: [Cf. 6:12 "God, who has willed upon Himself the law of grace and mercy" - and the corresponding note.] for, verily, God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
33:25 Thus, for all their fury, God repulsed those who were bent on denying the truth; [I.e., the pagans among the Confederates (see note on verse 9 above); their Jewish allies are mentioned separately in the next verse.] no advantage did they gain, since God was enough to [protect] the believers in battle - seeing that God is most powerful, almighty;
33:26 and He brought down from their strongholds those of the followers of earlier revelation who had aided the aggressors, [Lit., "them", i.e., the tribes allied against Muhammad and his community. The "followers of earlier revelation" (ahl al-kitab) referred to here were the Jews of the tribe of Banu Qurayzah, who despite their monotheistic faith had betrayed the Muslims and made common cause with the pagan Confederates. After the dismal rout of the latter, the Banu Qurayzah, anticipating the vengeance of the community which they had betrayed, withdrew to their fortresses in the vicinity of Medina. After a siege lasting twenty-five days they surrendered to the Muslims, forfeiting all that they possessed.] and cast terror into their hearts: some you slew, and some you made captive;
33:27 and He made you heirs to their lands, and their houses, and their goods - and [promised you] lands on which you had never yet set foot: [I.e., lands which the Muslims were to conquer and hold in the future. This clause - with its allusion to yet more prosperous times to come - provides a connection between the present passage and the next.] for God has indeed the power to will anything.
33:28 O PROPHET! Say unto thy wives: "If you desire [but] the life of this world and its charms - well, then, I shall provide for you and release you in a becoming manner; [By the time this verse was revealed (see note on verse 52 of this surah) the Muslims had conquered the rich agricultural region of Khaybar, and the community had grown more prosperous. But while life was becoming easier for most of its members, this ease was not reflected in the household of the Prophet who, as before, allowed himself and his family only the absolute minimum necessary for the most simple living. In view of the changed circumstances, it was no more than natural that his wives were longing for a share in the comparative luxuries which other Muslim women could now enjoy: but an acquiescence by Muhammad to their demand would have conflicted with the principle, observed by him throughout his life, that the standard of living of God's Apostle and his family should not be higher than that of the poorest of the believers.]
33:29 but if you desire God and His Apostle, and [thus the good of] the life in the hereafter, then [know that], verily, for the doers of good among you God has readied a mighty reward!" [When, immediately after their revelation, the Prophet recited the above two verses to his wives, all of them emphatically rejected all thought of separation and declared that they had chosen "God and His Apostle and the [good of the] hereafter" (recorded in several compilations of ahadith, among them Bukhari and Muslim). Some of the earliest Islamic scholars (e.g., Qatadah and Al-Hasan, as quoted by Tabari) held that the subsequent revelation of verse 52 of this surah constituted God's reward, as it were, for this attitude.] SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIVILEGES OF PROPHET'S WIVES
33:30 O wives of the Prophet! If any of you were to become guilty of manifestly immoral conduct, [Regarding this connotation of the term fahishah, see surah 4, second note on verse16. According to Zamakhshari, in his commentary on the present verse, this term comprises all that may be described as a "gross sin" (kabirah).] double [that of other sinners] would be her suffering [in the hereafter]: for that is indeed easy for God.
33:31 But if any of you devoutly obeys God and His Apostle and does good deeds, on her shall We bestow her reward twice-over: for We shall have readied for her a most excellent sustenance [in the life to come]. [See note on 8:4.]
33:32 O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any of the [other] women, provided that you remain [truly] conscious of God. [Sc., "and, thus, conscious of your special position as the consorts of God's Apostle and mothers of the believers".] Hence, be not over-soft in your speech, lest any whose heart is diseased should be moved to desire [you]: but, withal, speak in a kindly way.
33:33 And abide quietly in your homes, and do not flaunt your charms as they used to flaunt them in the old days of pagan ignorance; [The term jahiliyyah denotes the period of a people's - or civilization's - moral ignorance between the obliteration of one prophetic teaching and the emergence of another; and, more specifically, the period of Arabian paganism before the advent of Muhammad. Apart from these historical connotations, however, the term describes the state of moral ignorance or unconsciousness in its general sense, irrespective of time or social environment. (See also note on 5:50.)] and be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues, and pay heed unto God and His Apostle: for God only wants to remove from you all that might be loathsome, O you members of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you to utmost purity.
33:34 And bear in mind all that is recited in your homes of God's messages and [His] wisdom: for God is unfathomable [in His wisdom], all-aware. [For the meaning of the term latif as applied to God, especially in combination with the term khabir, see note on 6:103.]
33:35 VERILY, for all men and women who have surrendered themselves unto God, and all believing men and believing women, and all truly devout men and truly devout women, and all men and women who are true to their word, and all men and women who are patient in adversity, and all men and women who humble themselves [before God], and all men and women who give in charity, and all self-denying men and self-denying women, [The term saim, usually rendered as "fasting", has here its primary connotation of "one who abstains [from anything]" or "denies to himself [anything]": cf. 19:26, where the noun sawm denotes "abstinence from speech".] and all men and women who are mindful of their chastity, [Lit., "the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard [them]": see note on 24:30.] and all men and women who remember God unceasingly: for [all of] them has God readied forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward.
33:36 Now whenever God and His Apostle have decided a matter, [I.e., whenever a specific law has been formulated as such in the Quran or in an injunction promulgated by the Prophet.] it is not for a believing man or a believing woman to claim freedom of choice insofar as they themselves are concerned: [Lit., "to have a choice in their concern (min amrihim)" - i.e., to let their attitude or course of action be determined, not by the relevant law, but by their personal interests or predilections.] for he who [thus] rebels against God and His Apostle has already, most obviously, gone astray.
33:37 AND LO, [O Muhammad,] thou didst say unto the one to whom God had shown favour and to whom thou hadst shown favour, [I.e., Zayd ibn Harithah, whom God had caused to become one of the earliest believers, and whom the Prophet had adopted as his son.] "Hold on to thy wife, and remain conscious of God!" And [thus] wouldst thou hide within thyself something that God was about to bring to light [Namely, that the marriage of Zayd and Zaynab, which had been sponsored by Muhammad himself, and on which he had so strongly insisted, was a total failure and could only end in divorce (see also next note).] - for thou didst stand in awe of [what] people [might think], whereas it was God alone of whom thou shouldst have stood in awe! [Lit., "whereas God was more worthy (ahaqq) that thou shouldst stand in awe of Him". Referring to this divine reprimand (which, in itself, disproves the allegation that the Quran was "composed by Muhammad"), Aishah is reliably quoted as having said, "Had the Apostle of God been inclined to suppress anything of what was revealed to him, he would surely have suppressed this verse" (Bukhari and Muslim).]
33:38 [Hence,] no blame whatever attaches to the Prophet for [having done] what God has ordained for him. [I.e., his marriage with Zaynab, which was meant to exemplify a point of canon law as well as to satisfy what the Prophet regarded as his personal moral duty.] [Indeed, such was] God's way with those that have passed away aforetime [I.e., the prophets who preceded Muhammad, in all of whom, as in him, all personal desires coincided with their willingness to surrender themselves to God: an inborn, harmonious disposition of the spirit which characterizes God's elect and - as the subsequent, parenthetic clause declares - is their "destiny absolute" (qadar maqdur).] - and [remember that] God's will is always destiny absolute-;
33:39 [and such will always be His way with] those who convey God's messages [to the world], and stand in awe of Him, and hold none but God in awe: for none can take count [of man's doings] as God does!
33:40 [And know, O believers, that] Muhammad is not the father of any one of your men, [I.e., he is the spiritual "father" of the whole community (cf. note on verse 6 of this surah), and not of any one person or particular persons - thus, incidentally, refuting the erroneous idea that physical descent from a prophet confers, by itself, any merit on the persons concerned.] but is God's Apostle and the Seal of all Prophets. [I.e., the last of the prophets, just as a seal (khatam) marks the end of a document; apart from this, the term khatam is also synonymous with khitam, the "end" or "conclusion" of a thing: from which it follows that the message revealed through Muhammad - the Quran - must be regarded as the culmination and the end of all prophetic revelation (cf. note on the first sentence of the second paragraph of 5:48, and note on 7:158). See also note on 21:107.] And God has indeed full knowledge of everything.
33:41 O YOU who have attained to faith! Remember God with unceasing remembrance,
33:42 and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening. [Lit., "at morn and evening", i.e., at all times.]
33:43 He it is who bestows His blessings upon you, with His angels [echoing Him], so that He might take you out of the depths of darkness into the light. And, indeed, a dispenser of grace is He unto the believers.
33:44 On the Day when they meet Him, they will be welcomed with the greeting, "Peace"; and He will have readied for them a most excellent reward.
33:45 [And as for thee,] O Prophet - behold, We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner,
33:46 and as one who summons [all men] to God by His leave, [I.e., at His behest (Tabari).] and as a light-giving beacon.
33:47 And [so,] convey to the believers the glad tiding that a great bounty from God awaits them;
33:48 and defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] the deniers of the truth and the hypocrites, and disregard their hurtful talk, [Or: "yet [withal,] abstain from injuring them" (Zamakhshari - depending on whether adhahum is taken to mean "the hurt caused by them" or "done to them".] and place thy trust in God: for none is as worthy of trust as God.
33:49 O YOU who have attained to faith! If you marry believing women and then divorce them ere you have touched them, you have no reason to expect, and to calculate, any waiting period on their part: [Lit., "you have no waiting-period whatever upon them which you should count" - i.e., "which either of you should take into account as an obligation": cf. the first part of 2:228, and the corresponding note. Since the question of pregnancy does not arise if the marriage has not been consummated, a waiting-period on the part of the divorced wife would be meaningless and of no benefit either to her or to her former husband.] hence, make [at once] provision for them, and release them in a becoming manner. [This injunction, relating to certain marital problems which affect the believers in general, forms an introduction, as it were, to resumption, in the next verse, of the discourse on the marital laws applying exclusively to the Prophet: thus, it connects with the passage beginning with the words, "O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any of the [other] women" (verse 32), as well as with the subsequent reference to his marriage with Zaynab (verses 37 f.).]
33:50 O PROPHET! Behold, We have made lawful to thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowers, [The term ajr is in this context synonymous with faridah in its specific sense of "dower" (mahr): see note on surah 2:236.] as well as those whom thy right hand has come to possess from among the captives of war whom God has bestowed upon thee. [As pointed out in several places (see, in particular, note on 4:25), Islam does not countenance any form of concubinage, and categorically prohibits sexual relations between a man and a woman unless they are lawfully married to one another. In this respect, the only difference between a "free" woman and a slave is that whereas the former must receive a dower from her husband, no such obligation is imposed on a man who marries his rightfully owned slave (lit., "one whom his right hand possesses") - that is, a woman taken captive in a "holy war" (jihad) waged in defense of the Faith or of liberty (notes on 2:190 and on 8:67) -: for, in such a case, the freedom conferred upon the bride by the very act of marriage is considered to be equivalent to a dower.] And [We have made lawful to thee] the daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and the daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, who have migrated with thee [to Yathrib]; [This was - in addition to his not being allowed to divorce any of his wives (see verse 52 below) - a further restriction imposed on the Prophet in the matter of marriage: whereas all other Muslims are free to marry any of their paternal or maternal cousins, the Prophet was allowed to marry only such from among them as had proved their strong, early attachment to Islam by having accompanied him on his exodus (the hijrah) from Mecca to Medina. In the opinion of Baghawi - an opinion obviously based on the corresponding, ancient Arabian usage - the term "daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts" comprises in this context not only the actual paternal cousins but, in general, all women of the tribe of Quraysh, to which Muhammad's father belonged, while the term "daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts" comprises all women of his mother's tribe, the Banu Zuhrah.] and any believing woman who offers herself freely to the Prophet and whom the Prophet might be willing to wed: [The relevant clause reads, literally, "if she offered herself as a gift (in wahabat nafsaha) to the Prophet". Most of the classical commentators take this to mean "without demanding or expecting a dower (mahr)", which, as far as ordinary Muslims are concerned, is an essential item in a marriage agreement (cf. 4:4 and 24, and the corresponding notes; also surah 2:236).] [this latter being but] a privilege for thee, and not for other believers - [seeing that] We have already made known what We have enjoined upon them with regard to their wives and those whom their right hands may possess. [The above parenthetic sentence refers to the previously revealed, general laws relating to marriage (see 2:221, 4:3-4 and 19-25, as well as the corresponding notes), and particularly the laws bearing on the question of dower.] [And] in order that thou be not burdened with [undue] anxiety - for God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace -
33:51 [know that] thou mayest put off for a time whichever of them thou pleasest, and mayest take unto thee whichever thou pleasest; and [that,] if thou seek out any from whom thou hast kept away [for a time], thou wilt incur no sin [thereby]: [Thus, the Prophet was told that he need not observe a strict "rotation" in the conjugal attentions due to his wives, although he himself, impelled by an inborn sense of fairness, always endeavoured to give them a feeling of absolute equality.] this will make it more likely that their eyes are gladdened [whenever they see thee], [I.e., by the inner certainty that whenever he turned to any of them, he did so on impulse, out of genuine affection, and not out of a sense of marital "obligation".] and that they do not grieve [whenever they are overlooked], and that all of them may find contentment in whatever thou hast to give them: for God [alone] knows what is in your hearts - and God is indeed all-knowing, forbearing. [According to a hadith on the authority of Aishah, recorded in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal, the Prophet "used to divide his attentions equitably among his wives, and then would pray: `O God! I am doing whatever is in my power: do not, then, blame me for [failing in] something which is in Thy power [alone], and not in mine!'- thus alluding to his heart, and to loving some [of his wives] more than others."]
33:52 No [other] women shall henceforth be lawful to thee [Some commentators (e.g., Tabari) assume that this restriction relates to the four categories of women enumerated in verse 50 above: it is, however, much more probable that it is a prohibition barring the Prophet from marrying any woman in addition to those to whom he was already married (Baghawi, Zamakhshari). Some of the earliest, most outstanding authorities on the Quran, like Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, Ibn Zayd (all of them cited by Ibn Kathir), or Al-Hasan al-Basri (quoted by Tabari in his commentary on verses 28-29), link this prohibition of further marriages with the choice between the charms of worldly life and the good of the hereafter with which the wives of the Prophet were confronted on the strength of verses 28-29, and their emphatic option for "God and His Apostle" (cf. note on verse 29 above). All those early authorities describe the revelation of verse 52 and the assurance which it was meant to convey to the wives of the Prophet - as God's reward, in this world, of their faith and fidelity. Since it is inconceivable that the Prophet could have disregarded the categorical injunction, "No [other] women shall henceforth be lawful to thee", the passage in question cannot have been revealed earlier than the year 7 H., that is, the year in which the conquest of Khaybar and the Prophet's marriage with Safiyyah - his last marriage - took place. Consequently, verses 28-29 (with which, as we have seen, verse 52 is closely connected) must have been revealed at that later period, and not, as some commentators think, in the year 5 H. (i.e., at the time of the Prophet's marriage with Zaynab).] - nor art thou [allowed] to supplant [any of] them by other wives, [I.e., to divorce any of them with a view to taking another wife in her stead (with the prohibitive accent on the "supplanting"- i.e., divorcing - of any of his wives).] even though their beauty should please thee greatly -: [none shall be lawful to thee] beyond those whom thou [already] hast come to possess. [In my opinion, the expression ma malakat yaminuka (lit., "what thy right hand possesses", or has come to possess") has here the same meaning as in 4:24, namely, "those whom thou hast come to possess through wedlock" (see note on surah 4:24); thus, the above verse is to be understood as limiting the Prophet's marriages to those already contracted.] And God keeps watch over everything.
33:53 O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not enter the Prophet's dwellings unless you are given leave; [and when invited] to a meal, do not come [so early as] to wait for it to be readied: but whenever you are invited, enter [at the proper time]; and when you have partaken of the meal, disperse without lingering for the sake of mere talk: that, behold, might give offence to the Prophet, and yet he might feel shy of [asking] you [to leave]: but God is not shy of [teaching you] what is right. [Connecting with the reference, in verses 45-48, to the Prophet's mission, the above passage is meant to stress his unique position among his contemporaries; but as is so often the case with Quranic references to historical events and situations, the ethical principle enunciated here is not restricted to a particular time or environment. By exhorting the Prophet's Companions to revere his person, the Quran reminds all believers, at all times, of his exalted status (cf. note on 2:104); beyond that, it teaches them certain rules of behaviour bearing on the life of the community as such: rules which, however insignificant they may appear at first glance, are of psychological value in a society that is to be governed by a genuine feeling of brotherhood, mutual consideration, and respect for the sanctity of each other's personality and privacy.]
33:54 Whether you do anything openly or in secret, [remember that,] verily, God has full knowledge of everything.
33:55 [However,] it is no sin for them [I.e., the wives of the Prophet (connecting with the injunction, in verse 53 above, that they should be spoken to "from behind a screen").] [to appear freely] before their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or such [male slaves] as their right hands may possess. But [always, O wives of the Prophet,] [This interpolation is conditioned by the feminine gender of the subsequent plural imperative ittaqina.] remain conscious of God - for, behold, God is witness unto everything.
33:56 Verily, God and His angels bless the Prophet: [hence,] O you who have attained to faith, bless him and give yourselves up [to his guidance] in utter self-surrender!
33:57 Verily, as for those who [knowingly] affront God and His Apostle - God will reject them in this world and in the life to come; and shameful suffering will He ready for them. [In classical Arabic, the term lanah is more or less synonymous with ibad ("removal into distance" or "banishment"); hence. God's lanah denotes "His rejection of a sinner from all that is good" (Lisan al-Arab) or "exclusion from His grace" (Manar II, 50). The term malun which occurs in verse 61 below signifies, therefore, "one who is bereft of God's grace".]
33:58 And as for those who malign believing men and believing women without their having done any wrong - they surely burden themselves with the guilt of calumny, and [thus] with a flagrant sin!
33:59 O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters, as well as all [other] believing women, that they should draw over themselves some of their outer garments [when in public]: this will be more conducive to their being recognized [as decent women] and not annoyed. [Cf. the first two sentences of 24:31 and the corresponding notes.] But [withal,] God is indeed much- forgiving, a dispenser of grace! [The specific, time-bound formulation of the above verse (evident in the reference to the wives and daughters of the Prophet), as well as the deliberate vagueness of the recommendation that women "should draw upon themselves some of their outer garments min jalabibihinna)" when in public, makes it clear that this verse was not meant to be an injunction (hukm) in the general, timeless sense of this term but, rather, a moral guideline to be observed against the ever-changing background of time and social environment. This finding is reinforced by the concluding reference to God's forgiveness and grace.]
33:60 THUS IT IS: if [For my above rendering of lain see note on surah 30:51. With this passage, the discourse returns to the theme touched upon in verse 1 and more fully dealt with in verses 9-27: namely, the opposition with which the Prophet and his followers were faced in their early years at Yathrib (which by that time had come to be known as Madinat an-Nabi, "the City of the Prophet").]the hypocrites, and they in whose hearts is disease, [See note on verse 12 above.] and they who, by spreading false rumours, would cause disturbances [Thus Zamakhshari, explaining the term al-murjifun in the above context.] in the City [of the Prophet] desist not [from their hostile doings]. We shall indeed give thee mastery over them, [O Muhammad] - and then they will not remain thy neighbours in this [city] for more than a little while: [I.e., "there will be open warfare between thee and them", which will result in their expulsion from Medina: a prediction which was fulfilled in the course of time.]
33:61 bereft of God's grace, they shall be seized wherever they may be found, and slain one and all. [Lit., "slain with [a great] slaying". See in this connection note on 2:191. For my rendering of malunin as "bereft of God's grace", see note on verse 57 above.]
33:62 Such has been God's way with those who [sinned in like manner and] passed away aforetime - and never wilt thou find any change in God's way! [Cf. 35:42--44, and particularly the last paragraph of verse 43.]
33:63 PEOPLE will ask thee about the Last Hour. Say: "Knowledge thereof rests with God alone; yet for all thou knowest, the Last Hour may well be near!" [See 7:187.]
33:64 Verily, God has rejected the deniers of the truth, and has readied for them a blazing fire,
33:65 therein to abide beyond the count of time: no protector will they find, and none to bring them succour.
33:66 On the Day when their faces shall be tossed about in the fire, [As in several other instances in the Quran, the "face", being the noblest and most expressive part of a human person, represents here man's "personality" in its entirety; and its being "tossed about in the fire" is symbolic of the annihilation of the sinner's will and his reduction to utter passivity.] they will exclaim, "Oh, would that we had paid heed unto God, and paid heed unto the Apostle!"
33:67 And they will say: "O our Sustainer! Behold, we paid heed unto our leaders and our great men, and it is they who have led us astray from the right path!
33:68 O our Sustainer! Give them double suffering, and banish them utterly from Thy grace!" [Lit., "reject them (il anhum) with a great rejection", i.e., "from Thy grace".]
33:69 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be not like those [children of Israel] who gave offence to Moses, and [remember that] God showed him to be innocent of whatever they alleged [against him or demanded of him]: [This is an allusion to the aspersions occasionally cast upon Moses by some of his followers and mentioned in the Old Testament (e.g., Numbers xii, 1-13), as well as to the blasphemous demands of which the Quran speaks - e.g., "O Moses, indeed we shall not believe thee until we see God face to face"
33:70 O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and [always] speak with a will to bring out [only] what is just and true - [The expression qawl sadid signifies, literally, "a saying that hits the mark", i.e., is truthful, relevant and to the point. In the only other instance where this expression is used in the Quran (at the end of 4:9) it may be appropriately rendered as "speaking in a just manner"; in the present instance, however, it obviously relates to speaking of others in a manner devoid of all hidden meanings, insinuations and frivolous suspicions, aiming at no more and no less than the truth.]
33:71 [whereupon] He will cause your deeds to be virtuous, and will forgive you your sins. And [know that] whoever pays heed unto God and His Apostle has already attained to a mighty triumph.
33:72 Verily, We did offer the trust [of reason and volition] to the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains: [The classical commentators give all kinds of laborious explanations to the term amanah ("trust") occurring in this parable, but the most convincing of them (mentioned in Lane I, 102, with reference to the above verse) are "reason", or "intellect", and "the faculty of volition" - i.e., the ability to choose between two or more possible courses of action or modes of behaviour, and thus between good and evil.] but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up - [Sc., "and then failed to measure up to the moral responsibility arising from the reason and the comparative free will with which he has been endowed" (Zamakhshari. This obviously applies to the human race as such and not necessarily to all of its individuals.] for, verily, he has always been prone to be most wicked, most foolish.
33:73 [And so it is] that God imposes suffering on the hypocrites, both men and women, as well as on the men and women who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. [In other words, on those who offend against what their own reason and conscience would have them do. This suffering, whether in this world or in the hereafter, is but a causal consequence - as the lam al-aqibah at the beginning of this sentence shows - of man's moral failure, and not an arbitrary act of God. (Cf. in this connection note on 2:7. which speaks of God's "sealing" the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth.)] And [so, too, it is] that God turns in His mercy unto the believing men and believing women: for God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
34:1 ALL PRAISE is due to God, to whom all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth belongs; and to Him will be due all praise in the life to come. For He alone is truly wise, all-aware:
34:2 He knows all that enters the earth, and all that comes out of it, as well as all that descends from the skies, and all that ascends to them. [This definition comprises things physical and spiritual: waters disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal; traces of old artifacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishment for new life; the ascent of earthy vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heavens of men's longings, hopes and ambitions, and the descent of divine inspiration into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thought and, with it, the growth of new artifacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth which characterizes all of God's creation.] And He alone is a dispenser of grace, truly-forgiving.
34:3 And yet, they who are bent on denying the truth assert, "Never will the Last Hour come upon us!" [This assertion of the godless has a twofold meaning: 1 "The universe is without beginning and without end: it can only change, but can never cease to exist" - which amounts to a denial of the fact that God alone is eternal; and 2 "There is no resurrection and divine judgment as symbolized by the Last Hour" - which amounts to a denial of life after death and, hence, of all significance and purpose attaching to human life as such.] Say: "Nay, by my Sustainer! By Him who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception: it will most certainly come upon you!" Not an atom's weight [of whatever there is] in the heavens or on earth escapes His knowledge; and neither is there anything smaller than that, or larger, but is recorded in [His] clear decree,
34:4 to the end that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds: [for] it is they whom forgiveness of sins awaits, and a most excellent sustenance [See note on 8:4.] -
34:5 whereas for those who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness. [The particle mim (lit., "out of") which precedes the noun rijz ("vileness" or "vile conduct") indicates that the suffering which awaits such sinners in the life to come is an organic consequence of their deliberately evil conduct in this world.]
34:6 NOW THEY who are endowed with [innate] knowledge are well aware that whatever has been bestowed upon thee from on high by thy Sustainer is indeed the truth, and that it guides onto the way that leads to the Almighty, the One to whom all praise is due!
34:7 As against this, they who are bent on denying the truth say [unto all who are of like mind]: "Shall we point out to you a man who will tell you that [after your death,] when you will have been scattered in countless fragments, you shall - lo and behold! - be [restored to life] in a new act of creation?
34:8 Does he [knowingly] attribute his own lying inventions to God - or is he a madman?" Nay, [there is no madness in this Prophet -] but they who will not believe in the life to come are [bound to lose themselves] in suffering and in a profound aberration. [Lit., "remote aberration". (For the Quranic use of the term dalal - lit., "error" or "going astray" - in the sense of "aberration", see 12:8 and 12:95.) The construction of this phrase points definitely to suffering in this world (in contrast with the suffering in the hereafter spoken of in verse 5 above): for whereas the concept of "aberration" is meaningless in the context of the life to come, it has an obvious meaning in the context of the moral and social confusion - and, hence, of the individual and social suffering - which is the unavoidable consequence of people's loss of belief in the existence of absolute moral values and, thus, in an ultimate divine judgment on the basis of those values.]
34:9 Are they, then, not aware of how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them? [Lit., "... not aware of what of the sky and the earth is between their hands, and what is behind them": an idiomatic phrase explained in surah 2:255. In the present context - as well as in 2:255 - the above phrase stresses the insignificance of the knowledge attained to by man, or accessible to him; hence, so the argument goes, how can anyone be so presumptuous as to deny the reality of resurrection and life after death, seeing that it is a phenomenon beyond man's experience, while, on the other hand, everything within the universe points to God's unlimited creative power?] - [or that,] if We so willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them, [I.e., in an earthquake.] or cause fragments of the sky to fall down upon them? [This allusion to unpredictable geological and cosmic occurrences - earthquakes, the fall of meteors and meteorites, cosmic rays, and so forth - reinforces the statement about "how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them", and contrasts man's insignificance with God's omniscience and almightiness.]
34:10 AND [thus], indeed, did We grace David with Our favour: [Lit., "did We bestow upon David a favour from Ourselves". This connects with the elliptic reference to repentance in the preceding verse: David is singled out for special mention in view of the allusion, in surah 38, to his having suddenly become aware that he had committed a sin, whereupon "he asked his Sustainer to forgive him his sin... and turned unto Him in repentance"
34:11 [and inspired him thus:] "Do good deeds lavishly, without stint, and give deep thought to their steady flow." [The adjective sabigh (fem. sabighah) signifies anything that is "ample", "abundant" and "complete" (in the sense of being perfect). In its plural form sabighat it assumes the function of the noun which it is meant to qualify, and denotes, literally, "things [or "deeds"] ample and complete" or "perfect" - i.e., good deeds done abundantly and without stint: cf. the only other Quranic instance of the same stem in 31:20 - "[God] has lavished (asbagha) upon you His blessings". The noun sard, on the other hand, denotes something "carried on consecutively", or something the parts (or stages) whereof are "following one another steadily". i.e., are continued or repeated.] And [thus should you all, O believers,] do righteous deeds: for, verily, I see all that you do!
34:12 AND UNTO Solomon [We made subservient] the wind: its morning course [covered the distance of] a month's journey, and its evening course, a month's journey. [Cf. 21:81 and the corresponding note. For a more general explanation of the legends connected with the person of Solomon, see note on 21:82.] And We caused a fountain of molten copper to flow at his behest; [Lit., "for him": probably a reference to the many furnishings of copper and brass which, according to the Bible (cf. II Chronicles iv), Solomon caused to be made for his newly-built temple.] and [even] among the invisible beings there were some that had [been constrained] to labour for him by his Sustainer's leave [Lit., "between his hands", i.e., subject to his will: see 21:82 and the corresponding notes. For my rendering of jinn as "invisible beings", see Appendix III.]- and whichever of them deviated from Our command, him would We let taste suffering through a blazing flame -:
34:13 they made for him whatever he wished of sanctuaries, and statues, and basins as [large as] great watering - troughs, and cauldrons firmly anchored. [I.e., because of their enormous size. Cf. II Chronicles iii, 10 - 13, where statues ("images") of cherubim are mentioned, as well as iv, 2 - 5, describing "a molten sea" (i.e., basin) of huge dimensions, resting upon twelve statues of oxen, and meant to contain water "for the priests to wash in" (ibid., iv, 6). The "sanctuaries" were apparently the various halls of the new temple.] [And We said:] "Labour, O David's people, in gratitude [towards Me] [These words, ostensibly addressed to "the people" or "the family" of David, are in reality an admonition to all believers, at all times, since all of them are, spiritually, "David's people".] - and [remember that] few are the truly grateful [even] among My servants!" [I.e., even among those who consider themselves God's servants - for "truly grateful [to God] is only he who realizes his inability to render adequate thanks to Him" (Zamakhshari).]
34:14 Yet [even Solomon had to die; but] when We decreed that he should die, nothing showed them that he was dead except an earthworm that gnawed away his staff. [This is yet another of the many Solomonic legends which had become an inalienable part of ancient Arabian tradition, and which the Quran uses as a vehicle for the allegorical illustration of some of its teachings. According to the legend alluded to above, Solomon died on his throne leaning forward on his staff, and for a length of time nobody became aware of his death: with the result that the jinn, who had been constrained to work for him, went on labouring at the heavy tasks assigned to them. Gradually, however, a termite ate away Solomon's staff, and his body, deprived of support, fell to the ground. This story - only hinted at in its outline - is apparently used here as an allegory of the insignificance and inherent brittleness of human life and of the perishable nature and emptiness of all worldly might and glory.] And when he fell to the ground, those invisible beings [subservient to him] saw clearly that, had they but understood the reality which was beyond the reach of their perception, [Al-ghayb, "that which is beyond the reach of [a created being's] perception", either in an absolute or - as in this instance - in a relative, temporary sense.] they would not have continued [to toil] in the shameful suffering [of servitude] [I.e., because they would have known that Solomon's sway over them had ended. In the elliptic manner so characteristic of the Quran, stress is laid here, firstly, on the limited nature of all empirical knowledge, including the result of deductions and inferences based on no more than observable or calculable phenomena, and, secondly, on the impossibility to determine correctly, on the basis of such limited fragments of knowledge alone, what course of action would be right in a given situation. Although the story as such relates to "invisible beings", its moral lesson (which may be summed up in the statement that empirical knowledge cannot provide any ethical guideline unless it is accompanied, and completed, by divine guidance) is obviously addressed to human beings as well.]
34:15 INDEED, in [the luxuriant beauty of] their homeland, the people of Sheba had an evidence [of God's grace] [This connects with the call to gratitude towards God in the preceding passage, and the mention, at the end of verse 13, that "few are the truly grateful" even among those who think of themselves as "God's servants". The kingdom of Sheba (Saba in Arabic) was situated in south-western Arabia, and at the time of its greatest prosperity (i.e., in the first millennium B.C.) comprised not only the Yemen but also a large part of Hadramawt and the Mahrah country, and probably also much of present-day Abyssinia. In the vicinity of its capital Marib - the Sabaeans had built in the course of centuries an extraordinary system of dams, dykes and sluices, which became famous in history, with astonishing remnants extant to this day. It was to this great dam that the whole country of Sheba owed its outstanding prosperity, which became proverbial throughout Arabia. (According to the geographer Al-Hamdani, who died in 334 H., the area irrigated by this system of dams stretched eastward to the desert of Sayhad on the confines of the Rub al-Khali). The flourishing state of the country was reflected in its people's intense trading activities and their control of the "spice road" which led from Marib northwards to Mecca, Yathrib and Syria, and eastwards to Dufar on the shores of the Arabian Sea, thus connecting with the maritime routes from India and China. The period to which the above Quranic passage refers is evidently much later than that spoken of in 27:22 - 44.] -- two [vast expanses of] gardens, to the right and to the left, [calling out to them, as it were:] "Eat of what your Sustainer has provided for you, and render thanks unto Him: a land most goodly, and a Sustainer much-forgiving!"
34:16 But they turned away [from Us], and so We let loose upon them a flood that overwhelmed the dams, [Lit., "the flooding of the dams" (sayl al-arim). The date of that catastrophe cannot be established with any certainty, but the most probable period of the first bursting of the Dam of Marib seems to have been the second century of the Christian era. The kingdom of Sheba was largely devastated, and this led to the migration of many southern (Qahtan) tribes towards the north of the Peninsula. Subsequently, it appears, the system of dams and dykes was to some extent repaired, but the country never regained its earlier prosperity; and a few decades before the advent of Islam the great dam collapsed completely and finally.] and changed their two [expanses of luxuriant] gardens into a couple of gardens yielding bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few [wild] lote-trees:
34:17 thus We requited them for their having denied the truth. But do We ever requite [thus] any but the utterly ingrate? [Neither the Quran nor any authentic hadith tells us anything definite about the way in which the people of Sheba had sinned at the time immediately preceding the final collapse of the Dam of Marib (i.e.. in the sixth century of the Christian era). This omission, however, seems to be deliberate. In view of the fact that the story of Sheba's prosperity and subsequent catastrophic downfall had become a byword in ancient Arabia, it is most probable that its mention in the Quran has a purely moral purport similar to that of the immediately preceding legend of Solomon's death, inasmuch as both these legends, in their Quranic presentation, are allegories of the ephemeral nature of all human might and achievement. As mentioned above, the story of Sheba's downfall is closely linked with the phenomenon of men's recurrent ingratitude towards God. (See also verse 20 below.)]
34:18 Now [before their downfall,] We had placed between them and the cities which We had blessed [I.e., Mecca and Jerusalem, both of which lay on the caravan route much used by the people of Sheba.] [many] towns within sight of one another; and thus We had made travelling easy [for them, as if to say]: "Travel safely in this [land], by night or by day!"
34:19 But now they would say, "Long has our Sustainer made the distance between our journey- stages!" - for they had sinned against themselves. [In its generally-accepted spelling - based on the reading adopted by most of the early scholars of Medina and Kufah - the above phrase reads in the vocative rabbana and the imperative ba'id ("Our Sustainer! Make long the distances...", etc.), which, however, cannot be convincingly explained. On the other hand, Tabari, Baghawi and Zamakhshari mention, on the authority of some of the earliest Quran-commentators, another legitimate reading of the relevant words, namely, rabbuna (in the nominative) and ba'ada (in the indicative), which gives the meaning adopted by me: "Long has our Sustainer made the distances...", etc. To my mind, this reading is much more appropriate since (as pointed out by Zamakhshari) it expresses the belated regrets and the sorrow of the people of Sheba at the devastation of their country, the exodus of large groups of the population, and the resultant abandonment of many towns and villages on the great caravan routes.] And in the end We caused them to become [one of those] tales [of things long past], and scattered them in countless fragments. [An allusion to the mass-migration of South-Arabian tribes in all directions - particularly towards central and northern Arabia - subsequent to the destruction of the Dam of Marib.] Herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God].
34:20 Now, indeed, Iblis did prove that his opinion of them had been right: [See 17:62, as well as the last sentence of 7:17, in which Iblis (i.e., Satan) says of the human race, "most of them wilt Thou find ungrateful".] for [when he called them,] they followed him - all but some of the believers [among them].
34:21 And yet, he had no power at all over them: [Cf. a similar phrase placed in the mouth of Iblis in 14:22 ("I had no power at all over you: I but called you - and you responded unto me"), and the corresponding note; also, see note on 15:39 - 40. Although, on the face of it, verses 20 - 21 of the present surah refer to the people of Sheba, their import is (as the sequence shows) much wider, applying to the human race as such.[for if We allow him to tempt man,] it is only to the end that We might make a clear distinction between those who [truly] believe in the life to come and those who are in doubt thereof: [See 15:41 and the corresponding note.] for thy Sustainer watches over all things.
34:22 SAY: "Call upon those [beings] whom you imagine [to be endowed with divine powers] beside God: they have not an atom's weight of power either in the heavens or on earth, nor have they any share in [governing] either, nor does He [choose to] have any helper from among them." [I.e., anybody who would "mediate" between Him and any of His creatures. As is evident from the sequence (as well as from 17:56 - 57), this passage relates, in particular, to the attribution of divine or semi-divine qualities to saints and angels and to the problem of their "intercession" with God.]
34:23 And, before Him, intercession can be of no avail [to any] save one in whose case He may have granted leave [therefor]: [See note on the first sentence of 10:31.] so much so that when the terror [of the Last Hour] is lifted from their hearts, they [who have been resurrected] will ask [one another], "What has your Sustainer decreed [for you]?" - [to which] the others will answer, "Whatever is true and deserved - for He alone is exalted, great!" [Lit., "the truth" - i.e., whatever God decides regarding His grant or refusal of leave for intercession (which is synonymous with His redemptive acceptance or His rejection of the human being concerned) will conform with the requirements of absolute truth and justice (see note on 19:87).]
34:24 Say: "Who is it that provides for you sustenance out of the heavens and the earth?" [See note on the first sentence of 10:31.] Say: "It is God. And, behold, either we [who believe in Him] or you [who deny His oneness] are on the right path, or have clearly gone astray!"
34:25 Say: "Neither shall you be called to account for whatever we may have become guilty of, nor shall we be called to account for whatever you are doing."
34:26 Say: "Our Sustainer will bring us all together [on Judgment Day], and then He will lay open the truth between us, in justice - for He alone is the One who opens all truth, the All-Knowing!"
34:27 Say: "Point out to me those [beings] that you have joined with Him [in your minds] as partners [in His divinity]! Nay - nay, but He [alone] is God, the Almighty, the Wise!"
34:28 NOW [as for thee, O Muhammad,] We have not sent thee otherwise than to mankind at large, to be a herald of glad tidings and a warner; but most people do not understand [this],
34:29 and so they ask, "When is this promise [of resurrection and judgment] to be fulfilled? [Answer this, O you who believe in it,] if you are men of truth!" [The Quranic answer to this ironic question is found in 7:187.]
34:30 Say: "There has been appointed for you a Day, which you can neither delay nor advance by a single moment." [For my rendering of sa'ah (lit., "hour") as "a single moment", see surah 7:34.]
34:31 And [yet,] those who are bent on denying the truth do say, "We shall never believe in this Quran, and neither in whatever there still remains of earlier revelations!" [For the rendering of ma bayna yadayhi, in relation to the Quran, as "whatever there still remains of earlier revelations", see surah 3:3. As is evident from the preceding and subsequent verses, the rejection by "those who are bent on denying the truth" of all revelation is motivated by their refusal to believe in resurrection and God's judgment, and, hence, to admit the validity of absolute moral standards as postulated by every higher religion.] DIALOGUE BETWEEN LEADERS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS ON JUDGMENT DAY But if thou couldst only see [how it will be on Judgment Day,] when these evildoers shall be made to stand before their Sustainer, hurling reproaches back and forth at one another! Those [of them] who had been weak [on earth] will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: [I.e., as the "intellectual leaders" of their community.] "Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers!"
34:32 [And] those who were wont to glory in their arrogance will say unto those who had been weak: "Why - did we keep you [forcibly] from following the right path after it had become obvious to you? [Lit., "did we keep you away from guidance after it had come to you?"] Nay, it was but you [yourselves] who were guilty!"
34:33 But those who had been weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: "Nay, [what kept us away was your] devising of false arguments, night and day, [against God's messages- as you did] [I.e., always, the term makr (lit., "a scheme" or "scheming") has here the connotation of "devising false arguments" against something that is true: in this case, as is shown in the first paragraph of verse 31 above, against God's messages (cf. a similar use of this term in 10:21 and 35:43; see also 86:15).] when you persuaded us to blaspheme against God and to claim that there are powers that could rival Him!" [Lit., "[that we should] give God compeers (andad)". For an explanation of this phrase and my rendering of it, see 2:22.] And when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will [all] be unable to express [the full depth of] their remorse: [For a justification of this rendering of the phrase asarru `n-nadamah, see 10:54.] for We shall have put shackles around the necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth: [As pointed out by several of the classical commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi and Baydawi) in their explanations of similar phrases occurring in 13:5 and 36:8, the "shackles" (aghlal) which these sinners carry, as it were, "around their necks" in life, and will carry on Judgment Day, are a metaphor of the enslavement of their souls to the false values to which they had surrendered, and of the suffering which will be caused by that surrender.] [and] will this be aught but a [just] requital for what they were doing? PURSUIT OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY AT THE EXPENSE OF MORALITY
34:34 For [thus it is:] whenever We sent a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures would declare, [The term mutraf denotes "one who indulges in the pursuit of pleasures", i.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations: cf. note on 11:116.] "Behold, we deny that there is any truth in [what you claim to be] your message!" -
34:35 and they would add, "Richer [than you] are we in wealth and in children, and [so] we are not going to be made to suffer!" [Implying, firstly, that the only thing that really counts in life is the enjoyment of material benefits; and, secondly, that a materially successful life is, by itself, an evidence of one's being "on the right way".]
34:36 Say: "Behold, my Sustainer grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills: but most men do not understand [God's ways]." [Sc., "and foolishly regard riches and poverty as indications of God's favour or disfavour". Indirectly, this statement refutes the belief held by many people in the present as well as in the past that material prosperity is a justification of all human endeavour.]
34:37 For, it is neither your riches nor your children that can bring you nearer to Us: only he who attains to faith and does what is right and just [comes near unto Us]; and it is [such as] these whom multiple recompense awaits for all that they have done; and it is they who shall dwell secure in the mansions [of paradise] -
34:38 whereas all who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, shall be given over to suffering.
34:39 Say: "Behold, my Sustainer grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills of His servants; [I.e., God's promise to the righteous that they would attain to happiness in the life to come neither precludes nor implies their being wealthy or poor in this world.] and whatever it be that you spend on others, He [always] replaces it: for He is the best of providers." [I.e., either with worldly goods, or with inner contentment, or with spiritual merit (Zamakhshari).]
34:40 And [as for those who now deny the truth,] one Day He will gather them all together, and will ask the angels, "Was it you that they were wont to worship?" [This allegorical "question" - allegorical, because God is omniscient and has no need to "ask" - implies that many of "those who deny the truth" of God's messages delude themselves into believing that they are, nevertheless, worshipping spiritual forces, here comprised in the term "angels".]
34:41 They will answer: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Thou [alone] art close unto us, not they! [Implying that they (the angels) would never have accepted that worship which is due to God alone.] Nay, [when they thought that they were worshipping us,] they were but [blindly] worshipping forces concealed from their senses; most of them believed in them." [In this instance, I believe, the term jinn has its primary meaning of "that which is concealed from [man's] senses" (see Appendix III), thus including all manner of unknown forces, both real and imaginary, believed to be inherent in what we describe as "nature". Hence, the answer of the angels implies that the sinners' alleged worship of them had never been more than a subconscious screen for their fear of the invisible forces of nature and, ultimately, of the yet deeper fear of the Unknown - that fear which sooner or later engulfs all who refuse to believe in the existence of God and, hence, cannot see any meaning or purpose in human life. (See also the last sentence of 10:28 and the corresponding note.)]
34:42 And [on that Day God will say]: "None of you [created beings] has today any power to benefit or to harm another!" And [then] We shall say unto those who had been bent on evildoing: "Taste [now] that suffering through fire which you were wont to call a lie!"
34:43 For [thus it is:] whenever Our messages are conveyed unto them in all their clarity, they [who are bent on denying the truth] say [to one another], "This [Muhammad] is nothing but a man who wants to turn you away from what your forefathers were wont to worship!" And they say, "This [Quran] is nothing but a falsehood invented [by man]!" And [finally,] they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of the truth when it comes to them: "This is clearly nothing but spellbinding eloquence!" [Lit., "sorcery" or "magic" - a term frequently used in the sense of "spellbinding eloquence" (cf. 74:24, the earliest instance in the chronology of Quranic revelation).]
34:44 And yet, [O Muhammad,] never have We vouchsafed them any revelations which they could quote, and neither have We sent unto them any warner before thee. [Lit., "which they could study", i.e., in support of the blasphemous beliefs and practices inherited from their ancestors. Cf. 30:35, which expresses a similar idea.]
34:45 Thus, too, gave the lie to the truth [many of] those who lived before them; and although those [earlier people] had not attained to even a tenth of [the evidence of the truth] which We have vouchsafed unto these [late successors of theirs], yet when they gave the lie to My apostles, how awesome was My rejection! [Sc., "And how much worse will fare the deniers of the truth to whom so explicit and so comprehensive a divine writ as the Quran has been conveyed!" My rendering of the whole of this verse is based on Razi's interpretation, which differs from that of most of the other commentators.]
34:46 Say: "I counsel you one thing only: Be [ever conscious of] standing before God, whether you are in the company of others or alone; [Lit., "two by two (mathna) and singly (furada)". According to Razi, the expression mathna denotes, in this context, "together with another person" or "other persons": hence, the above phrase may be understood to refer to man's social behaviour - i.e., his actions concerning others - as well as to his inner, personal attitude in all situations requiring a moral choice.] and then bethink yourselves [that] there is no madness in [this prophet,] your fellow-man: [See note on 7:184.] he is only a warner to you of suffering severe to come."
34:47 Say: "No reward have I ever asked of you [out of anything] that is yours: [I.e., no reward of a material nature: cf. 25:57 - "no reward other than that he who so wills may unto his Sustainer find a way".] my reward rests with none but God, and He is witness unto everything!"
34:48 Say: "Verily, my Sustainer hurls the truth [against all that is false] [Cf. 21:18.] - He who fully knows all the things that are beyond the reach of a created being's perception!"
34:49 Say: "The truth has now come [to light, and falsehood is bound to wither away]: [Cf. 17:81.] for, falsehood cannot bring forth anything new, nor can it bring back [what has passed away]." [I.e., in contrast to the creativeness inherent in every true idea, falsehood - being in itself an illusion - cannot really create anything or revive any values that may have been alive in the past.]
34:50 Say: "Were I to go astray, I would but go astray [due to my own self, and] to the hurt of myself; [According to Zamakhshari, the idea expressed by the interpolated words "due to my own self" is implied in the above, inasmuch as "everything that goes against [the spiritual interests of] oneself is caused by oneself". (See note on 14:4.)] but if I am on the right path, it is but by virtue of what my Sustainer reveals unto me: for, verily, He is all-hearing, ever-near!"
34:51 IF THOU couldst but see [how the deniers of the truth will fare on Resurrection Day,] when they will shrink in terror, with nowhere to escape - since they will have been seized from so close nearby [Lit., "from a place nearby" - i.e., from within their own selves: cf. 17:13 ("every human being's destiny have We tied to his neck") and the corresponding note. The same idea is expressed in 13:5 ("it is they who carry the shackles [of their own making] around their necks"), as well as in the second part of verse 33 of the present surah ("We shall have put shackles around the necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth"). See also 50:41 and the corresponding note.] -
34:52 and will cry, "We do [now] believe in it!" But how can they [hope to] attain [to salvation] from so far away, [Lit., "from a place far-away" - i.e., from their utterly different past life on earth.]
34:53 seeing that aforetime they had been bent on denying the truth, and had been wont to cast scorn, from far away, on something that was beyond the reach of human perception? [The obvious implication is that man's fate in the hereafter will be a consequence of, and invariably conditioned by, his spiritual attitude and the manner of his life during the first, earthly stage of his existence. In this instance, the expression "from far away" is apparently used in a sense similar to sayings like "far off the mark" or "without rhyme or reason", and is meant to qualify as groundless and futile all negative speculations about what the Quran describes as al-ghayb ("that which is beyond the reach of human [or "a created being's"] perception"): in this case, life after death.]
34:54 And so, a barrier will be set between them and all that they had [ever] desired, [Thus, the impossibility of attaining to the fulfillment of any of their desires - whether positive or negative - sums up, as it were, the suffering of the damned in the life to come.] as will be done to such of their kind as lived before their time: for, behold, they [too] were lost in doubt amounting to suspicion. [I.e., a suspicion that all moral postulates were but meant to deprive them of what they considered to be the "legitimate advantages" of life in this world.]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
35:1 ALL PRAISE is due to God, Originator of the heavens and the earth, who causes the angels to be (His) message-bearers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four. [The "wings" of the spiritual beings or forces comprised within the designation of angels are, obviously, a metaphor for the speed and power with which God's revelations are conveyed to His prophets. Their multiplicity ("two, or three, or four") is perhaps meant to stress the countless ways in which He causes His commands to materialize within the universe created by Him: an assumption which, to my mind, is supported by an authentic hadith to the effect that on the night of his Ascension (see Appendix IV) the Prophet saw Gabriel "endowed with six hundred wings" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Ibn Masud).] [Unceasingly] He adds to His creation whatever He wills: for, verily, God has the power to will anything. [I.e., the process of creation is continuous, constantly expanding in scope, range and variety.]
35:2 Whatever grace God opens up to man, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none can henceforth release: for He alone is almighty, truly wise.
35:3 O men! Call to mind the blessings which God has bestowed upon you! Is there any creator, other than God, that could provide for you sustenance out of heaven and earth? [See 10:31 and the corresponding note.] There is no deity save Him: and yet, how perverted are your minds! [Sc., "inasmuch as you attribute divine qualities or powers to anyone or anything beside Him". For an explanation of the phrase anna tu fakun (lit., "how turned-away you are", i.e., from the truth), see 5:75.]
35:4 But if they [whose minds are perverted] give thee the lie, [O Prophet, remember that] even so, before thy time, have [other] apostles been given the lie: for [the unbelievers always refuse to admit that] all things go back to God [as their source].
35:5 O men! Verily, God's promise [of resurrection] is true indeed: let not, then, the life of this world delude you, and let not [your own] deceptive thoughts about God delude you! [See 31:33 (which is phrased in exactly the same way) and the corresponding note. As regards the explicit reference to Satan in the next verse of the present surah, see Razi's remarks quoted in note on 14:22, as well as note on 15:17.]
35:6 Behold, Satan is a foe unto you: so treat him as a foe. He but calls on his followers to the end that they might find themselves among such as are destined for the blazing flame -
35:7 [seeing that] for those who are bent on denying the truth there is suffering severe in store, just as for those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds there is forgiveness of sins, and a great reward.
35:8 Is, then, he to whom the evil of his own doings is [so] alluring that [in the end] he regards it as good [anything but a follower of Satan]? For, verily, God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], just as He guides him that wills [to be guided]. [See note on 14:4, which explains my rendering of this sentence.] Hence, [O believer,] do not waste thyself in sorrowing over them: verily, God has full knowledge of all that they do!
35:9 AND [remember:] it is God who sends forth the winds, so that they raise a cloud, whereupon We drive it towards dead land and thereby give life to the earth after it had been lifeless: even thus shall resurrection be!
35:10 He who desires might and glory [ought to know that] all might and glory belong to God [alone]. Unto Him ascend all good words, and the righteous deed does He exalt. But as for those who cunningly devise evil deeds - suffering severe awaits them; and all their devising is bound to come to nought. [It appears that in this context - as in the first paragraph of 10:21 or in 34:33 - both the noun makr (lit., "a scheme", or "scheming" or "plotting") and the verb yamkurun (lit., "they scheme" or "plot") have the connotation of "devising false [or "fallacious"] arguments" against something that is true. Since the preceding passages refer to God's creativeness and, in particular, to His power to create life and resurrect the dead (verse 9), the "evil deeds" spoken of above are, presumably, specious arguments meant to "disprove" the announcement of resurrection.]
35:11 And [remember:] God creates [every one of] you out of dust, [See second half of note on 3:59, and note on 23:12.] then out of a drop of sperm; and then He fashions you into either of the two sexes. [Lit., "makes you pairs" or "mates (of one another)".] And no female conceives or gives birth unless it be with His knowledge; and none that is long-lived has his days lengthened - and neither is aught lessened of his days - unless it be thus laid down in [God's] decree: for, behold, all this is easy for God.
35:12 [Easy is it for Him to create likeness and variety:] [This interpolated sentence reflects Razi's convincing explanation of the passage that follows here, and its connection with the preceding one.] thus, the two great bodies of water [on earth] are not alike [For this rendering of al-bahran, see note on 25:53.]-the one sweet, thirst-allaying, pleasant to drink, and the other salty and bitter: and yet, from either of them do you eat fresh meat, and [from either] you take gems which you may wear; and on either thou canst see ships ploughing through the waves, so that you might [be able to] go forth in quest of some of His bounty, and thus have cause to be grateful.
35:13 He makes the night grow longer by shortening the day, and He makes the day grow longer by shortening the night; and He has made the sun and the moon subservient [to His laws], each running its course for a term set [by Him]. [See note on 13:2.]
35:14 If you invoke them, they do not hear your call; and even if they could hear, they would not [be able to] respond to you. And [withal,] on the Day of Resurrection they will utterly disown your having associated them with God. [The Quran states in many places that all false objects of worship - whether saints, angels, relics, fetishes, or deified forces of nature - will "bear witness" against their one-time worshippers on Resurrection Day, and will "disown" them: a symbolic allusion to man's perception, at the end of time, of the ultimate reality.] And none can make thee understand [the truth] like the One who is all-aware.
35:15 O men! It is you, who stand in need of God, whereas He alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due.
35:16 If He so wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new mankind [in your stead]: [See note on 14:19.]
35:17 nor is this difficult for God.
35:18 AND NO BEARER of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden; [I.e., on Judgment Day - for "whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon him alone" (6:164, which is followed by a sentence identical with the one above).] and if one weighed down by his load calls upon [another] to help him carry it, nothing thereof may be carried [by that other], even if it be one's near of kin. [Thus, any transfer of moral responsibility from one person to another is shown to be impossible. Whereas the first part of the above statement implies a negation of the Christian doctrine of "original sin" with which mankind is supposedly burdened, the second part categorically refutes the doctrine of the "vicarious atonement" of that sin by Jesus. (See also 53:38 and the corresponding note.) Hence, thou canst [truly] warn only those who stand in awe of their Sustainer although He is beyond the reach of their perception, [For an explanation of this rendering of bi'l-ghayb, see note on 2:3. The meaning is that only those "who believe in the existence of that which is beyond the reach of human perception" can really benefit by the "warning" inherent in the preceding statement. (See also 27:80 - 81 and 30:52 - 53.)] and are constant in prayer, and [know that] whoever grows in purity, attains to purity but for the good of his own self, and [that] with God is all journeys' end.
35:19 For [thus it is:] the blind and the seeing are not equal;
35:20 nor are the depths of darkness and the light;
35:21 nor the [cooling] shade and the scorching heat:
35:22 and neither are equal the living and the dead [of heart]. Behold, [O Muhammad,] God can make hear whomever He wills, whereas thou canst not make hear such as are [dead of heart like the dead] in their graves:
35:23 thou art nothing but a warner.
35:24 Verily, We have sent thee with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner: for there never was any community but a warner has [lived and] passed away in its midst. [One of the meanings of the term ummah (preferred by Zamakhshari in his commentary on the above verse) is "people of one time" or "age"; another, "people of one kind", i.e., "a nation" or a community" (which is adopted by me in this context). Taking into consideration a third, well-established meaning, namely, "a (particular) way of life" or "of behaviour" (Jawhari), the term "community" comes, in this instance, close to the modern concept of "civilization" in its historical sense. The stress on the warners (i.e., prophets) having "passed away" is meant to emphasize the humanness and mortality of each and all of them.]
35:25 And if they give thee the lie - even so gave the lie to the truth [many of] those who lived before their time, [when] there came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth, and with books of divine wisdom, and with light-giving revelation;
35:26 [but] in the end I took to task all those who were bent on denying the truth: and how awesome was My rejection!
35:27 ART THOU NOT aware that God sends down water from the skies, whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues - just as in the mountains there are streaaks of white and red of various shades, as well as (others) raven-black,
35:28 and (as) there are in men, and in crawling beasts, and in cattle, too, many hues? [Cf. 16:13, where the splendour of nature ("the beauty of many hues") is spoken of as an evidence of God's creative power.] Of all His servants, only such as are endowed with [innate] knowledge stand [truly] in awe of God: [I.e., spiritual knowledge, born of the realization that the phenomena which can be observed do not comprise the whole of reality, inasmuch as there is "a realm beyond the reach of a created being's perception" (cf. note on 2:3).] [for they alone comprehend that,] verily, God is almighty, much-forgiving.
35:29 (It is) they who [truly] follow God's revelation, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others, secretly and openly, out of what We provide for them as sustenance - it is they who may look forward to a bargain that can never fail,
35:30 since He will grant them their just rewards, and give them yet more out of His bounty: for, verily, He is much-forgiving, ever-responsive to gratitude.
35:31 And [know that] all of the divine writ with which We have inspired thee is the very truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier revelations [For this explanatory rendering of the phrase ma bayna yadayhi, see note on 3:3.] - for, behold, of [the needs of] His servants God is fully aware, all-seeing.
35:32 And so, We have bestowed this divine writ as a heritage unto such of Our servants as We chose: and among them are some who sin against themselves; and some who keep half-way [between right and wrong]; [See 7:46 and the corresponding note.] and some who, by God's leave, are foremost in deeds of goodness: [and] this, indeed, is a merit most high!
35:33 [Hence,] gardens of perpetual bliss will they enter, therein to be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls, and therein to be clad in raiments of silk; [Regarding this symbolic "adornment" of the blessed in paradise, see note on 18:31.]
35:34 and they will say: "All praise is due to God, who has caused all sorrow to leave us: for, verily, our Sustainer is indeed much-forgiving, ever-responsive to gratitude -
35:35 He who, out of His bounty, has made us alight in this abode of life enduring, wherein no struggle can assail us, and wherein no weariness can touch us!"
35:36 But as for those who are bent on denying the truth - the fire of hell awaits them: no end shall be put to their lives so that they could die, nor shall aught of the suffering caused by that [fire] be lightened for them: thus shall We requite all who are bereft of gratitude.
35:37 And in that [hell] they will cry aloud: "O our Sustainer! Cause us to come out [of this suffering]! We shall [henceforth] do good deeds, not such as we were wont to do [aforetime]!" [But We shall answer:] "Did We not grant you a life long enough so that whoever was willing to take thought could bethink himself? And [withal,] a warner had come unto you! Taste, then, [the fruit of your evil deeds]: for evildoers shall have none to succour them!"
35:38 Verily, God knows the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth: [and,] behold, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].
35:39 He it is who has made you inherit the earth. [See note on 2:30. In this instance, God's having made man "inherit the earth" implies the grant to him of the ability to discern between right and wrong as well as between truth and falsehood.] Hence, he who is bent on denying the truth [of God's oneness and uniqueness ought to know that] this denial of his will fall back upon him: for their [per
35:40 Say: "Have you ever [really] considered those beings and forces to whom you ascribe a share in God's divinity, [Lit., "those [God-] partners of yours": see note on 6:22.] [and] whom you invoke beside God? Show me what it is that they have created on earth - or do [you claim that] they have a share in [governing] the heavens?" Have We ever vouchsafed them [I.e., to those who ascribe divinity to beings or forces other than God.] a divine writ on which they could rely as evidence [in support of their views]? [Cf. 30:35 - "Have We ever bestowed upon them from on high a divine writ which would speak [with approval] of their worshipping aught beside Us?" The reference to a "divine writ" makes it clear that the people spoken of here are the erring followers of earlier revelation, and not atheists.] Nay, [the hope which] the evildoers hold out to one another [is] nothing but a delusion. [I.e., their expectation that the saints whom they invest with divine or semi-divine qualities will "mediate" between them and God, or "intercede" for them before Him, is based on nothing but wishful thinking.]
35:41 Verily, it is God [alone] who upholds the celestial bodies [Lit., "the heavens"- in this case apparently a metonym for all the stars, galaxies, nebulae, etc., which traverse the cosmic spaces in obedience to a most intricate system of God-willed laws, of which the law of gravity, perhaps most obvious to man, is but one.] and the earth, lest they deviate [from their orbits] - for if they should ever deviate, there is none that could uphold them after He will have ceased to do so. [Lit., "after Him". This seems to be an allusion to the Last Hour, which, according to the Quran, will be heralded by a cosmic catastrophe.] [But,] verily, He is ever-forbearing, much-for
35:42 As it is, they [who are averse to the truth often] swear by God with their most solemn oaths that if a warner should ever come to them, they would follow his guidance better than any of the communities [of old had followed the warner sent to them]: [Cf. 6:157 and the corresponding note.] but now that a warner has come unto them, [his call] but increases their aversion,
35:43 their arrogant behaviour on earth, and their devising of evil [arguments against God's messages]. [I.e., fallacious arguments meant to disparage those messages and to "disprove" their divine origin (cf. 10:21 or 34:33 and the corresponding notes on the Quranic use of the term makr in this sense).] Yet [in the end,] such evil scheming will engulf none but its authors: and can they expect anything but [to be made to go] the way of those [sinners] of olden times? [I.e., the way (sunnah) in which God has punished them.] Thus [it is]: no change wilt thou ever find in God's way; yea, no deviation wilt thou ever find in God's way!
35:44 Have they never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time and were [so much] greater than they in power? And [do they not see that the will of] God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth, since, verily, He is all-knowing, infinite in His power?
35:45 Now if God were to take men [at once] to task for whatever [wrong] they commit [on earth], He would not leave a single living creature upon its surface. However, He grants them respite for a term set [by Him]: [Or: "known [to Him alone]" - i.e., the end of their lives on earth.] but when their term comes to an end - then, verily, [they come to know that] God sees all that is in [the hearts of] His servants.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
36:1 O THOU human being! [Whereas some of the classical commentators incline to the view that the letters y-s (pronounced ya sin) with which this surah opens belong to the category of the mysterious letter-symbols (al-muqatta at) introducing a number of Quranic chapters (see Appendix II), Abd Allah ibn Abbas states that they actually represent two distinct words, namely the exclamatory particle ya ("O") and sin, which in the dialect of the tribe of Tayy is synonymous with insan ("human being" or "man"): hence, similar to the two syllables ta ha in surah 20, ya sin denotes "O thou human being!" This interpretation has been accepted by Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan al-Basri, Said ibn Jubayr, and other early Quran-commentators (see Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir. etc.). According to Zamakhshari, it would seem that the syllable sin is an abbreviation of unaysin, the diminutive form of insan used by the Tayy in exclamations. (It is to be borne in mind that in classical Arabic a diminutive is often expressive of no more than endearment: e.g., ya bunayya, which does not necessarily signify "O my little son" but, rather, "my dear son" irrespective of the son's age.) On the whole, we may safely assume that the words ya sin apostrophize the Prophet Muhammad, who is explicitly addressed in the sequence, and are meant to stress - as the Quran so often does - the fact of his and all other apostles' humanness.]
36:2 Consider this Quran full of wisdom:
36:3 verily, thou art indeed one of God's message-bearers, [This statement explains the adjurative particle wa (rendered by me as "Consider") at the beginning of the preceding verse - namely: "Let the wisdom apparent in the Quran serve as an evidence of the fact that thou art an apostle of God". As regards my rendering of al-Quran al-Hakim as "this Quran full of wisdom", see note on 10:1.]
36:4 pursuing a straight way
36:5 by [virtue of] what is being bestowed from on high by the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace, [Cf. 34:50 - "if I am on the right path, it is but by virtue of what my Sustainer reveals unto me".]
36:6 [bestowed upon thee] so that thou mayest warn people whose forefathers had not been warned, and who therefore are unaware [of the meaning of right and wrong]. [Cf. 6:131-132. In the wider sense of this expression, the "forefathers" may be a metonym for a community's cultural past: hence, the reference to those "forefathers" not having been "warned" (i.e., against evil) evidently alludes to the defectiveness of the ethical heritage of people who have become estranged from true moral values.]
36:7 Indeed, the word [of God's condemnation] is bound to come true [Lit., "has come true", the past tense indicating the inevitability of its "coming true" - i.e., taking effect.] against most of them: for they will not believe.
36:8 Behold, around their necks We have put shackles, [Zamakhshari: "[This is] an allegory of their deliberate denial of the truth." See notes on 13:5 and 34:33.] reaching up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up; [Sc., "and they cannot see the right way" (Razi); their "forced-up heads" symbolize also their arrogance. On the other hand, God's "placing shackles" around the sinners' necks is a metaphor similar to His "sealing their hearts and their hearing", spoken of in 2:7 and explained in the corresponding note. The same applies to the metaphor of the "barriers" and the "veiling" mentioned in the next verse.]
36:9 and We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and We have enshrouded them in veils so that they cannot see: [Sc., "so that they can neither advance nor go back": a metaphor of utter spiritual stagnation.]
36:10 thus, it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or dost not warn them: they will not believe.
36:11 Thou canst [truly] warn only him who is willing to take the reminder to heart, [Lit., "who is following the reminder".] and who stands in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception: unto such, then, give the glad tiding of [God's] forgiveness and of a most excellent reward!
36:12 Verily, We shall indeed bring the dead back to life; and We shall record whatever [deeds] they have sent ahead, and the traces [of good and evil] which they have left behind: for of all things do We take account in a record clear.
36:13 AND SET FORTH unto them a parable - [the story of how] the people of a township [behaved] when [Our] message-bearers came unto them.
36:14 Lo! We sent unto them two [apostles], and. they gave the lie to both; and so We strengthened [the two] with a third; and thereupon they said: "Behold, we have been sent unto you [by God]!" [As is usual with such passages, the commentators advance various speculations as to the "identity" of the town and the apostles. Since, however, the story is clearly described as a parable, it must be understood as such and not as an historical narrative. It seems to me that we have here an allegory of the three great monotheistic religions, successively propounded by Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, and embodying, essentially, the same spiritual truths. The "township" (qaryah) mentioned in the parable represents, I think, the common cultural environment within which these three religions appeared. The apostles of the first two are said to have been sent "together", implying that the teachings of both were - and are - anchored in one and the same scripture, the Old Testament of the Bible. When, in the course of time, their impact proved insufficient to mould the ethical attitude of the people or peoples concerned, God "strengthened" them by means of His final message, conveyed to the world by the third and last of the apostles, Muhammad.]
36:15 [The others] answered: "You are nothing but mortal men like ourselves; moreover, the Most Gracious has never bestowed aught [of revelation] from on high. You do nothing but lie!" [Cf. 6:91 - "no true understanding of God have they when they say, "Never has God revealed anything unto man." See also 34:31 and the corresponding note. Both these passages, as well as the one above, allude to people who like to think of themselves as "believing" in God without, however, allowing their "belief" to interfere in the practical concerns of their lives: and this they justify by conceding to religion no more than a vaguely emotional role, and by refusing to admit the fact of objective revelation - for the concept of revelation invariably implies a promulgation, by God, of absolute moral values and, thus, a demand for one's self-surrender to them.]
36:16 Said [the apostles]: "Our Sustainer knows that we have indeed been sent unto you;
36:17 but we are not bound to do more than clearly deliver the message [entrusted to us]."
36:18 Said [the others]: "Truly, we augur evil from you! [For an explanation of the phrase tatayyarna bikum, see surah 7:131.] Indeed, if you desist not, we will surely stone you, and grievous suffering is bound to befall you at our hands!"
36:19 [The apostles] replied: "Your destiny, good or evil, is [bound up] with yourselves! [Cf. 17:13 - "every human being's destiny (ta ir) have We tied to his neck" - and the corresponding note.] [Does it seem evil to you] if you are told to take [the truth] to heart? Nay, but you are people who have wasted their own selves!" [For this rendering of musrifun (sing. musrif), see note on the last sentence of 10:12.]
36:20 At that, a man came running from the farthest end of the city, [and] exclaimed: "O my people! Follow these message-bearers!
36:21 Follow those who ask no reward of you, and themselves are rightly guided!
36:22 "[As for me,] why should I not worship Him who has brought me into being, and to whom you all will be brought back?
36:23 Should I take to worshipping [other] deities beside Him? [But then,] if the Most Gracious should will that harm befall me, their intercession could not in the least avail me, nor could they save me:
36:24 and so, behold, I would have indeed, most obviously, lost myself in error!
36:25 "Verily, [O my people,] in the Sustainer of you all have I come to believe: listen, then, to me!"
36:26 [And] he was told, [I.e., by the apostles or, more probably (in view of the allegorical character of this story), by his own insight. The intervention of the man who "came running from the farthest end of the city" is evidently a parable of the truly believing minority in every religion, and of their desperate, mostly unavailing endeavours to convince their erring fellow-men that God-consciousness alone can save human life from futility.] "[Thou shalt] enter paradise!" - [whereupon] he exclaimed: "Would that my people knew
36:27 how my Sustainer has forgiven me [the sins of my past], and has placed me among the honoured ones!"
36:28 And after that, no host out of heaven did We send down against his people, nor did We need to send down any:
36:29 nothing was [needed] but one single blast [of Our punishment] - and lo! they became as still and silent as ashes.
36:30 OH, THE REGRETS that [most] human beings will have to bear! [Lit., "Oh, the regrets upon the bondmen" (al-ibad) - since all human beings, good or bad, are God's "bondmen". This phrase alludes to the Day of Judgment - which is described in 19:39 as "the Day of Regrets" - as well as to the fact, repeatedly stressed in the Quran, that most human beings choose to remain deaf to the voice of truth, and thus condemn themselves to spiritual death.] Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him!
36:31 Are they not aware of how many a generation We have destroyed before their time, [and] that those [that have perished] will never return to them, [I.e., to the people now living. As in many other Quranic passages, the term qarn, which literally signifies a "generation" or "people living at the same period", has in this context the wider meaning of "society" or "civilization" in the historical connotation of these terms. Thus, the downfall and utter disappearance of past societies and civilizations is here linked to their spiritual frivolity and consequent moral failure. A further lesson to be drawn from this parable is the implied conclusion that the majority of people in every society, at all times (our own included), refuse to be guided by moral considerations, regarding them as opposed to their conventional mode of life and their pursuit of materialistic values - with the result that "never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him".]
36:32 and [that] all of them, all together, will [in the end] before Us be arraigned?
36:33 And [yet,] they have a sign [of Our power to create and to resurrect] in the lifeless earth which We make alive, and out of which We bring forth grain, whereof they may eat;
36:34 and [how] We make gardens of date-palms and vines [grow] thereon, and cause springs to gush [forth] within it,
36:35 so that they may eat of the fruit thereof, though it was not their hands that made it. Will they not, then, be grateful?
36:36 Limitless in His glory is He who has created opposites in whatever the earth produces, and in men's own selves, and in that of which [as yet] they have no knowledge. [Lit., "who has created all the pairs out of whatever the earth produces, and out of themselves, and out of that of which they have no knowledge": a reference to the polarity evident in all creation, both animate and inanimate, which expresses itself in the existence of antithetic and yet complementary forces, like the sexuality in human beings, animals and plants, light and darkness, heat and cold, positive and negative magnetism and electricity, the positive and negative charges (protons and electrons) in the structure of the atom, and so forth. (It is to be borne in mind that the noun zawj denotes both "a pair" and "one of a pair", as explained in note on 13:3.) The mention of "that of which they have no knowledge" evidently relates to things or phenomena not yet understood by man but potentially within the range of his comprehension: hence my interpolation, between brackets, of the words "as yet".]
36:37 And [of Our sway over all that exists] they have a sign in the night: We withdraw from it the [light of] day - and lo! they are in darkness.
36:38 And [they have a sign in] the sun: it runs in an orbit of its own [In the generally-accepted reading, this phrase is spelled li-mustaqarrin laha, which may be rendered as above or, more conventionally, as "to its point of rest", i.e., the time (or point) of the daily sunset (Razi). However, Abd Allah ibn Masud is reliably reported to have read these words as la mustaqarra laha (Zamakhshari), which gives us the meaning of "it runs [on its course] without having any rest", i.e., unceasingly.] - [and] that is laid down by the will of the Almighty, the All-Knowing;
36:39 and [in] the moon, for which We have determined phases [which it must traverse] till it becomes like an old date-stalk, dried-up and curved: [This is, in a condensed form, the meaning of the noun urjun - the raceme of the date-palm, which, when old and dry, becomes slender and curves like a crescent (cf. Lane V, 1997).]
36:40 [and] neither may the sun overtake the moon, nor can the night usurp the time of day, [Lit., "nor does the night outrun [or "outstrip"] the day".] since all of them float through space [in accordance with Our laws]. MAN'S INGENUITY AS DIRECT MANIFESTATION OF GOD'S CREATIVENESS
36:41 And [it ought to be] a sign for them that We bear their offspring [over the seas] in laden ships, [Lit., "in the laden ship": a generic singular with a plural significance. The term "offspring" denotes here the human race as a whole (cf. the recurring expression "children of Adam").]
36:42 and [that] We create for them things of a similar kind, on which they may embark [in their travels]; [Cf. 16:8 and the corresponding note. In both of these passages man's ingenuity is shown to be a direct manifestation of God's creativeness.]
36:43 and [that,] if such be Our will, We may cause them to drown, with none to respond to their cry for help: and [then] they cannot be saved,
36:44 unless it be by an act of mercy from Us and a grant of life for a [further span of] time.
36:45 And [yet,] when they are told, "Beware of [God's insight into] all that lies open before you and all that is hidden from you, [For an explanation of this rendering of the above phrase, see surah 2:255. In the present instance it apparently denotes men's conscious doings as well as their unconscious or half-conscious motivations.] so that you might be graced with His mercy," [most men choose to remain deaf;]
36:46 and no message of their Sustainer s messages ever reaches them without their turning away from it. [Or: "no sign of their Sustainer's signs" - since the noun ayah, repeated several times in the preceding passage, denotes "a message" as well as "a sign".]
36:47 Thus, when they are told, "Spend on others out of what God has provided for you as sustenance," [In Quranic usage, the verb anfaqa (lit., "he spent") invariably signifies one's spending on others, or for the good of others, whatever the motive. The ethical importance of this "spending on others" is frequently stressed in the Quran, and is embodied in the concept of zakah, which denotes "purifying dues" or, in its broader sense, "charity" (see note on 2:43).] those who are bent on denying the truth say unto those who believe, "Shall we feed anyone whom, if [your] God had so willed, He could have fed [Himself]? Clearly, you are but lost in error!"
36:48 And they add, "When is this promise [of resurrection] to be fulfilled? [Answer this] if you are men of truth!"
36:49 [And they are unaware that] nothing awaits them beyond a single blast [of God's punishment], [Lit., "they wait for nothing but a single blast...", etc.] which will overtake them while they are still arguing - [against resurrection]:
36:50 and so [sudden will be their end that] no testament will they be able to make, - nor to their own people will they return!
36:51 And [then] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown - and lo! out of their graves towards their Sustainer will they all rush forth!
36:52 They will say: "Oh, woe unto us! Who has roused us from our sleep [of death]?" [Whereupon they will be told:] "This is what the Most Gracious has promised! And His message-bearers spoke the truth!"
36:53 Nothing will there have been but one single blast - and lo! before Us will all of them be arraigned [and be told]:
36:54 "Today, then, no human being shall be wronged in the least, nor shalt you be requited for aught but what you were doing [on earth].
36:55 "Behold, those who are destined for paradise shall today have joy in whatever they do:
36:56 in happiness will they and their spouses on couches recline; [In the Quranic descriptions of paradise, the term zill ("shade") and its plural zilal is often used as a metaphor for "happiness" - thus, for instance, in 4:57, where zill zilal signifies "happiness abounding" (see surah 4:57) - while the "couches" on which the blessed are to recline are obviously a symbol of inner fulfillment and peace of mind, as pointed out by Razi in his comments on 18:31 and 55:54.]
36:57 [only] delight will there be for them, and theirs shall be all that they could ask for:
36:58 peace and fulfillment through the word of a Sustainer who dispenses all grace. [This composite expression is, I believe, the nearest approach in English to the concept of salam in the above context. For a further explanation of this term, see note on 5:16, where salam is rendered as "salvation".]
36:59 "But stand aside today, O you who were lost in sin!
36:60 Did I not enjoin on you, O you children of Adam, that you should not worship Satan - since, verily, he is your open foe [For the meaning of what the Quran describes as "worship of Satan", see note on 19:44.] -
36:61 and that you should worship Me [alone]? This would have been a straight way!
36:62 And [as for Satan -] he had already led astray a great many of you: could you not, then, use your reason?
36:63 "This, then, is the hell of which you were warned again and again: 31 The phrase "This, then, is the hell" points to the fact that the sinners' realization of their having gone astray despite repeated warnings by the prophets will, in itself, be a source of intense suffering (adhab) in the life to come. The element of repetition or persistence is implied in the use of the auxiliary verb kuntum both here and in the next verse.]
36:64 endure it today as an outcome of your persistent denial of the truth!"
36:65 On that Day We shall set a seal on their mouths - but their hands will speak unto Us, and their feet will bear witness to whatever they have earned [in life]. [A metaphor for their being unable really to excuse or defend their past actions and attitudes.]
36:66 NOW HAD IT BEEN Our will [that men should not be able to discern between right and wrong], We could surely have deprived them of their sight, [Lit., "We could surely have effaced their eyes": a metaphor for "We could have created them morally blind" and, thus, devoid of all sense of moral responsibility - which, in its turn, would constitute a negation of all spiritual value in human life as such. (Cf. 2:20 - "if God so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and their sight".)] so that they would stray forever from the [right] way: for how could they have had insight [into what is true]? [In this instance - as, e.g., in 20:96 - the verb basura ("he became seeing" or "he saw") is obviously used in its tropical sense of "perceiving [something] mentally". According to Ibn Abbas as quoted by Tabari, the phrase anna yubsirun signifies "how could they perceive the truth".]
36:67 And had it been Our will [that they should not be free to choose between right and wrong], We could surely have given them a different nature [Lit., "transformed [or "transmuted"] them".] [and created them as beings rooted] in their places, so that they would not be able to move forward, and could not turn back.] [I.e., if it had been God's will that men should have no freedom of will or moral choice, He would have endowed them from the very beginning with a spiritually and morally stationary nature, entirely rooted in their instincts ("in their places"), devoid of all urge to advance, and incapable either of positive development or of retreat from a wrong course.]
36:68 But [let them always remember that] if We lengthen a human being's days, We also cause him to decline in his powers [when he grows old]: will they not, then, use their reason? [I.e., man should never postpone his exercise of moral choice - for if human beings are superior creatures inasmuch as they have been endowed with the faculty of discernment and a wide measure of free will, let them also remember that "man has been created weak"
36:69 AND [thus it is:] We have not imparted to this [Prophet the gift of] poetry, nor would [poetry] have suited this [message]: [This passage resumes the theme enunciated in the opening verses of this surah, namely, the revelation of the Quran. As in 26:224, we have here an allusion to the allegation of Muhammad's opponents, in his own as well as in later times, that what he described as divine revelation was in reality an outcome of his own poetic invention. This the Quran refutes by alluding to the fundamental difference between poetry - especially Arabic poetry - and divine revelation as exemplified by the Quran: whereas in the former the meaning is often subordinated to the rhythm and the melody of language, in the Quran the exact opposite is the case, inasmuch as here the choice of words, their sound and their position in the sentence - and, hence, its rhythm and melody - are always subordinated to the meaning intended. (Cf. also 26:225 and the corresponding note.)] it is but a reminder and a [divine] discourse, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth, [For this composite rendering of the adjective mubin, see surah 12:1. Literally, the above phrase reads, "a reminder and a [divine] discourse...", etc., with the conjunctive particle wa ("and") being used here, as in 15:1, to point out that the Quran is an integral element in the process of divine revelation.]
36:70 to the end that it may warn everyone who is alive [of heart], and that the word [of God] may bear witness against all who deny the truth. [Lit., "may come [or "be proved"] true", i.e., on the Day of Judgment (cf. verse 7 of this surah).]
36:71 Are they, then, not aware that it is for them that We have created, among all the things which Our hands have wrought, [I.e., "which We alone have or could have created" (Zamakhshari and Razi). The above metaphorical expression is based on the concept of "handiwork" in its widest sense, abstract as well as concrete.] the domestic animals of which they are [now] masters? -
36:72 and that We have subjected them to men's will, [Lit., "made them submissive (dhallalnaha) to them": implying also that man is morally responsible for the manner in which he uses or misuses them.] so that some of them they may use for riding and of some they may eat,
36:73 and may have [yet other] benefits from them, and [milk] to drink? Will they not, then, be grateful?
36:74 But [nay,] they take to worshipping deities other than God, [Or: "other deities beside God" - alluding, in either case, to objects of worship consciously conceived as such - i.e., idols, imaginary deities, deified persons, saints, etc. - as well as to abstract concepts like power, wealth or "luck", which may not be consciously "worshipped" but are nevertheless often revered in an almost idolatrous fashion. The verb ittakhadhu (lit., "they took [or "have taken"] for themselves"), used in the Quran in this and in similar contexts, is particularly suited for the wide range of meanings alluded to inasmuch as it bears the connotation of adopting something - whether it be concrete or abstract - for one's own use or adoration.] [hoping] to be succoured [by them, and not knowing that]
36:75 they are unable to succour their devotees, [Lit., "them".] even though to them they may [appear to] be hosts drawn up [for succour].
36:76 However, be not grieved by the sayings of those [who deny the truth]: verily, We know all that they keep secret as well as all that they bring into the open.
36:77 IS MAN, then, not aware that it is We who create him out of a [mere] drop of sperm - whereupon, lo! he shows himself endowed with the power to think and to argue? [See similar passage in 16:4, as well as the corresponding note. Completing the interpretation advanced in his (and Zamakhshari's) commentary on the above-mentioned verse, Razi equates here the term khasim (lit., "contender in argument") with the highest manifestation of what is described as natiq ("articulate [or "rational"] being").]
36:78 And [now] he [argues about Us, and] thinks of Us in terms of comparison, [Lit., "he coins for Us a simile (mathal)" - an elliptic allusion to the unwillingness of "those who deny the truth" to conceive of a transcendental Being, fundamentally different from all that is graspable by man's senses or imagination, and having powers beyond all comparison with those which are available to any of the created beings. (Cf. 42:11, "there is nothing like unto Him", and 112:4, "there is nothing that could be compared with Him".) Since they are enmeshed in a materialistic outlook on life, such people deny - as the sequence shows - all possibility of resurrection, which amounts to a denial of God's creative powers and, in the final analysis, of His existence.] and is oblivious of how he himself was created! [And so] he says, "Who could give life to bones that have crumbled to dust?"
36:79 Say: "He who brought them into being in the first instance will give them life [once again], seeing that He has full knowledge of every act of creation:
36:80 He who produces for you fire out of the green tree, so that, lo! you kindle [your fires] therewith." [Cf. the ancient Arabian proverb, "In every tree there is a fire" (Zamakhshari): evidently an allusion to the metamorphosis of green - i.e., water-containing - plants into fuel, be it through desiccation or man-made carbonization (charcoal), or by a millennial, subterranean process of decomposition into oil or coal. In a spiritual sense, this "fire" seems also to symbolize the God-given warmth and light of human reason spoken of in verse 77 above.]
36:81 Is, then, He who has created the heavens and the earth not able to create [anew] the like of those [who have died]? Yea, indeed - for He alone is the all-knowing Crea
36:82 His Being alone is such that when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, "Be" -- and it is. [This is the meaning of the phrase innama amruhu - the term amr being synonymous, in this instance, with shan ("state [or "manner"] of being"). The exclusiveness of God's creative Being is stressed by the restrictive particle innama.]
36:83 Limitless, then, in His glory is He in whose hand rests the mighty dominion over all things; and unto Him you all will be brought back!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
37:1 CONSIDER these [messages] ranged in serried ranks, [Regarding the adjurative particle wa and my rendering it as "Consider", see first half of note on 74:32. Most of the classical commentators assume that verses 1-3 refer to angels - an assumption which Abu Muslim al-Isfahani (as quoted by Razi) rejects, stating that the passage refers to the true believers among human beings. However, Razi advances yet another (and, to my mind, most convincing) interpretation, suggesting that what is meant here are the messages (ayat) of the Quran, which - in the commentator's words - "deal with various subjects, some speaking of the evidence of God's oneness or of the evidence of His omniscience, omnipotence and wisdom, and some setting forth the evidence of [the truth of] prophetic revelation or of resurrection, while some deal with man's duties and the laws [relating thereto], and yet others are devoted to the teaching of high moral principles; and these messages are arranged in accordance with a coherent system above all [need of] change or alteration, so that they resemble beings or things standing `in serried ranks'." ]
37:2 and restraining [from evil] by a call to restraint,
37:3 and conveying [to all the world] a reminder:
37:4 Verily, most surely, your God is One -
37:5 the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and of all that is between them, and the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise! [Sc., "and of sunset" (cf. 55:17 and the corresponding note). The stress on the various "points of sunrise" (al-mashariq) brings out the endless variety of all created phenomena as contrasted with the oneness and uniqueness of their Creator. The mention of "the points of sunrise" and omission of "the points of sunset" in the wording (though not in the meaning) of the above phrase alludes, I believe, to the light-giving quality of the Quran spoken of in verses 1-3.]
37:6 Behold, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with the beauty of stars,
37:7 and have made them secure against every rebellious, satanic force, [For an explanation of this passage, see note on 15:17.]
37:8 [so that] they [who seek to learn the unknowable] should not be able to overhear the host on high, [I.e., the angelic forces, whose "speech" is a metonym for God's decrees.] but shall be repelled from all sides,
37:9 cast out [from all grace], with lasting suffering in store for them [in the life to come];
37:10 but if anyone [Lit., "excepting [or "except that"] anyone who ...", etc. However, as pointed out by some authorities (e.g., Mughni), the particle illa is occasionally synonymous with the simple conjunction Wa, which in this case has the significance of "but".] does succeed in snatching a glimpse [of such knowledge], he is [henceforth] pursued by a piercing flame. [For the meaning of this phrase, see note on 15:18. After the stress on God's oneness in verses 4-5, the passage comprising verses 6-10 points to the fact that human beings are precluded from really grasping the variety and depth of the universe created by Him. We have here an echo of 34:9 - "Are they, then, not aware of how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them?" - and, thus, a new, oblique approach to the theme of resurrection, which is taken up in the sequence in the form of an indirect question.]
37:11 AND NOW ask those [who deny the truth] to enlighten thee: Were they more difficult to create than all those [untold marvels] that We have created? - for, behold, them have We created out of [mere] clay commingled with water! [I.e., out of primitive substances existing in their elementary forms in and on the earth (see 23:12) - substances which are as nothing when compared with the complexity of "the heavens and the earth and all that is between them": hence, man's individual resurrection is as nothing when compared with the creation of the multiform universe.]
37:12 Nay, but whereas thou dost marvel, they [only] scoff; [I.e., at God's creative power as well as at the blind arrogance of those who deny it.]
37:13 and when they are reminded [of the truth], they refuse to take it to heart;
37:14 and when they become aware of a [divine] message, they turn it to ridicule
37:15 and say: "This is clearly nothing but [a mortal's] spellbinding eloquence!
37:16 Why - after we have died and become mere dust and bones, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead? -
37:17 and perhaps also our forebears of old?"
37:18 Say: "Yea, indeed - and most abject will you then be!" -
37:19 for that [resurrection which they deride] will be [upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry - and then, lo! they will begin to see [the truth]
37:20 and will say: "Oh, woe unto us! This is the Day of Judgment!"
37:21 [And they will be told:] "This is the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false - the Day] [See note on 77:13.] which you were wont to call a lie!"
37:22 [And God will thus command:] "Assemble all those who were bent on evildoing, together with others of their ilk [According to almost all of the earliest authorities - including Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abd Allah ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Mujahid, As-Suddi, Said ibn Jubayr, Al-Hasan al-Basri, etc., - the expression azwaj denotes here "people resembling one another [in their dispositions]", or "people of the same kind" or "of the same ilk".] and [with] all that they were wont to worship
37:23 instead of God, and lead them all onto the way to the blazing fire,
37:24 and halt them [there]!"
37:25 "How is it that [now] you cannot succour one another?"
37:26 Nay, but on that Day they would willingly surrender [to God];
37:27 but [since it will be too late,] they will turn upon one another, demanding of each other [to relieve them of the burden of their past sins]. [Cf. the contrasting - though verbally identical - passage in verses 50 ff. of the present surah. Whereas in the latter instance the verb yatasa alun has its primary connotation of "asking one another [about something]", it signifies here "demanding [something] of one another" - as the sequence shows, to assume responsibility for their erstwhile denial of the truth.]
37:28 Some [of them] will say: "Behold, you were wont to approach us [deceptively] from the right!" [I.e., "claiming that what you were asking us to do was right and good". The idiomatic phrase "approaching one from the right" is more or less synonymous with "pretending to give a morally good advice", as well as "approaching another person from a position of power and influence" (Zamakhshari).]
37:29 [To which] the others will reply: "Nay, you yourselves were bereft of all faith!
37:30 Moreover, we had no power at all over you: nay, you were people filled with overweening arrogance!
37:31 But now our Sustainer's word has come true against us [as well]: verily, we are bound to taste [the fruit of our sins].
37:32 So then, [if it be true that] we have caused you to err grievously - behold, we ourselves had been lost in grievous error!" [For an explanation see 28:62-64 and the corresponding notes.]
37:33 And, verily, on that Day they all will share in their common suffering.
37:34 Verily, thus shall We deal with all who were lost in sin:
37:35 for, behold, whenever they were told, "There is no deity save God," they would glory in their arrogance
37:36 and would say, "Shall we, then, give up our deities at the bidding of a mad poet?" [Lit., "for [or "for the sake of"] a mad poet" - thus alluding to the allegation that the Quran is a product of Muhammad's mind (see note on 36:69). The reference to "deities" comprises, in this context, everything that man may "worship" in both the literal and the metaphorical senses of this word.]
37:37 Nay, but he [whom you call a mad poet] has brought the truth; and he confirms the truth of [what the earlier of God's] message-bearers [have taught]. [See surah 2:4. It is to be borne in mind that this refers to the fundamental teachings, which have always been the same in every true religion, and not to the many time-bound laws evident in the earlier religious codes.]
37:38 Behold, you will indeed taste grievous suffering [in the life to come],
37:39 although you shall not be requited for aught but what you were wont to do.
37:40 Not so, however, God's true servants: [Lit., "sincere servants". In contrast to the principle that "a bad deed will be requited with no more than the like thereof", implied in the preceding verse, the Quran states here that he who "shall come [before God] with a good deed will receive ten times the like thereof" (see 6:160).]
37:41 [in the hereafter,] theirs shall be a sustenance which they will recognize [Lit., "a known sustenance". For a tentative explanation of this phrase, see note on 2:25.]
37:42 as the fruits [of their life on earth]; and honoured shall they be
37:43 in gardens of bliss,
37:44 facing one another [in love] upon thrones of happiness. [For my occasional rendering of the plural noun surur as "thrones of happiness", see note on 15:47.]
37:45 A cup will be passed round among them [with a drink] from unsullied springs,
37:46 clear, delightful to those who drink it:
37:47 no headiness will be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon.
37:48 And with them will be mates of modest gaze, [See note on 38:52, where the expression qasirat at-tarf (lit., "such as restrain their gaze") appears for the first time in the chronology of Quranic revelation.] most beautiful of eye,
37:49 [as free of faults] as if they were hidden [ostrich] eggs. [This is an ancient Arabian figure of speech derived from the habit of the female ostrich, which buries its eggs in the sand for protection (Zamakhshari). Its particular application to the women who attain to paradise becomes clear from 56:34 ff., which states that all righteous women, irrespective of their age and condition at the time of death, will be resurrected as beautiful maidens.]
37:50 And they will all turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. [Cf. verse 27 above and the corresponding note. Like the mutual reproaches of the sinners in that passage, the "conversation" of the blessed which follows here is, of course, allegorical, and is meant to stress the continuity of individual consciousness in the hereafter.]
37:51 One of them speaks thus: "Behold, I had [on earth] a close companion
37:52 who was wont to ask [me], 'Why - art thou really one of those who believe it to be true
37:53 [that] after we have died and become mere dust and bones we shall, forsooth, be brought to judgment?'"
37:54 [And] he adds: "Would you like to look [and see him]?" -
37:55 and then he looks and sees that [companion of his] in the midst of the blazing fire,
37:56 and says: "By God! Verily, thou hast almost destroyed me [too, O my erstwhile companion] -
37:57 for had it not been for my Sustainer's favour, I would surely be [now] among those who are given over [to suffering]!
37:58 But then, [O my friends in paradise,] is it [really] so that we are not to die
37:59 [again,] beyond our previous death, and that we shall never [again] be made to suffer?
37:60 Verily, this - this indeed - is the triumph supreme!"
37:61 For the like of this, then, let them labour, those who labour [in God's way]!
37:62 Is such [a paradise] the better welcome - or the [hellish] tree of deadly fruit? [According to the lexicographers, the noun zaqqum (which occurs, apart from the present instance, in 44:43 and in 56:52 as well) denotes any "deadly food"; hence, the expression shajarat az-zaqqum, a symbol of hell, may be appropriately rendered as "the tree of deadly fruit" (undoubtedly identical with "the tree cursed in this Quran", mentioned in 17:60), symbolizing the fact that the otherworldly sufferings which the Quran describes as "hell" are but the fruit - i.e., organic consequence - of one's evil deeds done on earth.]
37:63 Verily, We have caused it to be a trial for evildoers: [It cannot be often enough repeated that all Quranic references to hell and paradise - and, for that matter, all descriptions of men's conditions in the hereafter - are, of necessity, highly allegorical (see Appendix 1) and therefore liable to be grossly misunderstood if one takes them in their literal sense or, conversely, interprets them in an arbitrary manner (cf. 3:7 and the corresponding notes): and this, to my mind, explains why the symbol of the "tree of deadly fruit" - one of the metonyms for the suffering of the sinners in the hereafter - has become "a trial (fitnah) for evildoers" (or "for men" in 17:60). See in this connection 74:31, which is the earliest Quranic instance of this concept of "trial".]
37:64 for, behold, it is a tree that grows in the very heart of the blazing fire [of hell],
37:65 its fruit [as repulsive] as satans' heads; [According to Zamakhshari, "this purely verbal metaphor (isti arah lafziyyah) is meant to express the ultimate in repulsiveness and ugliness . . . inasmuch as Satan is considered to be the epitome of all that is evil".]
37:66 and they [who are lost in evil] are indeed bound to eat thereof, and to fill their bellies therewith.
37:67 And, behold, above all this they will be confounded with burning despair! [Lit., "and upon it, behold, they will have an admixture [or "confusion"] of hamim". (For my rendering of the last term as "burning despair", see surah 6:70.)
37:68 And once again: [See surah 6:38.] Verily, the blazing fire is their ultimate goal -
37:69 for, behold, they found their forebears on a wrong way,
37:70 and [now] they make haste to follow in their footsteps! [I.e., blind imitation (taqlid) of the - obviously absurd - beliefs, valuations and customs of one's erring predecessors, and disregard of all evidence of the truth supplied by both reason and divine revelation, is here shown to be the principal cause of the suffering referred to in the preceding passage (Zamakhshari).]
37:71 Thus, indeed, most of the people of old went astray before them,
37:72 although, verily, We had sent warners unto them:
37:73 and behold what happened in the end to those that had been warned [to no avail]!
37:74 EXCEPT for God's true servants, [most people are apt to go astray.] [Sc., "and are, therefore, in need of prophetic guidance": which explains the subsequent mention of stories relating to several of the prophets. The story of Noah, which is briefly referred to here, appears in greater detail in 11:25-48.]
37:75 And, indeed, [it was for this reason that] Noah cried unto Us - and how excellent was Our response:
37:76 for We saved him and his household from that awesome calamity, [I.e., the Deluge.]
37:77 and caused his offspring to endure [on earth];
37:78 and We left him thus to be remembered among later generations: [Lit., "and We left upon him", sc., "this praise" or "remembrance", expressed in the salutation which follows.]
37:79 "Peace be upon Noah throughout all the worlds!"
37:80 Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good -
37:81 for he was truly one of our believing servants:
37:82 [and so We saved him and those who followed him] and then We caused the others to drown.
37:83 AND, BEHOLD, of his persuasion was Abraham, too,
37:84 when he turned to his Sustainer with a heart free of evil,
37:85 and [thus] spoke to his father and his people: "What is it that you worship?
37:86 Do you want [to bow down before] a lie - [before] deities other than God?
37:87 What, then, do you think of the Sustainer of all the worlds?" [Abraham's argument goes thus: "Do you believe in the existence of a Creator and Lord of the universe?" - a question which his people were bound to answer in the affirmative, since belief in a Supreme Deity was an integral part of their religion. The next stage of the argument would be: "How, then, can you worship idols - the work of your own hands - side by side with the idea of a Creator of the universe?"]
37:88 Then he cast a glance at the stars, [Obviously an allusion to his early, futile attempts at identifying God with the stars, the sun or the moon (see 6:76-78).]
37:89 and said, "Verily, I am sick [at heart]!" [Sc., "at your worshipping idols instead of God" (lbn Kathir; cf. also Lane IV, 1384). -
37:90 and at that they turned their backs on him and went away.
37:91 Thereupon he approached their gods stealthily and said, "What! You do not eat [of the offerings placed before you]?
37:92 What is amiss with you that you do not speak?"
37:93 And then he fell upon them, smiting them with his right hand. [A metonym for "with all his strength". For what happened afterwards, see 21:58.]
37:94 [But] then the others came towards him hurriedly [and accused him of his deed].
37:95 He answered: "Do you worship something that you [yourselves] have carved,
37:96 the while it is God who has created you and all your handiwork?"
37:97 They exclaimed: "Build a pyre [Lit., "a building" or "a structure".] for him, and cast him into the blazing fire!"
37:98 But whereas they sought to do evil unto him, We [frustrated their designs, and thus] brought them low? [See surah 21:69.]
37:99 And [Abraham] said: "Verily, I shall [leave this land and] go wherever my Sustainer will guide me!" [Lit., "I shall go to my Sustainer: He will guide me."]
37:100 [And he prayed:] "O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of [a son who shall be] one of the righteous!" -
37:101 whereupon We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]? [I.e., Abraham's first-born son, Ishmael (Ismail).]
37:102 And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father's] endeavours, [Lit., "attained to [the age of] walking [or "striving"] with him": evidently a metonym for the child's attaining to an age when he could understand, and share in, his father's faith and aims.] the latter said: "O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be thy view!" [Ishmael] answered: "O my father! Do as thou art bidden: thou wilt find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!"
37:103 But as soon as the two had surrendered themselves to [what they thought to be] the will of God, [The above interpolation is, I believe, absolutely necessary for a proper understanding of this passage. As pointed out repeatedly in these notes, the verb aslama signifies, in Quranic usage, "he surrendered himself to God", or "to God's will", even if there is no express mention of God; hence, the dual form aslama occurring in the above verse might, on the face of it, have this meaning as well. Since, however, the sequence clearly shows that it was not God's will that Ishmael should be sacrificed, his and his father's "self-surrender to God's will" can have in this context only a purely subjective meaning - namely "to what they thought to be the will of God".] and [Abraham] had laid him down on his face,
37:104 We called out to him: "O Abraham,
37:105 thou hast already fulfilled [the purpose of] that dream- vision!" [I.e., the moral significance of Abraham's dream-vision consisted in a test of his readiness to sacrifice, at what he thought to be God's behest (see preceding note), all that was dearest to him in life.] Thus, verily, do We reward the doers of good:
37:106 for, behold, all this was indeed a trial, clear in itself. [I.e., a trial of this severity clearly implied that Abraham would be capable to bear it, and thus constituted a high moral distinction - in itself a reward from God.]
37:107 And We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice, [The epithet azim ("tremendous" or "mighty") renders it improbable that this sacrifice refers to nothing but the ram which Abraham subsequently found and slaughtered in Ishmael's stead (Genesis xxii, 13). To my mind, the sacrifice spoken of here is the one repeated every year by countless believers in connection with the pilgrimage to Mecca (al-hajj), which, in itself, commemorates the experience of Abraham and Ishmael and constitutes one of the "five pillars" of Islam. (See 22:27-37, as well as 2:196-203.)]
37:108 and left him thus to be remembered among later generations: [See note on verse 78 above.]
37:109 "Peace be upon Abraham!"
37:110 Thus do We reward the doers of good -
37:111 for he was truly one of our believing servants.
37:112 And [in time] We gave him the glad tiding of Isaac, [who, too, would be] a prophet, one of the righteous;
37:113 and We blessed him and Isaac: but among the offspring of these two there were [destined] to be both doers of good and such as would glaringly sin against themselves. [I.e., commit evil. With this prediction the Quran refutes, as in so many other places, the spurious contention of the Jews that they are "the chosen people" by virtue of their descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and therefore a priori "assured", as it were, of God's acceptance. In other words, God's blessing a prophet or a saint does not, by itself, imply the conferment of any special status on his descendants.]
37:114 THUS, INDEED, did We bestow Our favour upon Moses and Aaron; [I.e., in consideration of their own merit, and not because of their descent from Abraham and Isaac (see preceding verse and note).
37:115 and We saved them and their people from the awesome calamity [of bondage],
37:116 and succoured them, so that [in the end] it was they who achieved victory.
37:117 And We gave them the divine writ that made [right and wrong] distinct, [I.e., "the Torah, wherein there was guidance and light ... unto those who followed the Jewish faith"
37:118 and guided them the straight way,
37:119 and left them thus to be remembered among later generations:
37:120 "Peace be upon Moses and Aaron!"
37:121 Thus do We reward the doers of good -
37:122 for those two were truly among Our believing servants.
37:123 AND, BEHOLD, Elijah [too] was indeed one of Our message-bearers [The Hebrew prophet Elijah (Ilyas in Arabic) is mentioned in the Bible (I Kings xvii ff. And II Kings i-ii) as having lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah - i.e., in the ninth century B.C. - and having been succeeded by Elisha (Al-Yasa in Arabic). The above stress on his, too, having been "one of the message-bearers" (min al-mursalin) recalls the Quranic principle that God makes "no distinction between any of His apostles" (cf.2:136 and 285, 3:84, 4:152, and the corresponding notes).]
37:124 when he spoke [thus] to his people: "Will you not remain conscious of God?
37:125 Will you invoke Baal and forsake [God,] the best of artisans - [As regards this rendering of ahsan al-khaliqin, see surah 23:14. The term bal (conventionally spelt Baal in European languages) signified "lord" or "master" in all branches of ancient Arabic, including Hebrew and Phoenician; it was an honorific applied to every one of the many `male" deities worshipped by the ancient Semites, especially in Syria and Palestine. In the Old Testament this designation has sometimes the generic connotation of "idol-worship" - a sin into which, according to the Bible, the early Israelites often relapsed.] -
37:126 God, your Sustainer and the Sustainer of your forebears of old?"
37:127 But they gave him the lie: and therefore they will most surely be arraigned [on Judgment Day],
37:128 excepting only [those who were] God's true servants;
37:129 and him We left thus to be remembered among later generations:
37:130 "Peace be upon Elijah and his followers!" [The form I1-Yasin in which this name appears in the above verse is either a variant of llyas (Elijah) or, more probably, a plural - "the Elijahs" - meaning "Elijah and his followers" (Tabari, Zamakhshari, et al.). According to Tabari, Abd Allah ibn Masud used to read this verse as "Peace be upon Idrasin", which, apart from giving us a variant or a plural of Idris (" Idris and his followers"), lends support to the view that Idris and llyas are but two designations of one and the same person, the Biblical Elijah. (See also note on 19:56.)]
37:131 Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good -
37:132 for he was truly one of Our believing servants!
37:133 AND, BEHOLD, Lot was indeed one of Our message-bearers;
37:134 [and so,] when [We decreed the doom of his sinful town,] [See 7:80 - 84 and 11:69 - 83.] We saved him and his household,
37:135 except an old woman who was among those that stayed behind; [As is evident from 7:83 and 11:81, that woman was Lot's wife, who had chosen to stay behind (cf. note on 7 83).]
37:136 and then We utterly destroyed the others:
37:137 and, verily, [to this day] you pass by the remnants of their dwellings at morning-time
37:138 and by night. [Lit., "you pass by them", i.e., by the places where they lived (see 15:76 and the corresponding note).] Will you not, then, use your reason?
37:139 AND, BEHOLD, Jonah was indeed one of Our message-bearers
37:140 when he fled like a runaway slave onto a laden ship. [I.e., when he abandoned the mission with which he had been entrusted by God (see 21:87, which gives the first part of Jonah's story), and thus, in the words of the Bible (The Book of Jonah i, 3 and 10), committed the sin of "fleeing from the presence of the Lord". In its primary significance, the infinitive noun ibaq (derived from the verb abaqa) denotes "a slave's running - away from his master"; and Jonah is spoken of as having "fled like a runaway slave" because - although he was God's message-bearer - he abandoned his task under the stress of violent anger. The subsequent mention of "the laden ship" alludes to the central, allegorical part of Jonah's story. The ship ran into a storm and was about to founder; and the mariners "said everyone to his fellow, Come and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us" (The Book of Jonah i, 7) - a procedure to which Jonah agreed.]
37:141 And then they cast lots, and he was the one who lost; [Lit., "he cast lots [with the mariners], and was among the losers". According to the Biblical account (The Book of Jonah i, 10 - 15), Jonah told them that he had "fled from the presence of the Lord", and that it was because of this sin of his that they all were now in danger of drowning. "And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this tempest is upon you .... So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging."]
37:142 [and they cast him into the sea,] whereupon the great fish swallowed him, for he had been blameworthy. [In all the three instances where Jonah's "great fish" is explicitly mentioned in the Quran (as al-hut in the above verse and in 68:48, and an-nun in 21:87), it carries the definite article al. This may possibly be due to the fact that the legend of Jonah was and is so widely known that every reference to the allegory of "the great fish" is presumed to be self-explanatory. The inside of the fish that "swallowed" Jonah apparently symbolizes the deep darkness of spiritual distress of which 21:87 speaks: the distress at having "fled like a runaway slave" from his prophetic mission and, thus, "from the presence of the Lord". Parenthetically, the story is meant to show that, since "man has been created weak"
37:143 And had he not been of those who [even in the deep darkness of their distress are able to] extol God's limitless glory, [I.e., to remember God and to repent: see 21:87, which reveals in its very formulation the universal purport of Jonah's story.]
37:144 he would indeed have remained in its belly till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead:
37:145 but We caused him to be cast forth on a desert shore, sick [at heart] as he was,
37:146 and caused a creeping plant to grow over him [out of the barren soil]. [I.e., to shade and comfort him. Thus, rounding off the allegory of Jonah and the fish, the Quran points out in the figurative manner so characteristic of its style that God, who can cause a plant to grow out of the most arid and barren soil, can equally well cause a heart lost in darkness to come back to light and spiritual life.]
37:147 And [then] We sent him [once again] to [his people,] a hundred thousand [souls] or more:
37:148 and [this time] they believed [in him] [Cf. the reference to the people of Jonah in 10:98. For the Biblical version of this story, see The Book of Jonah iii.] - and so We allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them? [Lit., "for a time": i.e., for the duration of their natural lives (Razi also Manar XI, 483).]
37:149 AND NOW ask them to enlighten thee: [This reference to people who ascribe divinity to beings other than God connects with verse 4 ("verily, most surely, your God is One") as well as with verses 69 - 70 ("behold, they found their forebears on a wrong way, and [now] they make haste to follow in their footsteps").] Has thy Sustainer daughters, whereas they would have [only] sons? [For an explanation of this passage, see 16:57-59 and the corresponding notes.]
37:150 - or is it that We have created the angels female, and they [who believe them to be divine] have witnessed [that act of creation]?
37:151 Oh, verily, it is out of their own [inclination to] falsehood that some people [Lit., "they".] assert,
37:152 "God has begotten [a son]"; and, verily, they are lying [too, when they say],
37:153 "He has chosen daughters in preference to sons"! [Cf. 6:100 ("they have invented for Him sons and daughters") and the corresponding notes. See also note on 17:40, as well as 53:19-22 and the corresponding notes.]
37:154 What is amiss with you and your judgment? [Lit., "how do you judge?"]
37:155 Will you not, then, bethink yourselves?
37:156 Or have you, perchance, a clear evidence [for your assertions]?
37:157 Produce, then, that divine writ of yours, if you are speaking the truth!
37:158 And some people [Lit., "they".] have invented a kinship between Him and all manner of invisible forces [See Appendix III. Whereas most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that the term al-jinnah denotes here the angels, since they - like all beings of this category - are imperceptible to man's senses, I believe that the above verse refers to those intangible forces of nature which elude all direct observation and manifest themselves only in their effects: hence their designation, in this context, by the plural noun al-jinnah, which primarily denotes "that which is concealed from [man's] senses". Inasmuch as people who refuse to believe in God often tend to regard those elemental forces as mysteriously endowed with a purposeful creative power (cf. Bergson's concept of the elan vital), the Quran states that their votaries invent a "kinship" between them and God, i.e., attribute to them qualities and powers similar to His.] - although [even] these invisible forces know well that, verily, they [who thus blaspheme against God] shall indeed be arraigned [before Him on Judgment Day: for] [For this metaphorical attribution of "knowledge" to the elemental forces of nature, see verses 164 -166 and the corresponding note below.]
37:159 limitless is God in His glory, above anything that men may devise by way of definition! [See note on the last sentence of 6:100.]
37:160 Not thus, however, [behave] God's true servants:
37:161 for, verily, neither you [blasphemers] nor the objects of your worship
37:162 can cause anyone to fall prey to your temptation
37:163 unless it be such as rushes towards the blazing fire [of his own accord]! [True belief in God precludes all temptation to define Him who is indefinable, or to associate, conceptually, anyone or anything with Him; conversely, the blasphemy inherent in such attempts destroys the potential value of one's belief in God and, thus, brings about the spiritual ruin of the person concerned.]
37:164 [All forces of nature praise God and say:] [The metaphorical "saying" that follows is in tune with many other Quranic passages which speak of even inanimate objects as "praising God", e.g., "The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and all that they contain"
37:165 and, verily, we too are ranged [before Him in worship];
37:166 and, verily, we too extol His limitless glory!"
37:167 AND, INDEED, they [who deny the truth] have always been wont to say,
37:168 "If only we had a tradition [to this effect] from our forebears, [Lit., "a reminder (dhikr) from those of old": see note on verses 69 - 70 above. Most of the commentators assume that the term dhikr connotes here, as so often in the Quran, a "divine writ". In my opinion, however, it is far more probable - because more in tune with the context - that in this case it signifies an ancestral tradition bearing on the (to them astonishing) message of God's oneness and uniqueness as promulgated by the Quran.]
37:169 we would certainly be true servants of God."
37:170 And yet, [now that this divine writ has been placed before them,] they refuse to acknowledge it as true! In time, however, they will come to know [what it was that they had rejected]:
37:171 for, long ago has Our word gone forth unto Our servants, the message- bearers,
37:172 that, verily, they - they indeed - would be succoured,
37:173 and that, verily, Our hosts - they indeed - would [in the end] be victorious!
37:174 Hence, turn thou aside for a while from those [who deny the truth],
37:175 and see them [for what they are]; [I.e., as people who are bent on deceiving themselves. In this context, the verb basura (lit., "he saw" or "became seeing") is used tropically, in the sense of "seeing mentally" or "gaining insight".] and in time they [too] will come to see [what they do not see now]. [I.e., they will realize the truth as well as the suffering which its rejection entails: obviously a reference to the Day of Judgment.]
37:176 Do they, then, [really] wish that Our chastisement be hastened on? [This is an allusion to the sarcastic demand of the people who refused to regard the Quran as a divine revelation, to be punished forthwith "if this be indeed the truth from God" (see 8:32 and the corresponding note).]
37:177 But then, once it alights upon them, hapless will be the awakening of those who were warned [to no avail]! [Lit., "when it alights in their courtyard, evil [or "hapless"] is the morning of those...", etc. In ancient Arabic usage, the idiomatic phrase "chastisement [or "suffering"] has alighted (nazala) in so-and-so's courtyard" denotes its coming-down upon, or befalling, the person or persons concerned (Tabari). Similarly, the "morning" (sabah) is a metonym for "awakening".]
37:178 Hence, turn thou aside for a while from them,
37:179 and see [them for what they are]; and n time they [too] will come to see [what they do not see now].
37:180 LIMITLESS in His glory is thy Sustainer, the Lord of almightiness, [exalted] above anything that men may devise by way of definition!
37:181 And peace be upon all His message-bearers!
37:182 And all praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
38:1 Sad. [See Appendix II.] CONSIDER [For an explanation of this rendering of the adjurative particle Wa, see first half of note on 74:32.] this Quran, endowed with all that one ought to remember! [Or: "endowed with eminence" (Zamakhshari), since the term dhikr (lit., "reminder" or "remembrance") has also the connotation of "that which is remembered", i.e., "renown", "fame" and, tropically, "eminence". As regards the rendering preferred by me, see 21:10, where the phrase fihi dhikrukum (relating, as above, to the Quran) has been translated as "wherein is found all that you ought to bear in mind", i.e., in order to attain to dignity and happiness.]
38:2 But nay - they who are bent on denying the truth are lost in [false] pride, and [hence] deeply in the wrong. [I.e., they refuse to acknowledge the fact of divine revelation because such an acknowledgment would imply an admission of man's responsibility to God - and this their false pride, manifested in their arrogant belief in man's "self-sufficiency", does not allow them to do. The same idea is expressed in 16:22 and, in a more general way, in 2:206. Cf. also 96:6-7.]
38:3 How many a generation have We destroyed before their time [for this very sin]! [It is to be noted that the term qarn signifies not merely a "generation" but also - and quite frequently in the Quran - "people belonging to a particular period and environment', i.e., a "civilization" in the historical connotation of this word.] And [how] they called [unto Us] when it was too late to escape! [Lit., "while there was no time for escaping".]
38:4 Now these [people] deem it strange that a warner should have come unto them from their own midst - and [so] the deniers of the truth are saying: "A [mere] spellbinder is he, a liar! [Although this passage describes, in the first instance, the attitude of the pagan Quraysh towards the Prophet, it touches upon the reluctance of most people, at all times, to recognize "a man from their own midst" - i.e., a human being like themselves - as God-inspired. (See note on 50:2.)]
38:5 Does he claim that all the deities are [but] one God? Verily, a most strange thing is this!" [Divorced from its purely historical background, this criticism acquires a timeless significance, and may be thus paraphrased: "Does he claim that all creative powers and qualities are inherent exclusively in what he conceives as `one God'?" - a paraphrase which illustrates the tendency of many people to attribute a decisive influence on human life - and, hence, a quasi-divine status - to a variety of fortuitous phenomena or circumstances (like wealth, "luck", social position, etc.) rather than to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence, in all observable nature, of God's unique existence.]
38:6 And their leaders launch forth [thus]: "Go ahead, and hold steadfastly onto your deities: this, behold, is the only thing to do! [Lit., "a thing desired" or "to be desired", i.e., a sensible course of action.]
38:7 Never did we hear of [a claim like] this in any faith of latter days! [I.e., "in any of the faiths prevalent in our days": an oblique reference to Christianity and its dogma of the Trinity, which contrasts with the Quranic concept of God's oneness and uniqueness, as well as to any other faith based on the belief in a multiplicity or multiform incarnation of divine powers (e.g., Hinduism with its triad of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva).] It is nothing but [a mortal man's] invention!
38:8 What! Upon him alone from among all of us should a [divine] reminder have been bestowed from on high?" Nay, but it is My Own reminder that they distrust! [Lit., "that they are in doubt of": i.e., it is not the personality of the Prophet that fills them with distrust, but, rather, the substance of the message proclaimed by him - and, in particular, his insistence on God's absolute oneness and uniqueness, which runs counter to their habits of thought and social traditions.] Nay, they have not yet tasted the suffering which I do impose! [Sc., "on people who refuse to accept the truth".]
38:9 Or do they [think that they] own the treasures of thy Sustainer's grace - [the grace] of the Almighty, the Giver of Gifts? [I.e., "Do they think that it is for them to decide as to who should and who should not be graced with divine revelation?"
38:10 Or [that] the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them is theirs? Why, then, let them try to ascend [to God-like power] by all [conceivable] means! [I.e., "Do they think that human beings are so highly endowed that they are bound to attain, some day, to mastery over the universe and all nature, and thus to God-like power?" Cf. in this connection 96:6-8 and the corresponding note. As regards my rendering of al-asbab as "all [conceivable] means", see note on 18:84.]
38:11 [But] there it is: any and all human beings, however [strongly] leagued together, are bound to suffer defeat [whenever they refuse to accept the truth]. [The collective noun jund, which primarily denotes "a host" or "an army", has also the meaning of "created beings", in this context obviously human beings; in combination with the particle ma, "any number of human beings". The term hizb (of which ahzab is the plural), on the other hand, denotes "a party" or "a group of people of the same mind" or "people leagued together", i.e., for a definite purpose.]
38:12 To the truth gave the lie aforetime [Lit., "before them", i.e., before the people who opposed or oppose Muhammad's message.] Noah's people, and [the tribe of] Ad, and Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles, [In classical Arabic, this ancient bedouin term is used idiomatically as a metonym for "mighty dominion" or "firmness of power" (Zamakhshari). The number of poles supporting a bedouin tent is determined by its size, and the latter has always depended on the status and power of its owner: thus, a mighty chieftain is often alluded to as "he of many tent-poles".]
38:13 and [the tribe of] Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan]: they all were leagued together, [as it were, in their unbelief:]
38:14 not one [was there] but gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon My retribution fell due.
38:15 And they [who now deny the truth - they, too,] have but to wait for one single blast [of punishment to overtake them]: it shall not be delayed a whit. [Sc., "beyond the term set for it by God".]
38:16 As it is, they say [mockingly]: "O our Sustainer! Hasten on to us our share [of punishment even] before the Day of Reckoning!" [Cf. 8:32. This mocking "demand" of the unbelievers is mentioned in several other places in the Quran.]
38:17 [But] bear thou with patience whatever they may say, and remember Our servant David, him who was endowed with [so much] inner strength! He, verily, would always turn unto Us:
38:18 [and for this,] behold, We caused [Lit., "We compelled" or "constrained".] the mountains to join him in extolling Our limitless glory at eventide and at sunrise,
38:19 and [likewise] the birds in their assemblies: [See surah 21:79.] [together] they all Would turn again and again unto Him [who had created them].
38:20 And We strengthened his dominion, and bestowed upon him wisdom and sagacity in judgment.
38:21 AND YET, has the story of the litigants come within thy ken - [the story of the two] who surmounted the walls of the sanctuary [in which David prayed]? [The story which, according to the oldest sources at our disposal, is alluded to in verses 21-26 affects the question as to whether God's elect, the prophets - all of whom were endowed, like David, with "wisdom and sagacity in judgment" - could or could not ever commit a sin: in other words, whether they, too, were originally subject to the weaknesses inherent in human nature as such or were a priori endowed with an essential purity of character which rendered each of them incapable of sinning" (masum). In the form in which it has been handed down from the earliest authorities (including, according to Tabari and Baghawi, Companions like Abd Allah ibn Abbas and Anas ibn Malik, as well as several of the most prominent of their immediate successors), the story contradicts the doctrine - somewhat arbitrarily developed by Muslim theologians in the course of the centuries - that prophets cannot sin by virtue of their very nature, and tends to show that their purity and subsequent sinless ness is a result of inner struggles and trials and, thus, represents in each case a moral achievement rather than an inborn quality. As narrated in some detail by Tabari and other early commentators, David fell in love with a beautiful woman whom he accidentally observed from his roof terrace. On inquiring, he was told that she was the wife of one of his officers, named Uriah. Impelled by his passion, David ordered his field-commander to place Uriah in a particularly exposed battle position, where he would be certain to be killed; and as soon as his order was fulfilled and Uriah died, David married the widow (who subsequently became the mother of Solomon). This story agrees more or less with the Old Testament, which gives the woman's name as Bath-Sheba (II Samuel xi), barring the Biblical allegation that David committed adultery with her before Uriah's death (ibid. xi, 4-5) - an allegation which has always been rejected by Muslims as highly offensive and slanderous: cf. the saying of the fourth Caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib (quoted by Zamakhshari on the authority of Said ibn al-Musayyab): "If anyone should narrate the story of David in the manner in which the story-tellers narrate it, I will have him flogged with one hundred and sixty stripes - for this is a [suitable] punishment for slandering prophets" (thus indirectly recalling the Quranic ordinance, in 24:4, which stipulates flogging with eighty stripes for accusing ordinary persons of adultery without legal proof). According to most of the commentators, the two "litigants" who suddenly appeared before David were angels sent to bring home to him his sin. It is possible, however, to see in their appearance an allegory of David's own realization of having sinned: voices of his own conscience which at last "surmounted the walls" of the passion that had blinded him for a time.]
38:22 As they came upon David, and he shrank back in fear from them, they said: "Fear not! [We are but] two litigants. One of us has wronged the other: so judge thou between us with justice, and deviate not from what is right, and show [both of] us the way to rectitude.
38:23 "Behold, this is my brother: he has ninety-nine ewes, whereas I have [only] one ewe - and yet he said, `Make her over to me,' and forcibly prevailed against me in this [our] dispute."
38:24 Said [David]: "He has certainly wronged thee by demanding that thy ewe be added to his ewes! Thus, behold, do many kinsmen wrong one another [The term khulata (sing. khalit) denotes, literally, "people who mix [i.e., are familiar or intimate] with others" or "with one another". In the present instance it evidently alludes to the "brotherhood" between the two mysterious litigants, and is therefore best rendered as "kinsmen".] - [all] save those who believe [in God] and do righteous deeds: but how few are they!" And [suddenly] David understood that We had tried him: [Sc., "and that he had failed" (in the matter of Bath-Sheba).] and so he asked his Sustainer to forgive him his sin, and fell down in prostration, and turned unto Him in repentance.
38:25 And thereupon We forgave him that [sin]: and, verily, nearness to Us awaits him [in the life to come], and the most beauteous of all goals!
38:26 [And We said:] "O David! Behold, We have made thee a [prophet and, thus, Our] vicegerent on earth: judge, then, between men with justice, and do not follow vain desire, lest it lead thee astray from the path of God: verily, for those who go astray from the path of God there is suffering severe in store for having forgotten the Day of Reckoning!"
38:27 AND [thus it is:] We have not created heaven and earth and all that is between them without meaning and purpose, as is the surmise of those who are bent on denying the truth: [Cf. 3:191. The above statement appears in the Quran in several formulations; see, in particular, note on 10:5. In the present instance it connects with the mention of the Day of Reckoning in the preceding verse, thus leading organically from a specific aspect of David's story to a moral teaching of wider import.] but then, woe from the fire [of hell] unto all who are bent on denying the truth! [I.e., a deliberate rejection of the belief that the universe - and, in particular, human life - is imbued with meaning and purpose leads unavoidably - though sometimes imperceptibly - to a rejection of all moral imperatives, to spiritual blindness and, hence, to suffering in the life to come.]
38:28 [For,] would We treat those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds in the same manner as [We shall treat] those who spread corruption on earth? Would We treat the God-conscious in the same manner as the wicked? [By implication, belief in resurrection, judgment and life after death is postulated in this passage (verses 27-28) as a logical corollary - almost a premise - of all belief in God: for, since we see that many righteous people suffer all manner of misery and deprivations in this world, while, on the other hand, many of the wicked and depraved enjoy their lives in peace and affluence, we must either assume that God does not exist (because the concept of injustice is incompatible with that of Godhead), or - alternatively - that there is a hereafter in which both the righteous and the unrighteous will harvest in full what they had morally sown during their lives on earth.]
38:29 [All this have We expounded in this] blessed divine writ which We have revealed unto thee, [O Muhammad,] so that men may ponder over its messages, and that those who are endowed with insight may take them to heart.
38:30 AND UNTO DAVID We granted Solomon [as a son - and] how excellent a servant [of Ours he grew up to be]! Behold, he would always turn unto Us - [I.e., he would always think of God, as illustrated by the example given in the sequence.]
38:31 [and even] when, towards the close of day, nobly-bred, swift-footed steeds were brought before him,
38:32 he would say, "Verily, I have come to love the love of all that is good because 1 bear my Sustainer in mind!" [Lit., "because of [or "out of"] the remembrance of my Sustainer".] - [repeating these words as the steeds raced away,] until they were hidden by the veil [of distance - whereupon he would command], [This and the preceding interpolation are based on Razi's interpretation of this passage.]
38:33 "Bring them back unto me!"- and would [lovingly] stroke their legs and their necks. [The story of Solomon's love of beautiful horses is meant to show that all true love of God is bound to be reflected in one's realization of, and reverence for, the beauty created by Him.]
38:34 But [ere this], indeed, We had tried Solomon by placing upon his throne a [lifeless] body; [To explain this verse, some of the commentators advance the most fantastic stories, almost all of them going back to Talmudic sources. Razi rejects them all, maintaining that they are unworthy of serious consideration. Instead, he plausibly suggests that the "body" (jasad) upon Solomon's throne is an allusion to his own body, and - metonymically - to his kingly power, which was bound to remain "lifeless" so long as it was not inspired by God-willed ethical values. (It is to be borne in mind that in classical Arabic a person utterly weakened by illness, worry or fear, or devoid of moral values, is often described as "a body without a soul".) In other words, Solomon's early trial consisted in his inheriting no more than a kingly position, and it rested upon him to endow that position with spiritual essence and meaning.] and thereupon he turned [towards Us; and]
38:35 he prayed: "O my Sustainer! Forgive me my sins, and bestow upon me the gift of a kingdom which may not suit anyone after me: [I.e., a spiritual kingdom, which could not be inherited by anyone and, hence, would not be exposed to envy or worldly intrigue.] verily, Thou alone art a giver of gifts!"
38:36 And so [I.e., as a reward for his humility and turning-away from worldly ambitions, implied in the prayer, "Forgive me my sins".] We made subservient to him the wind, so that it gently sped at his behest whithersoever he willed, [Cf. 21:81 and the corresponding note. For the meaning, in general, of the many legends surrounding the person of Solomon, see note on 21:82.]
38:37 as well as all the rebellious forces [that We made to work for him] - every kind of builder and diver -
38:38 and others linked together in fetters. [I.e., subdued and, as it were, tamed by him: see note on 21:82, which explains my rendering, in this context, of shayatin as "rebellious forces".]
38:39 [And We told him:] "This is Our gift, for thee to bestow freely on others, or to withhold, without [having to render] account!"
38:40 And, verily, nearness to Us awaits him [in the life to come], and the most beauteous of all goals!
38:41 AND CALL to mind Our servant Job, [See note on 21:83.] [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, "Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!" [I.e., with life-weariness in consequence of suffering. As soon as he realizes that God has been testing him, Job perceives that his utter despondency and weariness of life - eloquently described in the Old Testament (The Book of Job iii) - was but due to what is described as "Satan's whisperings": this is the moral to be drawn from the above evocation of Job's story.] -
38:42 [and thereupon was told:] "Strike [the ground] with thy foot: here is cool water to wash with and to drink!" [According to the classical commentators, the miraculous appearance of a healing spring heralded the end of Job's suffering, both physical and mental.]
38:43 And We bestowed upon him new offspring, [Lit., "his family" (cf. 21:84 and the corresponding note).] doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder unto all who are endowed with insight.
38:44 [And finally We told him:] "Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break thine oath!" [In the words of the Bible (The Book of Job ii, 9), at the time of his seemingly hopeless suffering Job's wife reproached her husband for persevering in his faith: "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die." According to the classical Quran-commentators, Job swore that, if God would restore him to health, he would punish her blasphemy with a hundred stripes. But when he did recover, he bitterly regretted his hasty oath, for he realized that his wife's "blasphemy" had been an outcome of her love and pity for him; and thereupon he was told in a revelation that he could fulfill his vow in a symbolic manner by striking her once with "a bunch of grass containing a hundred blades or more". (Cf. 5:89 - "God will not take you to task for oaths which you may have uttered without thought.")] - for, verily, We found him full of patience in adversity: how excellent a servant [of Ours], who, behold, would always turn unto Us!
38:45 AND CALL to mind Our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, [all of them] endowed with inner strength and vision:
38:46 for, verily, We purified them by means of a thought most pure: the remembrance of the life to come. [Lit., "of the [final] abode".]
38:47 And, behold, in Our sight they were indeed among the elect, the truly good!
38:48 And call to mind Ishmael and Elisha, [Al-Yasa in Arabic - the Biblical prophet who succeeded Elijah (see surah 37:123).] and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto Us]: for, each of them was of the truly good! [For an explanation of this rendering of dhu l-kifl, see 21:85.]
38:49 LET [all] this be a reminder [to those who believe in God] - for, verily, the most beauteous of all goals awaits the God-conscious:
38:50 gardens of perpetual bliss, with gates wide-open to them, [In all the eleven instances in which the noun adn occurs in the Quran - and of which the present is the oldest - it is used as a qualifying term for the "gardens" (jannat) of paradise. This noun is derived from the verb adana, which primarily denotes "he remained [somewhere]" or "he kept [to something]", i.e., permanently: cf. the phrase adantu l-balad ("I remained for good [or "settled"] in the country"). In Biblical Hebrew - which, after all, is but a very ancient Arabian dialect - the closely related noun eden has also the additional connotation of "delight", "pleasure" or bliss". Hence the combination of the two concepts in my rendering of adn as "perpetual bliss". As in many other places in the Quran, this bliss is here allegorized - and thus brought closer to man's imagination - by means of descriptions recalling earthly joys.]
38:51 wherein they will recline, [and] wherein they may [freely] call for many a fruit and drink,
38:52 having beside them well-matched mates of modest gaze." [Lit., "such as restrain their gaze", i.e., are of modest bearing and have eyes only for their mates (Razi). This allegorical reference to the delights of paradise occurs in the Quran three times (apart from the above instance, which is chronologically the earliest, in 37:48 and 55:56 as well). As an allegory, this phrase evidently applies to the righteous of both sexes, who in the life to come will be rejoined with those whom they loved and by whom they were loved in this world: for, "God has promised the believers, both men and women, gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual bliss"
38:53 This is what you are promised for the Day of Reckoning:
38:54 this, verily, shall be Our provision [for you], with no end to it!
38:55 All this [for the righteous]:
38:56 hell will they have to endure - and how vile a resting-place!
38:57 This, [then, for them -] so let them taste it: burning despair and ice-cold darkness
38:58 and, coupled with it, further [suffering] of a similar nature. [Lit., "of its kind": i.e., corresponding in intensity to what the Quran describes as hamim and ghassaq. For my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see note on 6:70. The term ghassaq, on the other hand, is derived from the verb ghasaqa, "it became dark" or "intensely dark" (Taj al-Arus); thus, al-ghasiq denotes "black darkness" and, tropically, "the night" or, rather, "the black night". According to some authorities, the form ghassaq signifies "intense [or "icy"] cold". A combination of these two meanings gives us the concept of the "ice-cold darkness" of the spirit which, together with "burning despair" (hamim), will characterize the suffering of inveterate sinners in the life to come. All other interpretations of the term ghassaq are purely speculative and, therefore, irrelevant.]
38:59 [And they will say to one another: "Do you see] this crowd of people who rushed headlong [into sin] with you? [I.e., "people whom you had seduced, and who thereupon blindly followed you": an apostrophe stressing the double responsibility of the seducers.] No welcome to them! Verily, they [too] shall have to endure the fire!" [In Arabic usage, the phrase "no welcome to them" or "to you" (la marhaban bihim, resp.bikum) is equivalent to a curse. In this context - carried on into the next verse - it expresses a mutual disavowal of the seducers and the seduced.]
38:60 [And] they [who had been seduced] will exclaim: "Nay, but it is you! No welcome to you! It is you who have prepared this for us: and how vile a state to abide in!"
38:61 [And] they will pray: "O our Sustainer! Whoever has prepared this for us, double Thou his suffering in the fire!" [Cf. 7:38 (and the corresponding notes) as well as 33:67-68.]
38:62 And they will add: "How is it that we do not see [here any of the] men whom we were wont to count among the wicked,
38:63 [and] whom we made the target of our derision? [I.e., the prophets and the righteous, who - as the Quran points out in many places - have always been derided by people enamoured of the life of this world and, therefore, averse to all moral exhortation.] Or is it that [they are here, and] our eyes have missed them?"
38:64 Such, behold, will in truth be the [confusion and] mutual wrangling of the people of the fire!
38:65 SAY [O Muhammad]: "I am only a warner; and there is no deity whatever save God, the One, who holds absolute sway over all that exists,
38:66 the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Almighty, the All-Forgiving!"
38:67 Say: "This is a message tremendous:
38:68 [how can] you turn away from it?"
38:69 [Say, O Muhammad:] "No knowledge would I have had of [what passed among] the host on high when they argued [against the creation of man], [For the allegorical contention of the angels ("the host on high") against the creation of man, see 2:30 ff. and the corresponding notes. The allegory of man's creation, of God's command to the angels to "prostrate themselves" before the new creature, and of Iblis' refusal to do so appears in the Quran six times (2:30-34, 7:11 ff., 15:28-44, 17:61-65, 18:50, and 38:69-85), each time with an accent on a different aspect of this allegory. In the present instance (which is undoubtedly the earliest in the chronology of revelation) it is connected with the statement, in 2:31, that God "imparted unto Adam the names of all things", i.e., endowed man with the faculty of conceptual thinking (see note on 2:31) and, thus, with the ability to discern between what is true and what false. Since he possesses this faculty, man has no excuse for not realizing God's existence and oneness - the "message tremendous" referred to in the preceding passage.]
38:70 had it not been revealed unto me [by God] - to no other end than that I might convey [unto you] a plain warning. [Lit., "otherwise than that I be (illa annama ana) a plain warner" - i.e., of the prospect of spiritual self-destruction inherent in a willful disregard of the fact of God's existence and oneness, which is the core of all religious cognition and, hence, of all true prophethood.]
38:71 [For,] lo, [For this rendering of idh, see surah 2:30.] thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to create a human being out of clay; [See note on 15:26.]
38:72 and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall you down before him in prostration!" [See 15:29 and the corresponding note.]
38:73 Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together,
38:74 save Iblis: he gloried in his arrogance, and [thus] became one of those who deny the truth. [See note on 2:34 and note on 15:41.]
38:75 Said He: "O Iblis! What has kept thee from prostrating thyself before that [being] which I have created with My hands? [Cf. the metaphorical phrase "the things which Our hands have wrought" in 36:71, explained in the corresponding note. In the present instance, the stress lies on the God-willed superiority of man's intellect - which, like everything else in the universe, is God's "handiwork" - over the rest of creation (see note on 2:34).] Art thou too proud [to bow down before another created being], or art thou of those who think [only] of themselves as high?" [This "question" is, of course, only rhetorical, since God is omniscient. The phrase interpolated by me ("to bow down before another created being") reflects Zamakshari's interpretation of this passage.]
38:76 Answered [Iblis]: "I am better than he: Thou hast created me out of fire, [I.e., out of something non-corporeal and, therefore (in the view of Iblis), superior to the "clay" out of which man has been created. Inasmuch as "fire" is a symbol of passion, the above "saying" of Iblis contains, I believe, a subtle allusion to the Quranic concept of the "satanic forces" (shayatin) active within man's own heart: forces engendered by uncontrolled passions and love of self, symbolized by the preceding characterization of Iblis, the foremost of the shayatin, as "one of those who think only of themselves as high" (min al-alin).] whereas him Thou hast created out of clay."
38:77 Said He: "Go forth, then, from this [angelic state] - for, behold, thou art henceforth accursed,
38:78 and My rejection shall be thy due until the Day of Judgment!"
38:79 Said [Iblis]: "Then, O my Sustainer, grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead!"
38:80 Answered He: "Verily, so [be it:] thou shalt be among those who are granted respite
38:81 till the Day the time whereof is known [only to Me]." [The grant of "respite" to Iblis implies that he would have the power to tempt man until the end of time.]
38:82 [Whereupon Iblis] said: "Then [I swear] by Thy very might: I shall most certainly beguile them all into grievous error -
38:83 [all] save such of them as are truly Thy servants!"
38:84 [And God] said: "This, then, is the truth! [Cf. 15:41 - "This is, with Me, a straight way"- and the corresponding note.] And this truth do I state:
38:85 Most certainly will I fill hell with thee and such of them as shall follow thee, all together!"
38:86 SAY [O Prophet]: "No reward whatever do I ask of you for this [message]; and I am not one of those who claim to be what they are not. [The expression mutakallif denotes, primarily, "a person who takes too much upon himself", be it in action or in feeling; hence, a person who pretends to be more than he really is, or to feel what he does not really feel. In this instance, it indicates the Prophet's disclaimer of any "supernatural" status.]
38:87 This [divine writ], behold, is no less than a reminder to all the worlds --
38:88 and you will most certainly grasp its purport after a lapse of time!"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
39:1 THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise:
39:2 for, behold, it is We who have bestowed this revelation upon thee from on high, setting forth the truth: so worship Him, sincere in thy faith in Him alone!
39:3 Is it not to God alone that all sincere faith is due? And yet, they who take for their protectors aught beside Him [are wont to say], "We worship them for no other reason than that they bring us nearer to God." [This relates not only to the worship of saints, angels and "deified" persons as such, but also to that of their symbolic representations (statues, pictures, relics, etc.) and, in the case of defunct human personalities, of their real or reputed tombs. Since all such practices are based on the worshipper's hope of "mediation" between himself and God, they obviously conflict with the concept of His omniscience and justice, and are, therefore - notwithstanding their widespread occurrence - utterly rejected by the Quran.] Behold, God will judge between them [on Resurrection Day] with regard to all wherein they differ [from the truth]: [I.e., between those worshippers and the spiritual leaders who have led them astray (cf. 34:31-33).] for, verily, God does not grace with His guidance anyone who is bent on lying [to himself^ and is] stubbornly ingrate! [Cf. 6:22-24 and the corresponding notes.]
39:4 Had God willed to take Unto Himself a son, He could have chosen anyone that He wanted out of whatever He has created - [but] limitless is He in His glory! [The implication is this: Since God is almighty, He can have or do anything that He wills; and so, if He wanted, He could "take unto Himself a son" (which is an allusion to the Christian doctrine of Jesus as "the son of God"). Since, however, He is "limitless in His glory" - i.e., complete in His excellence and utterly remote from all imperfection - He is ipso facto remote from the incompleteness inherent in the need of, or desire for, progeny, which logically precludes the possibility of His having a "son". (Cf. the last sentence of 6:100 and the corresponding note.)] He is the One God, the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists!
39:5 He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with [an inner] truth. [See note on the last but one sentence of 10:5.] He causes the night to flow into the day, and causes the day to flow into the night; and He has made the sun and the moon subservient [to His laws], each running its course for a term set [by Him]. [See note on 13:2.] Is not He the Almighty, the All-Forgiving?
39:6 He has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it fashioned its mate; [See 4:1 and the corresponding note.] and he has bestowed upon you four kinds of cattle of either sex; [Lit., "eight [in] pairs", i.e., the male and the female of four kinds of cattle (sheep, goats, camels and bovine cattle). For an explanation of my rendering, see note on 6:143-144, where the same kinds of domesticated cattle are spoken of in connection with certain meaningless, superstitious taboos of pre-Islamic times, whereas here they are mentioned as "bestowed upon you" by God, and therefore lawful. Beyond this, the mention of cattle in this context is meant to remind man that it is God who provides his sustenance and therefore, man is utterly dependent on Him.] [and] He creates you in your mothers' wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness. [Lit., "by creation after creation, in three darknesses": an allusion to the successive stages of embryonic development, repeatedly spoken of in the Quran (cf. 22:5 and 23:12-14), and to the darkness of the womb, the membrane enveloping the embryo, and its pre-natal blindness.] Thus is God, your Sustainer: unto Him belongs all dominion: there is no deity save Him: how, then, can you lose sight of the truth? [Lit., "how, then, are you turned away?" - i.e., from the truth.]
39:7 If you are ingrate [Or: "If you deny the truth".] - behold, God has no need of you; none the less, He does not approve of ingratitude in His servants: whereas, if you show gratitude, He approves it in you. And no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden. [This statement occurs in the Quran five times in exactly the same formulation (apart from the above instance, in 6:164, 17:15, 35:18 and 53:38 - this last being the earliest in the chronology of revelation). In the present instance, it contains an allusion to (and rejection of) the Christian doctrine of "vicarious atonement" and, indirectly, to the worship of saints, etc., spoken of in verse 3 above and referred to in the corresponding note above. (See also note on 53:38.)] In time, unto your Sustainer you all must return, and then He will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life]: for, verily, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].
39:8 NOW [thus it is:] when affliction befalls man, he is likely to cry out to his Sustainer, turning unto Him [for help]; [Lit., "he cries out", i.e., instinctively, and as a rule.] but as soon as He has bestowed upon him a boon by His grace, he forgets Him whom he invoked before, and claims that there are other powers that could rival God - and thus leads [others] astray from His path. [Lit., "and gives God compeers (andad, sing. nidd)". Cf. the last sentence of 2:22 and the corresponding note.] Say [unto him who sins in this way]: "Enjoy thyself for a while in this thy denial of the truth; [yet,] verily, thou art of those who are destined for the fire!
39:9 Or [dost thou deem thyself equal to] one who devoutly worships [God] throughout the night, prostrating himself or standing [in prayer], ever- mindful of the life to come, and hoping for his Sustainer's grace?" [Alternatively, the above verse could be rendered thus: "Is, perchance, he who worships hoping for his Sustainer's grace, [equal to one who denies the truth]?"] Say: "Can they who know and they who do not know be deemed equal?" [But] only they who are endowed with insight keep this in mind!
39:10 Say: "[Thus speaks God:] [This interpolation is justified by the fact that the possessive pronoun in the subsequent phrase "servants of Mine" obviously relates to God.] `O you servants of Mine who have attained to faith! Be conscious of your Sustainer! Ultimate good awaits those who persevere in doing good in this world. And [remember:] wide is God's earth, [I.e., there is always a possibility of doing good and "migrating from evil unto God" - which is the permanent, spiritual connotation of the concept of hijrah implied here: see note on 4:97.] [and,] verily, they who are patient in adversity will be given their reward in full, beyond all reckoning!' "
39:11 Say [O Muhammad]: "Behold, I am bidden to worship God, sincere in my faith in Him alone;
39:12 and I am bidden to be foremost among those who surrender themselves unto God."
39:13 Say: "Behold, I would dread, were I to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day [of Judgment]."
39:14 Say: "God alone do I worship, sincere in my faith in Him alone -
39:15 and [it is up to you, O sinners, to] worship whatever you please instead of Him!" Say: "Behold, the [true] losers will be they who shall have lost their own selves and their kith and kin on Resurrection Day: for is not this, this, the [most] obvious loss? [Implying that on Resurrection Day they will be irretrievably separated from all whom they had loved, and all who had been close to them in this world. The "loss of one's own self" signifies, I think, the destruction of one's true identity and uniqueness as a human being, which is described in the next clause as "the most obvious loss" that man may be made to suffer in the life to come.]
39:16 Clouds of fire will they have above them, and [similar] clouds beneath them..." In this way does God imbue His servants with fear. [As in many other instances, the Quran alludes in this phrase to the allegorical nature as well as to the real purpose of all descriptions of the suffering which awaits the sinners in the hereafter; cf. 74:35-36 - "that [hell-fire] is indeed one of the great [forewarnings]: a warning to mortal man".] O you servants of Mine! Be, then, conscious of Me -
39:17 seeing that for those who shun the powers of evil lest they [be tempted to] worship them, [For my rendering of at-taghut as "powers of evil", see note on 2:256. In the present context, this term apparently circumscribes the seductive force of certain evil ambitions or desires - like striving after power for its own sake, acquisition of wealth by exploiting one's fellow-beings, social advancement by all manner of immoral means, and so forth - any of which may cause man to lose all spiritual orientation, and to be enslaved by his passions.] and turn unto God instead, there is the glad tiding [of happiness in the life to come]. 21 Cf. 10:62--64. Give, then, this glad tiding to [those of] My servants
39:18 who listen [closely] to all that is said, and follow the best of it: [According to Razi, this describes people who examine every religious proposition (in the widest sense of this term) in the light of their own reason, accepting that which their mind finds to be valid or possible, and rejecting all that does not measure up to the test of reason. In Razi's words, the above verse expresses "a praise and commendation of following the evidence supplied by one's reason (hujjat al-aql), and of reaching one's conclusions in accordance with [the results of] critical examination (nazar) and logical inference (istidlal)." A somewhat similar view is advanced, albeit in simpler terms, by Tabari.] [for] it is they whom God has graced with His guidance, and it is they who are [truly] endowed with insight!
39:19 On the other hand, [This, to my mind, is the meaning of the prefix fa in fa-man - stressing, by implication, the contrast between the glad tiding given to those who have attained to faith and the suffering which awaits those "who shall have lost their own selves" through sinning (verses 15-16).] could one on whom [God's] sentence of suffering has been passed [be rescued by man]? Couldst thou, perchance, save one who is [already, as it were,] in the fire? [In view of the repeated Quranic statements that God always accepts a sinner's sincere repentance, provided it is proffered before the hour of death, His ineluctable "sentence of suffering" obviously relates to such as die without repentance, and hence find themselves, as it were, "already in the fire".]
39:20 As against this [Lit., "But" (lakin), indicating a return to the theme of verses 17-18.] they who of their Sustainer are conscious shall [in the life to come] have mansions raised upon mansions high, beneath which running waters flow: [this is] God's promise - [and] never does God fail to fulfill His promise.
39:21 ART THOU NOT aware that it is God who sends down water from the skies, and then causes it to travel through the earth in the shape of springs? And then He brings forth thereby herbage of various hues; and then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end He causes it to crumble to dust. [As in many other instances, the above Quranic reference to the endless transformations and the miraculous cycle of life and death in all nature serves to emphasize God's almightiness and, specifically, His power to resurrect the dead - thus alluding, indirectly, to the statement at the end of the preceding verse that "never does God fail to fulfill His promise".] Verily, in [all] this there is indeed a reminder to those who are endowed with insight!
39:22 Could, then, one whose bosom God has opened wide with willingness towards self-surrender unto Him, so that he is illumined by a light [that flows] from his Sustainer, [be likened to the blind and deaf of heart]? Woe, then, unto those whose hearts are hardened against all remembrance of God! They are most obviously lost in error!
39:23 God bestows from on high [Lit., "has been bestowing from on high", i.e., step by step. The verbal form nazzala indicates both gradualness and continuity in the process of divine revelation and may, therefore, be appropriately rendered by the use of the present tense.] the best of all teachings in the shape of a divine writ fully consistent within itself, repeating each statement [of the truth] in manifold forms [This is the most acceptable meaning, in this context, of the term mathani (p1. of mathna), as explained by Zamakhshari in his commentary on the above verse. Another possible meaning, preferred by Razi, is "pairing its statements", i.e., referring to the polarity stressed in all Quranic teachings (e.g., command and prohibition, duties and rights, reward and punishment, paradise and hell, light and darkness, the general and the specific, and so forth). As regards the inner consistency of the Quran, see also 4:82 and 25:32, as well as the corresponding notes.] - [a divine writ] whereat shiver the skins of all who of their Sustainer stand in awe: [but] in the end their skins and their hearts do soften at the remembrance of [the grace of] God. Such is God's guidance: He guides therewith him that wills [to be guided] [Or: "He guides therewith whomever He wills", either of these two formulations being syntactically correct.] - whereas he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide [See note on 14:4.]
39:24 Could, then, one who shall have nothing but is [bare] face to protect him from the awful suffering [that will befall him] on Resurrection Day [be likened to the God-conscious]? [Lit., "who will protect himself with his face": an idiomatic phrase implying that the person concerned has nothing whatever with which to protect himself.] [On that Day,] the evildoers will be told: "Taste [now] what you have earned [in life]!"
39:25 Those who lived before them did [too] give the lie to the truth - whereupon suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came:
39:26 and thus God let them taste ignominy [even] in the life of this world. [Cf. 16:26, which contains the additional sentence, "God visited with destruction all that they had ever built ...", etc., which explains the present reference to their suffering and ignominy "in the life of this world".] Yet [how] much greater will be the [sinners'] suffering in the life to come - if they [who now deny the truth] but knew it!
39:27 THUS, INDEED, have We propounded unto men all kinds of parables in this Quran, so that they might bethink themselves; [As in many other passages of the Quran, the use of the term "parable" (mathal) immediately or shortly after a description of men's condition - whether good or bad - in the hereafter is meant to remind us that all such descriptions relate to something that is "beyond the reach of a created being's perception" (al-ghayb), and cannot, therefore, be conveyed to man otherwise than by means of allegories or parables expressed in terms of human experience and therefore accessible, in a general sense, to human imagination.] [and We have revealed it]
39:28 as a discourse in the Arabic tongue, free of all deviousness, so that they might become conscious of God. [Lit., "without any deviousness (iwaj)", i.e., which could obscure its meaning: see note on 18:1, where this term occurs in a slightly different phrasing. As regards the stress on the formulation of this divine writ "in the Arabic tongue", see 12:2, 13:37, 14:4 and 41:44, as well as the corresponding notes.]
39:29 [To this end,] God sets forth a parable: A man who has for his masters several partners, [Lit., "with regard to whom there are [several] partners (shuraka')", i.e., as masters: a metaphor for belief in a plurality of divine powers.] [all of them] at variance with one another, and a man depending wholly on one person: can these two be deemed equal as regards their condition? [The term mathal, which is usually rendered by me as "parable" (e.g., at the beginning of this verse as well as in verse 27), primarily denotes a "likeness", i.e., of one thing to another; but sometimes it is used tropically as a synonym for sifah (the "quality", "intrinsic attribute" or "nature" of a thing) or halah (its "state" or "condition"). In the present instance, the last mentioned of these meanings is most appropriate, inasmuch as it alludes to man's condition arising from either of two contrasting attitudes: a belief in God's transcendental oneness and uniqueness, on the one hand, and a readiness to ascribe divine powers and qualities to a variety of created beings or supposed "incarnations" of God, on the other.] [Nay,] all praise is due to God [alone]: but most of them do not understand this.
39:30 Yet, verily, thou art bound to die, [O Muhammad,] and, verily, they, too, are bound to die:
39:31 and then, behold, on the Day of Resurrection you all shall place your dispute before your Sustainer.
39:32 And who could be more wicked than he who invents lies about God? [In this instance, the "inventing of lies about God" alludes to the attribution of a share in His divinity to anyone or anything beside Him, whether it be a belief in a plurality of deities, or in an imaginary "incarnation" of God in human form, or in saints allegedly endowed with semi-divine powers.] and gives the lie to the truth as soon as it has been placed before him? Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who deny the truth? [Lit., "Is not in hell an abode, etc.: a rhetorical question indicating, firstly, that otherworldly suffering is the unavoidable destiny -symbolically, "an abode" - of all such sinners; and, secondly, that in the concept and picture of "hell" we are given an allegory of that self-caused suffering.]
39:33 But he who brings the truth, and he who wholeheartedly accepts it as true - it is they, they, who are [truly] conscious of Him!
39:34 All that they have ever yearned for awaits them with their Sustainer: such will be the reward of the doers of good.
39:35 And to this end, God will efface from their record the worst that they ever did, and give them their reward in accordance with the best that they were doing [in life].
39:36 IS NOT God enough for His servant? And yet, they would frighten thee with those [imaginary divine powers which they worship] beside Him! [Or: "instead of Him". This relates not merely to false deities, but also to saints alive or dead, and even to certain abstract concepts which the popular mind endows with charismatic qualities - like wealth, power, social status, national or racial pre-eminence, the idea of man's "self- sufficiency", etc. - and, finally, to all false values which are allowed to dominate man's thoughts and desires. The godless always stress the supposed necessity of paying attention to all these imaginary forces and values, and frighten themselves and their fellow-men by the thought that a neglect to do so might have evil consequences in their practical life.] But he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide,
39:37 whereas he whom God guides aright can never be led astray. Is not God almighty, an avenger of evil?
39:38 And thus it is [with most people]: if [For this rendering of lain, see note on 11:7.] thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth?" - they will surely answer, "God." [See note on 31:25.] Say: "Have you, then, ever considered what it is that you invoke instead of God? If God wills that harm should befall me, could those [imaginary powers] remove the harm inflicted by Him? Or, if He wills that grace should alight on me, could they withhold His grace [from me]?" Say: "God is enough for me! In Him [alone] place their trust all who have trust [in His existence]."
39:39 Say: "O my [truth-denying] people! Do yet all that may be within your power, [whereas] I, behold, shall labour [in God's way]: in time you will come to know
39:40 who it is that shall be visited [in this world] by suffering which will cover him with ignominy, and upon whom long-lasting suffering shall alight [in the life to come]!" [Lit., "suffering (adhab) that will disgrace him": implying that surrender to false values inevitably leads to man's spiritual decay and, if persisted in by many, to social catastrophes and widespread suffering.]
39:41 BEHOLD, from on high have We bestowed upon thee this divine writ, setting forth the truth for [the benefit of all] mankind. And whoever chooses to be guided [thereby], does so for his own good, and whoever chooses to go astray, goes but astray to his own hurt; and thou hast not the power to determine their fate. [Or: "thou art not responsible for their conduct" (see note on 17:2).]
39:42 It is God [alone that has this power - He] who causes all human beings to die at the time of their [bodily] death, and [causes to be as dead], during their sleep, those that have not yet died: [According to Razi, this passage connects allegorically with the preceding - the light of guidance being likened to life, and man's going astray, to death or, if it is not permanent, to death-like sleep followed by awakening. Beyond this, however, we have here a reminder - in tune with the subsequent passages - of God's almightiness, and especially of His exclusive power to create and to withdraw life. As to the operative verb yatawaffa, it primarily denotes "He takes [something] away in full"; and because death is characterized by a disappearance of all vital impulses (the "soul") from the once-living body - their being "taken away in full", as it were - this form of the verb has been used tropically, since time immemorial, in the sense of "causing to die", and (in its intransitive form) "dying" or (as a noun) "death": a usage invariably adhered to in the Quran. The traditional likening of sleep to death is due to the fact that in both cases the body appears to be devoid of consciousness, partially and temporarily in the former case, and completely and permanently in the latter. (The popular translation of anfus - p1. of nafs - as "souls" is certainly inappropriate in the above context, since, according to the fundamental teaching of the Quran, man's soul does not "die" at the time of his bodily death but, on the contrary, lives on indefinitely. Hence, the term anfus must be rendered here as "human beings".)] thus, He withholds [from life] those upon whom He has decreed death, and lets the others go free for a term set [by Him]. In [all] this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!
39:43 And yet, [This is the meaning of the particle am in this context (Zamakhshari, implying that despite all the evidence of God's almightiness, many people tend to disregard it.] they choose [to worship], side by side with God, [imaginary] intercessors!" [I.e., intercessors who could act as such independently of God's permission - an assumption which the Quran categorically denies (see note on 10:3).] Say: "Why - even though they have no power over anything, and no understanding?" [A reference to the adoration of dead saints or their tombs or relics, as well as of inanimate representations of saints, of imaginary deities, etc.]
39:44 Say: "God's alone is [the power to bestow the right of] intercession: [Regarding the problem of intercession as such, see note on 10:3.]His [alone] is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; and, in the end, Unto Him you will all be brought back."
39:45 And yet, whenever God alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who will not believe in the life to come contract with bitter aversion - whereas, when those [imaginary powers] are mentioned side by side with Him, lo, they rejoice! [Since cognition of God must have a sense of moral responsibility as its correlate, the godless shrink from it, and joyfully turn to the "worship" - real or metaphoric - of imaginary powers which make no such moral demand.]
39:46 Say: "O God! Originator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, as well as of all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind! [See the second note on 6:73.] It is Thou who wilt judge between Thy servants [on Resurrection Day] with regard to all on which they were wont to differ!"
39:47 But if those who are bent on evildoing possessed all that is on earth, and twice as much, [Lit., "and the like of it with it".] they would surely offer it as ransom from the awful suffering [that will befall them] on the Day of Resurrection: [Cf. 3:91 and the corresponding note.] for, something with which they had not reckoned before will [by then] have been made obvious to them by God; [Lit., "will have become obvious to them (bada lahum) from God" - i.e., the fact that man's attitudes and actions in this world determine his state and further development in the hereafter: in other words, that happiness or suffering in the life to come (allegorically described as "paradise" or `hell", and "reward" or "chastisement") are but natural consequences of the use which man makes in this life of his capabilities, endowments and opportunities.]
39:48 and obvious to them will have become the evil that they had wrought [in life]: and thus shall they be overwhelmed by the very truth which they were wont to deride. [Lit., "that which they were wont to deride will enfold them" or "will have enfolded them": i.e., the reality of life after death and of the spiritual truths preached by God's prophets will overwhelm them.]
39:49 NOW [thus it is:] when affliction befalls man, he cries out unto Us for help; but when We bestow upon him a boon by Our grace, he says [to himself], "I have been given [all] this by virtue of [my own] wisdom!" [Lit., "knowledge" - i.e., "my prosperity is due to my own ability and shrewdness": see the first sentence of 28:78 and the corresponding note. But whereas there this "saying" or thought is attributed to the legendary Qarun, in the present instance - which is by far the earlier in the chronology of Quranic revelation - it is said to be characteristic of man as such (see, e.g., 7:189-190, where this tendency is referred to in connection with the experience of parenthood).] Nay, this [bestowal of grace] is a trial: but most of them understand it not!
39:50 The same did say [to themselves many of] those who lived before their time; but of no avail to them was all that they had ever achieved:
39:51 for all the evil deeds that they had wrought fell [back] upon them. And [the same will happen to] people of the present time who are bent on wrongdoing: [Lit., "those who are bent on wrongdoing (alladhina zalamu) from among these here".] all the evil deeds that they have ever wrought will fall [back] upon them, and never will they be able to elude [God]!
39:52 Are they, then, not aware that it is God who grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills? In this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who will believe!
39:53 SAY: "[Thus speaks God:] [See note on the opening words of verse 10 of this surah.] `O you servants of Mine who have transgressed against your own selves! Despair not of God's mercy: behold, God forgives all sins - for, verily, He alone is much-forgiving, a dis
39:54 Hence, turn towards your Sustainer [alone] and surrender yourselves unto Him ere the suffering [of death and resurrection] comes upon you, for then you will not be succoured. [Cf. 4:18 - "repentance shall not be accepted from those who do evil deeds until their dying hour, and then say, `Behold, I now repent'; nor from those who die as deniers of the truth".]
39:55 And ere that suffering comes upon you of a sudden, without your being aware [of its approach], follow the most goodly [teaching] that has been revealed unto you by your Sustainer,
39:56 lest any human being should say [on Judgment Day], "Alas for me for having been remiss in what is due to God, and for having been indeed one of those who scoffed [at the truth]!" [Whenever there is no clear indication that the term nafs has another meaning, it signifies a "human being"; hence, the personal pronouns relating to this term (which is feminine in Arabic) are masculine in my rendering.] -
39:57 or lest he should say, "If God had but guided me, I would surely have been among those who are conscious of Him!"-
39:58 or lest he should say, when he becomes aware of the suffering [that awaits him], "Would that I had a second chance [in life], so that I could be among the doers of good!" [Cf. 2:167 and 26:102, as well as 6:27-28 and the corresponding note.]
39:59 [But God will reply:] "Yea, indeed! My messages did come unto thee; but thou gavest them the lie, and wert filled with false pride, and wert among those who deny the truth!"
39:60 And [so,] on the Day of Resurrection thou wilt see all who invented lies about God [with] their faces darkened [by grief and ignominy]. [The phrase iswadda wajhuhu (lit., "his face became black" or "dark") is used idiomatically to describe a face expressive of grief or ignominy (cf. 16:58), just as its opposite, ibyadda wajhuhu (lit., "his face became white" or "shining") describes a countenance expressive of happiness or justified pride: cf. 2:106 - "some faces will shine [with happiness] and some faces will be dark [with grief]". Apart from this, both phrases have also a tropical significance, namely, "he became [or "felt"] disgraced", resp. "honoured". As regards the "inventing of lies about God" spoken of in this verse, see note on verse 32 above.] Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who are given to false pride? [See note on the last sentence of verse 32 of this surah.]
39:61 But God will safeguard all who were conscious of Him, [and will grant them happiness] by virtue of their [inner] triumphs; no evil shall ever touch them, and neither shall they grieve.
39:62 GOD is the Creator of all things, and He alone has the power to determine the fate of all things. [For the meaning of the term wakil in this context, see note on 17:2.]
39:63 His are the keys [to the mysteries] of the heavens and the earth: and they who are bent on denying the truth of God's messages - it is they, they, who are the losers!
39:64 Say: "Is it, then, something other than God that you bid me to worship, O you who are unaware [of right and wrong]?"
39:65 And yet, it has already been revealed to thee [O man,] as well as to those who lived before thee, that if thou ever ascribe divine powers to aught but God, all thy works shall most certainly have been in vain: for [in the life to come] thou shalt most certainly be among the lost. [I.e., "it has been conveyed to thee through the divine messages revealed to the prophets". The assumption of almost all the classical commentators that this passage is addressed to Muhammad does not make much sense in view of God's knowledge that neither he nor any of the prophets who came before him would ever commit the deadly sin (referred to in the sequence) of "ascribing divine powers to aught beside God". On the other hand, the above reminder becomes very cogent and relevant as soon as it is conceived as being addressed to man in general, irrespective of time and circumstance.]
39:66 Nay, but thou shalt worship God [alone], and be among those who are grateful [to Him]!
39:67 And no true understanding of God have they [who worship aught beside Him], inasmuch as the whole of the earth will be as a [mere] handful to Him on Resurrection Day, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: [I.e., the whole universe is as nothing before Him: for this specific allegory of God's almightiness, see 21:104. There are many instances, in the Quran as well as in authentic ahadith, of the clearly metaphorical use of the term "hand" in allusions to God's absolute power and dominion. The particular reference, in the above, to the Day of Resurrection is due to the fact that it will be only on his own resurrection that a human being shall fully grasp the concept of God's almightiness, referred to in the subsequent words, "limitless is He in His glory" (subhanahu)".] limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity!
39:68 And [on that Day,] the trumpet [of judgment] will be sounded, and all [creatures] that are in the heavens and all that are on earth will fall down senseless, unless they be such as God wills [to exempt]. [As is evident from 27:89, the above is an allusion to the unbroken spiritual life in this world - and, therefore, happiness in the hereafter - of those who have attained to faith and have done righteous deeds. Cf. 21:103 - "the supreme awesomeness [of the Day of Resurrection] will cause them no grief".] And then it will sound again - and lo! standing [before the Seat of Judgment], they will begin to see [the truth]! [Cf. 37:19.]
39:69 And the earth will shine bright with her Sustainer's light. [I.e., with a clear revelation of His will. See also 14:48, where it is stated that on Resurrection Day "the earth shall be changed into another earth, as shall be the heavens". A further allusion to this transformation (and not annihilation) of the universe is found in 20:105 - 107.] And the record [of everyone's deeds] will be laid bare, [Cf. 17:13-14 (and the corresponding note): also 18:49.] and all the prophets will be brought forward, and all [other] witnesses; [See 4:41 and the corresponding note. Accordingly, the above phrase may well have the meaning of "all the prophets as witnesses", i.e., for or against those to whom they conveyed God's message. In all probability, however, the term shuhada (or ashhad in 40:51) signifies here - as its singular shahid obviously does in 50:21 - man's newly-awakened consciousness, which will compel him to bear witness against himself on Judgment Day (cf. 6:130, 17:14, 24:24, 36:65, 41:20 ff.).] and judgment will be passed on them all in justice. And they will not be wronged,
39:70 for every human being will be repaid in full for whatever [good or evil] he has done: [Cf. 99:7-8, "he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it".] and He is fully aware of all that they do.
39:71 And those who were bent on denying the truth will be urged on in throngs towards hell till, when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its keepers will ask them, "Have there not come to you apostles from among yourselves, who conveyed to you your Sustainer's messages and warned you of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]?"They will answer: "Yea, indeed!" But the sentence of suffering will [already] have fallen due upon the deniers of the truth; [I.e., as an ineluctable consequence of their unrepented sinning.]
39:72 [and] they will be told, "Enter the gates of hell, therein to abide!" And how vile an abode for those who were given to false pride! [Sc., "and therefore refused to submit to the guidance offered them by God's apostles": cf. 96:6-7 - "man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient". See also 16:22 and the corresponding note.]
39:73 But those who were conscious of their Sustainer will be urged on in throngs towards paradise till, when they reach it, they shall find its gates wide- open; and its keepers will say unto them, "Peace be upon you! Well have you done: enter, then, this [paradise], herein to abide!" [Lit., "and its gates have [or "will have"] been opened", i.e., before their arrival, as indicated by the particle wa (lit., "and"), which in this case denotes precedence in time (Zamakhshari). Cf. in this connection 38:50 - "gardens of perpetual bliss, with gates wide-open to them".]
39:74 And they will exclaim: "All praise is due to God, who has made His promise to us come true, and has bestowed upon us this expanse [of bliss] as our portion, so that we may dwell in paradise as we please!" And how excellent a reward will it be for those who laboured [in God's way]! [Lit., "has made us heirs to this land", i.e., of paradise. According to all the classical commentators, the concept of "heritage" is used here metaphorically, to denote the rightful due, or portion, of the blessed. The term ard (lit., "earth" or "land") has also - especially in poetry - the connotation of "anything that is spread" (cf. Lane I, 48): hence my rendering of it, in the above context, as "expanse".]
39:75 And thou wilt see the angels surrounding the throne of [God's] almightiness, extolling their Sus
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
40:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
40:2 THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ issues from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing,
40:3 forgiving sins and accepting repentance, severe in retribution, limitless in His bounty. There is no deity save Him: with Him is all journeys' end.
40:4 NONE BUT THOSE who are bent on denying the truth would call God's messages in question. But let it not deceive thee that they seem to be able to do as they please on earth:
40:5 to the truth gave the lie, before their time, the people of Noah and, after them, all those [others] who were leagued together [against God's message-bearers]; [Cf. 38:12-14, where some of those who were "leagued together" (al-ahzab) are enumerated; also verses 30 ff. of this surah.] and each of those communities schemed against the apostle sent unto them, [Lit., "each community schemed against their apostle".] aiming to lay hands on him; and they contended [against his message] with fallacious arguments, so as to render void the truth thereby: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My retribution!
40:6 And thus shall thy Sustainer's word come true against all who are bent on denying the truth: they shall find themselves in the fire [of hell].
40:7 THEY WHO BEAR [within themselves the knowledge of] the throne of [God's] almightiness, as well as all who are near it, extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise, and have faith in Him, and ask forgiveness for all [others] who have attained to faith: [Lit, "around it": cf. Zamakhshari's explanation of the expression hawlaha occurring in 27:8 in the sense of "near it". In his commentary on the verse which we are now considering, Baydawi states explicitly that the "bearing" of God's throne of almightiness (al-arsh - see note on 7:54) must be understood in a metaphorical sense: "Their carrying it and surrounding it [or "being near it"] is a metaphor of their being mindful of it and acting in accordance therewith (majaz an hifzihim wa-tadbirihim lahu), or a metonym (kinayah) for their closeness to the Lord of the Throne, their dignity in His sight, and their being instrumental in the realization of His will." My rendering of the above verse reflects Baydawi's interpretation. As regards the beings which are said to be close to the throne of God's almightiness, most of the classical commentators - obviously basing their view on the symbolic image of "the angels surrounding the throne of [God's] almightiness" on the Day of Judgment
40:8 "And, O our Sustainer, bring them into the gardens of perpetual bliss [See note on 38:50.] which Thou hast promised them, together with the righteous from among their forebears, and their spouses, and their offspring - for, verily, Thou alone art almighty, truly wise -
40:9 and preserve them from [doing] evil deeds: for anyone whom on that Day [of Judgment] Thou wilt have preserved from [the taint of] evil deeds, him wilt Thou have graced with Thy mercy: and that, that will be the triumph supreme!"
40:10 [But,] behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth - [on that same Day] a voice will call out unto them: [Lit., "they will be called" or "summoned".] "Indeed, greater than your [present] loathing of yourselves [I.e., "on realizing, belatedly, your past sinfulness".] was God's loathing of you [at the time] when you were called unto faith but went on denying the truth!" [Since it is impossible to attribute to God a purely human emotion, "God's loathing" of those sinners is obviously a metonym for His rejection of them (Razi), similar to the metonymic use of the expression "God's wrath (ghadab)" in the sense of His condemnation (see first sentence of note on 1:7).]
40:11 [Whereupon] they will exclaim: "O our Sus
40:12 [And they will be told:] "This [has befallen you] because, whenever the One God was invoked, you denied this truth; whereas, when divinity was ascribed to aught beside Him, you believed [in it]! But all judgment rests with God, the Exalted, the Great!" [An answer to the sinners' question at the end of the preceding verse may be found in the following extremely well-authenticated, parabolic saying of the Prophet: "[On the Day of Judgment,] those who deserve paradise will enter paradise, and those who deserve the fire, the fire. Thereupon God, the Sublimely Exalted, will say, `Take out [of the fire] everyone in whose heart there was as much of faith [or, in some versions, "as much of good"] as a grain of mustard seed!' And so they will be taken out of it, already blackened, and will be thrown into the River of Life; and then they will come to life [lit., `sprout'] as a herb sprouts by the side of a stream: and didst thou not see how it comes out, yellow and budding?" (Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Said al-Khudri, in Kitab al-Iman and Kitab Bad al-Khalq; also Muslim, Nasai and Ibn Hanbal.) The characterization as "yellow and budding" - i.e., tender and of light colour - indicates the freshness of new life in the pardoned sinner. This, of course, has nothing to do with the sinners' futile and meaningless request on Judgment Day to be given a "second chance" on earth (Cf. 6:27-28 or 32:12). See also last but one sentence of 6:128 and the corresponding note.]
40:13 HE IT IS who shows you His wonders [in all nature], and sends down sustenance for you from the sky: but none bethinks himself [thereof] save those who are wont to turn to God.
40:14 Invoke, then, God, sincere in your faith in Him alone, however hateful this may be to those who deny the truth!
40:15 High above all orders [of being] is He, in almightiness enthroned. [Lit., "He of the throne of almightiness". For the meaning of the term arsh, see note on 7:54.] By His Own will does He bestow inspiration upon whomever He wills of His servants, so as to warn [all human beings of the coming] of the Day when they shall meet Him [Lit., "the Day of the Meeting". For my rendering of ar-ruh as "inspiration", see note on 16:2, as well as note on 2:87.] -
40:16 the Day when they shall come forth [from death], with nothing of themselves hidden from God. With whom will sovereignty rest on that Day? With God, the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists!
40:17 On that Day will every human being be requited for what he has earned: no wrong [will be done] on that Day: verily, swift in reckoning is God!
40:18 Hence, warn them of that Day which draws ever nearer, when the hearts will chokingly come up to the throats: no loving friend will the evildoers have, nor any intercessor who would be heeded: [Regarding the problem of "intercession" (shafaah) and its meaning in the Quran, see note on 10:3.]
40:19 [for] He is aware of the [most] stealthy glance, and of all that the hearts would conceal. [God's omniscience is shown here as the reason why there can be no "intercession" with Him in the commonly accepted sense of this term (cf. 10:18).]
40:20 And God will judge in accordance with truth and justice, whereas those [beings] whom they invoke beside Him cannot judge at all: for, verily, God alone is all-hearing, all-seeing. [I.e., saints, whether real or imaginary, or angels. (The pronoun alladhina is used only with reference to sentient beings endowed with reason.)]
40:21 Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time? Greater were they in power than they are, and in the impact which they left on earth: but God took them to task for their sins, and they had none to defend them against God:
40:22 this, because their apostles had come to them with all evidence of the truth, and yet they rejected it: and so God took them to task - for, verily, He is powerful, severe in retribution!
40:23 THUS, INDEED, did We send Moses with Our messages and a manifest authority [from Us]
40:24 unto Pharaoh, and Haman, and Qarun; [As regards Qarun, who is said to have been a follower - and subsequently an opponent - of Moses, see 28:76 ff., as well as the corresponding note. For a discussion of the name "Haman", see note on 28:6.] but they [only] said, "A spellbinder is he, a liar!"
40:25 Now [as for Pharaoh and his followers,] when he came to them, setting forth the truth from Us, they said, "Slay the sons of those who share his beliefs, [Lit., "those who have come to believe with him".] and spare [only] their women!" - but the guile of those deniers of the truth could not lead to aught but failure.
40:26 And Pharaoh said: "Leave it to me to slay Moses - and let him invoke his [alleged] sustainer! [My interpolation of the word "alleged" is necessitated by the obvious sarcasm of Pharaoh's remark.] Behold, I fear lest he cause you to change your religion, or lest he cause corruption to prevail in the land!"
40:27 But Moses said: "With [Him who is] my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer have I indeed found refuge from everyone who, immersed in false pride, will not believe in [the coming of] the Day of Reckon
40:28 At that, a believing man of Pharaoh's family, who [until then] had concealed his faith, exclaimed: [Cf. the parable of the believer in 36:20-27 and, in particular, the corresponding note.] "Would you slay a man because he says, `God is my Sustainer' - seeing, withal, that he has brought you all evidence of this truth from your Sustainer? Now if he be a liar, his lie will fall back on him; but if he is a man of truth, something [of the punishment] whereof he warns you is bound to befall you: for, verily, God would not grace with His guidance one who has wasted his own self by lying [about Him]. [Lit., "a liar". As regards my rendering of musrif as "one who wastes [or "has wasted"] his own self", see note on the last sentence of 10:12. Thus, the anonymous believer spoken of here argues that the message brought by Moses is so convincing that, by itself, it is a proof of his not being "one who wastes his own self" - i.e., destroys himself spiritually - by a spurious claim to divine inspiration.]
40:29 "O my people! Yours is the dominion today, [and] most eminent are you on earth: but who will rescue us from God's punishment, once it befalls us?" Said Pharaoh: "I but want to make you see what I see myself; [Thus alluding to the reasons underlying his intention to kill Moses, expressed in verse 26.] and I would never make you follow any path but that of rectitude!"
40:30 Thereupon exclaimed he who had attained to faith: "O my people! Verily, I fear for you the like of what one day befell those others who were leagued together [against God's truth] -
40:31 the like of what happened to Noah's people, and to [the tribes of] Ad and Thamud and those who came after them! And, withal, God does not will any wrong for His creatures. [I.e., those sinners were not wronged by what befell them in this world: they had deserved it. The next two verses refer to the Day of Judgment.]
40:32 "And, O my people, I fear for you [the coming of] that Day of [Judgment - the Day when you will be] calling unto one another [in distress] -
40:33 the Day when you will [wish to] turn your backs and flee, having none to defend you against God: for he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide. [See notes on 7:186 and 14:4.]
40:34 "And [remember:] it was to you that Joseph came aforetime with all evidence of the truth; but you never ceased to throw doubt on all [the messages] that he brought you - so much so that when he died, you said, `Never will God send any apostle [even] after him!' [Thus not only refusing to acknowledge Joseph's prophethood, but also denying the possibility of any prophet being sent by God (Zamakhshari). It would seem that Joseph had been accepted in Egypt as a prophet only by the ruling class, the Hyksos, who were of Arab origin, spoke a language closely related to Hebrew (cf. 12:43), and were, therefore, emotionally and culturally predisposed towards the spirit of Joseph's mission, while the rest of the population was and remained hostile to the faith preached by him.] "In this way God lets go astray such as waste their own selves by throwing suspicion [on His revelations] -
40:35 such as would call God's messages in question without having any evidence therefor: [Lit., "without any authority [or "evidence"] having come to them": i.e., without having any cogent evidence that would support their "denial" of the fact of revelation. The verb jadala primarily denotes "he argued"; followed by the particle fi ("with regard to" or "about") it has the meaning of "contesting" the truth of something, or "calling it in question".] [a sin] exceedingly loathsome in the sight of God and of those who have attained to faith. It is in this way that God sets a seal on every arrogant, self-exalting heart." [Lit., "on the heart of every arrogant, self-exalting [person]". For an explanation of God's "sealing" an inveterate sinner's heart, see note on 2:7.]
40:36 But Pharaoh said: "O Haman! Build me a lofty tower, that haply I may attain to the [right] means -
40:37 the means of approach to the heavens - and that [thus] I may have a look at the god of Moses: [See notes on 28:6 and 28:38.] for, behold, I am indeed certain that he is a liar!" And thus, goodly seemed unto Pharaoh the evil of his own doings, and so he was barred from the path [of truth]: and Pharaoh's guile did not lead to aught but ruin.
40:38 Still, the man who had attained to faith went on: "O my people! Follow me: I shall guide you onto the path of rectitude!
40:39 "O my people! This worldly life is but a brief enjoyment, whereas, behold, the life to come is the home abiding.
40:40 [There,] anyone who has done a bad deed will be requited with no more than the like thereof, whereas anyone, be it man or woman, who has done righteous deeds and is a believer withal - all such will enter paradise, wherein they shall be blest with good beyond all reckoning! [I.e., beyond any earthly imagination. The concept of rizq (expressed in the verb yurzaqun) has here its full significance of all that is good and of benefit to a living being, comprising things material as well as intellectual and spiritual; hence my rendering of yurzaqun (lit., "they will be given sustenance") as "they shall be blest with good".]
40:41 "And, O my people, how is it that I summon you to salvation, the while you summon me to the fire? [Lit., "what is the matter with me": an expression of astonishment at the incongruity of the two attitudes referred to in the sequence.]
40:42 - [for] you call upon me to deny [the oneness of] God and to ascribe a share in His divinity to aught of which I cannot [possibly] have any knowledge the while I summon you to [a cognition of] the Almighty, the All-Forgiving! [I.e., because there is no reality whatsoever in those supposedly "divine" beings or forces (Zamakhshari).]
40:43 "There is no doubt that what you summon me to is something that has no claim to being invoked either in this world or in the life to come - as [there is no doubt] that unto God is our return, and that they who have wasted their own selves shall find themselves in the fire:
40:44 and at that time you will [have cause to] remember what I am telling you [now]. "But [as for me,] I commit myself unto God: for, verily, God sees all that is in [the hearts of] His servants."
40:45 And God preserved him from the evil of their scheming, whereas suffering vile was to encompass Pharaoh's folk:
40:46 the fire [of the hereafter - that fire] which they had been made to contemplate [in vain], morning and evening: [I.e., of which they had been warned, day-in and day-out, by prophets and believers like the one spoken of in this passage.] for on the Day when the Last Hour dawns [God will say], "Make Pharaoh's folk enter upon suffering most severe!"
40:47 AND LO! They [who in life were wont to deny the truth] will contend with one another in the fire [of the hereafter]; and then the weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance, "Behold, we were but your followers: can you, then, relieve us of some [of our] share of this fire?" [Cf. 14:21 and the corresponding notes.] -
40:48 [to which] they who had [once] been arrogant will reply, "Behold, we are all in it [together]! Verily, God has judged between His creatures!"
40:49 And they who are in the fire will say to the keepers of hell, [I.e., the angelic forces that are to watch over the suffering of the sinners in the hereafter: perhaps an allegory of the belated awakening of the latters' conscience.] "Pray unto your Sustainer that He lighten, [though it be] for one day [only], this suffering of ours!"
40:50 [But the keepers of hell] will ask, "Is it not [true] that your apostles came unto you with all evidence of the truth?" Those [in the fire] will reply, "Yea, indeed." [And the keepers of hell] will say, "Pray, then!" - for the prayer of those who deny the truth cannot lead to aught but delusion. [According to the classical commentators, this answer implies no more than a refusal on the part of the "keepers of hell" to intercede for the doomed sinners, telling them, as it were, "Pray yourselves, if you can." It seems to me, however, that we have here an indirect allusion to the sinners' erstwhile, blasphemous devotion to false objects of worship and false values - the meaning being, "Pray now to those imaginary powers to which you were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity, and see whether they can help you!" This interpretation finds support in the next sentence, which speaks of the delusion (dalal) inherent in the prayers of "those who deny the truth", i.e., during their life on earth - for, obviously, on the Day of Judgment all such delusions will have disappeared.]
40:51 BEHOLD, We shall indeed succour Our apostles and those who have attained to faith, [both] in this world's life and on the Day when all the witnesses shall stand up [See note on 39:69.] -
40:52 the Day when their excuses will be of no avail to the evildoers, seeing that their lot will be rejection from all that is good, and a woeful hereafter. [Lit., "the evil of the [otherworldly] abode". As regards the term lanah, its primary significance is "estrangement" or "rejection"; in Quranic terminology it denotes "rejection from all that is good" (Lisan al-Arab) and, specifically, "estrangement from God's grace" (Zamakhshari).]
40:53 And, indeed, We bestowed aforetime [Our] guidance on Moses, and [thus] made the children of Israel heirs to the divine writ [revealed to him]
40:54 as a [means of] guidance and a reminder for those who were endowed with insight: [Sc., "and thus, too, have We bestowed Our revelation upon Muhammad". This connects with the opening words of verse 51, "We shall indeed succour Our apostles and those who have attained to faith", thus explaining the purport of the preceding story of the believer who stood up for Moses. The reference to "those [of the children of Israel] who were endowed with insight" and therefore could benefit from the message of Moses, is undoubtedly meant to remind the followers of the Quran that this divine writ, too, is for "those who are endowed with insight" (ulu l-albab), for "people who think" (qawm yatafakkarun), and "people who use their reason" (qawm yaqi1un).]
40:55 hence, remain thou patient in adversity - for, verily, God's promise always comes true - and ask forgiveness for thy sins, and extol thy Sustainer's glory and praise by night and by day. [According to all classical commentators, the above passage is addressed in the first instance to the Prophet and, through him, to every believer. As regards the Prophet himself, see note on the last sentence of 24:31.]
40:56 Behold, as for those who call God's messages in question without having any evidence therefore [See note on verse 35 above.] - in their hearts is nothing but overweening self-conceit, which they will never be able to satisfy: seek thou, then, refuge with God - for, verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-seeing! [Lit., "which they will never [be able to] reach" or "fulfill". This is a reference to the conceit which makes many agnostics think that man is "self-sufficient" and that, therefore, there are no limits to what he may yet achieve, and no need to assume that he is responsible to a higher Power. Cf. in this connection 96:6-7, which is one of the earliest Quranic revelations: "Nay, verily, man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient." And since this "self-sufficiency" is entirely illusory, those who build their world-view on it "will never be able to satisfy their overweening conceit". (Cf. also the reference to "arrogant, self-exalting hearts" in verse 35 above.)]
40:57 Greater indeed than the creation of man is the creation of the heavens and the earth: yet most men do not understand [what this implies]. [I.e., of the universe as a whole. By stressing the fact that man is only a small, insignificant part of the universe, the Quran points out the absurdity of the man-centred world-view alluded to in the preceding verse.]
40:58 But [then,] the blind and the seeing are not equal; and neither [can] they who have attained to faith and do good works and the doers of evil [be deemed equal]. How seldom do you keep this in mind!
40:59 Verily, the Last Hour is sure to come: of this there is no doubt; yet most men will not believe it. [I.e., refuse to admit to themselves that the world as they know it could ever come to an end: which is another aspect of the "overweening conceit" spoken of in verse 56 above.]
40:60 But your Sustainer says: "Call unto Me, [and] I shall respond to you! [Cf. 2:186.] Verily, they who are too proud to worship Me will enter hell, abased!"
40:61 IT IS GOD who has made the night for you, so that you might rest therein, and the day, to make [you] see. [See note on 27:86.] Behold, God is indeed limitless in His bounty unto man - but most men are ungrateful.
40:62 Such is God, your Sustainer, the Creator of all that exists: there is no deity save Him. How perverted, then, are your minds! [Sc., "O you who deny this truth!" For my above rendering of tufakun, see note on the last sentence of 5:75.]
40:63 [For] thus it is: perverted are the minds of those who knowingly reject God's messages.
40:64 It is God who has made the earth a resting- place for you and the sky a canopy, and has formed you - and formed you so well [I.e., in accordance with the exigencies of human life. See also note on the first sentence of 7:11.] - and provided for you sustenance out of the good things of life. Such is God, your Sustainer: hallowed, then, is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!
40:65 He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity save Him: call, then, unto Him [alone], sincere in your faith in Him. All praise is due to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!
40:66 Say: "Since all evidence of the truth has come to me from my Sustainer, I am forbidden to worship [any of] those beings whom you invoke instead of God; and I am bidden to surrender myself to the Sustainer of all the worlds."
40:67 It is He who creates you out of dust, [See note on 23:12.] and then out of a drop of sperm, and then out of a germ-cell; and then He brings you forth as children; and then [He ordains] that you reach maturity, and then, that you grow old - though some of you [He causes to] die earlier -: and [all this He ordains] so that you might reach a term set [by Him], [Or: "a term known [only to Him]" - cf. 6:2 and the corresponding note.] and that you might [learn to] use your reason.
40:68 It is He who grants life and deals death; and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, "Be" - and it is.
40:69 ART THOU NOT aware of how far they who call God's messages in question have lost sight of the truth? [Lit., "how they are turned away" - i.e., from the truth: in this case, from all the observable evidence of God's almightiness and creative activity.]
40:70 they who give the lie to this divine writ and [thus] to all [the messages] with which We sent forth Our apostles [of old]? [Since, as the Quran so often points out, the fundamental truths set forth in all divine revelations are the same, a rejection of the last of them amounts to a rejection of all the preceding ones.] But in time they will come to know [how blind they have been: they will know it on Judgment Day],
40:71 when they shall have to carry the shackles and chains [of their own making] around their necks, [For an explanation of the allegory of "shackles" and "chains", see note on 13:5, note on the last but one sentence of 34:33, and notes on 36:8.]
40:72 and are dragged into burning despair, and in the end become fuel for the fire [of hell]. [Thus Mujahid (as quoted by Tabari) explains the verb yusjarun. As regards my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see the last note on 6:70.]
40:73 And then they will be asked: "Where now are those [powers] to which you were wont to ascribe divinity
40:74 side by side with God?" They will answer: "They have forsaken us - or, rather, what we were wont to invoke aforetime did not exist at all!" [Lit., "we have not been invoking aforetime any [real] thing": thus realizing, belatedly, the intrinsic nothingness of all those imaginary powers and values - including the belief in man's alleged self-sufficiency and greatness - to which they paid homage in life.] [And they will be told:] "It is thus that God lets the deniers of the truth go astray: [I.e., by allowing them to pursue illusions and foolish fancies in consequence of their unwillingness to acknowledge the self-evident truth of God's existence and uniqueness and of man's utter dependence on Him. For a discussion of the problem of God's "letting" a sinner go astray, see note on 14:4.]
40:75 this is an outcome of your having arrogantly exulted on earth without any [concern for what is] right, and of your having been so full of self-conceit!
40:76 Enter [now] the gates of hell, therein to abide: and how vile an abode for all who are given to false pride!"
40:77 HENCE, remain thou patient in adversity - for, verily, God's promise always comes true. And whether We show thee [in this world] something of what We hold in store for those [deniers of the truth], or whether We cause thee to die [ere that retribution takes place - know that, in the end], it is unto Us that they will be brought back. [See the almost identical passage in 10:46, as well as the corresponding notes.]
40:78 And, indeed, [O Muhammad,] We sent forth apostles before thy time; some of them We have mentioned to thee, [I.e., in the Quran.] and some of them We have not mentioned to thee. And it was not given to any apostle to bring forth a miracle other than by God's leave. [See 6:109 - "Miracles are in the power of God alone" - and the corresponding note. Both passages (6:109 and the present one) relate to the futile demand of Muhammad's opponents to be shown a miracle in proof of the divine origin of the Quran - the implication being that it is not God's will to convince the deniers of the truth by means of what is commonly regarded as "miracles".] Yet when God's will becomes manifest, [Lit., "when God's command comes, i.e., whether it be in this world or on the Day of Judgment: a reference to the retribution spoken of in verse 77 above.] judgment will [already] have been passed in all justice, and lost will be, then and there, all who tried to reduce to nothing [whatever they could not understand]. [I.e., in this case, divine revelation as such. For the above rendering of al-mubtilun, see note on the last sentence of 29:48.]
40:79 It is God who [at all times works wonders for you: [I.e., by providing in a wondrous manner the means of man's subsistence, and by endowing him with the miracle of a creative intellect which enables him to make fruitful use of so many natural phenomena. (This passage connects with the statement implied in verse 78 that "miracles are in the power of God alone".)] thus, He] provides for you [all manner of] livestock, so that on some of them you may ride, and from some derive your food,
40:80 and find [yet other] benefits in them; [The "other benefits" are both concrete and abstract in their nature: concrete benefits like wool, skins, etc., and abstract ones like beauty (cf. 16:6-8, as well as Solomon's reverence for the God-created beauty of horses expressed in 38:3 1-33) or the all-time companionship of man and dog symbolized in the legend of the Men of the Cave (18:18 and 22).] and that through them you may attain to the fulfillment of [many] a heartfelt need: [Lit., "a need in your bosoms" [or "hearts"]: i.e., a genuine need.] for on them, as on ships, you are borne [through life].
40:81 And [thus] He displays His wonders before you: which, then, of God's wonders can you still deny?
40:82 HAVE THEY, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time? More numerous were they, and greater in power than they are, and in the impact which they left on earth: but all that they ever achieved was of no avail to them -
40:83 for when their apostles came to them with all evidence of the truth, they arrogantly exulted in whatever knowledge they [already] possessed: [I.e., they were fully satisfied with their own empirically or speculatively acquired or inherited knowledge; and so, in their arrogant conviction that man is "self-sufficient" and, therefore, not in need of any guidance by a Power beyond the reach of human perception, they rejected whatever ethical and spiritual truths were offered them by the prophets.] and [so, in the end,] they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride. [I.e., the idea of God's existence and inescapable judgment: see 6:10 and the corresponding note.]
40:84 And then, when they [clearly] beheld Our punishment, [I.e., the God-willed, catastrophic breakdown of their society and civilization in consequence of their persistent rejection of all spiritual values.] they said: "We have come to believe in the One God, and we have renounced all belief in that to which we were wont to ascribe a share in His divinity!" [This evidently includes their past belief in man's supposedly "unlimited possibilities" and the illusory conviction that one day he would achieve "mastery over nature".]
40:85 But their attaining to faith after they had beheld Our punishment could not possibly benefit them [I.e., firstly, because this belated faith could not unmake a reality which had already come into being, and, secondly, because it could not contribute to their spiritual growth inasmuch as it was not an outcome of free choice but had been, rather, forced on them by the shock of an irreversible calamity.] - such being the way of God that has always obtained for His creatures -: and so, then and there, lost were they who had denied the truth. [The "way of God" (sunnat Allah) is the Quranic term for the totality of natural laws instituted by the Creator: in this case, the law that faith has no spiritual value unless it arises out of a genuine, inner enlightenment.]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
41:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
41:2 THE BESTOWAL from on high [of this revelation] issues from the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace:
41:3 a divine writ, the messages whereof have been clearly spelled out as a discourse in the Arabic tongue^ for people of [innate] knowledge, [See 12:2 and the corresponding note.]
41:4 to be a herald of glad tidings as well as a warning. And yet, [whenever this divine writ is offered to men,] most of them turn away, so that they cannot hear [its message]; [The "people of [innate] knowledge" mentioned in the preceding verse are obviously those who understand the spiritual purport of this divine writ and, therefore, submit to its guidance: hence, it cannot be "most of them" who are referred to in the above phrase and in the next verse but, on the contrary, people who are devoid of such knowledge and to whom, in consequence, the Quran is meaningless. This elliptically implied differentiation - overlooked by almost all of the commentators (with perhaps the sole exception of Ibn Kathir) - can only be brought out by means of an interpolation at the beginning of the sentence.]
41:5 and so they say, [as it were:] "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier. [For this rendering of the term hijab, see note on the first sentence of 7:46. See also 6:25. The "saying" of those who turn away from the message of the Quran is, of course, figurative, describing only their attitude.] Do, then, [whatever thou wilt, whereas,] behold, we shall do [as we have always done]!"
41:6 Say thou, [O Prophet:] "I am but a mortal like you. [Cf. 6:50 and the corresponding note.] It has been revealed to me that your God is the One God: go, then, straight towards Him and seek His forgiveness!" And woe unto those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him,
41:7 [and] those who do not spend in charity: for it is they, they who [thus] deny the truth of the life to come! [Belief in God's oneness and charitableness towards one's fellow-men are two cardinal demands of Islam. Conversely, a deliberate offence against either of these two demands amounts to a denial of man's responsibility before God and hence, by implication, of a continuation of life in the hereafter. (For my rendering of zakah, in this context, as "charity", see note on 2:43. It is to be borne in mind that the application of this term to the obligatory tax incumbent on Muslims dates from the Medina period, whereas the present surah is a Meccan revelation.)]
41:8 [But,] verily, they who have attained to faith and do good works shall have a reward unending!
41:9 SAY: "Would you indeed deny Him who has created the earth in two aeons? [For the above rendering of the term yawm (lit., "day"), as "aeon", see last third of note on 7:54. As in so many verses of the Quran which relate to cosmic events, the repeated mention of the "six aeons" during which the universe was created - "two" of which, according to the above verse, were taken by the evolution of the inorganic universe, including the earth - has a purely allegorical import: in this case, I believe, an indication that the universe did not exist "eternally" but had a definite beginning in time, and that it required a definite time-lapse to evolve to its present condition.] And do you claim that there is any power that could rival Him, the Sustainer of all the worlds?" [Lit., "do you give Him compeers (andad)?" For an explanation, see note on 2:22.]
41:10 For He [it is who, after creating the earth,] placed firm mountains on it, [towering] above its surface, and bestowed [so many] blessings on it, and equitably apportioned its means of subsistence to all who would seek it: [I.e., in accordance with divine justice, and not with human concepts of "equity" or "need".] [and all this He created] in four aeons. [Almost all the classical commentators agree in that these "four aeons include the "two" mentioned in the preceding verse: hence my interpolation of the words "and all this He created". Together with the "two aeons of verse 12, the entire allegorical number comes to six.]
41:11 And [Whenever the particle thumma is used, as in the above instance, to link parallel statements - i.e., statements not necessarily indicating a sequence in time - it has the function of a simple conjunction, and may be rendered as "and".] He [it is who] applied His design to the skies, which were [yet but] smoke; [I.e., a gas - evidently hydrogen gas, which physicists regard as the primal element from which all material particles of the universe have evolved and still evolve. For the meaning of the term sama ("sky" or "skies" or "heaven") in its cosmic connotation, see note on 2:29.] and He [it is who] said to them and to the earth, "Come [into being], both of you, willingly or unwillingly!" - to which both responded, "We do come in obedience." [Explaining this passage, Zamakhshari observes: "The meaning of God's command to the skies and the earth to `come', and their submission [to His command] is this: He willed their coming into being, and so they came to be as He willed them to be and this is the kind of metaphor (majaz) which is called `allegory' (tamthil). Thus, the purport [of this passage] is but an illustration (taswir) of the effect of His almighty power on all that is willed [by Him], and nothing else." (It is obvious that Zamakhshari's reasoning is based on the oft-repeated Quranic statement, "When God wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, `Be' - and it is.") Concluding his interpretation of the above passage, Zamakhshari adds: "If I am asked about the meaning of [the words] `willingly or unwillingly', I say that it is a figurative expression (mathal) indicating that His almighty will must inevitably take effect."]
41:12 And He [it is who] decreed that they become seven heavens in two aeons, and imparted unto each heaven its function. [I.e., a multiplicity of cosmic systems (cf. note on 2:29).] And We adorned the skies nearest to the earth with lights, and made them secure: [Cf. 15:16-18 and the corresponding notes; also 37:6ff.] such is the ordaining of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
41:13 BUT IF they turn away, say: [This connects with the opening sentence of verse 9 above: "Would you indeed deny Him who has created...", etc.] "I warn you of [the coming of] a thunderbolt of punishment [See note on 2:55.] like the thunderbolt [that fell upon the tribes] of Ad and Thamud!" [For the story of these two ancient tribes, see 7:65-79 and the corresponding notes; also 26:123-158.]
41:14 Lo! There came unto them [God's] apostles, speaking of what lay open before them and what was [still] beyond their ken, [and calling unto them,] "Worship none but God!" [Lit., "from between their hands and from behind them": i.e., reminding them of something that was known to them - namely, what happened to sinners like themselves who lived before their time - and warning them of what was bound to happen in the future to them, too, if they persisted in their denial of the truth (Al-Hasan al-Basri, as quoted by Zamakhshari). However, it is possible to understand the above phrase (which has been explained in note on 2:255) in yet another, more direct way: God's message-bearers pointed out to those sinning communities something that should have been obvious to them (lit., "between their hands") - namely, their patently wrong attitude in their worldly, social concerns and moral concepts - as well as the unreasonableness of their denying something that was still beyond their ken (lit., "behind them"): namely, life after death and God's ultimate judgment.] They answered: "If our Sustainer had willed [us to believe in what you say], He would have sent down angels [as His message-bearers]. [Cf. 6:8-9 and 15:7.] As it is, behold, we deny that there is any truth in what you [claim to] have been sent with!"
41:15 Now as for [the tribe of] Ad, they walked arrogantly on earth, [offending] against all right, and saying, "Who could have a power greater than ours?" Why - were they, then, not aware that God, who created them, had a power greater than theirs? But they went on rejecting Our messages;
41:16 and thereupon We let loose upon them a storm wind raging through days of misfortune, [See 69:6-8.] so as to give them, in the life of this world, a foretaste of suffering through humiliation: but [their] suffering in the life to come will be far more humiliating, and they will have none to succour them.
41:17 And as for [the tribe of] Thamud, We offered them guidance, but they chose blindness in preference to guidance: and so the thunderbolt of shameful suffering fell upon them as an outcome of all [the evil] that they had wrought;
41:18 and We saved [only] those who had attained to faith and were conscious of Us.
41:19 Hence, [warn all men of] the Day when the enemies of God shall be gathered together before the fire, and then shall be driven onward,
41:20 till, when they come close to it, their hearing and their sight and their [very] skins will bear witness against them, speaking of what they were doing [on earth].
41:21 And they will ask their skins, "Why did you bear witness against us?" - [and] these will reply: "God, who gives speech to all things, has given speech to us [as well]: for He [it is who] has created you in the first instance - and unto Him you are [now] brought back.
41:22 And you did not try to hide [your sins] lest your hearing or your sight or your skins bear witness against you: nay, but you thought that God did not know much of what you were doing -
41:23 and that very thought which you thought about your Sustainer has brought you to perdition, and so now you find yourselves among the lost!"
41:24 And then, [even] if they endure [their lot] in patience, the fire will still be their abode; [Sc., "unless God wills to reprieve them": see the last paragraph of 6:128 and the corresponding note; also the hadith quoted in note on 40:12.] and if they pray to be allowed to make amends, they will not be allowed to do so: [Lit., "they will not be of those who are allowed to make amends": an allusion to the request of the doomed, on the Day of Judgment, to be granted a "second chance" on earth, and to God's refusal of this request (cf. 6:27-28 and 32:12).]
41:25 for [when they became oblivious of Us,] We assigned to them [their own evil impulses as their] other selves, [Or: "soul-mates" (cf. 4:38). The verb qarana, from which the noun qarin is derived, signifies "he linked" or "intimately associated" or "yoked together [one thing with another]". Cf. 43:36 - "as for anyone who chooses to remain blind to the remembrance of the Most Gracious, to him We assign an [enduring] evil impulse [lit., "a Satan"], to become his other self".] and these made appear goodly to them whatever lay open before them and whatever was beyond their ken. [Lit., "that which was between their hands and that which was behind them": i.e., their own evil impulses (which had become their "other selves", as it were) made alluring to them the unrestrained enjoyment, without any moral discrimination, of all the worldly attractions which lay open before them, causing them, at the same time, to dismiss as an illusion the idea of resurrection and of God's judgment - thus giving them a false sense of security with regard to something that was beyond their ken.] And so, the sentence [of doom] will have fallen due upon them together with the [other sinful] communities of invisible beings [For this rendering - and the meaning - of the term jinn, see Appendix III.] and humans that passed away before their time: verily, they [all] will indeed be lost!
41:26 NOW THOSE who are bent on denying the truth say [unto one another]: "Do not listen to this Quran, but rather talk frivolously about it, so that you might gain the upper hand!" [This is an allusion to efforts aimed at discrediting the Quran by describing it as "invented" by Muhammad for his own - personal and political - ends, as a series of "misunderstood quotations" from earlier scriptures, as the result of "hallucinations", and so forth: all of which implies that the opponents of the Quranic message instinctively feel its force, realizing at the same time that it endangers their self-complacent, materialistic outlook on life and ought, therefore, to be combated. This explains the statement, at the end of verse 28, that they "knowingly reject" God's messages.]
41:27 But We shall most certainly give those who are [thus] bent on denying the truth a taste of suffering severe, and We shall most certainly requite them according to the worst of their deeds!
41:28 That requital of God's enemies will be the fire [of the hereafter]: in it will they have an abode of immeasurable duration as an outcome of their having knowingly rejected Our messages. [For the above rendering of the verb jahada, see the third note on 29:47.]
41:29 And they who [in their life on earth] were bent on denying the truth will [thereupon] exclaim: "O our Sustainer! Show us those of the invisible beings and humans that have led us astray: [See 6:112 - "against every prophet We have set up as enemies the evil forces (shayatin) from among humans as well as from among invisible beings" - and the corresponding note.] we shall trample them underfoot, so that they shall be the lowest of all!" [Cf. 7:38.]
41:30 [But,] behold, as for those who say, "Our Sustainer is God," and then steadfastly pursue the right way - upon them do angels often descend, [saying:] "Fear not and grieve not, but receive the glad tiding of that paradise which has been promised to you!
41:31 We are close unto you in the life of this world and [will be so] in the life to come; and in that [life to come] you shall have all that your souls may desire, and in it you shall have all that you ever prayed for,
41:32 as a ready welcome from Him who is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!"
41:33 And who could be better of speech than he who calls [his fellow-men] unto God, and does what is just and right, and says, "Verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves to God"?
41:34 But [since] good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou [evil] with something that is better [See note on 13:22. In the present instance, the injunction to "repel [evil] with something that is better" relates to scurrilous objections to, and hostile criticism of, the Quran. The whole of this passage (verses 33 ff.) connects with verse 26.] - and lo! he between whom and thyself was enmity [may then become] as though he had [always] been close [unto thee], a true friend! [You foil hatred with love and liberate those from sin and make them your true friends.]
41:35 Yet [to achieve] this is not given to any but those who are wont to be patient in adversity: it is not given to any but those endowed with the greatest good fortune!
41:36 Hence, if it should happen that a prompting from Satan stirs thee up [to blind anger], seek refuge with God: behold, He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing! [I.e., He alone sees what is in the hearts of men, and He alone understands the innermost motivations, of which they themselves are unconscious, of those who criticize the Quran adversely. See 7:199-200 and the corresponding notes.]
41:37 Now among His signs are the night and the day, as well as the sun and the moon: [hence,] adore not the sun or the moon, but prostrate yourselves in adoration before God, who has created them - if it is Him whom you [really] worship. [This, according to Razi, connects with the phrase "calling [one's fellow-men] unto God" in verse 33 above. God is the sole cause and source of all that exists; and whatever exists is but a wondrous sign of His creative power. Hence, it is a blasphemy - apart from being unreasonable - to ascribe real power (which is the meaning of "adoration" in this context) to anything created, whether it be a concrete phenomenon, or an abstract force of nature, or a set of circumstances, or even an idea.]
41:38 And though some be too proud [to listen to this call], they who [in their hearts] are with thy Sustainer extol His limitless glory by night and by day, and never grow weary [thereof].
41:39 For among His signs is this: thou seest the earth lying desolate - and lo! when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells [with life]! Verily, He who brings it to life can surely give life to the dead [of heart as well]: for, behold, He has the power to will anything. [Although the allusion to the reviving earth often occurs in the Quran as a parable of man's ultimate resurrection, in the present context (and in tune with the entire passage comprising verses 33-39) it appears to be an illustration of God's power to bestow spiritual life upon hearts that have hitherto remained closed to the truth of His existence and omnipotence. Hence, it implies a call to the believer never to abandon the hope that "those who deny the truth" may one day grasp the truth of the Quranic message.]
41:40 VERILY, they who distort the meaning of Our messages are not hidden from Us: hence, which [of the two] will be in a better state - he that is [destined to be] cast into the fire, or he that shall come secure [before Us] on Resurrection Day? Do what you will: verily, He sees all that you do.
41:41 Verily, they who are bent on denying the truth of this reminder as soon as it comes to them - [they are the losers]: for, behold, it is a sublime divine writ:
41:42 no falsehood can ever attain to it openly, and neither in a stealthy manner, [since it is] bestowed from on high by One who is truly wise, ever to be praised. [Lit., "neither from between its hands, nor from behind it", i.e., it cannot be openly changed by means of additions or omissions (Razi), and neither surreptitiously, by hostile or deliberately confusing interpretations. The above is one of the Quranic passages on which the great commentator Abu Muslim al-Isfahani (as quoted by Razi) bases his absolute rejection of the theory of "abrogation" (for which see note on 2:106). Since the "abrogation" of any Quran-verse would have amounted to its ibtal - that is, to an open or implied declaration that it was henceforth to be regarded as null and void - the verse in question would have to be considered "false" (batil) in the context of the Quran as it is before us: and this, as Abu Muslim points out, would clearly contradict the above statement that "no falsehood (batil) can ever attain to it".]
41:43 [And as for thee, O Prophet,] nothing is being said to thee but what was said to all [of God's] apostles before thy time. [This is an allusion to the allegation of the Prophet's opponents that he himself was the "author" of what he claimed to be a divine revelation, as well as to their demand that he should "prove" the truth of his prophetic mission by producing a miracle: a scornful attitude with which all the earlier prophets had been confronted at one time or another, and which is epitomized in the "saying" of the unbelievers mentioned in verse 5 of this surah.] Behold, thy Sustainer is indeed full of forgiveness - but He has also the power to requite most grievously!
41:44 Now if We had willed this [divine writ] to be a discourse in a non-Arabic tongue, they [who now reject it] would surely have said, "Why is it that its messages have not been spelled out clearly? [Sc., "in a tongue which we can understand". Since the Prophet was an Arab and lived in an Arabian environment, his message had to be expressed in the Arabic language, which the people to whom it was addressed in the first instance could understand: see in this connection note on the first sentence of 13:37, as well as the first half of 14:4 - "never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them". Had the message of the Quran been formulated in a language other than Arabic, the opponents of the Prophet would have been justified in saying, "between us and thee is a barrier" (verse 5 of this surah).] Why - [a message in] a non-Arabic tongue, and [its bearer] an Arab?" Say: "Unto all who have attained to faith, this [divine writ] is a guidance and a source of health; but as for those who will not believe - in their ears is deafness, and so it remains obscure to them: they are [like people who are] being called from too far away. [Lit., "from a far-off place": i.e., they only hear the sound of the words, but cannot understand their meaning.]
41:45 Thus, too, have We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses aforetime, and thereupon disputes arose about it. [As was and is the case with the Quran, some people accepted the divine message revealed to Moses, and some rejected it (Zamakhshari, Razi), while others disagreed about the import and application of its tenets (Tabari).] And [then, as now,] had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, all would indeed have been decided between them [from the outset]. [For an explanation of this passage, as well as of the above parallel between men's attitudes towards the earlier scriptures and the Quran, see the second sentence of 10:19 and the corresponding note.] As it is, behold, they [who will not believe in this divine writ] are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about what it portends. [Lit., "about it", i.e., doubts as to whether the Quranic approach to problems of man's spirit and body - and, in particular, its stress on the essential unity of these twin aspects of human life (cf. note on the first sentence of 2:143) - is justified or not. In a wider sense, these doubts of the deniers of the truth relate to the question of whether religion as such is "beneficial" or "injurious" to human society - a question which is posed and answered by them with a strong bias against all religious faith.]
41:46 WHOEVER does what is just and right, does so for his own good; and whoever does evil, does so to his own hurt: and never does God do the least wrong to His creatures.
41:47 In Him alone is vested the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come. And no fruit bursts forth from its calyx, and no female ever conceives, nor ever gives birth, save with His knowledge. And so, on the Day when He shall call out to them, "Where, now, are those [alleged] partners of Mine?" - they will [surely] answer, "We confess unto Thee that none of us can bear witness [to anyone's having a share in Thy divinity]!"
41:48 And so, all that they were wont to invoke aforetime will have forsaken them; and they shall know for certain that there is no escape for them.
41:49 MAN NEVER TIRES of asking for the good [things of life]; and if evil fortune touches him, he abandons all hope, giving himself up to despair. [See note on 11:9.]
41:50 Yet whenever We let him taste some of Our grace after hardship has visited him, he is sure to say, "This is but my due!" - and, "I do not think that the Last Hour will ever come: [I.e., man is, as a rule, so blinded by his love of this world that he cannot imagine its ever coming to an end. Implied in this statement is a doubt as to whether there will really be an afterlife, and whether man will really be judged by God on resurrection.] but if [it should come, and] I should indeed be brought back unto my Sus
41:51 And, too, when We bestow Our blessings upon man, he tends to turn aside and keep aloof [from remembering Us]; but as soon as evil fortune touches him, he is full of wordy prayers! [Lit., "wide (i.e., prolonged or diffuse) prayers".]
41:52 HAVE YOU given thought [to how you will fare] if this be truly [a revelation] from God, the while you deny its truth? Who could be more astray than one who places himself [so] deeply in the wrong? [According to Razi, this is an implied allusion to the attitude of people who - as mentioned in verses 4 and 5 of this surah - "turn away" from the message of the Quran, saying, as it were: "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier.]
41:53 In time We shall make them fully understand [Lit., "We will show them" or "make them see".] Our messages [through what they perceive] in the utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves, [I.e., through a progressive deepening and widening of their insight into the wonders of the universe as well as through a deeper understanding of man's own psyche - all of which points to the existence of a conscious Creator.] so that it will become clear unto them that this [revelation] is indeed the truth. [Still,] is it not enough [for them to know] that thy Sustainer is witness unto everything? [I.e., that He is almighty and all-seeing: a fundamental truth which, by itself, should be enough to remind man of his responsibility before Him.]
41:54 Oh, verily, they are in doubt as to whether they will meet their Sustainer [on Judgment Day]! Oh, verily, He encompasses everything!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
42:1 Ha. Mim.
42:2 Ayn. Sin. Qaf. [See Appendix II.]
42:3 THUS has God, the Almighty, the Wise, revealed [the truth] unto thee, [O Muhammad,] and unto those who preceded thee: [I.e., the basic truths propounded in the Quranic revelation - some of which are summarized in the sequence - are the same as those revealed to all the earlier prophets.]
42:4 His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and most exalted, tremendous is He.
42:5 The uppermost heavens are well-nigh rent asunder [for awe of Him]; and the angels extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise, and ask forgiveness for all who are on earth. [I.e., all human beings (as indicated by the relative pronoun man, which always refers to beings endowed with conscious intelligence). The implication is that whereas all humans - whether believers or unbelievers - are liable to err and to sin, God "is full of forgiveness unto men despite all their evildoing"
42:6 NOW AS FOR those who take aught beside Him for their protectors - God watches them, and thou art not responsible for their conduct.
42:7 [Thou art but entrusted with Our message:] and so We have revealed unto thee a discourse in the Arabic tongue [Cf. 14:4 -"never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue"; see also note on the first sentence of 13:37.] in order that thou mayest warn the foremost of all cities and all who dwell around it [I.e., all mankind (Tabari, Baghawi, Razi). As regards the designation of Mecca as "the foremost of all cities", see note on the identical phrase in 6:92.] - to wit, warn [them] of the Day of the Gathering, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt: [the Day when] some shall find themselves in paradise, and some in the blazing flame.
42:8 Now had God so willed, He could surely have made them all one single community: [The implication being, "but He has not willed it": see second paragraph of 5:48 and the corresponding notes; 16:93 and also note on 10:19.] none the less, He admits unto His grace him that wills [to be admitted] [Or: "He admits whomever He wills unto His grace" - similar to the double meaning inherent in the oft-recurring phrase, Allahu yahdi man yashau wa-yudillu man yashau, which can be understood either as "God guides whomever He wills and lets go astray whomever He wills", or, alternatively, as "God guides him that wills [to be guided] and lets go astray him that wills [to go astray]". See, in particular, Zamakhshari's elaborate comment on this problem quoted in note on the second half of 14:4.] - whereas the evildoers shall have none to protect them and none to succour them [on Judgment Day].
42:9 Did they, perchance, [think that they could] choose protectors other than Him? But God alone is the Protector [of all that exists], since it is He alone who brings the dead to life, and He alone who has the power to will anything.
42:10 AND ON WHATEVER you may differ, [O believers,] the verdict thereon rests with God. [This, connecting with the first sentence of verse 8 above, evidently relates to problems of faith and religious law (Baghawi, Zamakhshari). The above verse has provided some of the great exponents of Islamic Law - Ibn Hazm among them - with one of the main arguments against the acceptance of deductions by analogy (qiyas) as a means to "establish" points of religious law not formulated as such in the nass - i.e., the self-evident (zahir) wording of the Quran and, by obvious implication, of the Prophet's commandments. This, as Razi points out, is the meaning of the phrase "on whatever you may differ, the verdict (hukm) thereon rests with God". (See in this connection note on 5:101; also the section on "The Scope of Islamic Law" in my State and Government, pp. 11-15.)] [Say, therefore:] "Such is God, my Sustainer: in Him have I placed my trust, and unto Him do I always turn!"
42:11 The Originator [is He] of the heavens and the earth. He has given you mates of your own kind [See note on 16:72.] - just as [He has willed that] among the beasts [there be] mates - to multiply you thereby: [but] there is nothing like unto Him, and He alone is all-hearing, all-seeing. [The preceding allusion to the God-willed function of sex and, hence, to the polarity and multiplicity evident in all animated nature - man and animal alike - is meant to stress the above statement of the oneness and absolute uniqueness of God. The phrase there is nothing like unto Him" implies that He is fundamentally - and not merely in His attributes - "different" from anything that exists or could exist, or anything that man can conceive or imagine or define (see note on 6:100); and since "there is nothing that could be compared with Him"
42:12 His are the keys of the heavens and the earth: He grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills: for, behold, He has full knowledge of everything. [I.e., He knows not only what every human being "deserves", but also what is intrinsically - though not always perceptibly - good and necessary in the context of His plan of creation. Moreover, all that exists belongs to Him alone, and man is allowed no more than the usufruct of what is commonly regarded as "property".]
42:13 In matters of faith, [See first paragraph of note on 2:256. Since, as the sequence shows, the term din cannot apply in this context to "religion" in its widest connotation, including religious Laws - which, by their very nature, have been different in each successive dispensation (cf. note on 5:48) - it obviously denotes here only the ethical and spiritual contents of religion, i.e., "faith" in its most general sense. With this verse, the discourse returns to the theme sounded at the beginning of this surah, namely, the unchanging sameness of the spiritual and moral principles underlying all revealed religions.] He has ordained for you that which He had enjoined upon Noah - and into which We gave thee [O Muhammad] insight through revelation [Lit., "which We have revealed unto thee", implying that it was only through revelation that the Prophet Muhammad came to know "that which God had enjoined upon Noah".] - as well as that which We had enjoined upon Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus: Steadfastly uphold the [true] faith, and do not break up your unity therein. [Cf. 3:19 - "the only [true] religion in the sight of God is [man's] self-surrender unto Him"; and 3:85 - "if one goes in search of a religion other than self-surrender unto God, it will never be accepted from him". Parallel with this principle, enunciated by all of God's apostles, is the categorical statement in 21:92 and 23:52 - "Verily, [O you who believe in Me,] this community of yours is one single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all". Most of the great commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir) understand this as an unequivocal reference to the ecumenical unity of all religions based on belief in the One God, notwithstanding all the differences with regard to "the [specific] statutes and practices enjoined for the benefit of the various communities in accordance with their [time-bound] conditions (ala hasab ahiwaliha)", as expressed by Zamakhshari in his comments on the verse under discussion.] [And even though] that [unity of faith] to which thou callest them appears oppressive to those who are wont to ascribe to other beings or forces a share in His divinity, God draws unto Himself everyone who is willing, and guides unto Himself everyone who turns unto Him.
42:14 And [as for the followers of earlier revelation,] they broke up their unity, out of mutual jealousy, only after they had come to know [the truth]. [Lit., "they did not break up their unity until after knowledge had come to them" - i.e., the knowledge that God is one, and that the teachings of all of His prophets were essentially the same. Cf. 2:213 and, more explicitly, 23:53, which comes immediately after the statement that "this community of yours is one single community" (see also note on 23:53).] And had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, [postponing all decision] until a term set [by Him], all would indeed have been decided between them [from the outset]. [For an explanation of this passage, see note on 10:19.] As it is, behold, they who have inherited their divine writ from those who preceded them [Lit., "who have become heirs to the divine writ after them": obviously referring to the Bible and its followers in later times.] are [now] in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about what it portends. [Lit., "about it" - i.e., in doubt as to whether the relevant scripture has really been revealed by God, and, ultimately, as to whether there is any truth in the concept of "divine revelation" as such.]
42:15 Because of this, then, [I.e., because of this breach of the original unity of men's faith in the One God.] summon [all mankind], and pursue the right course, as thou hast been bidden [by God]; and do not follow their likes and dislikes, but say: "I believe in whatever revelation God has bestowed from on high; and I am bidden to bring about equity in your mutual views. [Lit., "between you" - i.e., "to induce you to be more tolerant of one another": evidently an allusion to the bitterness which stands in the way of an understanding between the various sects and schools of thought in all revealed religions.] God is our Sustainer as well as your Sustainer. To us shall be accounted our deeds, and to you, your deeds. Let there be no contention between us and you: God will bring us all together - for with Him is all journeys' end."
42:16 And as for those who would [still] argue about God after He has been acknowledged [by them] [I.e., about His attributes and the "how" of His Being, all of which is beyond the grasp of the human mind.] - all their arguments are null and void in their Sustainer's sight, and upon them will fall [His] condemnation, and for them is suffering severe in store:
42:17 [for] it is God [Himself] who has bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, and [thus given man] a balance [wherewith to weigh right and wrong]. [The above two interpolations are based on 57:25, where the idea underlying this verse has been stated clearly. The implication is that since God Himself has given man, through successive revelations, a standard whereby to discern between right and wrong, it is presumptuous and futile to argue about the nature of His Being and His ultimate judgment: hence the reference, in the second half of this and the next verse, to the Last Hour and, thus, the Day of Judgment.] And for all thou knowest, the Last Hour may well be near!
42:18 Those who do not believe in it [mockingly] ask for its speedy advent [This is not merely a reference to the sarcastic demand of Muhammad's opponents (mentioned several times in the Quran) to bring about their "speedy chastisement" in proof of his being God's message-bearer, but also an oblique allusion to unbelievers of all times who, without having any "proof" either way, categorically reject the idea of resurrection and judgment.] - wwhereas those who have attained to faith stand in awe of it, and know it to be the truth. Oh, verily, they who call the Last Hour in question have indeed gone far astray!
42:19 GOD is most kind unto His creatures: He provides sustenance for whomever He wills - for He alone is powerful, almighty!
42:20 To him who desires a harvest in the life to come, We shall grant an increase in his harvest; whereas to him who desires [but] a harvest in this world, We [may] give something thereof - but he will have no share in [the blessings of] the life to come. [I.e., whereas those who live righteously and turn their endeavours towards spiritual ends are sure to receive in the hereafter more than they are hoping for, those who strive exclusively after worldly rewards may - but not necessarily will - achieve something, and not necessarily aall, of their aims, without having any reason to expect "a share in the blessings" that await the righteous in the hereafter.]
42:21 Is it that they [who care for no more than this world] believe in forces supposed to have a share in God's divinity, [Lit., "Is it that they have partners [of God]" - i.e., "do they believe that circumstantial phenomena like wealth, power, `luck', etc., have something divine about them?" - the implication being that belief in such "forces" is usually at the root of men's pursuance of exclusively worldly ends. (For my above explanatory rendering of the term shuraka - lit., "partners" or "associates" [of God] - see note on 6:22.)] which enjoin upon them as a moral law something that God has never allowed? [I.e., which cause them to abandon themselves with an almost religious fervour to something of which God disapproves - namely, the striving after purely materialistic goals and a corresponding disregard of all spiritual and ethical values. For my rendering of din, in this context, as "moral law", see note on 109:6.] Now were it not for [God's] decree on the final judgment, [Lit., "word of decision", i.e., that His final judgment shall be postponed until the Day of Resurrection (see next note).] all would indeed have been decided between them [in this world]: [I.e., God would have made a clear-cut distinction, in this world, between those who look forward to the hereafter and those who care for no more than worldly success, by granting unlimited happiness to the former and causing the latter to suffer: but since it is only in the hereafter that man's life is to be truly fulfilled, God has willed to postpone this distinction until then.] but, verily, grievous suffering awaits the evildoers [in the life to come].
42:22 [In that life to come,] thou wilt see the evildoers full of fear at [the thought of] what they have earned: for [now] it is bound to fall back upon them.
42:23 that [bounty] whereof God gives the glad tiding to such of His servants as attain to faith and do righteous deeds.
42:24 DO THEY, perchance, say, "[Muhammad] has attributed his own lying inventions to God"? But then, had God so willed, He could have sealed thy heart [forever]: for God blots out all falsehood, and by His words proves the truth to be true. [See note on 10:82.] Verily, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men];
42:25 and it is He who accepts repentance from His servants, and pardons bad deeds, and knows all that you do,
42:26 and responds unto all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds; and [it is He who, in the life to come,] will give them, out of His bounty, far more [than they will have deserved], whereas for the deniers of the truth there is [but] suffering severe in store.
42:27 For, if God were to grant [in this world] abundant sustenance to [all of] His servants, they would behave on earth with wanton insolence: [This passage connects with, and elucidates, the statement in the preceding verse that God "responds unto all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds" - a statement which, at first glance, seems to be contrary to the fact that whereas many wrongdoers prosper and are happy, many righteous people suffer hurt and deprivation. In reply to this objection, the above verse points elliptically to man's innate "greed for more and more" (see 102:1), which often causes him to become "grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient"
42:28 And it is He who sends down rain after [men] have lost all hope, and unfolds His grace [thereby]: [This reference to the symbol of life-giving rain connects with the preceding statement that "He bestows [His grace] in due measure, as He wills", and is a preamble, as it were, to the statement in the next verse that all creation is but a visible "sign" or "revelation" of God's existence and purposeful activity, as well as of the God-willed continuation of all life in the hereafter.] for He alone is [their] Protector, the One to whom all praise is due.
42:29 And among His signs is the [very] creation of the heavens and the earth, and of all the living creatures which He has caused to multiply throughout them: [Lit., "in both". In the Quran, the expression "the heavens and the earth" invariably denotes the universe in its entirety.] and [since He has created them,] He has [also] the power to gather them [unto Himself] whenever He wills.
42:30 Now whatever calamity may befall you [on Judgment Day] will be an outcome of what your own hands have wrought, although He pardons much; [This oft-recurring phrase is a Quranic metonym for man's doings and conscious attitudes in this world, meant to bring out the fact that these doings or attitudes are the "harvest" of a person's spiritual character and have, therefore, a definite influence on the quality of his life in the hereafter. Since the latter is but an organic continuation of earthly life, man's subsequent spiritual growth and bliss or, alternatively, spiritual darkness and suffering - symbolically circumscribed as God's "reward" and "chastisement" or "paradise" and "hell" - depend on, and are a result of, what one has previously "earned".]
42:31 and you cannot elude Him on earth, and you will have none to protect you from God [in the life to come], and none to bring you succour.
42:32 And among His signs [As is evident from the sequence, in this instance the term ayah (lit., "sign" or "[divine] message") is used in the sense of "parable". (See next note.)] are the ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas:
42:33 if He so wills, He stills the wind, and then they lie motionless on the sea's surface - [and] herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God];
42:34 or else He may cause them to perish because of what they have wrought; and [withal,] He pardons much. [I.e., because of the evil which they have committed. The above passage is, I believe, a parabolic allusion to the three possible alternatives in the life to come: spiritual progress and happiness (symbolized by ships that sail freely through the sea); spiritual stagnancy (ships that lie motionless on the sea's surface); and spiritual disaster and suffering (summarized in the concept of perdition). The second of these three alternatives seems to point to the condition of those ala l-araf spoken of in 7:46 f. and explained in the corresponding note.]
42:35 And let them know, those who call Our messages in question, [For this rendering of yujadilun, see note on 40:35.] that for them there is no escape.
42:36 AND [remember that] whatever you are given [now] is but for the [passing] enjoyment of life in this world - whereas that which is with God is far better and more enduring. [It shall be given] to all who attain to faith and in their Sustainer place their trust;
42:37 and who shun the more heinous sins and abominations; and who, whenever they are moved to anger, readily forgive;
42:38 and who respond to [the call of] their Sustainer and are constant in prayer; and whose rule [in all matters of common concern] is consultation among themselves; [This particular qualification of true believers - regarded by the Prophet's Companions as so important that they always referred to this surah by the key-word "consultation" (shura) - has a double import: firstly, it is meant to remind all followers of the Quran that they must remain united within one single community (ummah); and, secondly, it lays down the principle that all their communal business must be transacted in mutual consultation. (For the political implications of this principle, see State and Government, pp. 44 ff.).] and who spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance; [See note on 2:3. Following as it does immediately upon the call to communal unity and consultation, the "spending on others" bears here the general connotation of social justice.]
42:39 and who, whenever tyranny afflicts them, defend themselves.
42:40 But [remember that an attempt at] requiting evil may, too, become an evil: [Lit., "is [or "may be"] an evil like it". In other words, successful struggle against tyranny (which latter is the meaning of the noun baghy in the last sentence of the preceding verse) often tends to degenerate into a similarly tyrannical attitude towards the erstwhile oppressors. Hence, most of the classical commentators (e.g., Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi) stress the absolute prohibition of "going beyond what is right" (itida) when defending oneself against tyranny and oppression. (Cf. the passage relating to fighting against "those who wage war against you" in 2:190 ff.)] hence, whoever par
42:41 Yet indeed, as for any who defend themselves after having been wronged - no blame whatever attaches to them:
42:42 blame attaches but to those who oppress [other] people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right: for them there is grievous suffering in store!
42:43 But withal, if one is patient in adversity and forgives - this, behold, is indeed something to set one's heart upon! [Cf. 41:34 -35, as well as note on 13:22.]
42:44 AND [thus it is:] he whom God lets go astray [See note on 14:4.] has henceforth no protector whatever: and so thou wilt see such evildoers [Although this is primarily a reference to "those who oppress [other] people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right" (verse 42 above), the meaning of the term is general, applying to all kinds of deliberate evildoers.] [on Judgment Day, and wilt hear how] they exclaim as soon as they behold the suffering [that awaits them], "Is there any way of return?" [I.e., a "second chance" on earth: cf. 6:27-28.]
42:45 And thou wilt see them exposed to that [doom], humbling themselves in abasement, looking [around] with a furtive glance - the while those who had attained to faith will say, "Verily, lost on [this] Day of Resurrection are they who have squandered their own and their followers' selves!" [The term ahl denotes primarily the "people" of one town, country or family, as well as the "fellow-members" of one race, religion, profession, etc. In its wider, ideological sense it is applied to people who have certain characteristics in common, e.g., ahl al-ilm ("people of knowledge", i.e., scholars), or who follow one and the same persuasion or belief, e.g., ahl al-kitab ("the followers of [earlier] revelation"), ahl al-Quran ("the followers of the Quran"), and so forth. Since, as has been pointed out in the second note on verse 44, the above passage refers primarily - though not exclusively - to the tyrants and oppressors spoken of in verse 42, the term ahluhum evidently connotes "their followers". Thus, the above sentence implies that every kind of evildoing (zulm), and particularly the oppression of others, inevitably results in a spiritual injury to, and ultimately the self-destruction of, its perpetrators and/or their followers.] Oh, verily, the evildoers will fall into long-lasting suffering,
42:46 and will have no protector whatever to succour them against God: for he whom God lets go astray shall find no way [of escape].
42:47 [Hence, O men,] respond to your Sustainer before there comes, at God's behest, [Lit., "from God".] a Day on which there will be no turning back: [for] on that Day you will have no place of refuge, and neither will you be able to deny aught [of the wrong that you have done].
42:48 BUT IF they turn away [from thee, O Prophet, know that] We have not sent thee to be their keeper: thou art not bound to do more than deliver the message [entrusted to thee]. And, behold, [such as turn away from Our messages are but impelled by the weakness and incon
42:49 God's alone is the dominion over the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills: He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills, and the gift of male offspring on whomever He wills;
42:50 or He gives both male and female [to whomever He wills], and causes to be barren whomever He wills: for, verily, He is all-knowing, infinite in His power. [The purport of this passage is a re-affirmation of the fact that whatever happens to man is an outcome of God's unfathomable will: a fact which is illustrated in the sequence by the most common, recurrent phenomenon in man's life - the unpredictability of male or female births, as well as of barrenness: and so, too, God's bestowal of worldly happiness and unhappiness cannot be measured or predicted in terms of what man may regard as his "due".]
42:51 And it is not given to mortal man that God should speak unto him otherwise than through sudden inspiration, or [by a voice, as it were,] from behind a veil, [This is the primary meaning of wahy, a term which combines the concepts of suddenness and inner illumination (Raghib); in the usage of the Quran, it is often, though by no means always, synonymous with "revelation". The above passage connects with the first paragraph of verse 48, which speaks of the divine message entrusted to the Prophet.] or by sending an apostle to reveal, by His leave, whatever He wills [to reveal]: [Cf. 53:10.] for, verily, He is exalted, wise.
42:52 And thus, too, [I.e., in all the three ways mentioned in the preceding verse.] [O Muhammad,] have We revealed unto thee a life-giving message, [coming] at Our behest. [The term ruh (lit., "spirit" or "soul") has in the Quran often the meaning of "divine inspiration" (see note on 16:2). In the present context, it evidently denotes the contents of the divine inspiration bestowed on the Prophet Muhammad, i.e., the Quran (Tabari, Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir), which is meant to lead man to a more intensive spiritual life: hence my above rendering.] [Ere this message came unto thee,] thou didst not know what revelation is, nor what faith [implies]: [I.e., that the very concept of "faith" implies man's complete self-surrender (islam) to God.] but [now] We have caused this [message] to be a light, whereby We guide whom We will of Our ser
42:53 the way that leads to God, to whom all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth belongs. Oh, verily, with God is the beginning and the end of all things! [Lit., "unto God do all things (al-umur) pursue their course": i.e., all things go back to Him as their source, and from His will depends the course which they take (Baydawi).]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
43:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
43:2 CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth: [Regarding this rendering of the term mubin, see note on 12:1.]
43:3 behold, We have caused it to be a discourse in the Arabic tongue, so that you might encompass it with your reason. [See note on 12:3.]
43:4 And, verily, [originating as it does] in the source, with Us, of all revelation, [Cf. last clause of 13:39 - "with Him (indahu) is the source (umm) of all revelation". The term umm (lit., "mother") has often the idiomatic connotation of "origin" or "source" (asl), and sometimes - as in 3:7 - of "essence". In the present context, only the former meaning is applicable. See also note on the last verse 22 of surah 85.] it is indeed sublime, full of wisdom.
43:5 [O YOU who deny the truth!] Should We, perchance, withdraw this reminder from you altogether, seeing that you are people bent on wasting your own selves? [For this rendering of the term musrif, see note on the last sentence of 10:12. The above rhetorical question answers itself, of course, in the negative - implying that God never ceases to "remind" the sinner through His revelations, and always accepts repentance.]
43:6 And how many a prophet did We send to people of olden times!
43:7 But never yet came a prophet to them without their deriding him -
43:8 and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: [I.e., than the people addressed in verse 5 above.] and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past.
43:9 Yet thus it is [with most people]: if [See note on 30:51.] thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth?" - they will surely answer, "The Almighty, the All-Knowing has created them."
43:10 He it is who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has provided for you ways [of livelihood] thereon, [Cf. 20:53.] so that you might follow the right path.
43:11 And He it is who sends down, again and again, waters from the sky in due measure: [The grammatical form nazzala implies here recurrence: hence, "again and again".] and [as] We raise therewith dead land to life, even thus will you be brought forth [from the dead].
43:12 And He it is who has created all opposites. [Lit., "all pairs". Some commentators regard the term azwaj as synonymous in this context with "kinds" (Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir): i.e., they take the above phrase to mean no more than that God created all kinds of things, beings and phenomena. Others (e.g., Tabari) see in it a reference to the polarity evident in all creation. lbn Abbas (as quoted by Razi) says that it denotes the concept of opposites in general, like "sweet and sour, or white and black, or male and female"; to which Razi adds that everything in creation has its complement, "like high and low, right and left, front and back, past and future, being and attribute", etc., whereas God - and He alone - is unique, without anything that could be termed "opposite" or "similar" or "complementary". Hence, the above sentence is an echo of the statement that "there is nothing that could be compared with Him"
43:13 in order that you might gain mastery over them, [Lit., "over its backs" - i.e., according to all classical commentators, the "backs" of the above-mentioned animals and ships alike, the singular form of the pronoun ("its") relating to the collective entity comprised in the concept of "all whereon you ride" (ma tarkabun): in other words, "all that you use or may use by way of transport". As regards my rendering of li-tastau as "so that you might gain mastery", I should like to point out that the verb istawa (lit., "he established himself") has often the connotation adopted by me: see Jawhari, Raghib and Lisan al-Arab, art. sawa; also Lane IV, 1478.] and that, whenever you have mastered them, you might remember your Sustainer's blessings and say: "Limitless in His glory is He who has made [all] this subservient to our use - since [but for Him,] we would not have been able to attain to it.
43:14 Hence, verily, it is unto Him that we must always turn."
43:15 AND YET, [I.e., despite the fact that most people readily admit that God has created all that exists (verse 9 above), some of them tend to forget His uniqueness.] they attribute to Him offspring from among some of the beings created by Him! [Lit., "attribute to Him a part out of [some of] His creatures (ibad)": cf. 6:100 and the corresponding notes. The noun juz' (lit., "part") evidently denotes here "a part of Himself", as implied in the concept of "offspring"; hence my rendering. If, on the other hand, juz is understood in its literal sense, the above sentence could have (as Razi assumes) a more general meaning, namely, "they attribute a part of His divinity to some of the beings created by Him". However, in view of the sequence, which clearly refers to the blasphemous attribution of "offspring" to God, my rendering seems to be preferable.] Verily, most obviously bereft of all gratitude is man!
43:16 Or [do you think], perchance, that out of all His creation He has chosen for Himself daughters, and favoured you with sons? [It should be remembered that the people thus addressed were the pagan Arabs, who believed that some of their goddesses, as well as the angels, were "God's daughters". In view of the fact that those pre-Islamic Arabs regarded daughters as a mere liability and their birth as a disgrace, this verse is obviously ironical. (Cf. in this connection 16:57-59.)]
43:17 For [thus it is:] if any of them is given the glad tiding of [the birth of] what he so readily attributes to the Most Gracious, [Lit., "what he postulates as a likeness of [or "as likely for"] the Most Gracious": i.e., female offspring, which implies a natural "likeness" to its progenitor.] his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed anger:
43:18 "What! [Am I to have a daughter -] one who is to be reared [only] for the sake of ornament?" [I.e., one who, from the viewpoint of the pre-Islamic Arabs, would have no function other than "embellishing" a man's life.] - and thereupon he finds himself torn by a vague inner conflict. [Lit., "he finds himself in an invisible (ghayr mubin) conflict" - i.e., an inner conflict which he does noot quite admit to his consciousness: cf. 16:59 - "[he debates within himself:] Shall he keep this child despite the contempt [which he feels for it] - or shall he bury it in the dust?" (See also, in particular, the corresponding note.)]
43:19 And [yet] they claim that the angels - who in themselves are but beings created by the Most Gracious - are females: [Or: "who are but worshippers [or "creatures"] (ibad) of the Most Gracious" - in either case stressing their having been created and, hence, not being divine.] [but] did they witness their creation? This false claim of theirs will be recorded, and they will be called to account [for it on Judgment Day]! [Lit., "their testimony", i.e., regarding the "sex" of the angels, who are spiritual in nature (Razi) and, therefore, sexless.]
43:20 Yet they say, "Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!" [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess. [I.e., they cannot have any "knowledge" of something that is devoid of all reality - because, far from having "willed" their sin, God had left it to their free will to make a moral choice between right and wrong. (See in this connection note on 6:149.)]
43:21 Or have We, perchance, vouchsafed them, before this one, a revelation [to the contrary,] to which they are still holding fast? [I.e., a revelation which would allow man to worship other beings beside God, or to attribute "offspring" to Him: a rhetorical question implying its own negation.]
43:22 Nay, but they say, "Behold, We found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and, verily, it is in their footsteps that we find our guidance!"
43:23 And thus it is: whenever We sent, before thy time, a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures would always say, [For this rendering of the term mutraf (derived from the verb tarafa), see note on 11:116.] "Behold, we found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and, verily, it is but in their footsteps that we follow!" [Commenting on this passage, Razi says: "Had there been in the Quran nothing but these verses, they would have sufficed to show the falsity of the principle postulating [a Muslim's] blind, unquestioning adoption of [another person's] religious opinions (ibtal al-qawl bit-taqlid): for, God has made it clear [in these verses] that those deniers of the truth had not arrived at their convictions by way of reason, and neither on the clear authority of a revealed text, but solely by blindly adopting the opinions of their forebears and predecessors; and all this God has mentioned in terms of blame and sharp disparagement."]
43:24 [Whereupon each prophet] would say, [Whereas in some of the readings of the Quran the opening word of this verse is vocalized as an imperative, qul ("say"), the reading of Hafs ibn Sulayman al-Asadi - on which this translation is based - gives the pronunciation qala ("he said" or, since it is a repeated occurrence, "he would say").] "Why, even though I bring you guidance better than that which you found your forefathers believing in?" - [to which] the others would reply, "Behold, we deny that there is any truth in [what you claim to be] your messages!"
43:25 And so We inflicted Our retribution on them: and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!
43:26 AND WHEN Abraham spoke to his father and his people, [he had this very truth in mind:] [Namely, the inadmissibility of blindly accepting the religious views sanctioned by mere ancestral tradition and thus prevalent in one's environment, and regarding them as valid even though they may conflict with one's reason and/or divine revelation. Abraham's search after truth is mentioned several times in the Quran, and particularly in 6:74 ff. and 21:51 ff.] "Verily, far be it from me to worship what you worship!
43:27 None [do I worship] but Him who has brought me into being: and, behold, it is He who will guide me!"
43:28 And he uttered this as a word destined to endure among those who would come after him, so that they might [always] return [to it].
43:29 Now [as for those who did come after him,] I allowed them - as [I had allowed] their forebears - to enjoy their lives freely until the truth should come unto them through an apostle who would make all things clear: [I.e., God did not impose on them any moral obligations before making the meaning of right and wrong clear to them through a revealed message. Primarily, this is an allusion to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, and to the prosperity which they had been allowed to enjoy for a long time (cf. 21:44); in its wider sense, however, this passage implies that God would never call people to task for any wrong they may have done so long as they have not been clearly shown how to discriminate between good and evil (cf. 6:131-132).] WHY DIVINE REVELATION NOT BESTOWED ON PERSON OF EMINENCE?
43:30 but now that the truth has come to them, they say, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence" - and, behold, we deny that there is any truth in it!" [See note on 74:24, where this connotation of sihr appears for the first time in the course of Quranic revelation.]
43:31 And they say, too, "Why was not this Quran bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?" [I.e., Mecca and Taif - implying that if it were really a divine revelation it would have been bestowed on a person of "great standing", and not on Muhammad, who had neither wealth nor a position of eminence in his native city.]
43:32 But is it they who distribute thy Sustainer's grace? [Nay, as] it is We who distribute their means of livelihood among them in the life of this world, and raise some of them by degrees above others, to the end that they might avail themselves of one another's help - [so, too, it is We who bestow gifts of the spirit upon whomever We will]: and this thy Sustainer's grace is better than all [the worldly wealth] that they may amass.
43:33 And were it not that [with the prospect of boundless riches before them] all people would become one [evil] community, [Since "man has been created weak"
43:34 and [silver] doors for their houses, and [silver] couches whereon to recline,
43:35 and gold [beyond count]. [The primary meaning of the noun zukhruf is "gold"; its application to "ornaments" or (as in 10:24) to "artful adornment" is only secondary (Taj a1-Arus).] Yet all this would have been nothing but a [brief] enjoyment of life in this world - whereas [happiness in] the life to come awaits the God-conscious with thy Sustainer.
43:36 But as for anyone who chooses to remain blind to the remembrance of the Most Gracious, to him We assign an [enduring] evil impulse, to become his other self: [Lit., "to him We assign a satan, and he becomes his other self (qarin)": see note on 41:25. For the psychological connotation of the term shaytan as "evil impulse", see first half of note on 15:17 as well as note on 14:22.]
43:37 whereupon, behold, these [evil impulses] bar all such from the path [of truth], making them think that they are guided aright!
43:38 But in the end, [Lit., "until".] when he [who has thus sinned] appears before us [on Judgment Day], he will say [to his other self], "Would that between me and thee there had been the distance of east and west!" [Thus do most of the commentators interpret the above phrase which, literally, reads "the two easts" (al-mashriqayn). This interpretation is based on the idiomatic usage, not infrequent in classical Arabic, of referring to two opposites - or two conceptually connected entities - by giving them the designation of one of them in the dual form: e.g., "the two moons", denoting "sun and moon ; "the two Basrahs", i.e., Kufah and Basrah; and so forth.] - for, evil indeed [has proved] that other self!
43:39 On that Day it will not profit you in the least [to know] that, since you have sinned [together], you are now to share your suffering [as well]. [I.e., "you will not be consoled, as would have been the case in earthly suffering, by the knowledge that you are not to suffer alone" (Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi). Since this address is formulated in the plural and not in the dual, it evidently relates to all sinners who, in their lifetime, were impelled by their own evil impulses - their "other selves", as it were - to "remain blind to the remembrance of God". In its wider meaning, the above verse implies that all evil deeds, whenever and wherever committed, are but links of one chain, one evil ineluctably leading to another: cf. 14:49 - "on that Day thou wilt see those who werre lost in sin linked together (muqarranin) in fetters" - a phrase which has been explained in my corresponding note. It is noteworthy that the participle muqarran is derived from the same verbal root (qarana) as the term qarin (rendered by me in verses 36 and 38 of this surah and in 41:25 as "other self"): and this, I believe, is a further indication, alluded to in the present verse, to the "togetherness" of all evil deeds.]
43:40 CANST THOU, perchance, [O Muhammad,] make the deaf hear, or show the right way to the blind or to such as are obviously lost in error? [This rhetorical question implies a negative answer: cf. 35:22 - "thou canst not make hear such as are [deaf of heart like the dead] in the graves".]
43:41 But whether We do [or do not] take thee away [ere thy message prevails] - verily, We shall inflict Our retribution on them;
43:42 and whether We show thee [or do not show thee in this world] the fulfillment of what We have promised them - verily, We have full power over them!
43:43 So hold fast to all that has been revealed to thee: for, behold, thou art on a straight way;
43:44 and, verily, this [revelation] shall indeed become [a source of] eminence for thee and thy people: [For the above rendering of dhikr as "[a source of] eminence", see first half of note on 21:10.] but in time you all will be called to account [for what you have done with it]. [The meaning is that on the Day of Judgment all prophets will be asked, metaphorically, as to what response they received from their people (cf. 5:109), and those who professed to follow them will be called to account for the spiritual and social use they made - or did not make - of the revelation conveyed to them: and thus, the "eminence" promised to the followers of Muhammad will depend on their actual behaviour and not on their mere profession of faith.]
43:45 Yet [above all else,] ask any of Our apostles whom We sent forth before thy time [I.e., "look into the earlier revelations and ask thyself".] whether We have ever allowed that deities other than the Most Gracious be worshipped!
43:46 THUS, INDEED, [I.e., in pursuance of the principle, referred to above, that it is not permissible to worship anyone or anything but God.] have We sent Moses with Our messages unto Pharaoh and his great ones; and he said: "Behold, I am an apostle of the Sustainer of all the worlds!"
43:47 But as soon as he came before them with Our [miraculous] signs, [See note on the last sentence of 6:109.] lo! they derided them,
43:48 although each sign that We showed them was weightier than the preceding one: and [each time] We took them to task through suffering, so that they might return [to Us]. [The concept of "returning" to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is inherent in human nature as such, and that man's "turning away" from God is only a consequence of spiritual degeneration, and not an original tendency or predisposition: cf. 7:172-173. The "suffering" (adhab) mentioned above relates to the plagues with which the recalcitrant Egyptians were struck (see 7:130 ff.).]
43:49 And [every time] they exclaimed: "O thou sorcerer! Pray for us to thy Sustainer on the strength of the covenant [of prophethood] which He has made with thee: for, verily, we shall now follow the right way!"
43:50 But whenever We removed the suffering from them, lo! they would break their word.
43:51 And Pharaoh issued a call to his people, saying: "O my people! Does not the dominion over Egypt belong to me, since all these running waters flow at my feet? [Lit., "beneath me", i.e., "at my command": a reference to the imposing irrigation system originating in the Nile and controlled by royal power.] Can you not, then, see [that I am your lord supreme]?
43:52 Am I not better than this contemptible man who can hardly make his meaning clear? [An allusion to the impediment in speech from which Moses suffered (cf. 20:27-28 and the corresponding note), or perhaps to the contents of his message, which to Pharaoh appeared unconvincing.]
43:53 "And then - why have no golden armlets been bestowed on him? [In ancient Egypt, golden armlets and necklaces were regarded as princely insignia (cf. Genesis xli, 42), or at least as evidence of high social dignity. This is apparently an echo of the pagan objection to Muhammad, mentioned in verse 31 above: "Why was not this Quran bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?" The same is the case with the subsequent reference to the "absence of angels".] - or why have no angels come together with him?"
43:54 Thus he incited his people to levity, and they obeyed him: for, behold, they were people depraved!
43:55 But when they continued to challenge Us, We inflicted Our retribution on them, and drowned them all:
43:56 and so We made them a thing of the past, and an example to those who would come after them.
43:57 NOW WHENEVER [the nature of] the son of Mary is set forth as an example, [O Muhammad,] lo! thy people raise an outcry on this score,
43:58 and say, "Which is better - our deities or he?" [Objecting to the Quranic condemnation of their idolatrous worship of angels - whom they describe here as "our deities" - the pagan Quraysh pointed to the parallel Christian worship of Jesus as "the son of God", and even as "God incarnate", and argued more or less thus: "The Quran states that Jesus was purely human - and yet the Christians, whom the same Quran describes as `followers of earlier revelation' (ahl al-kitab), consider him divine. Hence, are we not rather justified in our worshipping angels, who are certainly superior to a mere human being?" The fallacy inherent in this "argument" is disposed of in the sequence.] [But] it is only in the spirit of dispute that they put this comparison before thee: yea, they are contentious folk! [Since the Quran condemns explicitly, and in many places, the deification of Jesus by the Christians, this unwarranted deification cannot be used as an argument in favour of the pagan worship of angels and, thus, against the Quran: in the words of Zamakhshari, such an argument amounts to "applying a false analogy to a false proposition" (qiyas batil bi-batil).]
43:59 [As for Jesus,] he was nothing but [a human being -] a servant [of Ours] whom We had graced [with prophethood], and whom We made an example for the children of Israel.
43:60 And had We so willed, [O you who worship angels,] We could indeed have made you into angels succeeding one another on earth! [Implying not only that Jesus was not a supernatural being, but that the angels, too, are mere created beings finite in their existence - as indicated by the phrase "succeeding one another" - and, therefore, utterly removed from the status of divinity (Baydawi).]
43:61 AND, BEHOLD, this [divine writ] is indeed a means to know [that] the Last Hour [is bound to come]; [Whereas most of the commentators regard the pronoun hu in innahu as relating to Jesus and, consequently, interpret the above phrase as "he is indeed a means to know [i.e., an indication of the coming of] the Last Hour", some authorities - e.g., Qatadah, Al-Hasan al-Basri and Said ibn Jubayr (all of them quoted by Tabari, Baghawi and Ibn Kathir) - relate the pronoun to the Quran, and understand the phrase in the sense adopted in my rendering. The specific mention of the Last Hour in the above context is meant to stress man's ultimate responsibility before the Creator and, therefore, the fact that worship is due to Him alone: and so this parenthetic passage follows logically upon the mention of the false deification of Jesus.] hence, have no doubt whatever about it, but follow Me: this [alone] is a straight way.
43:62 And let not Satan bars you [from it] - for, verily, he is your open foe!
43:63 NOW WHEN Jesus came [to his people] with all evidence of the truth, he said: "I have now come unto you with wisdom, [I.e., with divine revelation.] and to make clear Unto you some of that on which you are at variance: [According to Tabari, the restrictive allusion to "some of that...", etc., bears on the realm of faith and morals alone, since it was not a part of Jesus' mission to deal with problems of his people's worldly life. This observation coincides with the image of Jesus forthcoming from the (admittedly fragmentary) description of his teachings available to us in the Synoptic Gospels.] hence, be conscious of God, and pay heed unto me.
43:64 "Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship [none but] Him: this [alone] is a straight way!"
43:65 But factions from among those [who came after Jesus] began to hold divergent views: [Sc., regarding the nature of Jesus and the inadmissibility of worshipping anyone but God: an allusion to subsequent developments in Christianity.] woe, then, unto those who are bent on evildoing - [woe] for the suffering [that will befall them] on a grievous Day!
43:66 ARE THEY [who are lost in sin] but waiting for the Last Hour - [waiting] that it come upon them of a sudden, without their being aware [of its approach]?
43:67 On that Day, [erstwhile] friends will be foes unto one another [I.e., they will hate one another - those who realize that they have been led astray by their erstwhile friends, and the latter, because they see that they will be held responsible for the sins of those whom they have led astray.] - [all] save the God-conscious.
43:68 [And God will say:] "O you servants of Mine! No fear need you have today, and neither shall you grieve -
43:69 [O you] who have attained to faith in Our messages and have surrendered your own selves unto Us!
43:70 Enter paradise, you and your spouses, with happiness blest!"
43:71 [And there] they will be waited upon with trays and goblets of gold; and there will be found all that the souls might desire, and [all that] the eyes might delight in. And therein shall you abide, [O you who believe:]
43:72 for such will be the paradise which you shall have inherited by virtue of your past deeds:
43:73 fruits [of those deeds] shall you have in abundance, [and] thereof shall you partake!
43:74 [But,] behold, they who are lost in sin shall abide in the suffering of hell: [I.e., for an unspecified period: see the last paragraph of 6:128 and the corresponding note, as well as the saying of the Prophet quoted in note on 40:12, indicating that - in accordance with the Quranic statement, "God has willed upon Himself the law of grace and mercy" (6:12 and 54) - the otherworldly suffering described as "hell" will not be of unlimited duration. Among the theologians who hold this view is Razi, who stresses in his comments on the above passage that the expression "they shall abide (khalidun) in the suffering of hell" indicates only an indeterminate duration, but "does not convey the meaning of perpetuity" (la yafidu d-dawam).]
43:75 it will not be lightened for them; and therein they will be lost in hopeless despair.
43:76 And it is not We who will be doing wrong unto them, but it is they who will have wronged themselves.
43:77 And they will cry: "O thou [angel] who rulest [over hell]! Let thy Sustainer put an end to us!" - whereupon] he will reply: "Verily, you must live on [in this state]
43:78 INDEED, [O you sinners,] We have conveyed the truth unto you; but most of you abhor the truth. [As is evident from verses 81 below, this is a reference to the truth of God's oneness and uniqueness, which those who believe in Jesus as "the son of God" refuse, as it were, to acknowledge: thus, the discourse returns here to the question of the "nature" of Jesus touched upon in verses 57-65.]
43:79 Why - can they [who deny the truth ever] determine what [the truth] should be? [The verb barama or abrama signifies, literally, "he twined" or "twisted [something] together", e.g., the strands that are to form a rope; or "he twisted [something] well" or "strongly". Tropically, it connotes the act of "establishing" or "determining" a thing, a proposition, a course of events, etc. (Jawhari). According to the Lisan al-Arab, the phrase abrama al-amr has the meaning of "he determined (ahkama) the case". In the present context, the term amr, having no definite article, signifies "anything" or - in its widest sense - "anything that should [or "could"] be": and so, taking the preceding verse into account, we arrive at the meaning of arbitrarily "determining what [the truth] should be" - i.e., in contradiction to what the Quran postulates as the truth.]
43:80 Or do they, perchance, think that We do not hear their hidden thoughts and their secret confabulations? [This is most probably an allusion to the centuries-long subtle Christian controversies on the question as to whether or not Jesus was "the son of God" and, hence, divine. These controversies were often influenced by a subconscious leaning of some of the early Christian thinkers towards ancient, mostly Mithraistic, cults and concepts which were in the beginning strongly opposed by unitarian theologians, foremost among them Arius, Patriarch of Alexandria (about 280 -336 C.E.). However, at the politically-motivated Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.), the Arian views - which until then had been shared by the overwhelming majority of articulate Christians - were condemned as "heretical", and the doctrine of Christ's divinity was officially formulated in the so-called Nicene Creed as the basis of Christian beliefs. (See also note on verse 83 below).] Yea, indeed, [We do,] and Our heavenly forces [Lit., "Our messengers, i.e., angels.] are with them, recording [all].
43:81 Say [O Prophet]: "If the Most Gracious [truly] had a son, I would be the first to worship him!"
43:82 Utterly remote, in His glory, is the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth - the Sustainer, in almightiness enthroned [Cf. the last clause of surah 9 and the corresponding note.] - from all that they may attribute to Him by way of definition! [See note on the last sentence of 6:100.]
43:83 But leave them to indulge in idle talk and play [with words] [Evidently an allusion to the verbal subtleties of the Nicene Creed, and particularly the statement, "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten, not made [i.e., not created], by the Father as His only Son, of the same substance as the Father, God of God...", etc.] until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs which they have been promised:
43:84 for [then they will come to know that] it is He [alone] who is God in heaven and God on earth, and [that] He alone is truly wise, all-knowing.
43:85 And hallowed be He unto whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them belongs, and with whom the knowledge of the Last Hour rests, and unto whom you all shall be brought back!
43:86 And those [beings] whom some invoke beside God [A reference to falsely deified saints or prophets and, particularly (in view of the context), to Jesus.] have it not in their power to intercede [on Judgment Day] for any but such as have [in their lifetime] borne witness to the truth, and have been aware [that God is one and unique]. [For an explanation of the Quranic concept of "intercession", see 10:3 - "There is none that could intercede with Him unless He grants leave therefor" - and the corresponding note. My interpolation, at the end of the above verse, of the words "that God is one and unique" is based on Razi's interpretation of this passage, implying that a mere oral "bearing witness to the truth" is useless if it is not the outcome of an inner awareness of God's oneness and uniqueness.]
43:87 Now if thou ask those [who worship any being other than God] as to who it is that has created them, they are sure to answer, "God." How perverted, then, are their minds!
43:88 [But God has full knowledge of the true believer] [Razi (on whose commentary the above interpolation is based), regards this as a reference to the Prophet Muhammad. It seems, however, that the meaning is wider, embracing every believer, of whatever denomination, who is distressed at the blindness of people who attribute divinity or divine qualities to any being other than God Himself.] and of his [despairing] cry: "O my Sustainer! Verily, these are people who will not believe!"
43:89 Yet bear thou with them, and say, "Peace [be upon you]!" - for in time they will come to know [the truth].
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
44:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
44:2 CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth! [See note on 12:1.]
44:3 Behold, from on high have We bestowed it on a blessed night: [I.e., the night on which the revelation of the Quran began: see surah 97.] for, verily, We have always been warning [man]. [The revelation of the Quran is but a continuation and, indeed, the climax of all divine revelation which has been going on since the very dawn of human consciousness. Its innermost purpose has always been the warning extended by God to man not to abandon himself to mere material ambitions and pursuits and, thus, to lose sight of spiritual values.]
44:4 On that [night] was made clear, in wisdom, the distinction between all things [good and evil] [Lit., "was made distinct everything wise", i.e., "wisely" or "in wisdom": a metonymical attribution of the adjective "wise" - which in reality relates to God, the maker of that distinction - to what has thus been made distinct (Zamakhshari and Razi). The meaning is that the revelation of the Quran, symbolized by that "blessed night" of its beginning, provides man with a standard whereby to discern between good and evil, or between all that leads to spiritual growth through an ever-deepening realization (marifah) of God's existence, on the one hand, and all that results in spiritual blindness and self-destruction, on the other.]
44:5 at a behest from Ourselves: for, verily, We have always been sending [Our messages of guidance]
44:6 in pursuance of thy Sustainer's grace [unto man]. Verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing,
44:7 the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them - if you could but grasp it with inner certainty! [Lit., "if you had but inner certainty". According to Abu Muslim al-Isfahani (as quoted by Razi), this means, "you would know it if you would but truly desire inner certainty and would pray for it".]
44:8 There is no deity save Him: He grants life and deals death: He is your Sustainer as well as the Sustainer of your forebears of old.
44:9 Nay, but they [who lack inner certainty] are but Dying with their doubts. [Lit., "are toying in doubt": i.e., their half-hearted admission of the possibility that God exists is compounded of doubt and irony (Zamakhshari) - doubt as to the proposition of God's existence, and an ironical amusement at the idea of divine revelation.]
44:10 WAIT, THEN, for the Day when the skies shall bring forth a pall of smoke which will make obvious [the approach of the Last Hour],
44:11 enveloping all mankind, [and causing the sinners to exclaim:] "Grievous is this suffering!
44:12 O our Sustainer, relieve us of suffering, for, verily, we [now] believe [in Thee]!"
44:13 [But] how shall this remembrance avail them [at the Last Hour], seeing that an apostle had previously come unto them, clearly expounding the truth,
44:14 whereupon they turned their backs on him and said, "Taught [by others] is he, a madman"? [A reference to the allegation of the Prophet's opponents that someone else had "imparted" to him the ideas expressed in the Quran (see 16:103 and the corresponding notes), or at least had "helped" him to compose it (cf. 25:4 and notes).]
44:15 [Still,] behold, We shall postpone this suffering for a little while, [Lit., "remove". This is apparently said on the time-level of the present - i.e., before the coming of the Last Hour - so as to give the sinners an opportunity to repent.] although you are bound to revert [to your evil ways: but]
44:16 on the Day when We shall seize [all sinners] with a most mighty onslaught, We shall, verily, inflict Our retribution [on you as well]!
44:17 AND, INDEED, [long] before their time did We try Pharaoh's people [in the same way]: for there came unto them a noble apostle, [who said:]
44:18 "Give in unto me, O God's bondmen! [Most of the classical commentators (e.g., Tabari, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi) point out that this phrase can be understood in either of two senses, namely: "Give in unto me, O God's bondmen (ibad), implying a call to the Egyptians (since all human beings are "God's bondmen") to accept the divine message which Moses was about to convey to them; or, alternatively, "Give up to me God's servants", i.e., the children of Israel, who were kept in bondage in Egypt. Inasmuch as the vocalization ibada is applicable to the vocative as well as the accusative case, either of these two interpretations is legitimate.] Verily, I am an apostle [sent] unto you, worthy of trust!
44:19 "And exalt not yourselves against God: for, verily, I come unto you with a manifest authority [from Him];
44:20 and, behold, it is with my Sustainer - and your Sustainer - that I seek refuge against all your endeavours to revile me. [Lit., "lest you throw stones at me". It is to be noted that the verb rajama is used in the physical sense of "throwing stones" as well as, metaphorically, in the sense of "throwing aspersions" or "reviling".]
44:21 And if you do not believe me, [at least] stand away from me!"
44:22 But then, [when they beset him with their enmity,] he called out to his Sustainer, "These are [indeed] people lost in sin!"
44:23 And [God said]: "Go thou forth with My servants by night, for you will surely be pursued;
44:24 and leave the sea becalmed [between thee and Pharaoh's men]: for, verily, they are a host destined to be drowned!" [Or: "cleft" - the expression rahwan having both these connotations (Jawhari, with especial reference to the above phrase). See also notes on 26:63-66.]
44:25 [And so they perished: and] how many gardens did they leave behind, and water-runnels,
44:26 and fields of grain, and noble dwellings,
44:27 and [all that] life of ease in which they used to delight!
44:28 Thus it was. And [then] We made another people heirs [to what they had left],
44:29 and neither sky nor earth shed tears over them, nor were they allowed a respite. [Sc., "to repent their sins.]
44:30 And, indeed, We delivered the children of Israel from the shameful suffering
44:31 [inflicted on them] by Pharaoh, seeing that he was truly outstanding among those who waste their own selves; [For this rendering of the term musrif, see the last note on 10:12.]
44:32 and indeed, We chose them knowingly above all other people, [I.e., according to all commentators, above all people of their time, because at that time the children of Israel were the only people who worshipped the One God: which is the reason of the frequent Quranic references to the story of their delivery from bondage. The stress on God's having "chosen them knowingly" alludes to His foreknowledge that in later times they would deteriorate morally and thus forfeit His grace (Zamakhshari and Razi).]
44:33 and gave them such signs [of Our grace] as would clearly presage a test. [Lit., "as would have in them a manifest test": an allusion to the long line of prophets rose in their midst, as well as to the freedom and prosperity which they were to enjoy in the Promised Land. All this presaged a test of their sincerity with regard to the spiritual principles which in the beginning raised them "above all other people" and, thus, of their willingness to act as God's message-bearers to the entire world. The formulation of the above sentence implies elliptically that they did not pass that test inasmuch as they soon forgot the spiritual mission for which they had been elected, and began to regard themselves as God's "chosen people" simply on account of their descent from Abraham: a notion which the Quran condemns in many places. Apart from this, the majority of the children of Israel very soon lost their erstwhile conviction that the life in this world is but the first and not the final stage of human life, and - as their Biblical history shows - abandoned themselves entirely to the pursuit of material prosperity and power. (See next note.)]
44:34 [Now,] behold, these [people] say indeed: [Although, on the face of it, by "these people" the Israelites are meant, the reference is obviously a general one, applying to all who hold the views expressed in the sequence, and in particular to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad. Nevertheless, there is a subtle connection between this passage and the preceding allusion to the "test" with which the children of Israel were to be faced: for it is a historical fact that up to the time of the destruction of the Second Temple and their dispersion by the Roman emperor Titus, the priestly aristocracy among the Jews, known as the Sadducees, openly denied the concepts of resurrection, divine judgment and life in the hereafter, and advocated a thoroughly materialistic outlook on life.]
44:35 "That [which is ahead of us] is but our first [and only] death, and we shall not be raised to life again. [I.e., "it is a final death, with nothing beyond it".]
44:36 So then, bring forth our forefathers [as witnesses], if what you claim is true!" [I.e., "bring our forefathers back to life and let them bear witness that there is a hereafter". This ironic demand accords with the saying of the unbelievers mentioned in 43:22 and 23, "We found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and, verily, it is in their footsteps that we find our guidance!" Thus, in the last resort, the fact that their ancestors did not believe in a hereafter is to them as conclusive an argument against it as the fact that nobody has as yet come back to life to confirm the truth of resurrection.]
44:37 Are they, then, better than the people of Tubba and those before them, whom We destroyed because they were truly lost in [the same] sin? ["Tubba" was the title borne by a succession of powerful Himyar kings who ruled for centuries over the whole of South Arabia, and were finally overcome by the Abyssinians in the fourth century of the Christian era. They are mentioned elsewhere in the Quran
44:38 For [thus it is:] We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in mere idle play: [I.e., without meaning or purpose (cf. 21:16) - implying that if there were no hereafter, man's life on earth would be utterly meaningless, and thus in contradiction to the above as well as the subsequent statement, "none of all this have We created without [an inner] truth".]
44:39 none of this have We created without [an inner] truth: [See note on 10:5.] but most of them understand it not.
44:40 VERILY, the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false] is the term appointed for all of them: [See note on 77:13.]
44:41 the Day when no friend shall be of the least avail to his friend, and when none shall be succoured
44:42 save those upon whom God will have bestowed His grace and mercy: for, verily, He alone is almighty, a dispenser of grace.
44:43 Verily, [in the life to come] the tree of deadly fruit [See note on 37:62.]
44:44 will be the food of the sinful: [The term al-athim (lit., "the sinful one") has here apparently a specific connotation, referring to a willful denial of resurrection and of God's judgment: in other words, of all sense and meaning in man's existence.]
44:45 like molten lead will it boil in the belly,
44:46 like the boiling of burning despair. [For this tropical meaning of the term hamim, see the last note on 6:70.]
44:47 [And the word will be spoken:] "Seize him, [O you forces of hell,] and drag him into the midst of the blazing fire:
44:48 then pour over his head the anguish of burning despair!
44:49 Taste it - thou who [on earth] hast considered thyself so mighty, so noble! [Lit., "for, behold, thou wert...", etc. - thus alluding to the sin of arrogance due to disbelief in a continuation of life after death and, hence, in man's ultimate responsibility to God. (Cf. 96:6-7 - "Verily, man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self- sufficient" - and the corresponding note.)]
44:50 This is the very thing which you [deniers of the truth] were wont to call in question!" [I.e., the continuation of life after death.]
44:51 [As against this -] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves in a state secure,
44:52 amid gardens and springs,
44:53 wearing [garments] of silk and brocade, facing one another [in love]. [For these particular allegories of life in paradise, see note on 18:31.]
44:54 Thus shall it be. And We shall pair them with companions pure, most beautiful of eye. [For the rendering of hur in as "companions pure, most beautiful of eye", see notes on 56:22 and 56:34. It is to be noted that the noun zawj (lit., "a pair" or - according to the context - "one of a pair") applies to either of the two sexes, as does the transitive verb zawaja, "he paired" or "joined", i.e., one person with another.]
44:55 In that [paradise] they shall [rightfully] claim all the fruits [of their past deeds], [Cf. 43:73.] resting in security;
44:56 and neither shall they taste death there after having passed through their erstwhile death. [Lit., "except [or "beyond"] the first [i.e., erstwhile] death" (cf. 37:58-59). Thus will He have preserved them from all suffering through the blazing fire -
44:57 an act of thy Sustainer's favour: [I.e., by His having offered them guidance, of which they availed themselves: thus, the attainment of ultimate felicity is the result of an interaction between God and man, and of man's communion with Him.] and that, that will be the triumph supreme!
44:58 THUS, THEN, [O Prophet,] have We made this [divine writ] easy to understand, in thine own [human] tongue, so that men might take it to heart. [See note on 19:97.]
44:59 So wait thou [for what the future will bring]: behold, they, too, are waiting. [I.e., whether they know it or not, God's will shall be done.]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
45:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
45:2 THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise.
45:3 Behold, in the heavens as well as on earth there are indeed messages for all who [are willing to] believe. [Cf. 2:164, where the term avat has been rendered by me in the same way, inasmuch as those visible signs of a consciously creative Power convey a spiritual message to man.]
45:4 And in your own nature, and in [that of] all the animals which He scatters [over the earth] there are messages for people who are endowed with inner certainty. [Cf. 7:185 and the corresponding note. The intricate structure of human and animal bodies, and the life-preserving instincts with which all living creatures have been endowed, make it virtually impossible to assume that all this has developed "by accident"; and if we assume, as we must, that a creative purpose underlies this development, we must conclude, too, that it has been willed by a conscious Power which creates all natural phenomena "in accordance with an inner truth" (see note on 10:5).]
45:5 And in the succession of night and day, and in the means of subsistence which God sends down from the skies, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless, and in the change of the winds: [I.e., rain, with the symbolic connotation of physical and spiritual grace often attached to it in the Quran.] [in all this] there are messages for people who use their reason.
45:6 These messages of God do We convey unto thee, setting forth the truth. In what other tiding, if not in God's messages, will they, then, believe? [Lit., "in what tiding after God and His messages".]
45:7 Woe unto every sinful self-deceiver [The term affak, which literally signifies a "liar" - and, particularly, a "habitual liar" - has here the connotation of "one who lies to himself" because he is mafuk, i.e., "perverted in his intellect and judgment" (Jawhari).]
45:8 who hears God's messages when they are conveyed to him, and yet, as though he had not heard them, persists in his haughty disdain! Hence, announce unto him grievous suffering -
45:9 for when he does become aware of any of Our messages, he makes them a target of his mockery! For all such there is shameful suffering in store.
45:10 Hell is ahead of them; and all that they may have gained [in this world] shall be of no avail whatever to them, and neither shall any of those things which, instead of God, they have come to regard as their protectors: for, awesome suffering awaits them. [I.e., anything to which they may attribute a quasi-divine influence on their lives, whether it be false deities or false values, e.g., wealth, power, social status, etc.]
45:11 [To pay heed to God's signs and messages:] this is [the meaning of] guidance; on the other hand, [Lit., "and" or "but".] for those who are bent on denying the truth of their Sustainer's messages there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness. [For an explanation of this rendering of the phrase min rijzin. see note on 34:5.]
45:12 IT IS GOD who has made the sea subservient [to His laws, so that it be of use] to you [For the reason of the above interpolation, see surah 14:33.] - so that ships might sail through it at His behest, and that you might seek to obtain [what you need] of His bounty, and that you might have cause to be grateful.
45:13 And He has made subservient to you, [as a gift] from Himself, all that is in the heavens and on earth: [I.e., by endowing man, alone among all living beings, with a creative mind and, thus, with the ability to make conscious use of the nature that surrounds him and is within him.] in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!
45:14 Tell all who have attained to faith that they should forgive those who do not believe in the coming of the Days of God, [Lit., "who do not hope for [i.e., expect] the Days of God", implying that they do not believe in them. As regards the meaning of "the Days of God", see note on 14:5.] [since it is] for Him [alone] to requite people for whatever they may have earned.
45:15 Whoever does what is just and right, does so for his own good; and whoever does evil, does so to his own hurt; and in the end unto your Sustainer you all will be brought back.
45:16 AND, INDEED, [already] unto the children of Israel did We vouchsafe revelation, and wisdom, and prophethood; [Sc., "in the same way and for the same purpose as We now bestow this revelation of the Quran" - thus stressing the fact of continuity in all divine revelation.] and We provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favoured them above all other people [of their time]. [I.e., inasmuch as at that time they were the only truly monotheistic community (cf. 2:47).]
45:17 And We gave them clear indications of the purpose [of faith]; [This, I believe, is the meaning of the phrase min al-amr in the above context, although most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that amr signifies here "religion" (din), and interpret the whole phrase, accordingly, as "of what pertains to religion". Since, however, the common denominator in all the possible meanings of the term amr - e.g., "command", "in
45:18 And, finally, [O Muhammad,] We have set thee on a way by which the purpose [of faith] may be fulfilled: [Lit., "on a way of the purpose [of faith]": see note on verse17 above. It is to be borne in mind that the literal meaning of the term shariah is "the way to a watering-place", and since water is indispensable for all organic life, this term has in time come to denote a "system of laws", both moral and practical, which shows man the way towards spiritual fulfillment and social welfare: hence, "religious law" in the widest sense of the term. (See in this connection note on the second part of 5:48.)] so follow thou this [way], and follow not the likes and dislikes of those who do not know [the truth]. [I.e., who are not - or not primarily - motivated by God-consciousness and, hence, are swayed only by what they themselves regard as "right" in accordance with worldly, changing circumstances.]
45:19 Behold, they could never be of any avail to thee if thou wert to defy the will of God [Lit., "against [i.e., "in defiance of"] God".] - for, verily, such evildoers are but friends and protectors of one another, whereas God is the Protector of all who are conscious of Him.
45:20 This [revelation, then,] [I.e., the Quran, which unfolds to man the purpose of all faith.] is a means of insight for mankind, and a guidance and grace unto people who are endowed with inner certainty.
45:21 Now as for those who indulge in sinful doings - do they think that We place them, both in their life and their death, on an equal footing with those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds? Bad, indeed, is their judgment: [The meaning is twofold: "that We consider them to be equal with those who...", etc., and "that We shall deal with them in the same manner as We deal with those who...", etc. The reference to the intrinsic difference between these two categories with regard to "their life and their death" points not merely to the moral quality of their worldly existence, but also, on the one hand, to the inner peace and tranquility with which a true believer faces life's tribulations and the moment of death, and on the other, to the nagging anxiety which so often accompanies spiritual nihilism, and the "fear of the unknown" at the time of dying.]
45:22 for, God has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with [an inner] truth, and [has therefore willed] that every human being shall be recompensed for what he has earned and none shall be wronged. [See note on 10:5. The implication is that without a differentiation between right and wrong - or true and false - there would be no "inner truth" in the concept of a divinely-planned creation.]
45:23 HAST THOU ever considered [the kind of man] who makes his own desires his deity, and whom God has [thereupon] let go astray, knowing [that his mind is closed to all guidance], [Thus Razi, evidently reflecting the views of Zamakhshari, which have been quoted at length in my note on 14:4.] and whose hearing and heart He has sealed, and upon whose sight He has placed a veil? [See note on 2:7] Who, then, could guide him after God [has abandoned him]? Will you not, then, bethink yourselves?
45:24 And yet they say: "There is nothing beyond our life in this world. We die as we come to life, [I.e., by accident, or as an outcome of blind forces of nature.] and nothing but time destroys us." But of this they have no knowledge whatever: they do nothing but guess.
45:25 And [so,] whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, their only argument is this: [Lit., "their argument is nothing but that they say".] "Bring forth our fore
45:26 Say: "It is God who gives you life, and then causes you to die; and in the end He will gather you together on Resurrection Day, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt - but most human beings understand it not."
45:27 For, God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; and on the Day when the Last Hour dawns - on that Day will be lost all who [in their lifetime] tried to reduce to nothing [whatever they could not understand]. [I.e., whatever they could not "prove" by direct observation or calculation. For the above rendering of al-mubtilun, see the second note on 29:48.]
45:28 And [on that Day] thou wilt see all people kneeling down [in humility]: all people will be called upon to [face] their record: "Today you shall be requited for all that you ever did!
45:29 This Our record speaks of you in all truth: for, verily, We have caused to be recorded all that you ever did!"
45:30 Now as for those who have attained to faith and done righteous deeds, their Sustainer will admit them to His grace: that will be [their] manifest triumph!
45:31 But as for those who were bent on denying the truth, [they will be told:] "Were not My messages conveyed to you? And withal, you gloried in your arrogance, and so you became people lost in sin:
45:32 for when it was said, `Behold, God's promise always comes true, and there can be no doubt about [the coming of] the Last Hour' - you would answer, `We do not know what that Last Hour may be: we think it is no more than an empty guess, and [so] we are by no means convinced!'"
45:33 And [on that Day,] the evil of their doings will become obvious to them, and they will be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride. [Lit., "and that which they were wont to deride will have enfolded them".]
45:34 And [the word] will be spoken: "Today We shall be oblivious of you as you were oblivious of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]; and so your goal is the fire, and you shall have none to succour you:
45:35 this, because you made God's messages the target of your mockery, having allowed the life of this world to beguile you!" [Lit., "since the life of this world has beguiled you": implying that this self-abandonment to worldly pursuits was the cause of their scornful disregard of God's messages.] On that Day, therefore, they will not be brought out of the fire, nor will they be allowed to make amends. [Lit., "out of it". Regarding the stress on the phrase, "On that Day", see notes on the last paragraph of 6:128, notes on 40:12 and 43:74.]
45:36 AND THUS, all praise is due to God, Sustainer of the heavens and Sustainer of the earth: the Sustainer of all the worlds!
45:37 And His alone is all majesty in the heavens and on earth; and He alone is almighty, truly wise!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
46:1 Ha. Mim. [See Appendix II.]
46:2 THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ I issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise.
46:3 We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them otherwise than in accordance with [an inner] truth, and for a term set [by Us]: [Regarding the expression "in accordance with [an inner] truth", see note on 10:5. The reference to the "term" set by God to all creation is meant to stress the fact of its finality in time as well as in space, in contrast with His Own timelessness and infinity.] and yet, they who are bent on denying the truth turn aside from the warning which has been conveyed unto them. [Lit., "from that whereof they have been warned": i.e., they refuse to heed the warning not to attribute divine qualities to any being or force beside God.]
46:4 Say: "Have you [really] given thought to what it is that you invoke instead of God? Show me what these [beings or forces] have created anywhere on earth! Or had they, perchance, a share in [creating] the heavens? [If so,] bring me any divine writ preceding this one, or any [other] vestige of knowledge - if what you claim is true!" [Sc., "in support of your claim that there are other divine powers besides God".]
46:5 And who could be more astray than one who invokes, instead of God, such as will not respond to him either now or on the Day of Resurrection, [Lit., "will not respond to him till the Day of Resurrection", i.e., never.] and are not even conscious of being invoked? -
46:6 such as, when all mankind is gathered [for judgment], will be enemies unto those [who worshipped them], and will utterly reject their worship? [For this symbolic "enmity" of all false objects of worship, see note on 35:14.]
46:7 But whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of the truth as soon as it is brought to them: "This is clearly nothing but spellbinding eloquence!" [Lit., "sorcery": see note on 74:24, where the term sihr has been used, chronologically, for the first time in the above sense. As in that early instance, the truth referred to here is the message of the Quran.]
46:8 Or do they say, "He has invented all this"? Say [O Muhammad]: "Had I invented it, you would not be of the least help to me against God. [Sc., "then why should I have invented all this for your sake?"] He is fully aware of that [slander] into which you so recklessly plunge: enough is He as a witness between me and you! And [withal,] He alone is truly-forgiving, a true dispenser of grace." [The implication is, "May God forgive you, and grace you with His guidance" (Zamakhshari).]
46:9 Say: "I am not the first of [God's] apostles; [Thus Tabari, Baghawi, Razi, Ibn Kathir, implying - as Razi stresses - "I am but a human being like all of God's message-bearers who preceded me". Alternatively, the phrase may be rendered as "I am no innovator among the apostles" - i.e., "I am not preaching anything that was not already preached by all of God's apostles before me" (Razi and Baydawi): which coincides with the Quranic doctrine of the identity of the ethical teachings propounded by all of God's prophets.] and [like all of them,] I do not know what will be done with me or with you: for I am nothing but a plain warner." [I.e., "What will happen to all of us in this world" (Tabari, quoting with approval this interpretation of Al-Hasan al-Basri), or "both in this world and in the hereafter" (Baydawi). Either of these two interpretations implies a denial on the Prophet's part of any foreknowledge of the future and, in a wider sense, any knowledge of "that which is beyond the reach of human perception" (al-ghayb): cf. 6:50 or 7:188.]
46:10 Say: "Have you given thought [to how you will fare] if this be truly [a revelation] from God and yet you deny its truth? - even though a witness from among the children of Israel has already borne witness to [the advent of] one like himself, [I.e., a prophet like himself. The "witness" spoken of here is evidently Moses: cf. the two Biblical passages relating to the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18): "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me"; and "I will raise them up a prophet from among thy brethren, like Unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth." (See in this connection note on 2:42.)] and has believed [in him], the while you glory in your arrogance [and reject his message]? Verily, God does not grace [such] evildoing folk with His guidance!"
46:11 But they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of those who have attained to faith: "If this [message] were any good, these [people] would not have preceded us in accepting it!" [Lit., "towards it". Almost all of the classical commentators assume that this refers, specifically, to the contempt with which the pagan Quraysh looked down upon the early followers of Muhammad, most of whom came from the poorest, lowliest strata of Meccan society. However, the above "saying" has undoubtedly a timeless import inasmuch as the poor and lowly have always been among the first to follow a prophet. Moreover, it may also have a bearing on our times as well, inasmuch as the materially powerful nations, whom their technological progress has blinded to many spiritual verities, are increasingly contemptuous of the weakness of those civilizations in which religion still plays an important, albeit largely formalistic, role; and so, not realizing that this very formalism and the ensuing cultural sterility, and not religious faith as such, is the innermost cause of that weakness, they attribute it to the influence of religion per se, saying as it were, "If religion were any good, we would have been the first in holding on to it" - thus "justifying" their own materialistic attitude and their refusal to be guided by spiritual considerations.] And since they refuse to be guided by it, they will always say, "This is [but] an ancient falsehood!" [I.e., the concept of divine revelation as such, as is evident from the subsequent reference to the revelation of Moses.]
46:12 And yet, before this there was the revelation of Moses, a guide and a [sign of God's] grace; and this [Quran] is a divine writ confirming the truth [of the Torah] [Sc., in its original, uncorrupted form.] in the Arabic tongue, to warn those who are bent on evildoing, and [to bring] a glad tiding to the doers of good:
46:13 for, behold, all who say, "Our Sustainer is God", and thereafter stand firm [in their faith] - no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve:
46:14 it is they who are destined for paradise, therein to abide as a reward for all that they have done.
46:15 NOW [among the best of the deeds which] We have enjoined upon man is goodness towards his parents. [Cf. 29:8 and 31:14. In the present instance, this connects with the reference to the "doers of good" at the end of verse 12 and in verses 13-14.] In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth; and her bearing him and his utter dependence on her took thirty months. [See note on 31:14.] And so, when he attains to full maturity and reaches forty years, [I.e., the age at which man is supposed to attain to full intellectual and spiritual maturity. It is to be borne in mind that the masculine noun insan ("man" or "human being") appearing in the first sentence of this verse applies to both sexes alike.] he [that is righteous] prays: "O my Sustainer! Inspire me so that I may forever be grateful for those blessings of Thine with which Thou hast graced me and my parents, and that I may do what is right [in a manner] that will meet with Thy goodly acceptance; and grant me righteousness in my offspring [as well]. Verily, unto Thee have I turned in repentance: [Sc., "of whatever sin I may have committed". See note on the last sentence of 24:31.] for, verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves unto Thee!"
46:16 It is [such as] these from whom We shall accept the best that they ever did, [I.e., "whom We shall reward in accordance with the best that they ever did": cf. 29:7.] and whose bad deeds We shall overlook: [they will find themselves] among those who are destined for paradise, in fulfillment of the true promise which they were given [in this world].
46:17 But [there is many a one] who says to his parents [whenever they try to imbue him with faith in God]: "Fie upon both of you! Do you promise me that I shall be brought forth [from the dead], although [so many] generations have passed away before me?" [Sc., "without any indication that anyone has been or will be resurrected". This parabolic "dialogue" is not only meant to illustrate the ever-recurring - and perhaps natural - conflict between older and younger generations, but also points to the transmission of religious ideas as the most important function of parenthood, and thus, in a wider sense, as the basic element of all social continuity.] And [while] they both pray for God's help [and say], "Alas for thee! For, behold, God's promise always comes true!" - he but answers, "All this is nothing but fables of ancient times!"
46:18 It is [such as] these upon whom the sentence [of doom] will fall due, together with the [other sinful] communities of invisible beings [See Appendix III.] and humans that have passed away before their time. Verily, they will be lost:
46:19 for, [in the life to come,] all shall have their degrees in accordance with whatever [good or evil] they did: and so, [The particle li prefixed to the subsequent verb is evidently what the grammarians call a lam al-aqibah: i.e., not an indication of intent ("so that") but simply of a causal sequence, which is best rendered as "and", "and so", or "hence".] He will repay them in full for their doings, and none shall be wronged.
46:20 And on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire, [they will be told:] "You have exhausted your [share of] good things in your worldly life, having enjoyed them [without any thought of the hereafter]: and so today you shall be requited with the suffering of humiliation for having gloried on earth in your arrogance, [I.e., for having arrogantly, without any objective justification, asserted that there is no life after death.] offending against all that is right, and for all your iniquitous doings!"
46:21 AND REMEMBER that brother of [the tribe of] Ad, [I.e., the Prophet Hud (see note on 7:65). The mention of Hud and the tribe of Ad connects with the last sentence of the preceding verse, inasmuch as this tribe "transgressed all bounds of equity all over their lands"
46:22 They answered: "Hast thou come to seduce us away from our gods? Bring, then, upon us that [doom] with which thou threaten us, if thou art a man of truth!"
46:23 Said he: "Knowledge [of when it is to befall you] rests with God alone: I but convey unto you the message with which I have been entrusted; but I see that you are people ignorant [of right and wrong]!"
46:24 And so, when they beheld it [I.e., when they beheld, without recognizing it as such, the approach of their doom.] in the shape of a dense cloud approaching their valleys, they exclaimed, "This is but a heavy cloud which will bring us [welcome] rain!" [But Hud said:] "Nay, but it is the very thing which you [so contemptuously] sought to hasten - a wind bearing grievous suffering,
46:25 bound to destroy everything at its Sustainer's behest!" And then they were so utterly wiped out [Lit., "then they became so that...", etc. See 69:6-8, describing the sandstorm which destroyed the tribe of Ad without leaving any trace of them.] that nothing could be seen save their [empty] dwellings: thus do We requite people lost in sin.
46:26 And yet, We had established them securely in a manner in which We have never established you, [O people of later times;] [This relates in the first instance to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, but applies to later generations as well. The tribe of Ad was the unchallenged lords in the vast region in which they lived (cf. 89:8 - "the like of whom has never been reared in all the land"). Moreover, the social conditions of their time were so simple and so free of the many uncertainties and dangers which beset people of higher civilizations that they could be regarded as more "securely established" on earth than people of later, more complex times.] and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and [knowledgeable] hearts: [I.e., intellect and feeling, both of which are comprised in the noun fuad.] but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, seeing that they went on rejecting God's messages; and [in the end] they were overwhelmed [Lit., "enfolded".] by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.
46:27 Thus have We destroyed many a [sinful] community living round about you; [I.e., "close to you in space as well as in time". In its wider sense, this phrase denotes "all the rest of the world".] and yet, [before destroying them,] We had given many facets to [Our warning] messages, so that they might turn back [from their evil ways].
46:28 But, then, did those [beings] whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer [to Him], help them [in the end]? [This clause gives the meaning of the expression qurbanan, which contains an allusion not merely to false deities but also to the deification of saints, living or dead, who allegedly act as mediators between man and the transcendental Supreme Being.] Nay, they forsook them: for that [alleged divinity] was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery. [Lit., "that was their lie and all that they were wont to invent".]
46:29 AND LO! [See note on 2:30. The connection between this passage and the preceding one apparently lies in the fact that whereas "those who are lost in sin" (of whom the tribe of Ad is given as an example) refuse to heed God's messages, the "unseen beings" spoken of in the sequence immediately perceived their truth and accepted them.] We caused a group of unseen beings to incline towards thee, [O Muhammad,] [The term nafar signifies a group of more than three and up to ten persons. The occurrence mentioned in this passage - said to have taken place in the small oasis of Nakhlah, on the way leading from Mecca to Taif (Tabari) - is evidently identical with that described in 72:1-15; for a tentative explanation, see note on 72:1.] so that they might give ear to the Quran; and so, as soon as they became aware of it, [Lit., "as soon as they attended to it", i.e., to its recitation by the Prophet.] they said [unto one another], "Listen in silence!" And when [the recitation] was ended, they returned to their people as warners. [I.e., as preachers of the Quranic creed. The expression "as warners" connects with the preceding references to "warning messages".]
46:30 They said: "O our people! Behold, we have been listening to a revelation bestowed from on high after [that of] Moses, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains [of the Torah]: [For an explanation of this rendering of the phrase ma bayna yadayhi, see note on 3:3. As pointed out in note on 72:1, this reference to the Quran as revealed "after Moses", omitting any mention of Jesus, seems to indicate that the speakers were followers of the Jewish faith; hence my interpolation of the words "of the Torah".] it guides towards the truth, and onto a straight way.
46:31 "O our people! Respond to God's call, and have faith in Him: He will forgive you [whatever is past] of your sins, and deliver you from grievous suffering [in the life to come].
46:32 But he who does not respond to God's call can never elude [Him] on earth, nor can he has any protector against Him [in the life to come]: all such are most obviously lost in error." [See note on 72:15.]
46:33 ARE, THEN, they [who deny the life to come] not aware that God, who has created the heavens and the earth and never been wearied by their creation, [This is apparently an allusion to the Quranic doctrine that God's creative activity is continuous and unending.] has [also] the power to bring the dead back to life? Yea, verily, He has the power to will anything!
46:34 And so, on the Day when those who were bent on denying the truth will be brought within sight of the fire [and will be asked], "Is not this the truth?" - they will answer, "Yea, by Our Sustainer!" [And] He will say: "Taste, then, this suffering as an outcome of your denial of the truth!"
46:35 REMAIN, then, [O believer,] patient in adversity, just as all of the apostles, endowed with firmness of heart, bore themselves with patience. And do not ask for a speedy doom of those [who still deny the truth]: on the Day when they see [the fulfillment of] what they were promised, [I.e., the reality of life after death.] [it will seem to them] as though they had dwelt [on earth] no longer than one hour of [an earthly] day! [In this parabolic manner the Quran points to the illusory concept of "time" as experienced by the human mind - a concept which has no bearing on the ultimate reality to be unfolded in the hereafter.] [This is Our] message. Will, then, any be [really] destroyed save iniquitous folk?" [Cf. the last sentence of 6:47 and the corresponding note.]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
47:1 AS FOR THOSE who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God - all their [good] deeds will He let go to waste; [I.e., whatever good deeds they may do will be so completely outweighed by the above mentioned sin that they will amount to nothing on the Day of Judgment. (See also note on verse 9 below.) The above verse connects with the last sentence of the preceding surah, "Will, then, any be [really] destroyed save iniquitous folk?"]
47:2 whereas those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds, and have come to believe in what has been bestowed from on high on Muhammad - for it is the truth from their Sustainer - [shall attain to God's grace:] He will efface their [past] bad deeds, and will set their hearts at rest. [Lit., "will set aright their hearts" or "their minds", inasmuch as one of the several meanings of the term bal is the "heart" or "mind" of man (Jawhari).]
47:3 This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer. In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state. [Lit., "their parables" (amthalahum). This, according to some of the most outstanding commentators, relates to the parabolic expressions in the above three verses: the "going to waste" - in consequence of their deliberate "pursuance of falsehood" - of the good deeds of those who deny the truth, as well as the "effacement of the bad deeds" of the true believers in consequence of their "pursuance of the truth" (Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi). In a broader perspective, this interpretation takes into account the parabolic nature not only of the above sentence but also of many other Quranic statements relating to men's spiritual conditions and destinies in this world as well as in the life to come.]
47:4 NOW WHEN you meet [in war] those who are bent on denying the truth, [Sc., "and on barring [others] from the path of God" - thus connecting with verse 1 and laying down the fundamental condition which alone justifies physical warfare: namely, a defense of the Faith and of freedom (cf. in this connection see note on 2:190). In other words, when "those who are bent on denying the truth" try to deprive the Muslims of their social and political liberty and thus to make it impossible for them to live in accordance with the principles of their faith, a just war (jihad) becomes allowable and, more than that, a duty. The whole of the above verse relates to war actually in progress (cf. note on the first part of 2:191); and there is no doubt that it was revealed after 22:39-40, the earliest Quranic reference to physical warfare.] smite their necks until you overcome them fully, and then tighten their bonds; [Lit., "tighten the bond". According to almost all the commentators, this expression denotes the taking of prisoners of war. In addition, it may also refer to any sanctions or safeguards which would make it unlikely that the aggression could be resumed in the foreseeable future.] but thereafter [set them free,] either by an act of grace or against ransom, so that the burden of war may be lifted: [Lit., "so that (hatta) the war may lay down its burdens". The term "ransom" comprises also, in this context, a mutual exchange of prisoners of war (Zamakhshari, quoting an opinion of Imam Ash-Shafi).] thus [shall it be]. And [know that] had God so willed, He could indeed punish them [Himself]; but [He wills you to struggle] so as to test you [all] by means of one another. [I.e., so as to enable the believers to prove by actual deeds the depth of their faith and their readiness for self-sacrifice, and to enable the aggressors to realize how wrong they have been, and thus to bring them closer to the truth.] And as for those who are slain in God's cause, never will He let their deeds go to waste:
47:5 He will guide them [in the hereafter as well], and will set their hearts at rest,
47:6 and will admit them to the paradise which He has promised them.
47:7 O you who have attained to faith! If you help [the cause of] God, He will help you, and will make firm your steps;
47:8 but as for those who are bent on denying the truth, ill fortune awaits them, since He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste:
47:9 this, because they hate [the very thought of] what God has bestowed from on high [Namely, the revelation relating to man's moral responsibility to a Supreme Being.] - and thus He causes all their deeds to come to nought! [The particle fa ("and thus") at the beginning of this clause connotes a consequence: in other words, it is their rejection of the idea of moral responsibility, inherent in all divine revelation, that deprives the deeds of "those who are bent on denying the truth" - even such deeds as might be termed "good" - of all moral value. This law of inner causality explains fully the phrase "He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste" occurring in verses 1 and 8.]
47:10 Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [willful sinners] who lived before their time? God destroyed them utterly: and the like thereof awaits all who deny the truth. [Cf. 6:10 and the corresponding note.]
47:11 This, because God is the Protector of all who have attained to faith, whereas they who deny the truth have no protector.
47:12 Verily, God will admit all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds into gardens through which running waters flow, whereas they who are bent on denying the truth shall have - even though they may enjoy their life [in this world] and eat as cattle eat - the fire [of the hereafter] for their abode.
47:13 And how many a community of greater power than this thy community which has driven thee out, [O Muhammad,] have We destroyed, with none to succour them! [See note on 6:131. It is said that this verse was revealed on the first night of the Prophet's hijrah from Mecca to Medina (Tabari, on the authority of Ibn Abbas).]
47:14 CAN, THEN, he who takes his stand on a clear evidence from his Sustainer be likened Unto one [Lit., "Is, then, one who takes his stand. . . like one...," etc.] to whom the evil of his own doings [always] seems goodly, and unto such as would follow but their own lusts?
47:15 [And can] the parable of the paradise which the God-conscious are promised [My rendering of this verse is based in its entirety on the grammatical construction given to it by Zamakhshari and supported by Razi. In this construction, the parabolic description of paradise - beginning with the phrase "wherein there are rivers, etc., and ending with the words "and forgiveness from their Sustainer" - is a parenthetic passage (jumlah mutaridah). As for the term "parable" (mathal) itself, it is undoubtedly meant to impress upon those who read or listen to the Quran that its descriptions of life in the hereafter are purely allegorical: see in this connection Zamakhshari's explicit remarks cited in note on 13:35.] - [a paradise] wherein there are rivers of water which time does not corrupt, and rivers of milk the taste whereof never alters, and rivers of wine delightful to those who drink it, [Cf. 37:45-47, especially verse 47: "no headiness will there be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon".] and rivers of honey of all impurity cleansed, and the enjoyment [Lit., "and wherein they [i.e., the God-conscious] will have, etc.] of all the fruits [of their good deeds] and of forgiveness from their Sustainer -: can this [parable of paradise] be likened unto [the parable of the recompense of] [This interpolation reproduces literally Zamakhshari's explanation of the above ellipticism.] such as are to abide in the fire and be given waters of burning despair [Lit., "exceedingly hot [or "boiling"] water". For an explanation of this metaphor, see note on 6:70.] to drink, so that it will tear their bowels asunder?
47:16 Now among those [hapless sinners] are such as [pretend to] listen to thee, [O Muhammad,] [Cf. 6:25 and 10:42-43.] and then, as soon as they leave thy presence, speak [with scorn] unto those who have understood [thy message]: [Lit., "unto those who have been given knowledge", sc., "of the truth" or "of thy message": i.e., the believers. The people spoken of in the above are the hypocrites among the contemporaries of the Prophet as well as all people, at all times, who pretend to approach the Quranic message with a show of "reverence" but are in their innermost unwilling to admit that there is any sense in it.] "What is it that he has said just now?" It is such as these whose hearts God has sealed because they [always] followed but their own lusts [I.e., the "sealing" of their hearts (for an explanation of which see note on 2:7) is a consequence of their "following but their own lusts".] -
47:17 just as for those who are [willing to be] guided, He increases their [ability to follow His] guidance and causes them to grow in God-consciousness. [Lit., "and gives them their God-consciousness (taqwahum)".]
47:18 Are, then, they [whose hearts are sealed] waiting for the Last Hour - [waiting] that it come upon them of a sudden? But it has already been foretold! [Lit., "its indications have already come": a reference to the many Quranic predictions of its inevitability, as well as to the evidence, accessible to every unprejudiced mind, of the temporal finality of all creation.] And what will their remembrance [of their past sins] avail them, once it has come upon them? [I.e., "of what benefit will be to them, when the Last Hour comes, their dawning awareness of having sinned, and their belated repentance?"]
47:19 Know, then, [O man,] that there is no deity save God, and [while there is yet time,] ask forgiveness for thy sins and for [the sins of] all other believing men and women: for God knows all your comings and goings as well as your abiding [at rest]. [I.e., "He knows all that you do and all that you fail to do".]
47:20 NOW THOSE who have attained to faith say, "Would that a revelation [allowing us to fight] was bestowed from on high!" [I am rendering the term surah here and in the next sentence as "a revelation", for whereas there is no surah as such which deals exclusively with questions of war, there are numerous references to it in various surahs; and this is evidently the meaning of this term in the present context as well as in 9:86. There is no doubt that this verse precedes the revelation, in the year 1 H., of 22:39, which states categorically - and for the first time - that the believers are allowed to wage war whenever "war is wrongfully waged" against them (see in this connection note on 22:39).] But now that a revelation clear in and by itself, [This is a reference to 22:39-40. For an explanation of the expression muhkamah ("clear in and by itself"), see note on 3:7. (As in the preceding sentence, the term surah has been rendered here, exceptionally, as "revelation".)] mentioning war, has been bestowed from on high, thou canst see those in whose hearts is disease looking at thee, [O Muhammad,] with the look of one who is about to faint for fear of death! And yet, far better for them would be
47:21 obedience [to God's call] and a word that could win [His] approval: [I.e., an expression of readiness to fight in His cause: which is obviously the meaning of qawl maruf in this context.] for, since the matter has been resolved [by His revelation], it would be but for their own good to remain true to God.
47:22 [Ask them:] "Would you, perchance, after having turned away [from God's commandment, pre
47:23 It is such as these whom God rejects, and whom He makes deaf [to the voice of truth], and whose eyes He blinds [to its sight]! [Cf. the reference to God's "sealing" the hearts of stubborn wrongdoers in 2:7.]
47:24 Will they not, then, ponder over this Quran? - or are there locks upon their hearts?
47:25 VERILY, those who turn their backs [on this message] after guidance has been vouchsafed to them, [do it because] Satan has embellished their fancies and filled them with false hopes:
47:26 [they do turn their backs on it] inasmuch as [Lit., "this, because...," etc.] they are wont to say unto those who abhor all that God has revealed, "We will comply with your views on some points." [Lit., "in some [or "parts of"] the matter": i.e., "although we cannot agree with you [atheists] as regards your denial of God, or of resurrection, or of the fact of revelation as such, we do agree with you that Muhammad is an impostor and that the Quran is but his invention" (Razi). By "those who turn their backs [on this message] after guidance has been vouchsafed to them" are meant, in the first instance, the hypocrites and half-hearted followers of Islam at the time of the Prophet who refused to fight in defense of the Faith, in a wider sense, however, this definition applies to all people, at all times, who are impressed by the teachings of the Quran but nevertheless refuse to accept it as God-inspired and, therefore, morally binding.] But God knows their secret thoughts:
47:27 hence, how [will they fare] when the angels gather them in death, striking their faces and their backs? [See note on 8:50.]
47:28 This, because they were wont to pursue what God con
47:29 Or do they in whose hearts is disease think, perchance, that God would never bring their moral failings to light? [The noun dighn (of which adghan is the plural) denotes, primarily, "rancour" or "hate"; in its wider sense it signifies a person's "disposition", "inclination" or "leaning", especially in its negative aspects (Jawhari): hence, a "moral defect" or "failing".]
47:30 Now had We so willed, We could have shown them clearly to thee, so that thou wouldst know them for sure as by a visible mark: [Lit., "by their marks": implying, elliptically, that God does not grant to anyone a clear insight, as by a visible mark, into another human being's heart or mind.] but [even so,] thou wilt most certainly recognize them by the tone of their voice. [Lit., "the tone (lahn) of speech": indicating that a true believer recognizes hypocrisy even without a "visible mark" (sima).] And God knows all that you do, [O men;]
47:31 and most certainly We shall try you all, so that We might mark out [Cf. 3:140, where the verb a1ama has been rendered in the same way.] those of you who strive hard [in Our cause] and are patient in adversity: for We shall put to a test [the truth of] all your assertions. [Lit., "your announcements" - i.e., all assertions relating to belief. The "test" consists in one's readiness to undergo any sacrifice - and, since most of this surah deals with the problem of a just war (jihad) in God's cause - even the sacrifice of one's life.]
47:32 Verily, they who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God, and [who thus] cut themselves off from the Apostle [For the above rendering of shaqqu, see note on 8:13. The "cutting oneself off" from the Apostle signifies, of course, a rejection of his message, and, in this particular context, a refusal to follow the Quranic call to fight in a just cause, i.e., in defense of the Faith or of freedom (see note on 2:190).] after guidance has been vouchsafed to them, can in no wise harm God; but He will cause all their deeds to come to nought.
47:33 O you who have attained to faith! Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle, and let not your [good] deeds come to nought!
47:34 Verily, as for those who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God, and then die as deniers of the truth - indeed, God will not grant them forgiveness!
47:35 AND SO, [when you fight in a just cause,] do not lose heart and [never] beg for peace: for, seeing that God is with you, you are bound to rise high [in the end]; [I.e., even if the fortunes of war go against them, the consciousness of having fought in the cause of truth and justice is bound to enhance the inner strength of the believers and, thus, to become a source of their future greatness: cf. 3:139.] and never will He let your [good] deeds go to waste.
47:36 The life of this world is but a play and a passing delight: but if you believe [in God] and are conscious of Him, He will grant you your deserts. And withal, He does not demand of you [to sacrifice in His cause all of] your possessions: [Although the life of this world is "but a play and a passing delight", God does not want to deprive the believers of its rightful enjoyment: and so He expects them to sacrifice only a small part of their possessions in His cause. This passage evidently foreshadows the imposition of the obligatory annual tax called zakah ("the purifying dues"), amounting to about 2.5 percent of a Muslims's income and property, as pointed out by most of the classical commentators in connection with the above verse (hence my interpolation). The proceeds of this tax are to be utilized in what the Quran describes as "the cause [lit., "way"] of God", i.e., for the defense and propagation of the Faith and the welfare of the community; and its spiritual purpose is the "purification" of a Muslim's possessions from the blemish of greed and selfishness. (It is to be noted that the payment of zakah was made obligatory at the very beginning of the Medina period, that is, at approximately the same time as the revelation of the present surah.)]
47:37 [for,] if He were to demand of you all of them, and urge you, [Sc., "to divest yourselves of all your possessions".] you would niggardly cling [to them], and so He would [but] bring out your moral failings. [For my rendering of adghan as "moral failings", see note on verse 29 above. In the present context this term has more or less the same meaning as the term fujur in 91:8. The implication is that since man has been created weak" 4:28, the imposition of too great a burden on the believers would be self-defeating inasmuch as it might result not in an increase of faith but, rather, in its diminution. This passage illustrates the supreme realism of the Quran, which takes into account human nature as it is, with all its God-willed complexity and its inner contradictions, and does not, therefore, postulate a priori an impossible ideal as a norm of human behaviour. (Cf. 91:8, which speaks of man's personality as "imbued with moral failings as well as consciousness of God" - a phrase which is explained in the corresponding note.)]
47:38 Behold, [O believers,] it is you who are called upon to spend freely in God's cause: but [even] among you are such as turn out to be niggardly! And yet, he who acts niggardly [in God's cause] is but niggardly towards his own self: for God is indeed self-sufficient, whereas you stand in need [of Him]; and if you turn away [from Him], He will cause other people to take your place, and they will not be the likes of you!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
48:1 VERILY, [O Muhammad,] We have laid open before thee a manifest victory, [Namely, the moral victory achieved by the Truce of Hudaybiyyah, which opened the doors to the subsequent triumph of Islam in Arabia (see introductory note, which explains many allusions to this historic event found in the subsequent verses).]
48:2 so that God might show His forgiveness of all thy faults, past as well as future, [Lit., "so that God might forgive thee all that is past of thy sins and all that is yet to come" - thus indicating elliptically that freedom from faults is an exclusive prerogative of God, and that every human being, however exalted, is bound to err on occasion.] and [thus] bestow upon thee the full measure of His blessings, and guide thee on a straight way, [Sc., "to a fulfillment of thy mission", which the Truce of Hudaybiyyah clearly presaged.]
48:3 and [show] that God will succour thee with [His] mighty succour.
48:4 It is He who from on high has bestowed inner peace upon the hearts of the believers, [I.e., endowed them, although they were few and practically unarmed, with calm courage in the face of the much more powerful forces of the enemy.] so that - seeing that God's are all the forces of the heavens and the earth, and that God is all-knowing, truly wise - they might grow yet more firm in their faith; [Lit., "so that they might add faith to their faith, seeing that God's are...", etc. Since the latter is obviously a parenthetic clause, I have transposed it in my rendering in order to make the meaning clear.]
48:5 [and] that He might admit the believers, both men and women, into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide, and that He might efface their [past bad] deeds: and that is, in the sight of God, indeed a triumph supreme!
48:6 And [God has willed] to impose suffering [in the life to come] on the hypocrites, both men and women, and on those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, both men and women: all who entertain evil thoughts about God. [I.e., who deny His existence or man's responsibility to Him, or offend against the concept of His oneness.] Evil encompasses them from all sides, and God's condemnation rests upon them; and He has rejected them [from His grace], and has readied hell for them: and how evil a journey's end!
48:7 For, God's are all the forces of the heavens and the earth; and God is indeed almighty, truly wise!
48:8 VERILY, [O Muhammad,] We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner -
48:9 so that you [O men] might believe in God and His Apostle, and might honour Him, and revere Him, and extol His limitless glory from morn to evening. [Lit., "at morn and evening", i.e., at all times.]
48:10 Behold, all who pledge their allegiance to thee pledge their allegiance to God: the hand of God is over their hands. [This refers, in the first instance, to the pledge of faith and allegiance (bayat ar-ridwan) which the Muslims assembled at Hudaybiyyah gave to the Prophet (see introductory note). Beyond this historical allusion, however, the above sentence implies that as one's faith in God's message- bearer is to all intents and purposes synonymous with a declaration of faith in God Himself, so does one's willingness to obey God necessarily imply a willingness to obey His message-bearer. The phrase "the hand of God is over their hands" does not merely allude to the hand-clasp with which all of the Prophet's followers affirmed their allegiance to him, but is also a metaphor for His being a witness to their pledge.] Hence, he who breaks his oath, breaks it only to his own hurt; whereas he who remains true to what he has pledged unto God, on him will He bestow a reward supreme.
48:11 Those of the bedouin who stayed behind^ will say unto thee: [Lit., "who were left behind": i.e., the bedouin belonging to the tribes of Ghifar, Muzaynah, Juhaynah, Ashja, Aslam and Dhayl, who, although allied with the Prophet and outwardly professing Islam, refused under various pretexts to accompany him on his march to Mecca (which resulted in the Truce of Hudaybiyyah), since they were convinced that the Meccans would give battle and destroy the unarmed Muslims (Zamakhshari). The excuses mentioned in the sequence were made after the Prophet's and his followers' successful return to Medina; hence the future tense, sayaqul.] "[The need to take care of] our chattels and our families kept us busy: do then, [O Prophet,] ask God to forgive us!" [Thus,] they will utter with their tongues something that is not in their hearts. [Implying that the excuses which they would proffer would be purely hypocritical.] Say: "Who, then, has it in his power to avert from you aught that God may have willed, [Lit., "has anything in his power (that could be obtained) in your behalf from God": a construction which, in order to become meaningful in translation, necessitates a paraphrase.] whether it be His will to harm you or to confer a benefit on you? Nay, but God is fully aware of what you do!
48:12 Nay, you thought that the Apostle and the believers would never return to their kith and kin: and this seemed goodly to your hearts. [Implying that the real sympathies of those bedouin were with the pagan Quraysh rather than with the Muslims.] And you entertained [such] evil thoughts because you have always been people devoid of all good!"
48:13 Now as for those who will not believe in God and His Apostle - verily, We have readied a blazing flame for all [such] deniers of the truth!
48:14 But God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wills, and imposes suffering on whomever He wills - and [withal,] He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. [Implying that He may forgive even the most hardened sinners if they truly repent and mend their ways: an allusion to what the Prophet was to say according to verse 16.]
48:15 As soon as you [O believers] are about to set forth on a war that promises booty, [Lit., "set forth to take booty": i.e., any expedition other than against the Quraysh of Mecca, with whom the Prophet had just concluded a truce. This is generally taken as an allusion to the forthcoming war against the Jews of Khaybar (in the year 7 H.), but the meaning may well be more general.] those who stayed behind [aforetime] will surely say, "Allow us to go with you" - [thus showing that] they would like to alter the Word of God. [Evidently a reference to 8:1 - "All spoils of war belong to God and the Apostle" - which, as pointed out in the note on that verse, implies that no individual warrior can have any claim to the booty obtained in war. Moreover, fighting for the sake of booty contravenes the very principle of a "war in God's cause", which may be waged only in defense of faith or liberty (cf. note on 2:190), "until there is no more oppression and all worship is devoted to God alone" (see 2:193 and the corresponding note). It is to these principles, too, that the Prophet's anticipated answer, mentioned in the sequence, refers.] Say: "By no means shall you go with us: God has declared aforetime^ [to whom all spoils shall belong]." [I.e., in the first verse of Al-Anfal, which was revealed in the year 2 H. (see preceding note).] Thereupon they will [surely] answer, "Nay, but you begrudge us [our share of booty]!" Nay, they can grasp but so little of the truth!
48:16 Say unto those bedouin who stayed behind: "In time you will be called upon [to fight] against people of great prowess in war: [This is evidently a prophecy relating to the future wars against Byzantium and Persia.] you will have to fight against them [until you die] or they surrender. And then, if you heed [that call], God will bestow on you a goodly reward; but if you turn away as you turned away this time, [Lit., "before", i.e., at the time of the expedition which resulted in the Truce of Hudaybiyyah.] He will chastise you with grievous chastisement."
48:17 No blame attaches to the blind, nor does blame attach to the lame, nor does blame attach to the sick [for staying away from a war in God's cause]; [These three categories circumscribe metonymically all kinds of infirmities or disabilities which may prevent a person from actively participating in a war in God's cause.] but whoever heeds [the call of] God and His Apostle [in deed or in heart], [This latter applies, by obvious implication, to such as are unable to participate in the fighting physically, but are in their hearts with those who fight.] him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow; whereas him who turns away will He chastise with grievous chastisement.
48:18 INDEED, well-pleased was God with the believers when they pledged their allegiance unto thee [O Muhammad] under that tree, [I.e., at Hudaybiyyah (see introductory note). for He knew what was in their hearts; and so He bestowed inner peace upon them from on high, and rewarded them with [the glad tiding of] a victory soon to come [Most of the commentators assume that this relates to the conquest of Khaybar, which took place a few months after the Truce of Hudaybiyyah. It is probable, however, that the implication is much wider than that - namely, a prophecy of the almost bloodless conquest of Mecca in the year 8 H., the victorious establishment of Islam in all of Arabia and, finally, the tremendous expansion of the Islamic Commonwealth under the Prophet's immediate successors.]
48:19 and [of] many war-gains which they would achieve: for God is indeed almighty, wise.
48:20 [O you who believe!] God has promised you many war-gains which you shall yet achieve; and He has vouchsafed you these [worldly gains] well in advance, [Sc., "of what is to come to you in the hereafter".] and has stayed from you the hands of [hostile] people, so that this [your inner strength] may become a symbol to the believers [who will come after you], and that He may guide you all on a straight way.
48:21 And there are yet other [gains] which are still beyond your grasp, [I.e., the achievement of final bliss in the life to come.] [but] which God has already encompassed [for you]: for God has the power to will anything.
48:22 And [now,] if they who are bent on denying the truth should fight against you, they will indeed turn their backs [in flight], and will find none to protect them and none to bring them succour: [This divine promise was fulfilled in the unbroken sequence of Muslim victories after the Truce of Hudaybiyyah, ultimately leading to the establishment of an empire which extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the confines of China. For the conditional nature of the above promise, see note on 3:111.]
48:23 such being God's way which has ever obtained in the past - and never wilt thou find any change in God's way! [This reference to "God's way" (sunnat Allah) is twofold: on the one hand, "you are bound to rise high if you are (truly) believers"
48:24 And He it is who, in the valley of Mecca, stayed their hands from you, and your hands from them, after He had enabled you to vanquish them; and God saw indeed what you were doing. [Shortly before the Truce of Hudaybiyyah was concluded, a detachment of Quraysh warriors - variously estimated at between thirty and eighty men - attacked the Prophet's camp, but his practically unarmed followers overcame them and took them prisoner; after the signing of the treaty the Prophet released them unharmed (Muslim, Nasai, Tabari).]
48:25 [It was not for your enemies sake that He stayed your hands from them: for] [This interpolation is based on Razi's explanation of the connection between this and the preceding verse.] it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship [I.e., the Kabah, which, until the year 7 H., the Muslims were not allowed to approach.] and prevented your offering from reaching its destination. [See the second note on 2:196.] And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca], whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot, [I.e., killed. After the Prophet's and his followers' exodus to Medina, a number of Meccans - both men and women - had embraced Islam, but had been prevented by the pagan Quraysh from emigrating (Tabari, Zamakhshari). Their identities were not generally known to the Muslims of Medina. (If Muslims were allowed to fight in order to enter Kabah, they would have unwittingly killed some of these unknown Muslims.)] and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong-: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight] [Thus Zamakhshari, supported by Razi, lbn Kathir, and other commentators.] so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills. [I.e., so that the believers might be spared, and that in time many a pagan Meccan might embrace Islam, as actually happened.] Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to you], [Lit., "had they been separated from one another": i.e., the believers and the pagans among the Meccans. In its wider sense, the above implies that man never really knows whether another human being deserves God's grace or condemnation.] We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth.
48:26 Whereas they who are bent on denying the truth harboured a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance [Although this reference to the "stubborn disdain" (hamiyyah) on the part of the pagan Quraysh may have been characteristic of their over-all attitude towards the Prophet and his mission, it is probable - as Zamakhshari points out - that its special mention here relates to an incident which occurred at Hudaybiyyah during the truce negotiations between the Prophet and the emissary of the Meccans, Suhayl ibn Amr. The Prophet began to dictate to Ali ibn Abi Talib the text of the proposed agreement: "Write down, `In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace' " ; but Suhayl interrupted him and said: "We have never heard of [the expression] `the Most Gracious'; write down only what we know." Whereupon the Prophet said to Ali: "Write, then, `In Thy name, O God'." A11 wrote as he was told; and the Prophet continued: "This is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad, God's Apostle, and the people of Mecca...". But Suhayl interrupted again: "If thou wert (really) an apostle of God, (this would be an admission on our part that) we have been doing wrong to thee; write, therefore, as we understand it." And so the Prophet dictated to Ali: "Write thus: `This is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad, the son of Abd Allah, son of Abd al-Muttalib, and the people of Mecca...'." (This story is recorded in many versions, among others by Nasai, Ibn Hanbal and Tabari.) - God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God-consciousness: [Lit., "the word of God-consciousness" (kalimat at-taqwa): implying that their consciousness of God and of His all-pervading power enabled them to bear the "stubborn disdain" of their enemies with inner calm and serenity.] for they were most worthy of this [divine gift], and deserved it well. And God has full knowledge of all things.
48:27 Indeed, God has shown the truth in His Apostle's true vision: [Shortly before the expedition which ended at Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet had a dream in which he saw himself and his followers entering Mecca as pilgrims. This dream-vision was destined to be fulfilled a year later, in 7 H., when the Muslims were able to perform their first peaceful pilgrimage to the Holy City.] most certainly shall you enter the Inviolable House of Worship, if God so wills, in full security, with your heads shaved or your hair cut short, without any fear: [Male pilgrims usually shave or (which is the meaning of the conjunctive wa in this context) cut their hair short before assuming the pilgrim's garb (ihram), for it is not permitted to do so while in the state of pilgrimage. A repetition of the same act marks the completion of the pilgrimage (cf. 2:196).] for He has [always] known that which you yourselves could not know. [Namely, the future.] And He has ordained [for you], besides this, a victory soon to come. [See the second note on verse 18 above.]
48:28 He it is who has sent forth His Apostle with the [task of spreading] guidance and the religion of truth, to the end that He make it prevail over every [false] religion; and none can bear witness [to the truth] as God does. [Sc., "through the revelations which He grants to His prophets". See also 3:19 - "the only [true] religion in the sight of God is [man's] self-surrender unto Him": from which it follows that any religion (in the widest sense of this term) which is not based on the above principle is, eo ipso, false.]
48:29 MUHAMMAD is God's Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding [This composite gives, I believe, the full meaning of the term ashidda (sing. shadid) in the above context.] towards all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy towards one another. [Lit., "among themselves". Cf. 5:54 - "humble towards the believers, proud towards all who deny the truth".] Thou canst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves [in prayer], seeking favour with God and [His] goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. [The infinitive noun sujud ("prostration") stands here for the innermost consummation of faith, while its "trace" signifies the spiritual reflection of that faith in the believer's manner of life and even in his outward aspect. Since the "face" is the most expressive part of man's personality, it is often used in the Quran in the sense of one's "whole being".] This is their parable in the Torah as well as their parable in the Gospel: [The posture of humility in prayer is indicated by prostration: i.e., Moses and Aaron "fell upon their faces", Num. xvi. 22. Regarding the significance of the term Injil ("Gospel") as used in the Quran, see the note on 3:4.] [they are] like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and [in the end] stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers. [Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength,] so that through them He might confound the deniers of the truth. [Lit., "infuse with wrath".] [But] unto such of them as may [yet] attain to faith and do righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a reward supreme. [Whereas most of the classical commentators understand the above sentence as alluding to believers in general, Razi relates the pronoun minhum ("of them" or "among them") explicitly to the deniers of the truth spoken of in the preceding sentence - i.e., to those of them who might yet attain to faith and thus achieve God's forgiveness: a promise which was fulfilled within a few years after the revelation of this verse, inasmuch as most of the Arabian enemies of the Prophet embraced Islam, and many of them became its torchbearers. But in a wider sense, this divine promise remains open until Resurrection Day (Tabari), relating to everybody, at all times and in all cultural environments, who might yet attain to the truth and live up to it.]
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
49:1 O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not put yourselves forward [I.e., "do not allow your own desires to have precedence".] in the presence of [what] God and His Apostle [may have ordained], but remain conscious of God: for, verily, God is all-hearing, all-knowing!
49:2 O you who have attained to faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, [This has both a literal and a figurative meaning: literal in the case of the Prophet's Companions, and figurative for them as well as for believers of later times - implying that one's personal opinions and predilections must not be allowed to overrule the clear-cut legal ordinances and/or moral stipulations promulgated by the Prophet (cf. 4:65 and the corresponding note).] and neither speak loudly to him, as you would speak loudly to one another, [I.e., address him, or (in later times) speak of him, with unbecoming familiarity.] lest all your [good] deeds come to nought without your perceiving it.
49:3 Behold, they who lower their voices in the presence of God's Apostle - it is they whose hearts God has tested [and opened] to consciousness of Himself; [and] theirs shall be forgiveness and a reward supreme.
49:4 Verily, [O Prophet,] as for those who call thee from without thy private apartments - most of them do not use their reason: [While this relates in the first instance to the Prophet, it may also be taken to apply to any supreme leader of the community (amir al-muminin) who acts as the Prophet's successor (khalifah) and rules in his name, i.e., under the aegis of Islamic Law. (As regards the Prophet himself, the above exhortation to reverent behaviour implies, in the view of many outstanding Islamic thinkers, a prohibition to "call out to him" when visiting his tomb.)]
49:5 for, if they had the patience [to wait] until thou come forth to them [of thine own accord], it would be for their own good. Still, God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
49:6 O YOU who have attained to faith! If any iniquitous person comes to you with a [slanderous] tale, use your discernment, [I.e., verify the truth before giving credence to any such report or rumour. The tale-bearer is characterized as "iniquitous" because the very act of spreading unsubstantiated rumours affecting the reputation of other persons constitutes a spiritual offence.] lest you hurt people unwittingly and afterwards be filled with remorse for what you have done. [Thus, after laying stress in the preceding verses on the reverence due to God's message- bearer - and, by implication, to every righteous leader of the community - the discourse turns to the moral imperative of safeguarding the honour and reputation of every member of the community, man and woman alike. This principle is taken up, more explicitly, in verse 12.]
49:7 And know that God's Apostle is among you: [Sc., "and he ought to be an example for you as regards your behaviour towards one another": i.e., he would not accept rashly a hearsay tale affecting the honour of third persons, but would either refuse to listen to it altogether or, should a clarification become necessary in the interests of the community, would insist on ascertaining the truth objectively.] were he to comply with your inclinations in each and every case, [Lit., "in many a case (amr)": the implication being that, more often than not, man is prone to give credence to malicious rumours devoid of any real evidence.] you would be bound to come to harm [as a community]. But as it is, God has caused [your] faith to be dear to you, and has given it beauty in your hearts, and has made hateful to you all denial of the truth, and all iniquity, and all rebellion [against what is good]. Such indeed are they who follow the right course
49:8 through God's bounty and favour; and God is all-knowing, truly wise.
49:9 Hence, if two groups of believers fall to fighting, [The expression "fighting" comprises in this context all modes of discord and contention, both in word and deed, evidently as a consequence of the slanderous rumours spoken of in verse 6 above.] make peace between them; but then, if one of the two [groups] goes on acting wrongfully towards the other, fight against the one that acts wrongfully until it reverts to God's commandment; [I.e., that the believers should act as brethren (see next verse).] and if they revert, make peace between them with justice, and deal equitably [with them]: for verily, God loves those who act equitably!
49:10 All believers are but brethren. [The plural noun ikhwah ("brethren" or "brotherhood") has here, of course, a purely ideological connotation, comprising men and women alike; the same applies to the subsequent mention of "your two brethren".] Hence, [whenever they are at odds,] make peace between your two brethren, and remain conscious of God, so that you might be graced with His mercy.
49:11 O YOU who have attained to faith! No men shall deride [other] men: it may well be that those [whom they deride] are better than themselves; and no women [shall deride other] women: it may well be that those [whom they deride] are better than themselves. [The implication is that believers, whether men or women, shall never deride one another (Zamakhshari, Baydawi).] And neither shall you defame one another, nor insult one another by [opprobrious] epithets: evil is all imputation of iniquity after [one has attained to] faith; [This applies no less to the faith of the one who insults than to that of the insulted (Razi): cf. 6:82 - "[those] who have not obscured their faith by wrongdoing".] and they who [become guilty thereof and] do not repent - it is they, they who are evildoers!
49:12 O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] [I.e., guesswork that may lead to unfounded suspicion of another person's motives: see note on 24:19.] - for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one another, and neither allow yourselves to speak ill of one another behind your backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would loathe it! And be conscious of God. Verily, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace!
49:13 O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, [I.e., "We have created every one of you out of a father and a mother" (Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi) - implying that this equality of biological origin is reflected in the equality of the human dignity common to all.] and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. [I.e., know that all belong to one human family, without any inherent superiority of one over another (Zamakhshari). This connects with the exhortation, in the preceding two verses, to respect and safeguard each other's dignity. In other words, men's evolution into "nations and tribes" is meant to foster rather than to diminish their mutual desire to understand and appreciate the essential human oneness underlying their outward differentiations; and, correspondingly, all racial, national or tribal prejudice (asabiyyah) is condemned - implicitly in the Quran, and most explicitly by the Prophet (see second half of note on 28:15). In addition, speaking of people's boasting of their national or tribal past, the Prophet said: "Behold, God has removed from you the arrogance of pagan ignorance (jahiliyyah) with its boast of ancestral glories. Man is but a God-conscious believer or an unfortunate sinner. All people are children of Adam, and Adam was created out of dust." (Fragment of a hadith quoted by Tirmidhi and Abu Daud, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.)] Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
49:14 THE BEDOUIN say, "We have attained to faith." Say [unto them, O Muhammad]: "You have not [yet] attained to faith; you should [rather] say, `We have [outwardly] surrendered' - for [true] faith has not yet entered your hearts. [Inasmuch as this is evidently an allusion to the intense tribalism of the bedouin and their "pride of descent" (Razi), the above verse connects with the preceding condemnation of all tribal preferences and prejudices, and with the call for their abandonment as a prerequisite of true faith. Primarily, this relates to the bedouin contemporaries of the Prophet, but its import is general and timeless.] But if you [truly] pay heed unto God and His Apostle, He will not let the least of your deeds go to waste: [I.e., "your own deeds, in distinction from the supposed `glorious deeds' of your ancestors, which count for nothing in His sight".] for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace."
49:15 [Know that true] believers are only those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle and have left all doubt behind, [Lit., "and thereafter have had no doubt".] and who strive hard in God's cause with their possessions and their lives: it is they, they who are true to their word!
49:16 Say: "Do you, perchance, [want to] inform God of [the nature of] your faith [Like the preceding passage, this, too, is addressed in the first instance to certain contemporaries of the Prophet, but its meaning extends to all people, at all times, who think that their mere profession of faith and outward adherence to its formalities makes them "believers".] - although God knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth? Indeed, God has full knowledge of everything!"
49:17 Many people [Lit., "They" (see preceding note).] think that they have bestowed a favour upon thee [O Prophet] by having surrendered [to thee]. [I.e., "by professing to be thy followers".] Say thou: "Deem not your surrender a favour unto me: nay, but it is God who bestows a favour upon you by showing you the way to faith - if you are true to your word!"
49:18 Verily, God knows the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth; and God sees all that you do.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
50:1 Qaf. [Chronologically, the above is the second occurrence (after surah 68) of one of the disjointed letter-symbols which precede some of the Quranic surahs. For the theories relating to these symbols, see Appendix II. As regards my rendering of the adjurative particle wa which opens the next sentence as "Consider", see first half of note on 74:32, where this adjuration appears for the first time in the chronological order of revelation.]
50:2 But nay - they deem it strange that a warner should have come unto them from their own midst; [This is the earliest Quranic mention - repeated again and again in other places - of people's "deeming it strange" that a purportedly divine message should have been delivered by someone "from their own midst", i.e., a mortal like themselves. Although it is undoubtedly, in the first instance, a reference to the negative attitude of the Meccan pagans to Muhammad's call, its frequent repetition throughout the Quran has obviously an implication going far beyond that historical reference: it points to the tendency common to many people, at all stages of human development, to distrust any religious statement that is devoid of all exoticism inasmuch as it is enunciated by a person sharing the social and cultural background of those whom he addresses and because the message itself relies exclusively - as the Quran does - on an appeal to man's reason and moral sense. Hence, the Quran explicitly mentions people's "objections" to a prophet "who eats food [like ordinary mortals] and goes about in the market-places" (25:7; see also note on 25:20).] and so these deniers of the truth are saying, "A strange thing is this!
50:3 Why - [how could we be resurrected] after we have died and become mere dust? Such a return seems far-fetched indeed!"
50:4 Well do We know how the earth consumes their bodies, for with Us is a record unfailing. [Lit., "what the earth diminishes of them" - implying that God's promise of resurrection takes the fact of the dead bodies' decomposition fully into account. Consequently, resurrection will be like "a new creation" (cf. 10:4, 21:104, 30:11, 85:13, etc.), recalling the recurrent process of creation and re-creation visible in all organic nature (cf. 10:34, 27:64, 30:27).]
50:5 Nay, but they [who refuse to believe in resurrection] have been wont to give the lie to this truth whenever it was proffered to them; and so they are in a state of confusion. [Since they reject a priori all thought of life after death, they are perplexed by the lack of any answer to the "why" and "what for" of man's life, by the evident inequality of human destinies, and by what appears to them as a senseless, blind cruelty of nature: problems which can be resolved only against the background of a belief in a continuation of life after bodily "death" and, hence, in the existence of a purpose and a plan underlying all creation.]
50:6 Do they not look at the sky above them - how We have built it and made it beautiful and free of all faults? [Lit., "and it has no gaps [or "breaks"] whatever".]
50:7 And the earth - We have spread it wide, and set upon it mountains firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of all beauteous kinds,
50:8 thus offering an insight and a reminder unto every human being who willingly turns unto God.
50:9 And We send down from the skies water rich in blessings, and cause thereby gardens to grow, and fields of grain,
50:10 and tall palm-trees with their thickly-clustered dates,
50:11 as sustenance apportioned to men; and by [all] this We bring dead land to life: [and] even so will be [man's] coming-forth from death.
50:12 [Long] before those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah's people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass, [See note on 25:38.] and [the tribes of] Thamud
50:13 and Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot's brethren, [The term "brethren' (ikhwan) is used here metonymically, denoting a group of people who share the same views or, alternatively, the same environment. Since the people referred to formed Lot's social environment (cf. 7:83 or 11:77-83), they are described as his "brethren" although his moral concepts and inclinations were entirely different from theirs.]
50:14 and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba: [Regarding "the people of Tubba", see 44:37 and the corresponding note. The "dwellers of the wooded dales" are the people of Madyan (the Biblical Midian), as is evident from 26:176 ff. Their story is found in the Quran in several places; for the most detailed version, see 11:84-95.] they all gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true.
50:15 Could We, then, be [thought of as being] worn out by the first creation? [I.e., by the creation of the universe or, more specifically, of man.] Nay - but some people [Lit., "they".] are [still] lost in doubt about [the possibility of] a new creation!
50:16 NOW, VERILY, it is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his neck-vein.
50:17 [And so,] whenever the two demands [of his nature] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left, [The first part of the above sentence - i.e., the phrase yatalaqqa al-mutalaqqiyan - may be understood in either of two senses: "the two that are meant to receive do receive", or "the two that aim at meeting each other do meet". The classical commentators adopt, as a rule, the first sense and, consequently, interpret the passage thus: "... the two angels that are charged with recording man's doings do record them, sitting on his right and on his left". In my opinion, however, the second of the two possible meanings ("the two that aim at meeting each other") corresponds better with the preceding verse, which speaks of what man's innermost self (nafs) "whispers within him", i.e., voices his subconscious desires. Thus, "the two that aim at meeting" are, I believe, the two demands of, or, more properly, the two fundamental motive forces within man's nature: his primal, instinctive urges and desires, both sensual and non-sensual (all of them comprised in the modern psychological term "libido"), on the one side, and his reason, both intuitive and reflective, on the other. The "sitting (qaid) on the right and on the left" is, to my mind, a metaphor for the conflicting nature of these dual forces which strive for predominance within every human being: hence, my rendering of qaid as "contending". This interpretation is, moreover, strongly supported by the reference, in verse 21, to man's appearing on Judgment Day with "that which drives and that which bears witness" - a phrase which undoubtedly alludes to man's instinctive urges as well as his conscious reason (see note on verse 21 below).]
50:18 not even a word can he utter but there is a watcher with him, ever-present. [I.e., his conscience. The "uttering of a word" is conceptually connected with the "whispering" within man's psyche spoken of in the preceding verse.]
50:19 And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the [full] truth [I.e., full insight into one's own self.] - that [very thing, O man,] from which thou wouldst always look away! -
50:20 and [in the end] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown: that will be the Day of a warning fulfilled.
50:21 And every human being will come forward with [his erstwhile] inner urges and [his] conscious mind, [Lit., "with that which drives (saiq) and that which bears witness (shahid)". While the former term evidently circumscribes man's primal urges - and particularly those which drive him into unrestrained self-indulgence and, thus, into sin - the term shahid (rendered by me as "conscious mind") alludes here to the awakening of the deeper layers of man's consciousness, leading to a sudden perception of his own moral reality - the "lifting of the veil" referred to in the next verse - which forces him to "bear witness" against himself (cf. 17:14, 24:24, 36:65, 41:20 ff.).]
50:22 [and will be told:] "Indeed, unmindful hast thou been of this [Day of Judgment]; but now We have lifted from thee thy veil, and sharp is thy sight today!"
50:23 And one part of him will say: [Lit., "his intimate companion" (qarinuhu). The term qarin denotes something that is "connected", "linked" or "intimately associated" with another thing (cf. 41:25 and 43:36, where qarin is rendered as "[one's] other self"). In the present instance - read together with verse 21 - the term apparently denotes "one part" of man, namely, his awakened moral consciousness.] "This it is that has been ever-present with me!" [I.e., the sinner's reason will plead that he had always been more or less conscious, and perhaps even critical, of the urges and appetites that drove him into evildoing: but, as is shown in the sequence, this belated and, therefore, morally ineffective rational cognition does not diminish but, rather, enhances the burden of man's guilt.]
50:24 [Whereupon God will command:] "Cast, cast into hell every [such] stubborn enemy of the truth, [In this instance, as well as in verse 26, the imperative "cast" has the dual form (alqiya). As many classical philologists (and almost all of the commentators) point out, this linguistically permissible for the sake of special stress, and is equivalent to an emphatic repetition of the imperative in question. Alternatively, the dual form may be taken as indicative of an actual duality thus addressed: namely, the two manifestations within man's psyche alluded to in verse 17 and described in verse 21 as saiq and shahid (see note above), both of which, in their interaction, are responsible for his spiritual downfall and, hence, for his suffering in the life to come.]
50:25 [every] withholder of good [and] sinful aggressor [and] fomentor of distrust [between man and man - everyone]
50:26 who has set up another deity beside God: [This relates not merely to the veneration of real or imaginary beings or forces to which one ascribes divine qualities, but also to the "worship" of false values and immoral concepts to which people often adhere with an almost religious fervour.] cast him, then, cast him into suffering severe!"
50:27 Man's other self' will say: [Lit., as in verse 23, "his intimate companion" (qarin): but whereas there it may be taken as denoting man's moral consciousness or reason, in the present instance the "speaker" is obviously its counterpart, namely, the complex of the sinner's instinctive urges and inordinate, unrestrained appetites summarized in the term saiq ("that which drives") and often symbolized as shaytan ("Satan" or "satanic force": see Razi's remarks quoted in note on 14:22.) In this sense, the term qarin has the same connotation as in 41:25 and 43:36.] "O our Sustainer! It was not I that led his conscious mind into evil [Lit., "him" or "it" - referring to man's faculty of conscious, controlling reason (shahid).] - [nay,] but it had gone far astray [of its own accord]! [I.e., man's evil impulses and appetites cannot gain ascendancy unless his conscious mind goes astray from moral verities: and this explains the purport, in the present context, of verses 24-25 above.]
50:28 [And] He will say: "Contend not before Me, [O you sinners,] for I gave you a forewarning [of this Day of Reckoning].
50:29 The judgment passed by Me shall not be altered; but never do I do the least wrong unto My creatures!"
50:30 On that Day We will ask hell, "Art thou filled?"- and it will answer, "[Nay,] is there yet more [for me]?"
50:31 And [on that Day] paradise will be brought within the sight of [Lit., "brought near to".] the God-conscious, and will no longer be far away; [and they will be told:]
50:32 "This is what you were promised - [promised] unto everyone who was wont to turn unto God and to keep Him always in mind -
50:33 [everyone] who stood in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception, and who has come [unto Him] with a heart full of contrition. [See last sentence of 24:31 and the corresponding note.]
50:34 Enter this [paradise] in peace; this is the Day on which life abiding begins!" [Lit., "the Day of Abiding".]
50:35 In that [paradise] they shall have whatever they may desire - but there is yet more with Us.
50:36 AND HOW MANY a generation have We destroyed before those [who now deny the truth] [This connects with verses 12-14 above. It should be borne in mind that in ancient Arabic usage the term qarn - here rendered as "generation" - often denotes "a period of time succeeding another": hence, a "century", or "people of one and the same period" and, finally, a "civilization" in the historical sense of this word. That this last significance is intended here becomes evident from the sequence.] - people of greater might than theirs -: but [when Our chastisement befell them,] they became wanderers on the face of the earth, seeking no more than a place of refuge [Lit., "they wandered searching (naqqabu) in the lands: Is there any place of refuge?" - implying that after the destruction of their civilization they could do no more than strive for bare survival.]
50:37 In this, behold, there is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake [Thus Zamakhshari; literally, the phrase reads, "who has a heart".] -that is, [everyone who] lends ear with a conscious mind - [Lit., "or lends ear and is withal a witness (wa-huwa shahid)", which latter phrase Zamakhshari explains as meaning "is present with his intellect", i.e., with a conscious mind. (Cf. the same use of the term shahid in verse 21.) The conjunctive particle "or" (aw) which precedes the above clause does not signify an alternative but has - as is often the case in Quranic usage - an explanatory function, similar to phrases like "that is" or "in other words", followed by an amplification of what was said before.]
50:38 and [who knows that] We have indeed created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and [that] no weariness could ever touch Us. [The whole of this passage (verses 36-38) stresses God's omnipotence, which can be perceived by "anyone whose heart is wide-awake". The above reference to God's having created the universe "in six aeons" is the oldest in the chronology of Quranic revelation. In this connection it is to be noted that in ancient Arabic usage the term yawm does not always denote the twenty-four hours of the earthly "day", but is also applied to any period of time, however long or short. In the cosmic sense in which it is used here and elsewhere in the Quran, the plural ayyam is best rendered as "aeons". The mention of the impossibility of God's ever being "wearied" by the process of creation connects the present passage with verse 15 of this surah and, thus, alludes to God's power to resurrect the dead.]
50:39 HENCE, [O believer,] bear thou with patience whatever they may say, [Sc., "regarding the alleged `impossibility' of resurrection".] and extol thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting; [I.e., "remember His almightiness at all times of day".]
50:40 and in the night, too, extol His glory, and at every prayer's end. [Lit., "at the ends (adbar) of prostration".]
50:41 And [always] listen for the day when He who issues the call [of death] shall call [thee] from close-by; [Lit., "from a place nearby" - i.e., from within man himself: an echo of verse 15, "We are closer to him than his neck-vein". The "call" spoken of here is evidently the call of death, for which man should always be prepared.]
50:42 [and bethink thyself, too, of] the Day on which all [human beings] will in truth hear the final blast - that Day of [their] coming-forth [from death].
50:43 Verily, it is We who grant life and deal death; and with Us will be all journeys' end
50:44 on the Day when the earth is riven asunder all around them as they hasten forth [towards God's judgment]: that gathering will be easy for Us [to encompass].
50:45 Fully aware are We of what they [who deny resurrection] do say; and thou canst by no means force them [to believe in it]. Yet none the less, remind, through this Quran, all such as may fear My warning.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
51:1 CONSIDER the winds that scatter the dust far and wide,
51:2 and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds],
51:3 and those that speed along with gentle ease,
51:4 and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God's] behest! [These symbolical epithets, consisting of adjectival participles without any mention of the nouns which they qualify, have been variously interpreted by the early commentators; but since there is a consensus of opinion regarding the first of these participles - adh-dhariyat - as denoting "dust-scattering winds", we may assume that the other three relate to different phases or manifestations of the same phenomenon (Razi) - namely, to the life-giving function of the combination of wind, clouds and rain - pointing, symbolically, to the miraculous creation of life as such and, thus, to the existence of a conscious, purposeful Creator.]
51:5 Verily, that which you are promised is true indeed, [I.e., life after death.]
51:6 and, verily, judgment is bound to come!
51:7 CONSIDER the firmament full of starry paths! [I.e., "think of the Creator of this great universe and, hence, of your responsibility to Him".]
51:8 Verily, [O men,] you are deeply at variance as to what to believe: [Lit., "you are indeed in a discordant opinion (qawl)", i.e., as to whether or not there is life after death, whether God exists, whether there is any truth in divine revelation, and so forth.]
51:9 perverted in his views thereon is he who would deceive himself! [Lit., "perversely turned away from this [truth] is he who is made to lie" - or, according to the Taj al-Arus, "he who is perverted in his reason and opinion", i.e., who is a priori disposed to deceive himself: implying that belief in God and, hence, in life after death is inherent in man's mind and feeling, and that, therefore, a departure from this belief is but an outcome of intellectual perversion.]
51:10 They but destroy themselves, [For this rendering of the expression qutila, see note on 74:19.] they who are given to guessing at what they cannot ascertain - [Thus the Taj al-Arus, explaining the deeper meaning of al-kharrasun. "That which they cannot ascertain" is, in this context, synonymous with al-ghayb, "the reality which is beyond the reach of human perception".]
51:11 they who blunder along, in ignorance lost -
51:12 they who [mockingly] ask, "When is that Day of Judgment to be?"
51:13 [It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire, [This "trial (fitnah) by the fire" is in tune with several Quranic allusions to the effect that the otherworldly suffering described as "hell" is not to be eternal: see in this connection notes on 6:128, 40:12 and 43:74.]
51:14 [and will be told:] "Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking f or!" [A reference to their one-time sarcastic demand that they should be punished for their rejection of the Quranic message: cf. 6:57-58 and 8:32.]
51:15 [But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs,
51:16 enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past: [Lit., "before that (Day)".]
51:17 they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night,
51:18 and would pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts; [See note on 3:17.]
51:19 and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer privation. [Sc., "but could not beg" - and this applies to all living creatures, whether human beings or mute animals (Razi), irrespective of whether the need is of a physical or an emotional nature.]
51:20 AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God's existence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty,
51:21 just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves: [See note on 45:4.] can you not, then, see?
51:22 And in heaven is [the source of] your sustenance [on earth] and [of] all that you are promised [for your life after death]: [I.e., both physical (rain) and spiritual (truth and guidance).]
51:23 for, by the Sustainer of heaven and earth, this [life after death] is the very truth - as true as that you are endowed with speech! [Lit., "even as you speak" or "are able to speak": an allusion to man's ability to think conceptually and to express himself - that is, to something of which man is absolutely, axiomatically conscious.]
51:24 AND HAS the story of Abraham's honoured guests ever come within thy ken? [This story (as well as the subsequent mention of what happened to Lot's people and to the tribes of Ad and Thamud, of Moses and Pharaoh's people, and of Noah's people) is connected with the preceding references to the "signs", visible and conceptual, of God's existence and almightiness and the inflexible moral causality apparent in what the Quran describes as "the way of God" (sunnat Allah). The story of Abraham's angelic guests appears also in 11:69 ff. and - in a somewhat shorter version - in 15:51 ff. as well.]
51:25 When those [heavenly messengers] came unto him and bade him peace, he answered, "[And upon you be] peace!" - [saying to himself,] "They are strangers." [Lit., "unknown people" - i.e., not realizing that they were angels.]
51:26 Then he turned quietly to his household, and brought forth a fat [roasted] calf,
51:27 and placed it before them, saying, "Will you not eat?"
51:28 [And when he saw that the guests would not eat,] he became apprehensive of them; [See note on 11:70.] [but] they said, "Fear not" - and gave him the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who would be endowed with deep knowledge. [I.e., with prophethood (cf. 15:53).]
51:29 Thereupon his wife approached [the guests] with a loud cry, and struck her face [in astonishment] and exclaimed: "A barren old woman [like me]!"
51:30 They answered: "Thus has thy Sustainer decreed; and, verily, He alone is truly wise, all- knowing!"
51:31 Said [Abraham]: "And what [else] may you have in view, O you [heavenly] messengers?"
51:32 They answered: "Behold, we have been sent unto a people lost in sin, [I.e., Lot's people.]
51:33 to let loose upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement, [Lit., "stones of clay" - the noun "clay" (tin) is, according to Zamakhshari, identical with the term sijjil mentioned in 11:82 and tentatively explained in the corresponding note as signifying "chastisement pre-ordained".]
51:34 marked out in thy Sustainer's sight for [the punishment of] such as have wasted their own selves." [For an explanation of this rendering of the term musrifin, see note on 10:12.]
51:35 And in the course of time [Lit., "And then", i.e., after the events described in 11:77 ff. and 15:61 ff.] We brought out [of Lot's city] such [few] believers as were there:
51:36 for apart from one [single] house [I.e., Lot's family.] We did not find there any who had surrendered themselves to Us.
51:37 And so We left therein [I.e., in the utter destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.] a message for those who fear the grievous suffering [which awaits all evildoers].
51:38 AND IN [the story of Pharaoh and] Moses, too, [We left the same message: for] [The above interpolations are based on the consensus of most of the classical commentators regarding the phrase "And in Moses, too".] when We sent him unto Pharaoh with [Our] manifest authority,
51:39 and he turned away in [the pride of] his power and said, "A sorcerer [is this Moses], or a madman!" -
51:40 We seized him and his hosts, and cast them all into the sea: and [none but Pharaoh] himself was to blame [for what happened]. [This is an illustration of the Quranic doctrine that the suffering which is bound to befall an evildoer in this world or in the life to come, or in both, is but a consequence of his own doings.]
51:41 And [you have the same message] in [what happened to the tribe of] Ad, when We let loose against them that life-destroying wind
51:42 which spared nothing of what it came upon, but caused [all of] it to become like bones dead and decayed. [See 69:6-8. For the story of the tribe of Ad as such, see second half of note on 7:65.]
51:43 And in [the story of the tribe of] Thamud, too, when they were told, "You shall enjoy your life for [but] a little while," [Cf. 11:65. An outline of the story of the Thamud is given in 7:73-79.]
51:44 after they had turned with disdain from their Sustainer's commandment - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment overtook them while they were [helplessly] looking on:
51:45 for they were unable even to rise, and could not defend themselves.
51:46 And [thus, too, We destroyed] Noah's people aforetime: for they were iniquitous folk.
51:47 AND IT IS We who have built the universe with [Our creative] power; [Lit., "the sky" or "the heaven", which in the Quran often has the connotation of "universe" or, in the plural ("the heavens"), of "cosmic systems".] and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it. [See note on the first part of 21:30. The phrase inna la-musiun clearly foreshadows the modern notion of the "expanding universe" - that is, the fact that the cosmos, though finite in extent, is continuously expanding in space.]
51:48 And the earth have We spread out wide - and how well have We ordered it! [I.e., in accordance with the requirements of the living organisms that were to - and did - develop on it.]
51:49 And in everything have We created opposites, [Lit., "of every thing have We created pairs"- a phrase which is explained in note on 36:36.] so that you might bear in mind [that God alone is One]. [Cf. 89:3 and the corresponding note.]
51:50 And so, [O Muhammad, say unto them:] "Flee unto God [from all that is false and evil]! Verily, I am a plain warner to you from Him!
51:51 And do not ascribe divinity to aught side by side with God: [Lit., "do not set up any other deity".] verily, I am a plain warner to you from Him!"
51:52 [But] thus it is: never yet came any apostle to those who lived before their time but they said, "A spel1binder [Lit., "sorcerer".] [is he], or a madman!"
51:53 Have they, perchance, handed down this [way of thinking] as a legacy unto one another? Nay, they are people filled with overweening arrogance!
51:54 Turn, then, away from them, and thou shalt incur no blame;
51:55 yet go on reminding [all who would listen]: for, verily, such a reminder will profit the believers.
51:56 And [tell them that] I have not created the invisible beings [For a full discussion of the term jinn ("invisible beings"), see Appendix III. As pointed out by most of the philologists - and stressed by Razi in his comments on the above verse - this term includes also the angels, since they, too, are beings or forces "concealed from man's senses".] and men to any end other than that they may [know and] worship Me. [Thus, the innermost purpose of the creation of all rational beings is their cognition (marifah) of the existence of God and, hence, their conscious willingness to conform their own existence to whatever they may perceive of His will and plan: and it is this twofold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deepest meaning to what the Quran describes as "worship" (ibadah). As the next verse shows, this spiritual call does not arise from any supposed "need" on the part of the Creator, who is self-sufficient and infinite in His power, but is designed as an instrument for the inner development of the worshipper, who, by the act of his conscious self-surrender to the all-pervading Creative Will, may hope to come closer to an understanding of that Will and, thus, closer to God Himself.]
51:57 [But withal,] no sustenance do I ever demand of them, nor do I demand that they feed Me:
51:58 for, verily, God Himself is the Provider of all sustenance, the Lord of all might, the Eternal!
51:59 And, verily, they who are bent on doing evil shall have their share [of evil] like unto the share of their fellows [of old]: [Implying that every act of evildoing bears the seed of its own retribution either in this world or in the hereafter.] so let them not ask Me to hasten [their doom]!
51:60 For, woe unto those who are bent on denying the truth - [woe] on the Day which they have been promised!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
52:1 CONSIDER Mount Sinai! [For my rendering of the adjurative particle wa as "Consider", see first half of note on 74:32. The expression at-tur (lit., "the mountain") is used in the Quran exclusively to denote Mount Sinai, on which Moses received his decisive revelation. In the present context it signifies, metonymically, revelation as such, to which the next verse calls attention.]
52:2 Consider [God's] revelation, inscribed
52:3 on wide-open scrolls. [I.e., always open to man's understanding (Razi).]
52:4 Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]! [This is a metonym for the fact that ever since the dawn of human consciousness men have persistently - although often but dimly - realized the existence of God and have tried, spurred on by the continuous, direct revelation granted to His prophets, to come closer to Him through worship. Hence, Baydawi regards the expression al-bayt al-mamur as a metaphor for the heart of the believer.]
52:5 Consider the vault [of heaven] raised high! [I.e., "Consider the immensity and wonderful configuration of the visible universe as an evidence of a conscious Creator."]
52:6 Consider the surf-swollen sea!
52:7 VERILY, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass:
52:8 there is none who could avert it.
52:9 [It will come to pass] on the Day when the skies will be convulsed in [a great] convulsion,
52:10 and the mountains will move with [an awesome] movement.
52:11 Woe, then, on that Day to all who give the lie to the truth -
52:12 all those who [throughout their lives] but idly played with things vain -
52:13 on the Day when they shall be thrust into the fire with [an irresistible] thrust, [and will be told:]
52:14 "This is the fire which you were wont to call a lie!
52:15 Was it, then, a delusion [This is obviously the meaning of the term sihr in the present context (see note on 74:24).] - or is it that you failed to see [its truth]?
52:16 Endure it [now]! But [whether you] bear yourselves with patience or without patience, it will be the same to you: you are but being requited for what you were wont to do." [I.e., "you will have to endure it in either case, for it is but a consequence of your own doings and attitudes": a subtle allusion to the fact that the "punishments" and "rewards" in the life to come are but allegories of the logical consequences of the manner in which one acts or behaves in this life.]
52:17 [But,] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves [on that Day] in gardens and in bliss,
52:18 rejoicing in all that their Sustainer will have granted them: for their Sustainer will have warded off from them all suffering through the blazing fire.
52:19 [And they will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer as an outcome of what you were wont to do,
52:20 reclining on couches [of happiness] ranged in rows!" [As explained by Razi in his comments on the above verse as well as on 18:31 and 55:54, the "reclining on couches" or "on carpets" in paradise is a symbol of inner fulfillment and peace of mind; and he points out that this is also alluded to in the identity of the verbal root sarra ("he was [or "became"] happy") in both the nouns surur ("happiness") and sari)' ("couch").] And [in that paradise] We shall mate them with companions pure, most beautiful of eye. [For an explanation of the expression hur in, see note on 56:22.]
52:21 And as for those who have attained to faith and whose offspring will have followed them in faith, We shall unite them with their offspring; and We shall not let aught of their deeds go to waste: [Implying that the righteousness of their children increases the merit of the parents.] [but] every human being will be held in pledge for whatever he has earned. [I.e., the righteousness of the parents cannot absolve their offspring from individual respon
52:22 And We shall bestow on them fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire:
52:23 and in that [paradise] they shall pass on to one another a cup which will not give rise to empty talk, and neither incite to sin. [Cf. 37:47 - "no headiness will there be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon": and 56:19 - "by which their minds will not be clouded, and which will not make them drunk": an allegory of conscious, joyful elation. As regards the preceding reference to "fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire", Razi observes that this symbolic "abundance" of sensual satisfaction will not lead to satiety but, rather, to a pleasurable desire which - contrary to what is man's lot in this world - can always be gratified.]
52:24 And they will be waited upon by [immortal] youths, [See note on 56:17-18.] [as if they were children] of their own, [as pure] as if they were pearls hidden in their shells. [Thus Razi, explaining the selfless devotion implied in the pronoun lahum (lit., "for them", i.e., "of their own").]
52:25 And they [who are thus blest] will turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. [This symbolic "asking one another about their past lives" is meant to bring out the fact, often stressed in the Quran, that man's individual consciousness invariably survives his bodily death, to continue unbroken in the life to come.]
52:26 They will say: "Behold, aforetime - when we were [still living] in the midst of our kith and kin - we were full of fear [at the thought of God's displeasure]: [Thus do all classical commentators - without, to my knowledge, any exception - interpret the above verse.]
52:27 and so God has graced us with His favour, and has warded off from us all suffering through the scorching winds [of frustration].
52:28 Verily, we did invoke Him [alone] ere this: [and now He has shown us] that He alone is truly benign, a true dispenser of grace!" [Sc., "through our own, actual experience". This interpolation is based on the reading of the subsequent word as annahu ("that He is"), according to the Medina school, in contrast with the more conventional Kufah and Basrah reading innahu ("verily, He is"). As Tabari stresses, either of these two readings is correct; I have chosen for my rendering the former inasmuch as it points to the overwhelming, direct insight which will be granted to the blessed on resurrection.]
52:29 EXHORT, then, [O Prophet, all men:] for, by thy Sustainer's grace, thou art neither a soothsayer nor a madman.
52:30 Or do they say, "[He is but] a poet - let us wait what time will do unto him"? [Lit., "let us await for him the evil happenings of time", i.e., brought about by time: this is the meaning given by Jawhari and Zamakhshari (in the Asas) to the expression rayb al-manun (which latter word is, according to these two authorities, a synonym of dahr, "time"). In the present context, the phrase obviously denotes the expectation of the Prophet's detractors that time would prove his teachings to have been false or, at best, a delusion.]
52:31 Say thou: "Wait, [then,] hopefully; behold, I, too, shall hopefully wait with you!" [I.e., "Whereas you are waiting for my message to be proved false, I am awaiting its fulfillment!"]
52:32 Is it their minds that bid them [to take] this [attitude] - or are they [simply] people filled with overweening arrogance? [The meaning is: Have they any reasoned objection to the contents of this message - or do they simply reject the truth because their false pride in man's supposed "self-sufficiency" (cf. 96:6-7) prevents them from accepting the notion of responsibility before a Supreme Being?]
52:33 Or do they say, "He himself has composed this [message]"? Nay, but they are not willing to believe!
52:34 But then, [if they deem it the work of a mere mortal,] let them produce another discourse like it - if what they say be true!
52:35 [Or do they deny the existence of God?] [I.e., implicitly, by denying the fact of His revelation.] Have they themselves been created without anything [that might have caused their creation]? [I.e., by "spontaneous generation", as it were.] - or were they, perchance, their own creators?
52:36 [And] have they created the heavens and the earth? [This is a reductio ad absurdum of their unwillingness to admit the existence of a conscious Primary Cause underlying all creation.] Nay, but they have no certainty of anything!
52:37 [How could they?] Are thy Sustainer's treasures with them? [I.e., the treasures of His infinite knowledge and power.] Or are they in charge [of destiny]?
52:38 Or have they a ladder by which they could [ascend to ultimate truths and] listen [to what is beyond the reach of human perception]? Let, then, any of them who have listened [to it] produce a manifest proof [of his knowledge]!
52:39 Or, [if you believe in God, how can you believe that] He has [chosen to have] daughters, whereas you yourselves would have [only] sons? [This is addressed specifically to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, implying that "you not only blaspheme by ascribing progeny to God, but you intensify your blasphemy by ascribing to Him something that you yourselves despise, i.e., female offspring": cf. 16:57 - 59 and the corresponding notes.]
52:40 Or is it that [they who reject thy message, O Muhammad, fear lest] thou ask of them a reward, so that they would be burdened with debt [if they should listen to thee]?
52:41 Or [do they think] that the hidden reality [of all that exists] is almost within their grasp, so that [in time] they can write it down? [For an explanation, see note on the identical passage in 68:47.]
52:42 Or do they want to entrap [thee in contradictions]? But they who are bent on denying the truth - it is they who are truly entrapped! [I.e., it is they who constantly lose themselves in contradictions, whereas the message of the Quran is free thereof (cf. 4:82 and the corresponding note).]
52:43 Have they, then, any deity other than God? Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
52:44 AND YET, if they [who refuse to see the truth] were to see part of the sky falling down, they would [only] say, "[It is but] a mass of clouds!"
52:45 Hence, leave them alone until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs, when they will be stricken with terror:
52:46 the Day when none of their scheming will be of the least avail to them, and they will receive no succour.
52:47 But, verily, for those who are bent on doing evil, there is suffering in store [even] closer at hand than that [supreme suffering in the hereafter]: but most of them are not aware of it. [As in 32:21, the Quran stresses here the fact that every evil deed is bound to react in some way or other, even in this world, against him who commits it - either by depriving him of the affection of those who surround him and, thus, deepening his inner loneliness, or, more directly, by creating circumstances which make the achievement of real happiness and satisfaction increasingly impossible.]
52:48 And so, await in patience thy Sustainer's judgment, for thou art well within Our sight. [I.e., "under Our protection".] And extol thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise whenever thou risest up,
52:49 and extol His glory at night, and at the time when the stars retreat.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
53:1 CONSIDER this unfolding [of God's message], as it comes down from on high! [Or: "Consider the star when it sets" - an interpretation which for some reason has the preference of the majority of the commentators. However, almost all of them admit that the term najm - derived from the verb najama, "it appeared", "began", "ensued", or "proceeded" - denotes also the "unfolding" of something that comes or appears gradually, as if by installments. Hence, this term has from the very beginning been applied to each of the gradually-revealed parts (nujum) of the Quran and, thus, to the process of its gradual revelation, or its "unfolding", as such. This was, in fact, the interpretation of the above verse given by Abd Allah ibn Abbas (as quoted by Tabari; in view of the sequence, this interpretation is regarded as fully justified by Raghib, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir and other authorities. Raghib and Ibn Kathir, in particular, point to the phrase mawaqi an-nujum in 56:75, which undoubtedly refers to the step-by-step revelation of the Quran. As regards my rendering of the adjective particle wa as "Consider", see note on 74:32.]
53:2 This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded, [See note on 7:184.]
53:3 and neither does he speak out of his own desire:
53:4 that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired -
53:5 something that a very mighty one has imparted to him: [I.e., the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel.]
53:6 [an angel] endowed with surpassing power, who in time manifested himself in his true shape and nature,
53:7 appearing in the horizon's loftiest part, [Cf. 81:23 and the corresponding note. According to the Quran and the testimony of authentic Traditions, the Prophet had no more than twice in his lifetime a vision of this angelic force "manifested in its true shape and nature" (which, as pointed out by Zamakhshari, is the meaning of the expression istawa in this context): once after the period called fatrat al-wahy (see introductory note to surah 74), and another time, as alluded to in verses 13-18, in the course of his mystic vision known as the "Ascension" (see Appendix IV).]
53:8 and then drew near, and came close,
53:9 until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even nearer. [This graphic "description" of the angel's approach, based on an ancient Arabian figure of speech, is meant to convey the idea that the Angel of Revelation became a clearly perceptible, almost tangible, presence.]
53:10 And thus did [God] reveal unto His servant whatever He deemed right to reveal. [Lit., "whatever He revealed": an allusion to the exceptional manifestation of the angel "in his true shape and nature" as well as to the contents of divine revelation as such. In its deeper sense the above phrase implies that even to His chosen prophets God does not entirely unveil the ultimate mysteries of existence, of life and death, of the purpose for which He has created the universe, or of the nature of the universe itself.]
53:11 The [servant's] heart did not give the lie to what he saw: [Inasmuch as the Prophet was fully aware of the spiritual character of his experience, there was no conflict between his conscious mind and his intuitive perception (the "vision of the heart") of what is normally not perceptible.]
53:12 will you, then, contend with him as to what he saw? [Thus the Quran makes it clear that the Prophet's vision of the angel was not a delusion but a true spiritual experience: but precisely because it was purely spiritual in nature, it could be conveyed to others only by means of symbols and allegories, which skeptics all too readily dismiss as fancies, "contending with him as to what he saw".]
53:13 And, indeed, he saw him a second time [I.e., he saw the angel "manifested in his true shape and nature".]
53:14 by the lote-tree of the farthest limit, [I.e., on the occasion of his mystic experience of the "Ascension" (miraj). Explaining the vision conveyed in the expression sidrat al-muntaha, Raghib suggests that owing to the abundance of its leafy shade, the sidr or sidrah (the Arabian lote-tree) appears in the Quran as well as in the Traditions relating to the Ascension as a symbol of the "shade" - i.e., the spiritual peace and fulfillment - of paradise. One may assume that the qualifying term al-muntaha ("of the utmost [or "farthest"] limit") is indicative of the fact that God has set a definite limit to all knowledge accessible to created beings, as pointed out in the Nihayah: implying, in particular, that human knowledge, though potentially vast and penetrating, can never - not even in paradise (the "garden of promise" mentioned in the next verse) - attain to an understanding of the ultimate reality, which the Creator has reserved for Himself (cf. note on verse 10 above).]
53:15 near unto the garden of promise.
53:16 with the lote-tree veiled in a veil of nameless splendour.... [Lit., "when the lote-tree was veiled with whatever veiled [it]": a phrase deliberately vague (mubham), indicative of the inconceivable majesty and splendour attaching to this symbol of paradise "which no description can picture and no definition can embrace" (Zamakhshari).]
53:17 [And withal,] the eye did not waver, nor yet did it stray:
53:18 truly did he see some of the most profound of his Sustainer's symbols. [Lit., "[some] of the greatest of his Sustainer's symbols (ayat)". For this specific rendering of the term ayah, see note on 17:1, which refers to the same mystic experience, namely, the Ascension. In both these Quranic allusions the Prophet is said to have been "made to see" (i.e., given to understand) some, but not all, of the ultimate truths (cf. also 7:187-188); and this, too, serves to explain the idea expressed in verse 10 above.]
53:19 HAVE YOU, then, ever considered [what you are worshipping in] Al-Lat and Al-Uzza,
53:20 as well as [in] Manat, the third and last [of this triad]? [After pointing out that the Prophet was granted true insight into some of the most profound verities, the Quran draws our attention to the "false symbols" which men so often choose to invest with divine qualities or powers: in this instance - by way of example - to the blasphemous imagery of the Propheet's pagan contemporaries epitomized in the triad of Al-Lat, Manat and Al-Uzza. These three goddesses - regarded by the pagan Arabs as "God's daughters" side by side with the angels (who, too, were conceived of as females) - were worshipped in most of pre-Islamic Arabia, and had several shrines in the Hijaz and in Najd. The worship of Al-Lat was particularly ancient and almost certainly of South-Arabian origin; she may have been the prototype of the Greek semi-goddess Leto, one of the wives of Zeus and mother of Apollo and Artemis.]
53:21 Why - for yourselves [you would choose only] male offspring, whereas to Him [you assign] female: [In view of the contempt which the pagan Arabs felt for their female offspring (cf. 16:57-59 and 62, as well as the corresponding notes), their attribution of "daughters" to God was particularly absurd and self-contradictory: for, quite apart from the blasphemous belief in God's having "offspring" of any kind, their ascribing to Him what they themselves despised gave the lie to their alleged "reverence for Him whom they, too, regarded as the Supreme Being - a point which is stressed with irony in the next sentence.]
53:22 that, lo and behold, is an unfair division!
53:23 These [allegedly divine beings] are nothing but empty names which you have invented - you and your forefathers - [and] for which God has bestowed no warrant from on high. [Cf. 12:40.] They [who worship them] follow nothing but surmise and their own wishful thinking - although right guidance has now indeed come unto them from their Sustainer. [An allusion to the pagan idea that those goddesses, as well as the angels, would act as "mediators" between their worshippers and God: a wishful idea which lingers on even among adherents of higher religions in the guise of a veneration of saints and deified persons.]
53:24 Does man imagine that it is his due to have [Lit., "Is it for man to have...", etc.] all that he might wish for,
53:25 despite the fact that [both] the life to come and this present [one] belong to God [alone]? [I.e., despite the fact (which is the meaning of the particle fa in this context) that God is omnipotent and omniscient and does not, therefore, require any "mediator" between Himself and His creatures.]
53:26 For, however many angels there be in the heavens, their intercession can be of no least avail [to anyone] - except after God has given leave [to intercede] for whomever He wills and with whom He is well-pleased. [For an explanation of the Quranic concept of "intercession", see note on 10:3, as well as notes on 10:18.]
53:27 Behold, it is [only] such as do not [really] believe in the life to come that regard the angels as female beings; [Lit., "that name the angels with a female name" - i.e., think of them as being endowed with sex and/or as being "God's daughters". As the Quran points out in many places, the people spoken of in this context do believe in life after death, inasmuch as they express the hope that the angels and the imaginary deities which they worship will "mediate" between them and God, and will "intercede" for them. However, their belief is far too vague to make them realize that the quality of man's life in the hereafter does not depend on such outside factors but is causally, and directly, connected with the manner of his life in this world: and so the Quran declares that their attitude is, for all practical purposes, not much different from the attitude of people who reject the idea of a hereafter altogether.]
53:28 and [since] they have no knowledge whatever thereof, they follow nothing but surmise: yet, behold, never can surmise take the place of truth. [Namely, of the real nature and function of the category of beings spoken of in the Quran as angels, inasmuch as they belong to the realm of al-ghayb, "that which is beyond the reach of human perception". Alternatively, the pronoun in bihi may relate to God, in which case the phrase could be rendered as "they have no knowledge whatever of Him" - implying that both the attribution of "progeny" to Him and the belief that His judgment depends on, or could be influenced by, "mediation" or "intercession" is the result of an anthropomorphic concept of God and, therefore, far removed from the truth.]
53:29 Avoid thou, therefore, those who turn away from all remembrance of Us and care for no more than the life of this world,
53:30 which, to them, is the only thing worth knowing. [Lit., "that is their sum-total [or "goal"] of knowledge".] Behold, thy Sustainer is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, and fully aware is He as to who follows His guidance.
53:31 Indeed, unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth: and so He will reward those who do evil in accordance with what they did, and will reward those who do good with ultimate good. [I.e., whereas good deeds will be rewarded with far more than their merits may warrant, evil will be recompensed with no more than its equivalent (cf. 6:160); and either will be decided by the Almighty without the need of "mediation" or "intercession".]
53:32 As for those who avoid the [truly] grave sins and shameful deeds - even though they may sometimes stumble [Lit., "save for a touch [thereof]": a phrase which may be taken to mean "an occasional stumbling into sin" - i.e., not deliberately - followed by sincere repentance (Baghawi, Razi, Ibn Kathir).] - behold, thy Sustainer is abounding in forgiveness. He is fully aware of you [Sc., "and of your inborn weakness" - an implied echo of the statement that "man has been created weak"
53:33 HAST THOU, then, ever considered him who turns away [from remembering Us, and cares for no more than the life of this world],
53:34 and gives so little [of himself for the good of his soul], and so grudgingly? [My rendering of the above two verses (together with the two interpolations between brackets) is based on Razi's convincing interpretation of this passage as a return to the theme touched upon in verses 29-30.]
53:35 Does he [claim to] have knowledge of something that is beyond the reach of human perception, so that he can see [it clearly]? [I.e., "How can he be so sure that there is no life in the hereafter, and no judgment?"]
53:36 Or has he never yet been told of what was [said] in the revelations of Moses,
53:37 and of Abraham, who to his trust was true: [Cf. 2:124 and the corresponding note. It is obvious that the names of Abraham and Moses are cited here only by way of example, drawing attention to the fact that all through human history God has entrusted His elect, the prophets, with the task of conveying certain unchangeable ethical truths to man.]
53:38 that no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden; [This basic ethical law appears in the Quran five times - in 6:164, 17:15, 35:18, 39:7, as well as in the above instance, which is the oldest in the chronology of revelation. Its implication is threefold: firstly, it expresses a categorical rejection of the Christian doctrine of the "original sin" with which every human being is allegedly burdened from birth; secondly, it refutes the idea that a person's sins could be "atoned for" by a saint's or a prophet's redemptive sacrifice (as evidenced, for instance, in the Christian doctrine of Jesus' vicarious atonement for mankind's sinfulness, or in the earlier, Persian doctrine of man's vicarious redemption by Mithras); and, thirdly, it denies, by implication, the possibility of any "mediation" between the sinner and God.]
53:39 and that nought shall be accounted unto man but what he is striving for; [Cf. the basic, extremely well-authenticated saying of the Prophet, "Actions will be [judged] only according to the conscious intentions [which prompted them]; and unto everyone will be accounted only what he consciously intended", i.e., while doing whatever he did. This Tradition is quoted by Bukhari in seven places - the first one as a kind of introduction to his Sahih - as well as by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Daud, Nasai (in four places), Ibn Majah, Ibn Hanbal, and several other compilations. In this connection it is to be noted that in the ethics of the Quran, the term "action" (amaI) comprises also a deliberate omission of actions, whether good or bad, as well as a deliberate voicing of beliefs, both righteous and sinful: in short, everything that man consciously aims at and expresses by word or deed.]
53:40 and that in time [the nature of] all his striving will be shown [to him in its true light], [Lit., "his striving will be seen", i.e., on the Day of Judgment, when - as the Quran states in many places - God "will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life]".]
53:41 whereupon he shall be requited for it with the fullest requital;
53:42 and that with thy Sustainer is the beginning and the end [of all that exists]; [Lit., "the utmost limit" or "goal", circumscribing the beginning and the end of the universe both in time and in space, as well as the source from which everything proceeds and to which everything must return.]
53:43 and that it is He alone who causes [you] to laugh and to weep;
53:44 and that it is He alone who deals death and grants life;
53:45 and that it is He who creates the two kinds - the male and the female -
53:46 out of a [mere] drop of sperm as it is poured forth,
53:47 and that [therefore] it is within His power to bring about a second life; [Lit., "that upon Him rests the other [or "second"] coming to life (nashah)", i.e., resurrection.]
53:48 and that it is He alone who frees from want and causes to possess;
53:49 and that it is He alone who sustains the brightest star; [Lit., "who is the Sustainer of Sirius (ash-shira)", a star of the first magnitude, belonging to the constellation Canis Major. Because it is the brightest star in the heavens, it was widely worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia. Idiomatically, the phrase rabb ash-shira is used as a metonym for the Creator and Upholder of the universe.]
53:50 and that it is He who destroyed the ancient [tribes of] Ad
53:51 and Thamud, leaving no trace [of them], [For the story of the tribe of Ad, see second half of note on 7:65; for that of the Thamud, note on 7:73.]
53:52 as well as the people of Noah before them - [since,] verily, they all had been most willful in their evildoing and most overweening -
53:53 just as He thrust into perdition those cities that were overthrown
53:54 and then covered them from sight forever. [Lit., "so that there covered them that which covered": a reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of "Lot's people" (see, in particular, 11:77-83).]
53:55 About which, then, of thy Sustainer's powers canst thou [still] remain in doubt? [This rhetorical question is evidently addressed to the type of man spoken of in verses 33-35. For the reason of my rendering of ala (lit., "blessings" or "bounties") as "powers", see second half of note on 55:13.]
53:56 THIS IS a warning like those warnings of old: [Lit., "a warning of [or "from among"] the warnings of old" - implying that the revelation granted to Muhammad does not aim at establishing a "new" religion but, on the contrary, continues and confirms the basic message entrusted to the earlier prophets - in this particular instance alluding to the certainty of the coming of the Last Hour and of God's ultimate judgment.]
53:57 that [Last Hour] which is so near draws ever nearer,
53:58 [although] none but God can unveil it....
53:59 Do you, perchance, find this tiding strange?
53:60 And do you laugh instead of weeping,
53:61 and divert yourselves all the while?
53:62 [Nay,] but prostrate yourselves before God, and worship [Him alone]!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
54:1 THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is split asunder! [Most of the commentators see in this verse a reference to a phenomenon said to have been witnessed by several of the Prophet's contemporaries. As described in a number of reports going back to some Companions, the moon appeared one night as if split into two distinct parts. While there is no reason to doubt the subjective veracity of these reports, it is possible that what actually happened was an unusual kind of partial lunar eclipse, which produced an equally unusual optical illusion. But whatever the nature of that phenomenon, it is practically certain that the above Quran-verse does not refer to it but, rather, to a future event: namely, to what will happen when the Last Hour approaches. (The Quran frequently employs the past tense to denote the future, and particularly so in passages which speak of the coming of the Last Hour and of Resurrection Day; this use of the past tense is meant to stress the certainty of the happening to which the verb relates.) Thus, Raghib regards it as fully justifiable to interpret the phrase inshaqqa l-qamar ("the moon is split asunder") as bearing on the cosmic cataclysm - the end of the world as we know it - that will occur before the coming of Resurrection Day (see art. shaqq in the Mufradat). As mentioned by Zamakhshari, this interpretation has the support of some of the earlier commentators; and it is, to my mind, particularly convincing in view of the juxtaposition, in the above Quran-verse, of the moon's "splitting asunder" and the approach of the Last Hour. (In this connection we must bear in mind the fact that none of the Quranic allusions to the "nearness" of the Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection is based on the human concept of "time".)]
54:2 But if they [who reject all thought of the Last Hour] were to see a sign [of its approach], they would turn aside and say, "An ever-recurring delusion!" -
54:3 for they are bent on giving it the lie, being always wont to follow their own desires. [Lit., "they have given [it] the lie": an allusion to the prediction of the Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection. The use of the past tense indicates conscious intent or determination (cf. 2:6). For my rendering of sihr as "delusion", see 74:24.] Yet everything reveals its truth in the end. [Lit., "everything is settled in its [own] being": i.e., everything has an intrinsic reality (haqiqah) of its own, and is bound to reveal that reality either in this world or in the next (Baghawi, on the authority of Al-Kalbi); hence, everything must have a purpose or "goal" of its own (Zamakhshari). These two - mutually complementary - interpretations reflect the repeated Quranic statement that everything that exists or happens has a meaning and a purpose: cf. 3:191, 10:5 and 38:27 (particularly, see note on 10:5). In the present context, the phrase relates both to the truth referred to in the preceding verses and to its rejection by those who are "wont to follow [but] their own desires".
54:4 And withal, there has come unto them many a tiding that should have restrained [their arrogance]: [Lit., "in which there was a restraint": i.e., many an indication, in observable nature, of God's creative and re-creative power, as well as many a tiding, through God-inspired prophets, of a continuation of life after bodily death and, therefore, of the fact that a person's attitudes and doings in this world must have definite consequences in the life to come.]
54:5 far-reaching wisdom [was held out to them]: but [since] all warnings have been of no avail,
54:6 turn thou away from them. On the Day when the Summoning Voice will summon [man] unto something that the mind cannot conceive, [Lit., "something not known (nukur)" - that is, "something that human beings cannot know [i.e., visualize] because they have never met with anything like it" (Zamakhshari).]
54:7 they will come forth from their graves, with their eyes downcast, [swarming about] like locusts scattered [by the wind],
54:8 running in confusion towards the Summoning Voice; [and] those who [now] deny the truth will exclaim, "Calamitous is this Day!"
54:9 [LONG] BEFORE those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah's people call it a lie; and they gave the lie to Our servant and said, "Mad is he!" - and he was repulsed. [See 11:25-48, where the story of Noah and the Flood is given in greater detail.]
54:10 Thereupon he called out to his Sustainer, "Verily, I am defeated; come Thou, then, to my succour!"
54:11 And so We caused the gates of heaven to open with water pouring down in torrents,
54:12 and caused the earth to burst forth with springs, so that the waters met for a purpose pre-ordained:
54:13 but him We bore on that [vessel] made of [mere] planks and nails,
54:14 and it floated under Our eyes: [I.e., "under Our protection". The reference to Noah's ark as "made of mere planks and nails" is meant to stress the frailty of this - as well as any other - human contrivance.] a recompense for him who had been rejected with ingratitude.
54:15 And, indeed, We have caused such [floating vessels] to remain forever a sign [of Our grace unto man]: [See 36:41-42 and the corresponding notes. Literally, the above phrase reads, "We have left them [or "such"] as a sign...", etc. According to Ibn Kathir, the pronoun ha in taraknaha relates to "ships in a generic sense" (jins as-sufun), and quotes in this connection the above-mentioned passage (36:41-42); hence my interpolation, between brackets, of the words "floating vessels". The "sign" spoken of here alludes to God's having endowed man's mind with inventiveness and, thus, with the ability to widen the scope of his life through conscious effort.] who, then, is willing to take it to heart? [Lit., "And is there any that will...", etc. The above sentence recurs several times, like a refrain, in this surah.]
54:16 And how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded! [Lit., "how was My [causing] suffering (adhabi) and My warnings" - i.e., after the warnings. Although this sentence is phrased in the past tense, its purport is evidently timeless.]
54:17 Hence, indeed, We made this Quran easy to bear in mind: [The noun dhikr primarily denotes "remembrance", or - as defined by Raghib - the "presence [of something] in the mind". Conceptually, and as used in the above context as well as in verses 22, 32 and 40, this term comprises the twin notions of understanding and remembering, i.e., bearing something in mind.] who, then, is willing to take it to heart?
54:18 TO THE TRUTH gave the lie [the tribe of] Ad: and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded!
54:19 Behold, We let loose upon them a raging storm wind on a day of bitter misfortune:
54:20 it swept the people away as though they were palm-trunks uprooted: [As mentioned in 69:6-8, this wind - obviously an exceptionally violent sandstorm - raged without break for seven nights and eight days. For particulars of the tribe of Ad, see second half of note on 7:65.]
54:21 for, how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!
54:22 Hence, indeed, We made this Quran easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?
54:23 [AND the tribe of] Thamud gave the lie to all [Our] warnings;
54:24 and they said: "Are we to follow one single mortal, one from among ourselves? [For the general implication of this rhetorical question, see note on 50:2. For the story of the tribe of Thamud, their prophet Salih, and the incident of the she-camel, see 7:73-79, 11:61-68, 26:141-158, and the corresponding notes.] In that case, behold, we would certainly sink into error and folly!
54:25 Why - on him alone from among all of us should a [divine] reminder have been bestowed? Nay, but he is a boastful liar!"
54:26 [And God said:] "On the morrow they will come to know who the boastful liar is! [I.e., soon. In classical Arabic, the term ghadan ("tomorrow") often applies to a relatively near future, signifying "tomorrow" (in its literal sense) as well as "in time" or "soon". Hence - as pointed out by all authorities - it may have been used in the above context with reference to the Last Hour, which in the first verse of this very surah is spoken of as having "drawn near".]
54:27 Behold, [O Salih] We are letting loose this she-camel as a test for them; [For this and other Quranic references to the she-camel that was to be "let loose as a test" for the Thamud, see 7:73. God's "letting her loose" is in this context evidently synonymous with "allowing her to become" a test.] and thou but watch them, and contain thyself in patience.
54:28 And let them know that the water [of their wells] is to be divided between them, [I.e., between their own herds and the ownerless she-camel: see 26:155 and the corresponding note.] with each share of water equitably apportioned."
54:29 But they summoned their [boldest] companion, and he ventured [upon the evil deed], and cruelly slaughtered [the animal]: [For the above rendering of aqara, see note on 7:77.]
54:30 and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded!
54:31 Behold, We let loose upon them one single blast [of Our punishment], [See note on 11:67.] and they became like the dried-up, crumbling twigs of a sheepfold.
54:32 Hence, indeed, We made this Quran easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?
54:33 LOT'S PEOPLE [too] gave the lie to all [Our] warnings:
54:34 [and so,] behold, We let loose upon them a deadly tempest; [Sc., "of chastisement": see 11:82 and the corresponding note. The story of Lot and the people among whom he dwelt is mentioned in several places, most extensively in 11:69-83.] and only Lot's kinsfolk did We save at the break of dawn,
54:35 as a blessing from Us: thus do We reward all who are grateful.
54:36 For he had truly warned them of Our punishing might; but they stubbornly cast doubt on these warnings,
54:37 and even demanded that he give up his guests [to them]: [See 11:77-79 and the corresponding notes.] whereupon We deprived them of their sight [and thus told them, as it were]: [According to Ibn Abbas (as quoted by Razi), the expression tams al-ayn ("deprivation of sight") denotes here a "veiling [of something] from one's consciousness" (hajb an al-idrak). Hence, the phrase tamasna ayunahum may be understood to mean that God deprived them, in consequence of their evil propensities, of all moral insight (cf. 36:66 and the corresponding notes), and thus made them liable - as the sequence shows - to undergo bitter suffering in this world and in the next.] "Taste, then, the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!"
54:38 And, indeed, abiding suffering did befall them early on the morrow:
54:39 "Taste, then, the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded!"
54:40 Hence, indeed, We made this Quran easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?
54:41 Now surely, unto Pharaoh's folk [too] came such warnings;
54:42 they, too, gave the lie to all Our messages: and thereupon We took them to task as only the Almighty, who determines all things, can take to task. [Lit., "We gripped them with the grip of an almighty...", etc. The special - and concluding - mention of "Pharaoh's folk" is due to the fact that the Egyptians were the most highly developed and powerful nation in the antiquity to which this and the preceding passages refer.]
54:43 ARE, THEN, those of you who [now] deny the truth [Lit., "your deniers of the truth".] better than those others - or have you, per
54:44 Or do they say, "We are a group united, [and therefore] bound to prevail"? [The reasoning which underlies this thought may be summed up thus: "We who reject these so-called divine revelations represent a very large body of opinion; and because our views are held by so many, they are obviously right and, therefore, bound to triumph in the end." In other words, the people characterized as "deniers of the truth" draw their assurance from the mere fact of their being representative of the "majority opinion" - a self-delusion based on a purely materialistic outlook on life.]
54:45 [Yet] the hosts [of those who deny the truth] shall be routed, and they shall turn their backs [in flight]! [The fact that the Prophet recited this verse just before the battle of Badr (see note on 8:10) has caused most of the commentators to assume that it had been revealed as a specific prophecy of the future victory of the Muslims over the pagan Quraysh. While this is possible, I believe, nevertheless, that the above passage has the much wider, timeless meaning explained in the preceding note. This view finds strong support in the subsequent verses, which speak of the evil otherworldly consequences of deliberate sinning, quite apart from the social and moral defeat, in this world, of the sinful community as a whole.]
54:46 But nay - the Last Hour is the time when they shall truly meet their fate; [Lit., "the time appointed for them" (maw iduhum).] and that Last Hour will be most calamitous, and most bitter:
54:47 for, behold, those who are lost in sin [will at that time come to know that it is they who] were sunk in error and folly! [See verse 24 above.]
54:48 On the Day when they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces, [See notes on 33:66 and 25:34.] [they will be told:] "Taste now the touch of hell-fire!"
54:49 BEHOLD, everything have We created in due measure and proportion;
54:50 and Our ordaining [a thing and its coming into being] is but one [act], like the twinkling of an eye. [I.e., there is no time lag and no conceptual difference between God's "willing" the creation of a thing and His "creating" it, for "when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, `Be' - and it is" (2:117, 3:47, 16:40, 19:35, 36:82 and 40:68). The comparison with the "twinkling of an eye" is, of course, merely idiomatic, i.e., based on the human concept of something instantaneous. In the present context this is - as the sequence shows - an allusion to the rapidity with which God can, if He so wills, destroys a sinful community.]
54:51 Thus, indeed, did We destroy people like you [in the past]: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?
54:52 [They were truly guilty] because all [the evil] that they ever did had been [revealed to them as such] in the [ancient] books of [divine] wisdom; [I.e., the ancient revealed scriptures (az-zubur) had made the meaning of good and evil absolutely clear to them, but they willfully disregarded or even consciously rejected that teaching. The above verse implies, firstly, that the basic ethical teachings of all revealed religions are essentially identical, and, secondly, that God "would never destroy a community for [its] wrongdoing so long as its people are still unaware [of the meaning of right and wrong]" (see 6:131-132, 15:4, 26:208-209, and the corresponding notes).]
54:53 and everything [that man does], be it small or great, is recorded [with God].
54:54 [Hence, too,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves in [a paradise of] gardens and running waters,
54:55 in a seat of truth, in the presence of a Sovereign who determines all things.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
55:1 THE MOST GRACIOUS
55:2 has imparted this Quran [unto man].
55:3 He has created man:
55:4 He has imparted unto him articulate thought and speech. [The term al-bayan - denoting "the means whereby a thing is [intellectually] circumscribed and made clear" (Raghib) - applies to both thought and speech inasmuch as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things or ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in spoken or written language (Taj al-Arus): hence, in the above context, "articulate thought and speech", recalling the "knowledge of all the names" (i.e., the faculty of conceptual thinking) with which man is endowed (see 2:31 and the corresponding note).]
55:5 [At His behest] the sun and the moon run their appointed courses; [Lit., "according to a definite reckoning".]
55:6 [before Him] prostrate themselves the stars and the trees.
55:7 And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure, [The noun mizan, usually denoting a "balance", has here the more general connotation of "measure" or "measuring" by any means whatsoever (Zamakhshari), in both the concrete and abstract senses of the word. (Cf. also the parabolic use of the term mizan in 42:17 and 57:25.)]
55:8 so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right]:
55:9 weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short!
55:10 And the earth has He spread out for all living beings,
55:11 with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates],
55:12 and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants.
55:13 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? [The majority of the classical commentators interpret the dual form of address appearing in this phrase -. rabbikuma ("the Sustainer of you two") and tukadhdhiban ("do you [or "can you"] two disavow") - as relating to the worlds of men and of the `invisible beings" (jinn -- see Appendix III); but the most obvious explanation (mentioned, among others, by Razi) is that it refers to the two categories of human beings, men and women, to both of whom the Quran is addressed. The plural noun ala, rendered by me as "powers", signifies literally "blessings" or "bounties"; but as the above refrain, which is repeated many times in this surah, bears not only on the bounties which God bestows on His creation but, more generally, on all manifestations of His creativeness and might, some of the earliest commentators - e.g., Ibn Zayd, as quoted by Tabari - regard the term ala, in this context, as synonymous with qudrah ("power" or "powers").]
55:14 He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery, [See 15:26 and the corresponding note.]
55:15 whereas the invisible beings He has created out of a confusing flame of fire. [Cf. 15:27 - "the fire of scorching winds (nar as-samum )" - thus stressing their non-corporeal origin and composition. The significance of the term jinn ("invisible beings") has been touched upon briefly in notes on 6:100 and 37:158; for a more detailed explanation, see Appendix III.]
55:16 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:17 [He is] the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunrise, and the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunset. [I.e., of the extreme points of sunrise and sunset in summer and in winter (see 37:5 and 70:40), including "all that is between them": a metonym for God's being the Ultimate Cause of the orbital movement within the universe.]
55:18 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:19 He has given freedom to the two great bodies of water, so that they might meet:
55:20 [yet] between them is a barrier which they may not transgress. [See 25:53 and the corresponding notes.]
55:21 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:22 Out of these two [bodies of water] come forth pearls, both great and small.
55:23 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:24 And His are the lofty ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas. [Lit., "in the sea like mountains". The reference to ships as "belonging to God" is meant to stress the God-given nature of man's intelligence and inventiveness - a reflection of God's creative powers - which expresses itself in all that man is able to produce. (See also 42:32-34 and the corresponding notes.)]
55:25 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:26 All that lives on earth or in the heavens is bound to pass away: [Lit., "Everyone who is upon it i.e., on earth and/or, according to Ibn Kathir, in the heavens - since the pronoun in alayha apparently relates to the whole universe.]
55:27 but forever will abide thy Sustainer's Self, full of majesty and glory. [Lit., "face", or "countenance", a term used metonymically in classical Arabic to denote the "self" or "whole being" of a person - in this case, the essential Being, or Reality, of God. Cf. also 28:88, "Everything is bound to perish, save His [eternal] Self".]
55:28 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:29 On Him depends all creatures in the heavens and on earth; [Lit., "Him does ask [or "of Him does beg"] whoever is...", etc.: i.e., all depend on Him for their safety and sustenance.] [and] every day He manifests Himself in yet another [wondrous] way.
55:30 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:31 [ONE DAY] We shall take you to task, [Lit., "We shall apply Ourselves to you".] O you sin-laden two! [I.e., "you sin-laden men and women" (see note on verse 13 above). According to an interpretation quoted by Razi, the designation thaqalan (the dual form of thaqal, "a thing of weight") signifies that both these categories of human beings are liable to, and therefore burdened with, sinning.]
55:32 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:33 O you who live in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and humans! [For an explanation of this rendering of mashar al-jinn wa-'l-ins, see note on the first paragraph of 6:128.] If you [think that you] can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, pass beyond them! [I.e., in order to escape God's judgment and chastisement.] [But] you cannot pass beyond them, save by a sanction [from God]! [I.e., "unless He wills to reprieve you": cf. the last paragraph of 6:128 and the corresponding note.]
55:34 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:35 A flash of fire will be let loose upon you, and smoke, and you will be left without succour!
55:36 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:37 And when the sky is rent asunder and becomes red like [burning] oil -- [This is one of several legitimate interpretations of the term dihan (see Tabari); another is "freshly tanned [or "red"] leather", synonymous with adim (Zamakhshari); and yet another, "dregs of olive-oil" (Raghib). All these interpretations have one idea in common - namely, the sudden and surprising change (or changes) of colour to which the sky will be subject at the Last Hour.]
55:38 which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:39 For on that Day neither man nor invisible being will be asked about his sins. [I.e., the sinners "will find all that they ever wrought [now] facing them"
55:40 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:41 All who were lost in sin shall by their marks be known, and shall by their forelocks and their feet be seized! [This is an allusion to their utter humiliation and disgrace. When the ancient Arabs wanted to stress someone's subjection to another person, they would say, "His forelock is in the hand of so-and-so." (See also 96:15-16 and the corresponding note.)]
55:42 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:43 This will be the hell which those who are lost in sin [now] call a lie:
55:44 between it and [their own] burning-hot despair will they wander to and fro! [For my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see note on the last sentence of 6:70. The allegorical nature of all Quranic descriptions of "rewards" and "punishments" in the hereafter is clearly hinted at in the phrasing of the above verse, which speaks of the sinners "wandering to and fro" between hell and burning despair (baynaha wa-bayna hamim) - i.e., tossed between factual suffering and the despair of vain regrets.]
55:45 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:46 BUT FOR THOSE who of their Sustainer's Presence stand in fear, two gardens [of paradise are readied] - [I.e., two kinds of paradise, to be experienced simultaneously. Various interpretations are advanced on this score by the classical commentators: e.g., "a paradise for their doing of good deeds, and another paradise for their avoidance of sins" (Zamakhshari); or a paradise that "will comprise both spiritual and physical joys, [so that it will seem] as if it were two paradises" (Razi). Finally, one might conclude that the pointed reference to the "two gardens" of paradise contains - like the preceding reference to the sinners' "wandering between hell and burning despair" - a pointed allusion to the allegorical character of all descriptions of the life to come, as well as to the inexpressible intensity (or multiplication) of all imaginable and unimaginable sensations in that afterlife. The subsequent descriptions of the joys of paradise must be understood in the same symbolic light.]
55:47 which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? -
55:48 [two gardens] of many wondrous hues. [According to Tabari, the noun fann (lit., "mode" or "manner") is in this case synonymous with lawn ("colour" or "hue"). Afnan is a double plural, and hence denotes "many hues" and since - as pointed out in the Taj al-Arus - one of the several accepted meanings of fann is "a wonderful thing", afnan can also be understood as "many wonderful things". The rendering adopted by me combines both these interpretations. As regards the indescribable nature of what is termed "paradise", see 32:17 and the corresponding note.]
55:49 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:50 In [each of] these two [gardens] two springs will flow. [The "two springs" of paradise call to mind the "two seas" spoken of in 18:60-61, which, according to Baydawi, symbolize the two sources or streams of knowledge accessible to man: the one obtained through the observation and intellectual analysis of external phenomena ilm az-zahir), and the other through inward, mystic insight (ilm al-batin).]
55:51 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:52 In [each of] these two will two kinds of every fruit be [found]. [Zamakhshari: "a kind that is known and a kind that is strange (gharib)" - i.e., cognitions or sensations that are imaginable on the basis of our experiences in the present life, and such as are, as yet, unimaginable to us, and can, therefore, be only hinted at by means of symbols or allegories. Regarding the concept of "allegory" as such, see 3:7 and the corresponding note.]
55:53 Which, then, of your Sustainer s powers can you disavow?
55:54 [In such a paradise the blest will dwell,] reclining upon carpets lined with rich brocade; [Cf. 18:31 and the corresponding note. The "reclining upon carpets" (or "upon couches" in 18:31) is a symbol of utter restfulness and peace of mind. The mention of the "carpets" of paradise being lined with rich brocade is perhaps meant to convey the idea that - just as the lining of a carpet is, as a rule, invisible - the beauty of paradise has nothing to do with outward show, being of an inner, spiritual nature (Razi). This concept appears already in an earlier interpretation, quoted by Zamakhshari, according to which the "carpets" spoken of here consist of light.] and the fruit of both these gardens will be within easy reach.
55:55 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:56 In these [gardens] will be mates of modest gaze, whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then. [See 56:35-36 and the corresponding note. As regards the expression qasirat at-tarf (lit., "such as restrain their gaze"), see note on 38:52, the earliest Quranic instance of this expression.]
55:57 Which, then, of your Sus
55:58 [When you are promised splendours] as though [of] rubies and [of] pearls -
55:59 which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:60 Could the reward of good be aught but good?
55:61 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:62 And besides those two will be yet two [other] gardens - [Most of the commentators assume - not very convincingly - that the "two other gardens" are those to which believers of lesser merit will attain. As against this weak and somewhat arbitrary interpretation, it seems to me that the juxtaposition of "two other gardens" with the "two" previously mentioned is meant to convey the idea of infinity in connection with the concept of paradise as such: gardens beyond gardens beyond gardens in an endless vista, slightly varying in description, but all of them symbols of supreme bliss.]
55:63 which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? -
55:64 two [gardens] of the deepest green. [I.e., by reason of abundant watering (Taj al-Arus). It is to be noted that the adjective "green" is often used in the Quran to indicate ever-fresh life: e.g., the "green garments" which the inmates of paradise will wear (18:31 and 76:21), or the "green meadows" upon which they will recline (cf. verse 76 of the present surah).]
55:65 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:66 In [each of] these two [gardens] will two springs gush forth.
55:67 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:68 In both of them will be [all kinds of] fruit, and date-palms and pomegranates.
55:69 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:70 In these [gardens] will be [all] things most excellent and beautiful.
55:71 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:72 [There the blest will live with their] companions pure and modest, in pavilions [splendid] - [For this rendering of the plural noun hur (which is both masculine and feminine), see note on 56:22, the earliest occurrence of this term in the Quran; also note on 56:34.]
55:73 which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? -
55:74 [companions] whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then.
55:75 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:76 [In such a paradise will they dwell,] reclining upon meadows green and carpets rich in beauty.
55:77 Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
55:78 HALLOWED be thy Sustainer's name, full of majesty and glory!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
56:1 WHEN THAT which must come to pass [I.e., the Last Hour and Resurrection.] [at last] comes to pass,
56:2 there will be nought that could give the lie to its having come to pass,
56:3 abasing [some], exalting [others]!
56:4 When the earth is shaken with a shaking [severe],
56:5 and the mountains are shattered into [countless] shards,
56:6 so that they become as scattered dust -
56:7 [on that Day,] then, shall you be [divided into] three kinds.
56:8 Thus, there shall be such as will have attained to what is right: [Lit., "those [or "the people"] of the right side": see note on 74:39.] oh, how [happy] will be they who have attained to what is right!
56:9 And there shall be such as will have lost themselves in evil: oh, how [unhappy] will be they who have lost themselves in evil! [Lit., "those [or "the people"] of the left side". Similarly to the use of the expression maymanah as a metonym for "attaining to what is right", the term mashamah is used to denote "losing oneself in evil" (e.g., in 90:19). The origin of both these metonyms is based on the belief of the pre-Islamic Arabs that future events could be predicted by observing the direction of the flight of birds at certain times: if they flew to the right, the event in question promised to be auspicious; if to the left, the contrary. This ancient belief was gradually absorbed by linguistic usage, so that "right" and "left" became more or less synonymous with "auspicious" and "inauspicious". In the idiom of the Quran, these two concepts have been deepened into "righteousness" and "unrighteousness", respectively.]
56:10 But the foremost shall be [they who in life were] the foremost [in faith and good works]:
56:11 they who were [always] drawn close unto God!
56:12 In gardens of bliss [will they dwell] -
56:13 a good many of those of olden times,
56:14 but [only] a few of later times. [The above stress on the "many" and the "few" contains an allusion to the progressive diminution, in the historical sense, of the element of excellence in men s faith and ethical achievements. (See also note on verses 39-40.)]
56:15 [They will be seated] on gold-encrusted thrones of happiness,
56:16 reclining upon them, facing one another [in love]. [See note on 15:47, which explains the symbolism of the above two verses.]
56:17 Immortal youths will wait upon them
56:18 with goblets, and ewers, and cups filled with water from unsullied springs [This is evidently a symbolic allusion to the imperishable quality - the eternal youthfulness, as it were - of all the experiences in the state described as "paradise". (See also next two notes.)]
56:19 by which their minds will not be clouded and which will not make them drunk;
56:20 and with fruit of any kind that they may choose,
56:21 and with the flesh of any fowl that they may desire. [Regarding this and any other Quranic description of the joys of paradise, see 32:17 and, in particular, the corresponding note. The famous hadith quoted in that note must be kept in mind when reading any Quranic reference to the state or quality of human life in the hereafter.]
56:22 And [with them will be their] companions pure, most beautiful of eye, [The noun hur - rendered by me as "companions pure" - is a plural of both ahwar (masc.) and hawra (fem.), either of which describes "a person distinguished by hawar", which latter term primarily denotes "intense whiteness of the eyeballs and lustrous black of the iris" (Qamus). In a more general sense, hawar signifies simply "whiteness" (Asas) or, as a moral qualification, "purity" (cf. Tabari, Razi and Ibn Kathir in their explanations of the term hawariyyun in 3:52). Hence, the compound expression hurin signifies, approximately, "pure beings [or, more specifically, "companions pure"], most beautiful of eye" (which latter is the meaning of in, the plural of ayan). In his comments on the identical expression in 52:20, Razi observes that inasmuch as a person's eye reflects his soul more clearly than any other part of the human body, in may be understood as "rich of soul" or "soulful". As regards the term hur in its more current, feminine connotation, quite a number of the earliest Quran-commentators - among them Al-Hasan al-Basri - understood it as signifying no more and no less than "the righteous among the women of the human kind" (Tabari) - "[even] those toothless old women of yours whom God will resurrect as new beings" (Al-Hasan, as quoted by Razi in his comments on 44:54). See in this connection also note on 38:52.]
56:23 like unto pearls [still] hidden in their shells.
56:24 [And this will be] a reward for what they did [in life].
56:25 No empty talk will they hear there, nor any call to sin,
56:26 but only the tiding of inner soundness and peace. [Lit., "only the saying, `Peace, peace' (salam)!" Regarding this latter term, see notes on 19:62, and 5:16.]
56:27 NOW AS FOR those who have attained to righteousness - what of those who have attained to righteousness? [Lit., "those on the right hand". According to some commentators, it is those who had not always been "foremost in faith and good works", but have gradually, after erring and sinning, attained to righteousness (Razi). However, though they may not have been as perfect in life as the "foremost", their ultimate achievement brings them to the same state of spiritual fulfillment as those others.]
56:28 [They, too, will find themselves] amidst fruit- laden lote-trees, [See note on 53:14.]
56:29 and acacias flower-clad,
56:30 and shade extended, [See note on 4:57.]
56:31 and waters gushing,
56:32 and fruit abounding,
56:33 never-failing and never out of reach.
56:34 And [with them will be their] spouses, raised high: [Or: "[they will rest on] couches raised high". The rendering adopted by me is regarded as fully justified by some of the most outstanding commentators (e.g., Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi, etc.), and this for two reasons: firstly, because in the classical Arabic idiom, the term firash (lit., "bed" or "couch") is often used tropically to denote "wife" or "husband" (Raghib; also Qamus, Taj al-Arus, etc.); and, secondly, because of the statement in the next verse that God "shall have brought them (hunna) into being in a life renewed". (In the context of this interpretation, Zamakhshari quotes also 36:56, which thus refers to the inmates of paradise: "... in happiness will they and their spouses on couches recline". There is no doubt that the "spouses raised high" - i.e., to the status of the blest - are identical with the hur mentioned in verse 22 above as well as in 44:54, 52:20 and 55:72.]
56:35 for, behold, We shall have brought them into being in a life renewed,
56:36 having resurrected them as virgins, [Lit., "and We shall have made them virgins". According to a number of authentic Traditions (quoted in full by Tabari and Ibn Kathir), the Prophet stated on several occasions that all righteous women, however old and decayed they may have been on earth, will be resurrected as virginal maidens and will, like their male counterparts, remain eternally young in paradise.]
56:37 full of love, well-matched
56:38 with those who have attained to righteousness: [I.e., equal in dignity with all other inmates of paradise. As regards the term atrab (sing. tirb), rendered above - as well as in 38:52 and 78:33 - as "well-matched", there is no doubt that it primarily denotes "[persons] of equal age" (a meaning adopted by most of the commentators); however, as pointed out by all philological authorities, this term is also used in the sense of "[persons] equal in quality", that is, "well-matched": a significance which, to my mind, is eminently appropriate here inasmuch as it is meant to stress the equal excellence of all who have attained to righteousness, whether they be men or women; or, alternatively, the equal attraction towards one another and, thus, a mutual fulfillment of their spiritual and emotional needs; or both of the above meanings.]
56:39 a good many of olden times,
56:40 and a good many of later times. [In contrast with "the foremost", who have always been "drawn close unto God" - and of whom there are less and less as time goes on (see note on verse 14 above) - there will always be many of those who attain to righteousness after initial stumbling and sinning (see note on verse 27 above.).]
56:41 BUT AS FOR those who have persevered in evil - what of those who have persevered in evil? [I.e., until their death. Literally, the phrase reads, "those on the left hand" (see note on verse 9 above).]
56:42 [They will find themselves] in the midst of scorching winds, and burning despair, [For this rendering of hamim, see the last note on 6:70.]
56:43 and the shadows of black smoke -
56:44 [shadows] neither cooling nor soothing.
56:45 For, behold, in times gone by they were wont to abandon themselves wholly to the pursuit of pleasures, [I.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations. For the meaning of the term mutraf, see the second note on 11:116.]
56:46 and would persist in heinous sinning,
56:47 and would say, "What! After we have died and become mere dust and bones, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead? -
56:48 and perhaps, too, our forebears of old?"
56:49 Say: "Verily, those of olden times and those of later times
56:50 will indeed be gathered together at an appointed time on a Day known [only to God]:
56:51 and then, verily, O you who have gone astray and called the truth a lie,
56:52 you will indeed have to taste of the tree of deadly fruit, [See note on 37:62.]
56:53 and will have to fill your bellies therewith,
56:54 and will thereupon have to drink [many a draught] of burning despair -
56:55 drink it as the most insatiably thirsty camels drink!"
56:56 Such will be their welcome on Judgment Day!
56:57 WE who have created you, [O men:] why, then, do you not accept the truth?
56:58 Have you ever considered that [seed] which you emit? [This refers to both the male semen and the female ovum, and thus, by implication, to the awe-inspiring, complex phenomenon of procreation as such.]
56:59 Is it you who create it - or are We the source of its creation?
56:60 We have [indeed] decreed that death shall be [ever-present] among you: but there is nothing to prevent Us
56:61 from changing the nature of your existence and bringing you into being [anew] in a manner [as yet] unknown to you. [Lit., "changing your likenesses (amthal)". However, the term mathal signifies also, tropic
56:62 And [since] you are indeed aware of the [miracle of your] coming into being in the first instance - why, then, do you not bethink yourselves [of Us]?
56:63 Have you ever considered the seed which you cast upon the soil?
56:64 Is it you who cause it to grow - or are We the cause of its growth?
56:65 [For,] were it Our will, We could indeed turn it into chaff, and you would be left to wonder [and to lament],
56:66 "Verily, we are ruined!
56:67 Nay, but we have been deprived [of our livelihood]!"
56:68 Have you ever considered the water which you drink?
56:69 Is it you who cause it to come down from the clouds - or are We the cause of its coming down?
56:70 [It comes down sweet - but] were it Our will, We could make it burningly salty and bitter: why, then, do you not give thanks [unto Us]?
56:71 Have you ever considered the fire which you kindle?
56:72 Is it you who have brought into being the tree that serves as its fuel - or are We the cause of its coming into being? [Lit., "its tree": a metonym pointing to the plant-origin, direct or indirect, of almost all the known fuels, including mineral fuels like coal, which is but petrified wood, or petroleum, which is a liquefied residue of plant-nourished organisms buried in the earth for millions of years.]
56:73 It is We who have made it a means to remind [you of Us], [Inasmuch as "fire" (in the widest sense of this word) is the source of all light known to man, it is apt to remind him that "God is the light of the heavens and the earth" (see 24:35 and the corresponding notes).] and a comfort for all who are lost and hungry in the wilderness [of their lives]. [The participial noun muqw is derived from the verb qawiya, "it became deserted" or "desolate". From the same root is derived the noun qawa (or qiwa), which signifies "desert", "wilderness" or "wasteland" as well as "hunger" or "starvation". Hence, muqw denotes "one who is hungry" as well as "one who is lost [or "who wanders"] in a deserted place". In the above verse this expression is evidently used tropically, for it is difficult to imagine that, as some commentators assume, it relates merely to "wayfarers in the desert". My composite rendering of al-muqwin as "all who are lost and hungry in the wilderness", on the other hand, is literal and tropical at the same time, inasmuch as it describes people who are lonely, unfortunate and confused, and who hunger after human warmth and spiritual light.]
56:74 Extol, then, the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's mighty name!
56:75 NAY, I call to witness the coming-down in parts [of this Quran] [Or: "the setting [or "orbiting"] of the stars". The term mawqi (of which mawaqie is the plural) denotes the "time [or "place" or "manner"] at which something comes down". Although many of the commentators think that the phrase mawaqi an-nujum relates to the break-up of the stars at the Last Hour, Ibn Abbas, lkrimah and As-Suddi were definitely of the opinion, strongly supported by the subsequent verses, that this phrase refers to the step-by-step revelation - or "coming-down in parts (nujum )" - of the Quran (cf. Tabari and lbn Kathir; see also note on 53:1). By "calling to witness" the gradual manner of its revelation, the Quran points implicitly to the astounding fact that it has remained free of all inconsistencies and inner contradictions (cf. 4:82 and the corresponding note) despite all the dramatic changes in the Prophet's life during the twenty-three years of the "unfolding" of the divine writ: and this explains, too, the subsequent parenthetic clause (verse 76).] -
56:76 and, behold, this is indeed a most solemn affirmation, if you but knew it!
56:77 Behold, it is a truly noble discourse,
56:78 [conveyed unto man] in a well-guarded divine writ
56:79 which none but the pure [of heart] can touch: [I.e., which only the pure of heart can truly understand and derive benefit from. As for the preceding reference to "a well-guarded [i.e., incorruptible] divine writ" (kitab maknun), see 85:21-22 and the corresponding note.]
56:80 a revelation from the Sustainer of all the worlds!
56:81 Would you, now, look down with disdain on a tiding like this, [I.e., the message of resurrection and judgment.]
56:82 and make it your daily bread [as it were] to call the truth a lie?
56:83 Why, then, [The elliptic implication is: "If, then, as you claim, you are really independent of any Supreme Power, why do you not, etc., thus connecting with verses 57-74.] when [the last breath] comes up to the throat [of a dying man],
56:84 the while you are [helplessly] looking on -
56:85 and while We are closer to him than you, although you see [Us] not -:
56:86 why, then, if [you think that] you are not truly dependent [on Us],
56:87 can you not cause that [ebbing life] to return - if what you claim is true?
56:88 [ALL OF YOU are destined to die.] Now if one happens to be of those who are drawn close unto God, [I.e., the "foremost" spoken of in verses 10-11 of this surah.]
56:89 happiness [awaits him in the life to come], and inner fulfillment, and a garden of bliss.
56:90 And if one happens to be of those who have attained to righteousness, [See note on verse 27 above.]
56:91 [he, too, will be welcomed into paradise with the words,] "Peace be unto thee [that art] of those who have attained to righteousness!"
56:92 But if one happens to be of those who are wont to call the truth a lie, and [thus] go astray,
56:93 a welcome of burning despair [awaits him in the life to come,]
56:94 and the heat of a blazing fire!
56:95 Verily, this is indeed the truth of truths! [Lit., "a truth of certainty", i.e., a truth most certain. The pronoun "this" in the above sentence relates not merely to the announcement of resurrection and life after death, but also - and primarily - to the stress on man's utter dependence on God.]
56:96 Extol, then, the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's mighty name!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
57:1 ALL THAT IS in the heavens and on earth extols God's limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise!
57:2 His is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; He grants life and deals death; and He has the power to will anything.
57:3 He is the First and the Last, [I.e., His Being is eternal, without anything preceding His existence and without anything outlasting its infinity: an interpretation given by the Prophet himself, as recorded in several well-authenticated Traditions. Thus, "time" itself - a concept beyond man's understanding - is but God's creation.] and the Outward as well as the Inward: [I.e., He is the transcendental Cause of all that exists and, at the same time, immanent in every phenomenon of His creation - cf. the oft-repeated Quranic phrase (e.g., in verse 5), "all things go back unto God [as their source]"; in the words of Tabari, "He is closer to everything than anything else could be". Another - perhaps supplementary - rendering could be, "He is the Evident as well as the Hidden", i.e., "His existence is evident (zahir) in the effects of His activity, whereas He Himself is not perceptible (ghayr mudrak) to our senses" (Zamakhshari).] and He has full knowledge of everything.
57:4 He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness. [Cf. the identical phrase in 7:54 and the corresponding note.] He knows all that enters the earth, and all that comes out of it, as well as all that descends from the skies, and all that ascends to them. [See note on 34:2.] And He is with you wherever you may be; and God sees all that you do.
57:5 His is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; and all things go back unto God [as their source].
57:6 He makes the night grow longer by shortening the day, and makes the day grow longer by shortening the night; and He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].
57:7 BELIEVE in God and His Apostle, and spend on others out of that of which He has made you trustees: [Implying that all that man "possesses is but held in trust from God, since "all that is in the heavens and on earth belongs to Him", whereas man is allowed only its usufruct.] for, those of you who have attained to faith and who spend freely [in God's cause] shall have a great reward.
57:8 And why should you not believe in God, seeing that the Apostle calls you to believe in [Him who is] your Sustainer, and [seeing that] He has taken a pledge from you? [God's "taking a pledge" is a metonymic allusion to the faculty of reason with which He has endowed man, and which ought to enable every sane person to grasp the evidence of God's existence by observing the effects of His creativeness in all nature and by paying heed to the teachings of His prophets (Zamakhshari). See in this connection 7:172 and the corresponding note.] [Why should you not believe in Him] if you are able to believe [in anything]? [Lit., "if you are believers": implying, according to Razi, "if you can believe in anything on the basis of sound evidence".]
57:9 It is He who bestows from on high clear messages unto [this] His servant, to lead you out of the deep darkness into the light: for, behold, God is most compassionate towards you, a dispenser of grace.
57:10 And why should you not spend freely in the cause of God, seeing that God's [alone] is the heritage of the heavens and the earth? [I.e., "that to God belongs all that is...", etc.: see note on verse 7 above; also note on 15:23.] Not equal are those of you who spent and fought [in God's cause] before the Victory [and those who did not do so]: [I.e., before the conquest of Mecca in 8 H., when the Muslims were still weak and their future uncertain.] they are of a higher rank than those who would spend and fight [only] after it - although God has promised the ultimate good to all [who strive in His cause]. [The above principle applies, of course, to the relative merits of believers of all times who strive in God's cause before and/or after success has been achieved.] And God is aware of all that you do.
57:11 WHO IS IT that will offer up unto God a goodly loan, which He will amply repay? [See note on the identical phrase in 2:245. In the present instance the meaning is apparently wider, applying to all that man may do selflessly, for the sake of God alone.] For, such [as do so] shall have a noble reward
57:12 on the Day when thou shalt see all believing men and believing women, with their light spreading rapidly before them and on their right, [See note on the expression ashab al-yamin ("those on the right hand") in 74:39. In many instances, the metaphor of "the right hand" or "right side" is used in the Quran to denote "righteousness" and, therefore, "blessedness", symbolized in the present context by the "light spreading rapidly" before and on the right side of the believers as a result of their "cognition of God, and their high morality, and their freedom from ignorance and blameworthy traits" (Razi).] [and with this welcome awaiting them:] "A glad tiding for you today: gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide! This, this is the triumph supreme!"
57:13 On that Day shall the hypocrites, both men and women, speak [thus] unto those who have attained to faith: [Meant here are, apparently, not only outright "hypocrites" (in the connotation given to this term in Western languages), but also people who, being shaky in their beliefs and uncertain in their moral convictions, are inclined to deceive themselves (see note on 29:11).] "Wait for us! Let us have a [ray of] light from your light!" [But] they will be told: "Turn back, and seek a light [of your own]!" [I.e., "you should have sought light while you lived on earth".] And thereupon a wall will be raised between them [and the believers], with a gate in it: within it will be grace and mercy, and against the outside thereof, suffering. [The stress on there being a gate in the wall separating true believers and hypocrites (or the weak of faith) points to the possibility of the latters' redemption: cf. the famous hadith quoted in note on 40:12. Mujahid (as quoted by Tabari) identifies the "wall" spoken of here with the "barrier" (hijab) mentioned in 7:46.]
57:14 They [who will remain without] will call out to those [within], "Were we not with you?" - [to which] the others will answer: "So it was! But you allowed yourselves to succumb to temptation, [Sc., "by the prospect of worldly gains" or "by fear for your personal safety" - both of which characterize the half-hearted as well as the hypocrites.] and you were hesitant [in your faith], [Thus Ibn Zayd (quoted by Tabari), explaining the verb tarabbastum.] and you were doubtful [of resurrection]; and your wishful thinking beguiled you until God's command came to pass: [I.e., "until your death".] for, [indeed, your own] deceptive thoughts about God deluded you [See note on the last sentence of 31:33.]
57:15 "And so, no ransom [l.e., belated repentance.] shall be accepted today from you, and neither from those who were [openly] bent on denying the truth. Your goal is the fire: it is your [only] refuge - [Lit., "your friend" (mawlakum) - i.e., "the only thing by which yoou may hope to be purified and redeemed": cf. the saying of the Prophet mentioned in note on 40:12; see also the last note on verse 13 above.] and how evil a journey's end!"
57:16 IS IT NOT time that the hearts of all who have attained to faith should feel humble at the remembrance of God and of all the truth that has been bestowed [on them] from on high, [I.e., "Should not the remembrance of God and His revelation make them humble rather than proud?" This is an emphatic warning against all smugness, self-righteousness and false pride at having "attained to faith" - a failing which only too often attains to such as consider themselves "pious".] lest they become like those who were granted revelation aforetime, [This is apparently an allusion to the spiritually arrogant among the Jews, who regard themselves as "God's chosen people" and, therefore, as predestined for His acceptance.] and whose hearts have hardened with the passing of time so that many of them are [now] depraved? [I.e., so that now they act contrary to the ethical precepts of their religion: implying that the purpose of all true faith is to make man humble and God-conscious rather than self-satisfied, and that a loss of that spiritual humility invariably results in moral degeneration.]
57:17 [But] know that God gives life to the earth after it has been lifeless! [According to most of the commentators - and, particularly, Zamakhshari, Razi and Ibn Kathir - this is a parabolic allusion to the effect of a re-awakening of God-consciousness in hearts that had become deadened by self-satisfaction and false pride.] We have indeed made Our messages clear unto you, so that you might use your reason.
57:18 Verily, as for the men and women who accept the truth as true [Or: "who give in charity" - depending on the vocalization of the consonants sad and dal. In view of the sequence, the sense given in my rendering seems preferable (and is, indeed, stressed by Zamakhshari), although in the reading of Hafs ibn Sulayman al-Asadi, on which this translation is based, the relevant nouns appear in the spelling mussaddiqin and mussaddiqat, "men and women who give in charity".] and who [thus] offer up unto God a goodly loan, they will be amply repaid, [See verse 11 above.] and shall have a noble reward [in the life to come].
57:19 For, they who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle - it is they, they who uphold the truth, and they who bear witness [thereto] before God: [I.e., by their readiness for any sacrifice.] [and so] they shall have their reward and their light! But as for those who are bent on denying the truth and on giving the lie to Our messages - it is they who are destined for the blazing fire!
57:20 KNOW [O men] that the life of this world is but a play and a passing delight, and a beautiful show, and [the cause of] your boastful vying with one another, and [of your] greed for more and more riches and children. [Commenting at length on this passage, Razi makes it clear that life as such is not to be despised, inasmuch as it has been created by God: cf. 38:27 - "We have not created heaven and earth and all that is between them without meaning and purpose"; and 23:115 - "Did you think that We have created you in mere idle play?" But whereas life in itself is a positive gift of God and - as Razi points out - the potential source of all blessings, it loses this positive quality if it is indulged in recklessly, blindly and with disregard of spiritual values and considerations: in brief, if it is indulged in without any thought of the hereafter.] Its parable is that of [Lit., "(It is) like the parable of...", etc.] [life-giving] rain: the herbage which it causes to grow delights the tillers of the soil; [This is the sole instance in the Quran where the participial noun kafir (in its plural form kuffar) has its original meaning of "tiller of the soil". For the etymology of this meaning, see note on 74:10, where the term kafir (in the sense of "denier of the truth") appears for the first time in the sequence of Quranic revelation.] but then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end it crumbles into dust. But [the abiding truth of man's condition will become fully apparent] in the life to come: [either] suffering severe, or God's forgiveness and His goodly acceptance: [According to Tabari, the conjunction wa has here the meaning of aw ("or").] for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion.
57:21 [Hence,] vie with one another in seeking to attain to your Sustainer's forgiveness, [Sc., "rather than in striving for glory and worldly possessions": implying elliptically that no man is free from faults and transgressions, and hence everyone is in need of God's forgiveness. (Cf. note on 24:31.)] and [thus] to a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, which has been readied for those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle: [For a further qualification of the humility which characterizes true believers, see 3:133-135.] such is the bounty of God which He grants unto whomever He wills - for God is limitless in His great bounty.
57:22 NO CALAMITY can ever befall the earth, and neither your own selves, [I.e., "the earth or mankind as a whole, or any of you individually": an allusion to natural as well as man-made catastrophes, and to individual suffering through illness, moral or material deprivation, etc.] unless it be [laid down] in Our decree before We bring it into being: verily, all this is easy for God. [I.e.. God's decreeing an event and bringing it into being.]
57:23 [Know this,] so that you may not despair over whatever [good] has escaped you nor exult [unduly] over whatever [good] has come to you: [Thus, the knowledge that whatever has happened had to happen - and could not have not happened - because, obviously, it had been willed bby God in accordance with His unfathomable plan, ought to enable a true believer to react with conscious equanimity to whatever good or ill comes to him.] for, God does not love any of those who, out of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner - [I.e., attributing their good fortune to their own merit or "luck".]
57:24 those who are niggardly [with God's bounty] and bid others to be niggardly! [Cf. last sentence of 4:36 and the whole of verse 37.] And he who turns his back [on this truth ought to know that], [I.e., does not want to admit that whatever has happened must have been willed by God.] verily, God alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due!
57:25 Indeed, [even aforetime] did We send forth Our apostles with all evidence of [this] truth; and through them [Lit., "with them".] We bestowed revelation from on high, and [thus gave you] a balance [wherewith to weigh right and wrong], so that men might behave with equity;
57:26 And, indeed, [to the same end] [I.e., to give man a balance wherewith to weigh right and wrong, and so to enable him to behave with equity (see preceding verse).] We sent forth Noah and Abraham [as Our message-bearers], and established prophethood and revelation among their descendants; and some of them were on the right way, but many were iniquitous.
57:27 And thereupon We caused [other of] Our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and [in the course of time] We caused them to be followed by Jesus, the son of Mary, upon whom We bestowed the Gospel; [See note on 3:4.] and in the hearts of those who [truly] followed him We engendered compassion and mercy. But as for monastic asceticism - [The term rahbaniyyah combines the concepts of monastic life with an exaggerated asceticism, often amounting to a denial of any value in the life of this world - an attitude characteristic of early Christianity but disapproved of in Islam (cf. 2:143 - "We have willed you to be a community of the middle way" - and the corresponding note).] We did not enjoin it upon them: they invented it themselves out of a desire for God's goodly acceptance. [Or: "they invented it themselves, [for] We did not enjoin it upon them: [We enjoined upon them] only the seeking of God's goodly acceptance". Both these interpretations are equally legitimate, and are accepted as such by most of the classical commentators. The rendering adopted by me corresponds to the interpretation given by Said ibn Jubayr and Qatadah (both of them cited by Tabari and Ibn Kathir).] But then, they did not [always] observe it as it ought to have been observed: [I.e., not all of them observed it in the right spirit (Tabari, Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir), inasmuch as in the course of time many of them - or, rather, many of those who came after the early ascetics (Tabari) - corrupted their devotions by accepting the ideas of Trinity and of God's incarnation in Jesus, and by lapsing into empty formalism (Razi).] and so We granted their recompense unto such of them as had [truly] attained to faith, whereas many of them became iniquitous. [Sc., "and were deprived of Our grace".]
57:28 O YOU who have attained to faith! [As is evident from the preceding passage as well as from verse 29, the people thus addressed are the followers of earlier revelation (ahl al-kitab), and in particular the true - i.e., Unitarian - followers of Jesus.] Remain conscious of God, and believe in His Apostle, [and] He will grant you doubly of His grace, and will light for you a light wherein you shall walk, and will forgive you [your past sins]: for God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
57:29 And the followers of earlier revelation should know [Lit., "so that the followers of earlier revelation (i.e., the Bible) may know".] that they have no power whatever over any of God's bounty, [I.e., that they have no exclusive claim to any of God's bounty - which latter term relates, in the present context, to a bestowal of divine revelation. This is addressed in the first instance to the Jews, who reject the revelation granted to Muhammad in the belief that the office of prophethood is an exclusive "preserve" of the children of Israel, as well as to the Christians who, as followers of the Bible, implicitly accept this unwarranted claim.] seeing that all bounty is in God's hand [alone]: He grants it unto whomever He wills - for God is limitless in His great bounty.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
58:1 GOD has indeed heard the words of her who pleads with thee concerning her husband, and complains Unto God. [According to the classical commentators, this is a reference to the case of Khawlah (or Khuwaylah) bint Thalabah, whose husband Aws ibn as-Samit divorced her by pronouncing the arbitrary pre-Islamic oath known as zihar (explained in note on 33:4). When she pleaded before the Prophet against this divorce - which deprived her of all her marital rights and, at the same time, made it impossible for her to remarry - the iniquitous custom of zihar was abolished by the revelation of verses 2 - 4 of this surah. In view of the sequence, as well as of several Traditions to this effect, there is no doubt that the above verse alludes, in the first instance, to the divine condemnation of zihar. However the deliberately unspecified reference to "her who pleads concerning her husband" seems to point to all cases where a wife has reason to complain against her husband: that is to say, not merely to an appeal against an unjustified or cruel divorce, but also to a wife's demand for release from an unbearable marriage. Such dissolution of the marriage-tie at the wife's instance - termed khul - is fully sanctioned by the shariah on the basis of 2:229 and a number of extremely well-authenticated Traditions. (For a fuller discussion of this problem, see note on the second paragraph of 2:229.)] And God does hear what you both have to say: verily, God is all-hearing, all-seeing. [Lit., "does hear the mutual contentions of both of you (tahawurakuma)", i.e., of husband and wife alike, embracing with His infinite wisdom and justice the innermost motivations of both. Alternatively - if the above verse is understood as referring specifically to the case of Khawlah - the second person indicated by the suffix kuma ("both of you") may relate to the Prophet, who, before the revelation of this surah, thought that a divorce through zihar was valid and, therefore, repeatedly told Khawlah, "Thou art now indeed unlawful to him" (Tabari). This opinion was subsequently - almost immediately - reversed by the divine prohibition of zihar expressed in verses 2ff.]
58:2 As for those of you who [henceforth] separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother", [For this explanatory rendering of the verb yuzahirun, see note on 33:4. My interpolation of the word "henceforth" is necessary in view of the fact that the custom of zihar - in its sense of a definitive act of divorce - had been abolished by verses 2 - 4 of the present surah.] [let them bear in mind that] they can never be [as] their mothers: none are their mothers save those who gave them birth: and so, behold, they but utter a saying that runs counter to reason, [For this particular rendering of the term munkar, see the second note on 16:90.] and is [therefore] false. But, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving:
58:3 hence, as for those who would separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother", and thereafter would go back on what they have said, [their atonement] shall be the freeing of a human being from bondage before the couple may touch one another again: [I.e., the freeing or purchasing the freedom of a slave or captive. In modern times, when slavery is more or less non-existent, the concept of tahrir raqabah may, I believe, be legitimately extended to the redeeming of a human being from the bondage of debt or of great poverty.] this you are [hereby] exhorted to do - for God is fully aware of all that you do. [Cf. 2:225 - "God will not take you to task for oaths which you may have uttered without thought, but will take you to task [only] for what your hearts have conceived [in earnest]".]
58:4 However, he who does not have the wherewithal shall fast [instead] for two consecutive months before the couple may touch one another again; [I.e., in the manner prescribed for fasting during the month of Ramadan (see 2:183-187). As regards the phrase "he who does not find the wherewithal (lam yajid)", it may indicate either a lack of financial means or the impossibility of finding anyone else who could be redeemed from factual or figurative bondage. According to many Islamic scholars of our times (e.g., Rashid Rida, commenting on 4:92), this relates, in the first instance, to circumstances in which "slavery will have been abolished in accordance with the aim of Islam" (Manar V, 337).] and he who is unable to do it shall feed sixty needy ones: [Or, alternatively, one needy person for sixty days. The inability to fast for two consecutive months may be due either to ill-health or to really compelling external circumstances (for instance, the necessity of performing labours which require great physical and/or mental vigour and alertness).] this, so that you might prove your faith in God and His Apostle. [Sc., "by showing that you have renounced the practices of the Time of Ignorance" (Razi). In other words, the pronouncement of zihar is not to be considered a divorce, as was the case in pre-Islamic times, but solely as a reprehensible act which must be atoned for by a sacrifice.] Now these are the bounds set by God; and grievous suffering [in the life to come] awaits all who deny the truth.
58:5 Verily, those who contend against God and His Apostle shall be brought low even as those [evildoers] who lived before them were brought low after We had bestowed [on them] clear messages from on high. [Sc., "which they chose to disregard". Thus, proceeding from the particular to the general, the present passage connects with the reference, at the end of verse 4, to "all who deny the truth", i.e., of divine revelation.] And [so,] for those who deny the truth there will be shameful suffering in store
58:6 on the Day when God will raise them all from the dead and will make them truly understand all that they did [in life]: God will have taken [all of] it into account, even though they [themselves] may have forgotten it - for God is witness unto everything.
58:7 ART THOU NOT aware that God knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth? Never can there be a secret confabulation between three persons without His being the fourth of them, nor between five without His being the sixth of them; and neither between less than that, or more, without His being with them wherever they may he. But in the end, on Resurrection Day, He will make them truly understand what they did: for, verily, God has full knowledge of everything.
58:8 Art thou not aware of such as have been forbidden [to intrigue through] secret confabulations, [The prohibition referred to here arises from the Quranic statement, "No good comes, as a rule, out of secret confabulations - save those which are devoted to enjoining charity, or equitable dealings, or setting things to rights between people" (see 4:114 and the corresponding note). Although there is no doubt that, as the classical commentators point out, the "secret con
58:9 [Hence,] O you who have attained to faith, when you do hold secret confabulations, do not conspire with one another with a view to sinful doings, and aggressive conduct, and disobedience to the Apostle, [See the second note on verse 8 above.] but [rather] hold counsel in the cause of virtue and God-consciousness: and [always] remain conscious of God, unto whom you all shall be gathered.
58:10 [All other kinds of] secret confabulations are but of Satan's doing, so that he might cause grief to those who have attained to faith; yet he cannot harm them in the least, unless it be by God's leave: in God, then, let the believers place their trust! [I.e., in and by itself, the force of evil epitomized in the concept of "Satan" has no power whatever: cf. 14:22 - "I had no power at all over you: I but called you - and you responded unto me. Hence, blame not me, but blame yourselves." (See also Razi's views quoted in my note on the above-mentioned verse.) As regards the problem of God's "letting" or "allowing" a person to go astray (implied in the phrase "unless it be by God's leave"), see note on 14:4.]
58:11 O YOU who have attained to faith! When you are told, "Make room for one another in your collective life", do make room: [Lit., "in the assemblies (al-majalis)". Although it is frequently assumed that this refers to the assemblies held by the Prophet, when his followers would throng around him in their eagerness the better to hear what he had to say, or - more generally - to congregations in mosques, etc., in later times, I am (with Razi) of the opinion that the plural noun majalis is used here in a tropical or metaphorical sense, denoting the totality of men's social life. Taken in this sense, the "making room for one another" implies the mutual providing of opportunities for a decent life to all - and especially to the needy or handicapped - members of the community. See also next note.] [and in return,] God will make room for you [in His grace]. [Commenting on this passage, Razi says: "This verse indicates that if one widens the means (ahwab) of happiness and well-being of God's creatures (ibad), God will widen for him all that is good in this life and in the hereafter. Hence, no reasonable person (al-aqil) could ever restrict (the purport of) this verse to merely making room for one another in an [actual] assembly."] And whenever you are told, "Rise up [for a good deed]", do rise up; [The interpretation implied in the words "for a good deed" interpolated by me above is analogous to that offered by most of the classical commentators, and most explicitly by Tabari; in the words of Qatadah (ibid.), "Whenever you are called upon to do a good deed, respond to this call."] [and] God will exalt by [many] degrees those of you who have attained to faith and, [above all,] such as have been vouchsafed [true] knowledge: for God is fully aware of all that you do. [Cf. the saying of the Prophet: "The superiority of a learned man (alim) over a [mere]worshipper (abid) is like the superiority of the moon on the night when it is full over all other stars" (Ibn Hanbal, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah and Darimi).]
58:12 O YOU who have attained to faith! Whenever you [intend to] consult the Apostle, offer up something in charity on the occasion of your consultation: this will be for your own good, and more conducive to your [inner] purity. [This call to an exercise of charity on every occasion (bayna yaday) of one's "consultation" with God's Apostle has been widely misunderstood as applying only to factual consultations with him, i.e., in his lifetime, supposedly with a view to lessening the encroachments on his time by some of his too-eager followers. This misunderstanding, together with the qualified dispensation from the above-mentioned injunction expressed in the next verse, has given rise to the unwarranted contention by some of the commentators that this injunction has been "abrogated". But apart from the fact that the theory of "abrogation" as such is entirely untenable (see 2:106 and the corresponding note), the above verse reveals its true meaning as soon as we realize that the term "the Apostle" (ar-rasul) is used in the Quran not merely to designate the unique person of the Prophet Muhammad but also the sum-total of the teachings conveyed by him to the world. This is evident from the many Quranic exhortations, "Pay heed unto God and the Apostle", and, more specifically (in 4:59), "if you are at variance over any matter, refer it unto God (i.e., the Quran) and the Apostle (i.e., his Sunnah)", which latter is but meant to elucidate the former. Taken in this sense, the above reference to a "consultation with the Apostle" obviously applies not only to his person and his contemporaries, but rather to his teachings in general and to believers of all times and environments. In other words, every believer is exhorted to "offer up something in charity" - whether it be material alms to a needy person, or the imparting of knowledge to such as may be in need of enlightenment, or even a mere word of kindness to a weak human being - whenever he intends to immerse himself in a study of the Apostle's teachings or, as the Quran phrases it, to "consult" him who has conveyed the divine writ to us.] Yet if you are unable to do so, [know that,] verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. [Lit., "if you do not find", sc., anyone on whom to bestow charity at that particular moment, or have - for whatever reason - no opportunity to exercise it.]
58:13 Do you, perchance, fear lest [you may be sinning if] you cannot offer up anything in charity on the occasion of your consultation [with the Apostle]? But if you fail to do it [for lack of opportunity], and God turns unto you in His mercy, remain but constant in prayer and render [no more than] the purifying dues, and [thus] pay heed unto God and His Apostle: for God is fully aware of all that you do. [I.e., the obligatory tax (zakah) which is meant to purify a believer's possessions and income from the taint of selfishness: implying that one's inability to do more by way of charity does not constitute a sin.]
58:14 ART THOU NOT aware of those who would be friends with people whom God has condemned? [For the meaning of "God's condemnation", see note on the last verse of Al-Fatihah. In this particular context, the ones "who would be friends with people whom God has condemned" are the half-hearted who - while dimly perceiving the truth of God's existence and self-revelation - are nevertheless unwilling to surrender themselves to this truth for fear of estranging themselves from their God-denying environment and, thus, of losing what they regard as the material advantages of a spiritually uncommitted life: and it is this moral falsehood to which the last sentence of this verse refers. (See also the last verse of surah 60.)] They are neither of you [O believers] nor of those [who utterly reject the truth]: and so they swear to a falsehood the while they know [it to be false].
58:15 God has readied for them suffering severe [in the life to come]. Behold, evil indeed is what they are wont to do:
58:16 they have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness], and thus they turn others away from the path of God: [I.e., by sowing doubts in other people's hearts.] hence, shameful suffering awaits them.
58:17 Neither their worldly possessions nor their offspring will be of the least avail to them against God: it is they who are destined for the fire, therein to abide!
58:18 On the Day when God will raise them all from the dead, they will swear before Him as they [now] swear before you, thinking that they are on firm ground [in their assumptions]. [Namely, that their preference of worldly benefits to a spiritual commitment is "reasonable" and, therefore, morally "justified". It is to this flagrant self-deception that the next sentence refers.] Oh, verily, it is they, they who are the [greatest] liars! [The definite article al prefixed to the participial noun kadhihun indicates that the people thus characterized have reached the utmost degree of self-deception; hence my interpolation of the adjective "greatest" in consonance with Zamakhshari's interpretation of the above phrase.]
58:19 Satan has gained mastery over them, and has caused them to remain oblivious of the remembrance of God. Such as these are Satan's partisans: oh, verily, it is they, the partisans of Satan, who will truly be the losers!
58:20 Verily, those who contend against God and His Apostle - it is they who [on Judgment Day] shall find themselves among the most abject.
58:21 [For] God has thus ordained: "I shall most certainly prevail, I and My apostles!" Verily, God is powerful, almighty!
58:22 Thou canst not find people who [truly] believe in God and the Last Day and [at the same time] love anyone who contends against God and His Apostle - even though they be their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or [others of] their kindred. [The operative phrase of this passage is contained in the words, "anyone who contends against (man hadda) God and His Apostle": i.e., anyone who is engaged in active hostility against God's message and the person or the teachings of His Apostle. As regards relations with non-believers who are not actively hostile to Islam, the Quran explicitly permits and implicitly ordains in many places (e.g., in 60:8 - 9) kindness and friendliness towards theem.] [As for the true believers,] it is they in whose hearts He has inscribed faith, and whom He has strengthened with inspiration from Himself, and whom [in time] He will admit into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide. [For my rendering of ruh as "inspiration" or, occasionally, as "divine inspiration", see note on 16:2. As pointed out by Zamakhshari, the pronominal suffix in minhu may relate to God - as in my rendering - or to the believers' faith, in which latter case the phrase could be rendered as "strengthened with inspiration [flowing] there-from".] Well-pleased is God with them, and well-pleased are they with Him. They are God's partisans: oh, verily, it is they, the partisans of God, who shall attain to a happy state!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
59:1 ALL THAT IS in the heavens and all that is on earth extols God's limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise.
59:2 He it is who turned out of their homes, at the time of [their] first gathering [for war], such of the followers of earlier revelation as were bent on denying the truth. [For this and the subsequent historical references, see the introductory note to this surah. The tribe of Banu n-Nadir - who, as Jews, are naturally termed ahl al-kitab ("followers of earlier revelation") - are characterized as "such as were bent on denying the truth" (alladhina kafaru, see note on 2:6) because they treacherously turned against the Prophet despite their earlier admission that he was truly the bearer of God's message announced in their own holy scriptures (Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18).] You did not think [O believers] that they would depart [without resistance] - just as they thought that their strongholds would protect them against God: but God came upon them in a manner which they had not expected, and cast terror into their hearts; [Lit., "from whence they had not thought (it possible)": an allusion to the last-minute, unexpected failure of Abd Allah ibn Ubayy to come to their aid.] [and thus] they destroyed their homes by their own hands as well as the hands of the believers. [As mentioned in the introductory note, the Banu n-Nadir had originally concluded a treaty of mutual non-interference with the Muslim community, and were to live at Medina as its friendly neighbours; and even later, when their hostility to the Muslims had become apparent and they were ordered to emigrate, they were to be allowed to retain ownership of their plantations. Subsequently, however, they forfeited by their treachery both their citizenship and the rights to their landed property, and thus "destroyed their homes by their own hands".] Learn a lesson, then, O you who are endowed with insight!
59:3 And had it not been for God's having ordained banishment for them, He would indeed have imposed [yet greater] suffering on them in this world: still, in the life to come there awaits them suffering through fire:
59:4 this, because they cut themselves off from God and His Apostle: and as for him who cuts himself off from God and His Apostle - verily, God is severe in retribution! [For this condemnation of the Banu n-Nadir, see note on verse 2 above. As regards my rendering of the verb shaqqu as "they cut themselves off", see note on 8:13.]
59:5 Whatever [of their] palm trees you may have cut down, [O believers,] or left standing on their roots, was [done] by God's leave, and in order that He might confound the iniquitous. [I.e., to facilitate the military operations against the strongholds of the Banu n-Nadir (Abd Allah ibn Masud, as quoted by Zamakhshari et al.). It should, however, be noted that apart from such stringent military exigencies, all destruction of enemy property - and, in particular, of trees and crops - had been and continued to be prohibited by the Prophet (Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir), and has thus become an integral part of Islamic Law.]
59:6 Yet [remember:] whatever [spoils taken] from the enemy [Lit., "from them": i.e., from the Banu n-Nadir.] God has turned over to His Apostle, you did not have to spur horse or riding-camel for its sake: [I.e., "you did not have to fight for it, since the enemy surrendered without giving battle". The term fay (a noun derived from the verb faa, "he returned (something)" or "turned [it] over") is applied in the Quran and the Traditions exclusively to war-gains - whether consisting of lands, or tribute, or indemnities - which are obtained, as a condition of peace, from an enemy who has laid down arms before actual fighting has taken place (Taj al-Arus).] but God gives His apostles mastery over whomever He wills - for God has the power to will anything.
59:7 Whatever [spoils taken] from the people of those villages God has turned over to His Apostle - [all of it] belongs to God and the Apostle, [Sc., and not to individual Muslim warriors. As so often in the Quran, the expression "God and the Apostle" is here a metonym for the Islamic cause, and for a government that rules in accordance with the laws of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet.] and the near of kin [of deceased believers], and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, [Cf. 8:41, which relates to booty acquired in actual warfare, out of which only one-fifth is to be reserved for the above five categories (see note on 8:41). In distinction from all such booty, the gains obtained through fay are to be utilized in their entirety under these five headings. As regards the term ibn as-sabil ("wayfarer"), see the third note on 2:177.] so that it may not be [a benefit] going round and round among such of you as may [already] be rich. Hence, accept [willingly] whatever the Apostle gives you [thereof], and refrain from [demanding] anything that he withholds from you; and remain conscious of God: for, verily, God is severe in retribution. [Respectively, in later times, the head of an Islamic state, who has to decide - in the light of the exigencies - how the share of "God and His Apostle" is to be utilized for the common weal.]
59:8 [Thus, part of such war-gains shall be given] to the poor among those who have forsaken the domain of evil: [For this rendering of the term muhajirun ("emigrants"), see note on 2:218.] those who have been driven from their homelands and their possessions, seeking favour with God and [His] goodly acceptance, and who aid [the cause of] God and His Apostle: it is they, they who are true to their word!
59:9 And [it shall be offered, too, unto the poor from among] those who, before them, [I.e., before the coming to them of "those who have forsaken the domain of evil" (see next note).] had their abode in this realm and in faith - [those] who love all that come to them in search of refuge, and who harbour in their hearts no grudge for whatever the others may have been given, but rather give them preference over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot: [This relates, in the first instance, to the historical ansar ("helpers") of Medina, who had embraced Islam before the Prophet's and his Meccan followers' coming to them, and who received the refugees with utmost generosity, sharing with them like brethren their own dwellings and all their possessions. In a wider sense, the above refers also to all true believers, at all times, who live in freedom and security within the realm of Islam, and are prepared to receive with open arms anyone who is compelled to leave his homeland in order to be able to live in accordance with the dictates of his faith.] for, such as from their own covetousness are saved - it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state! [Thus, greed, niggardliness and covetousness are pointed out here as the main obstacles to man's attaining to a happy state in this world and in the hereafter (cf. surah 102).
59:10 And so, they who come after them pray: [I.e., all who attain to a belief in the Quran and its Prophet (Razi).] "O our Sustainer! Forgive us our sins, as well as those of our brethren who preceded us in faith, and let not our hearts entertain any unworthy thoughts or feelings against [any of] those who have attained to faith. O our Sustainer! Verily, Thou art compassionate, a dispenser of grace!"
59:11 ART THOU NOT aware of how those who would always dissemble [their real feelings] [I.e., the hypocrites of Medina (see introductory note as well as next note).] speak to their truth-denying brethren from among the followers of earlier revelation: [The Banu n-Nadir. From the construction of the next verse it appears that the whole of this passage (verses 11-14) was revealed before the actual advance of the Muslims against the Nadir strongholds: verses 12 -14 might be of a prophetic nature, predicting what was yet to happen (Zamakhshari). Alternatively, the passage may be understood in a wider, timeless sense, applying to the falsity and futility inherent in all "alliances" between, on the one hand, people who openly deny the truth and, on the other, half-hearted waverers who have neither the will to commit themselves to a spiritual proposition nor the moral courage to declare openly their lack of belief.] "If you are driven away, we shall most certainly go forth with you, and shall never pay heed to anyone against you; and if war is waged against you, we shall most certainly come to your succour." But God bears witness that they are most flagrantly lying:
59:12 [for] if those [to whom they have pledged themselves] are indeed driven away, they will not go forth with them; and if war is waged against them, they will not come to their succour; and even if they [try to] succour them, they will most certainly turn their backs [in flight], and in the end will [themselves] find no succour.
59:13 Nay, [O believers,] you arouse in their bosoms a fear more intense than [even their fear of] God: this, because they are people who fail to grasp the truth. [Inasmuch as they do not - or, at best, only half-heartedly - believe in God, the tangible, material dangers facing them in this world arouse in them a far greater fear than the thought of His ultimate judgment.]
59:14 Never will they fight you, [even] in unison, otherwise than from within fortified strongholds or from behind walls. [The meaning is: "Even if they were able - which they are not - to put forth against you a truly unified front, they will always fight you only from what they regard as well-established `positions of strength'."] Severe is their warlike discord among themselves: thou wouldst think that they are united, whereas [in fact] their hearts are at odds [with one another]: this, because they are people who will not use their reason. [Sc., "with a view to achieving what is good for them": implying that people who have no real faith and no definite moral convictions can never attain to true unity among themselves, but are always impelled to commit acts of aggression against one another.]
59:15 [To both kinds of your enemies, O believers, is bound to happen] [This interpolation - relating as it does to both the outright deniers of the truth and the hypocrites - is justified by the occurrence of the dual form in verse 17.] the like of [what happened to] those who, a short while before them, had to taste the evil that came from their own doings, with [yet more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]: [In the first instance, this is apparently an allusion to the fate of the pagan Quraysh at the battle of Badr (Zamakhshari) or, according to some authorities (quoted by Tabari), to the treachery and subsequent expulsion from Medina, in the month of Shawwal, 2 H., of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qaynuqa. But in a wider perspective - strongly suggested by the next two verses - the meaning is general and not restricteed to any particular time or historical occurrence.
59:16 the like of [what happens] when Satan says unto man, "Deny the truth!" - but as soon as [man] has denied the truth, [Satan] says, "Behold, I am not responsible for thee: behold, I fear God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!" [Cf. 8:48; also 14:22 and the corresponding notes.]
59:17 Thus, in the end, both [the deniers of the truth and the hypocrites] [Lit., "the end (aqibah) of both will be that both...", etc.] will find themselves in the fire, therein to abide: for such is the recompense of evildoers.
59:18 O YOU who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God; and let every human being look to what he sends ahead for the morrow! And [once again]: Remain conscious of God, for God is fully aware of all that you do;
59:19 and be not like those who are oblivious of God, and whom He therefore causes to be oblivious of [what is good for] their own selves: [for] it is they, they who are truly depraved! [I.e., by having made a deliberately wrong use of the faculty of reason with which God has endowed man, and - by remaining oblivious of Him - having wasted their own spiritual potential.]
59:20 Not equal are those who are destined for the fire and those who are destined for paradise: those who are destined for paradise - it is they, they [alone] who shall triumph [on Judgment Day]!
59:21 HAD WE bestowed this Quran from on high upon a mountain, thou wouldst indeed see it humbling itself, breaking asunder for awe of God. [I.e., in contrast with those who, by remaining oblivious of God and all moral imperatives, are spiritually more dead than an inert mountain.] And [all] such parables We propound unto men, so that they might [learn to] think.
59:22 GOD IS HE save whom there is no deity: the One who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind: [See note on the second paragraph of 6:73.] He, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace.
59:23 God is He save whom there is no deity: the Sovereign Supreme, the Holy, the One with whom all salvation rests, [Lit., "the Salvation" (as-salam): see note on 5:16.] the Giver of Faith, the One who determines what is true and false, [For this rendering of muhaymin, see 5:48 - where this term is applied to the Quran - and the corresponding note.] the Almighty, the One who subdues wrong and restores right, the One to whom all greatness belongs! [Since the verb jabara - from which the noun jabbar is derived - combines the concepts of "setting right" or "restoring" (e.g., from a state of brokenness, ill-health, or misfortune) and of "compelling" or "subduing (someone or something) to one's will", I believe that the term al-jabbar, when applied to God, is best rendered as above.] Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
59:24 He is God, the Creator, the Maker who shapes all forms and appearances! [Thus Baydawi. The two terms al-bari ("the Maker") and al-musawwir ("the Shaper", i.e., of all forms and appearances) evidently constitute here one single unit.] His [alone] are the attributes of perfection. [For this rendering of al-asma al-husna, see note on 7:180.] All that is in the heavens and on earth extols His limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
60:1 O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not take My enemies - who are your enemies as well 1 - for your friends, showing them affectionn even though they are bent on denying whatever truth has come unto you, [and even though] they have driven the Apostle and yourselves away, [only] because you believe in God, your Sustainer! 2 If [it be true that] you have gone forth [from your homes] to strive in My cause, and out of a longing for My goodly acceptance, [do not take them for your friends,] inclining towards them in secret affection: for I am fully aware of all that you may conceal as well as of all that you do openly. And any of you who does this has already strayed from the right path.
60:2 If they could but overcome you, they would [still] remain your foes, and would stretch forth their hands and tongues against you with evil intent: for they desire that you [too] should deny the truth.
60:3 But [bear in mind that] neither your kinsfolk nor [even] your own children will be of any benefit to you on Resurrection Day, [for then] He will decide between you [on your merit alone]: and God sees all that you do.
60:4 Indeed, 'you have had a good example in Abraham and those who followed him, when they said unto their [idolatrous] people: "Verily, we are quit of you and of all that you worship instead of God: we deny the truth of whatever you believe; and between us and you there has arisen enmity and hatred, to last until such a time^ 4 as you come to believe in the One God!" The only exception was 5 Abraham's saying to his father "I shall indeed pray for [God's] forgiveness for thee, 6 although I have it not in my power to obtain anything from God in thy behalf." [And Abraham and his followers prayed:] "O our Sustainer! In Thee have we placed our trust, and unto Thee do we turn: for unto Thee is all journeys' end.
60:5 O our Sustainer! Make us not a plaything 7 for those who are bent on denying the truth! And forgive us our sins, O our sustainer: for Thou alone art, almighty, truly wise!"
60:6 In them, indeed, you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe^ 8] to God and the Last Day. And if any turns away, [let him know that] God is truly self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due."
60:7 [But] it may well be that God will bring about [mutual] affection between you [0 believers] and some of those whom you [now] face as enemies: for, God is all-powerful - and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
60:8 As for such [of the unbelievers] as do not fight against you on account of [your] faith, and neither drive you forth from your homelands, God does not forbid you to show them kindness and to behave towards them with full equity: 9 for, verily, God loves those who act equitably.
60:9 God only forbids you to turn in friendship towards such as fight against you because of [your] faith, and drive you forth from your homelands, or aid [others] in driving you forth: and as for those [from among you] who turn towards them in friendship; it is they, they who are truly wrongdoers!
60:10 O YOU who have attained to faith! Whenever believing women come unto you, forsaking the domain of evil, 10 examine them, [although only] God is fully aware of their faith; 11 and if you have thus ascertained that they are believers, do not send them back to the deniers of the truth, [since] they are [no longer] lawful to their erstwhile husbands, 12 and these are [no longer] lawful to them. None the less, you shall return to them whatever they have spent [on their wives by way of dower]; 13 and [then, O believers,] you will be committing no sin if you marry them after giving them their dowers. On the other hand, hold not to the marriage-tie with women who [continue to] deny the truth, 14 and ask but for [the return of] whatever you have spent [by way of dower] -just as they [whose wives have gone over to you] have the right to demand 15 [the return of] whatever they have spent. Such is God's judgment: He judges between you [in equity] - for God is all-knowing, wise.
60:11 And if any of your wives should go over to the deniers of the truth, and you are thus afflicted in turn, 16 then give unto those whose wives have gone away the equivalent of what they had spent [on their wives by way of dower], 17 and remain conscious of God, in whom you believe!
60:12 O Prophet! Whenever believing women come unto thee to pledge their allegiance to thee, 18 [pledging] that [henceforth] they would not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught but God, and would not steal, 19 and would not commit adultery, and would not kill their clildren, 20 and would not indulge in slander, falsely devising it out of nothingness: 21 and would not disobey thee in anything [that thou declarest to be] right - then accept their pledge of allegiance, and pray to God to forgive them their [past] sins: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
60:13 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be not friends with people whom God has condemned! 22 They [who would befriend them] are indeed bereft of all hope of a life to come^ 23 - just as those deniers of the truth are bbereft of all hope of [ever again seeing] those who are [now] in their graves.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
61:1 ALL THAT IS in the heavens and all that is on earth extols God's limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise!
61:2 O YOU who have attained to faith! Why do you say one thing and do another?
61:3 Most loathsome is it in the sight of God that you say what you do not do!
61:4 Verily, God loves [only] those who fight in His cause in [solid] ranks, 2 as though they were a building firm and compact.
61:5 Now when Moses spoke to his people, [it was this same truth that he had in mind:] "O my people! Why do you cause me grief, 3 the while you know that I am an apostle of God sent unto you?" And so, when they swerved from the right way, God let their hearts swerve from the truth: 4 for God does not bestow His guidance upon iniquitous folk.
61:6 And [this happened, too,] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O children of Israel! Behold, I am an apostle of God unto you, [sent] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains 5 of the Torah, and to give [you] the glad tiding of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." 6 But when he [whose coming Jesus had foretold] came unto them 7 with all evidence of the truth, they said: "This [alleged message of his] is [nothing but] spellbinding eloquence!"
61:7 And who could be more wicked than one who invents [such] a lie about [a message from] God, seeing that he is [but] being called to self-surrender unto Him? But God does not bestow His guidance upon evil-doing folk.
61:8 They aim to extinguish God's light with their utterances: 9 but God has willed to spread His light in all its fullness, however hateful this may be to all who deny the truth .
61:9 He it is who has sent forth His Apostle with [the task of] spreading guidance and the religion of truth, to the end that He make it prevail over all [false] religion, 10 however hateful this may be to those who ascribe divinity to aught but God.
61:10 O YOU who have attained to faith! Shall I point out to you a bargain that will save you from grievous suffering [in this world and in the life to come]?
61:11 You are to believe in God and His Apostle, and to strive hard in God's cause with your possessions and your lives: this is for your own good - if you but knew it!
61:12 [If you do so,] He will forgive you your sins, and [in the life to come] will admit you into gardens through which running waters flow, and into goodly mansions in [those] gardens of perpetual bliss: 12 that [will be] the triumph supreme!
61:13 And [withal, He will grant you] yet another thing that you dearly love: succour from God [in this world], and a victory soon to come: : 13and [thereof, O Prophet,] give thou a glad tiding to all who believe.
61:14 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be helpers [in the cause of God - even as Jesus, the son of Mary, said unto the white-garbed ones, 14 "Who will be my helpers in God's cause?" - whereupon the white-garbed [disciples] replied, "We shall be [thy] helpers [in the cause] of God!" And so [it happened that] some of the children of Israel came to believe [in the apostleship of Jesus], whereas others denied the truth. 15 But [now] We have given strength against their foes unto those who have [truly] attained to faith: 16 and they have become the ones that shall prevail.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
62:1 ALL THAT IS in the heavens and all that is on earth extols the limitless glory of God, the Sovereign Supreme, the Holy, the Almighty, the Wise!
62:2 He it is who has sent unto the unlettered people an apostle from among themselves, 1 to convey unto them His messages, and to cause them to grow in purity, and to impart unto them the divine writ as well as wisdom - whereas before that they were indeed, most obviously, lost in error - ;
62:3 and [to cause this message to spread] from them unto other people as soon as they come into contact with them: 2 for He alone is almighty, truly wise!
62:4 Such is God's bounty: He grants it to anyone who is willing [to receive it]: 3 for God is limitless in His great bounty.
62:5 THE PARABLE of those who were graced with the burden of the Torah, and thereafter failed to bear this burden, 4 is that of an ass that carries a load of books [but cannot benefit from them]. Calamitous is the parable of people who are bent on giving the lie to God's messages - for God does not bestow His guidance upon such evildoing folk!
62:6 Say: "O you who follow the Jewish faith! 5 If you claim that you [alone] are close to God, to the exclusion of all other people, then you should be longing for death - if what you say is true!"
62:7 But never will they long for it, because [they are aware] of what their hands have wrought in this world; 7 and God has full knowledge of evildoers.
62:8 Say: "Behold, the death from which you are fIeeing 8 is bound to overtake you - and then you will be brought back unto Him who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind, 9 whereupon He will make you truly understand all that you were doing [in life].
62:9 O YOU who have attained to faith! When the call to prayer is sounded on the day of congregation, 10 hasten to the remembrance of God, and leave all worldly commerce: this is for your own good, if you but knew it.
62:10 And when the prayer is ended, disperse freely on earth 11 and seek to obtain [something] of God's bounty; but remember God often, so that you might attain to a happy state!
62:11 Yet [it does happen that] when people^ 12 become aware of [an occasion for] worldly gain 13 or a passing delight, they rush headlong towards it, and leave thee standing [and preaching]. 14 Say: "That which is with God is far better than all passing delight and all gain! And God is the best of providers!"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
63:1 WHEN THE HYPOCRITES come unto thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art indeed God's Apostle!" But God knows that thou art truly His Apostle; and He bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed false [in their declaration of faith].
63:2 They have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness], and thus they turn others away from the Path of God. 1 Evil indeed is all that they are wont to do:
63:3 this, because [they profess that] they have attained to faith, whereas 2 [inwardly] they deny the truth - and so, a seal has been set on their hearts so that they can no longer understand [what is true and what false].
63:4 Now when thou seest them, their outward appearance may please thee; and when they speak, thou art inclined to lend ear to what they say. 4 [But though they may seem as sure of themselves] as if they were timbers [firmly] propped up, they think that every shout is [directed] against them. They are the [real] enemies [of all faith], so beware of them. [They deserve the imprecation,] "May God destroy them!" 5 How perverted are their minds!
63:5 for, when they are told, "Come, the Apostle of God will pray [unto God] that you be forgiven", they turn their heads away, and thou canst see how they draw back in their false pride.
63:6 As for them it is all the same whether thou dost pray that they be forgiven or dost not pray for them: God will nor forgive them - for, behold, God does not bestow His guidance upon such iniquitous folk.
63:7 It is they who say [to their compatriots 8], "Do not spend anything on those who are with God's Apostle, so that they [may be forced to] leave." 9 However, unto God belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth: but this truth the hypocrites cannot grasp.
63:8 [And] they say, "Indeed, when we return to the City 10 [we,] the ones most worthy of honour will surely drive out therefrom those most contemptible ones!" However, all honour belongs to God, and [thus] to His Apostle and those who believe [in God]: but of this the hypocrites are not aware.
63:9 O YOU who have attained to faith! Let not your worldly goods or your children make you oblivious of the remembrance of God: for If any behave thus - it is they, they who are the losers!
63:10 And spend on others out of what We have provided for you as sustenance, 12 ere there come a time when death approaches any of you, and he then says, "O my Sustainer! If only Thou wouldst grant me a delay for a short while, 13 so that I could give in charity and be among the righteous!"
63:11 But never does God grant a delay to a human being when his term has come; and God is fully aware of all that you do.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
64:1 ALL THAT IS in the heavens and all that is on earth extols God's limitless glory: His is all dominion, and to Him all praise is due; and He has the power to will anything.
64:2 He it is who has created you: and among you are such as deny this truth, and among you are such as believe [in it]. 1 And God sees all that you do.
64:3 He has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with [an inner] truth, 2 and has formed you - and formed you so well; 3 and with Him is your journey's end.
64:4 He knows all that is in the heavens and on earth; and He knows all that you keep secret as well as all that you bring into the open: for God has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].
64:5 HAVE THE STORIES of those who, in earlier times, refused to acknowledge the truth never yet come within your ken? [They denied it -] and so they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doings, 4 with [more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]:
64:6 this, because time and again there came unto them their apostles 5 with all evidence of the truth, but they [always] replied, "Shall mere mortal men be our guides?" 6 And so they. denied the truth and turned away. But God was not in need [of them]: for God is self-sufficient, ever to be praised.
64:7 They who are bent on denying the truth claim that they will never be raised from the dead! 7 Say: "Yea, by my Sustainer! Most surely will you be raised from the dead, and then, most surely, will you be made to understand what you did [in life]! For, easy is this for God!"
64:8 Believe then, [O men,] in God and His Apostle, and in the light [of revelation] which We have bestowed [on you] from on high! And God is fully aware of all that you do.
64:9 [Think of^ 8] the time when He shall gather you all together unto the Day of the [Last] Gathering - that Day of Loss and Gain! For, as for hhim who shall have believed in God and done what is just and right, He will [on that Day] efface his bad deeds, and will admit him into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time: that will be a triumph supreme!
64:10 But as for those who are bent on denying the truth and on giving the lie to Our messages - they are destined for the fire, therein to abide: and how vile a journey's end!
64:11 NO CALAMITY can ever befall [man] unless it be by God's leave: hence, whoever believes in God guides his [own] heart [towards this truth]; 9 and God has full knowledge of everything.
64:12 Pay heed, then, unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle; and if you turn away, [know that] Our Apostle's only duty is a clear delivery of this message:
64:13 God - there is no deity save Him! 10 In God then let the believers place their trust.
64:14 O YOU who have attained to faith! Behold, some of your spouses 11 and your children are enemies unto you: so beware of them! 12 But if you pardon [their faults] and forbear, and forgive-then, behold, God will be much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
64:15 Your worldly goods and your children are but a trial and a temptation, 13 whereas with God there is a tremendous reward.
64:16 Remain, then, conscious of God as best you can, and listen [to Him], and pay heed. And spend in charity for the good of your own selves: for, such as from their own covetousness are saved - it is they, they that shal attain to a happy state!
64:17 If you offer up to God a goodly loan, He will amply repay you for it, and will forgive you your sins: for God is ever responsive to gratitude, forbearing,
64:18 knowing all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind^ 15 - the Almighty, the Wise!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
65:1 O PROPHET! When you 1 [intend to divorce women, divorce them with a view to the waiting period appointed for them, 2 and reckon the period [carefully], and be conscious of God, your Sustainer. Do not expel them from their homes; 3 and neither shall they [be made to] leave^ 4 unless they become openly guilty of immoral conduct. 5 These, then, are the bounds set by God - and he who transgresses the bounds set by God does indeed sin against himself: [for, O man, although] thou knowest it not, after that [first breach] God may well cause something new to come about.
65:2 And so, when they are about to reach the end of their waiting-term, either retain them in a fair manner or part with them in a fair manner. And let two persons of [known] probity from among your own community 7 witness [what you have decided]; and do yourselves bear true witness before God: 8 thus are admonished all who believe in God and the Last Day. And unto everyone who is conscious of God, He [always] grants a way out [of unhappiness],
65:3 and provides for him in a manner beyond all expectation; 9 and for everyone who places his trust in God He [alone] is enough. Verily, God always attains to His purpose: [and] indeed, unto everything has God appointed its [term and] measure.
65:4 Now as for such of your women as are beyond, the age of monthly courses, as well as for such as do not have any courses, 10 their waiting-period - if you have any doubt [about it] - shall be three [calendar] months; and as for those who are with child, the end of their waiting-term shall come when they deliver their burden. And for everyone who is conscious of God, He makes it easy to obey His commandment:
65:5 [for] all this is God's commandment, which He has bestowed upon you from on high. And unto everyone who is conscious of God will He pardon [some of] his bad deeds, and will grant him a vast reward.
65:6 [Hence,] let the women [who are undergoing a waiting-period] live in the same manner as you live yourselves, 12 In accordance with your means; and do not harass them with a view to making their lives a misery. And if they happen to be with child, spend freely on them until they deliver their burden; and if they nurse your offspring [after the divorce has become final], give them their [due] recompense; and take counsel with one another in a fair manner [about the child's future]. And if both of you find it difficult [that the mother should nurse the child], 13 let another woman nurse it on behalf of him [who has begotten it].
65:7 [In all these respects,] let him who has ample means spend in accordance with 15 his amplitude; and let him whose means of subsistence are scanty spend in accordance with what God has given him: God does not burden any human being with more than He has given him - [and it may well be that] God will grant, after hardship, ease.
65:8 AND HOW MANY a community has turned with disdain from the commandment of its Sustainer and His apostles! 16 -whereupon We callled them all to account with an accounting severe, and caused them to suffer with a suffering unnameable:
65:9 and thus they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doing: 17 for, [in this world,] the end of their doings was ruin,
65:10 [the while] God has readied for them [yet more] suffering severe [in the life to come] Hence, remain conscious of God, O you who are endowed with insight - [you] who have attained to faith! God has indeed bestowed on you a reminder from on high:
65:11 [He has sent] an apostle who conveys unto you God's clear messages, so that He might those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds out of the depths of darkness into the light. And whoever believes in God and does what is right and just, him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time: indeed, a most goodly provision will God have granted him!
65:12 GOD is He who has created seven heavens, 18 and, like them, [the many aspects] of the earth. Through all of them flows down from on high, unceasingly, His [creative] will, 19 so that you might come to know that God has the power to will anything, and that God encompasses all things with His knowledge.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
66:1 O PROPHET! Why dost thou, out of a desire to please [one or another of] thy wives, impose [on thyself] a prohibition of something that God has made lawful to thee? 1 But God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace:
66:2 God has already enjoined upon you [O believers] the breaking and expiation of [such of] your oaths [as may run counter to what is right and just]: 2 for, God is your Lord Supreme, and He alone is all-knowing, truly wise.
66:3 And lo! 3 [It so happened that] the Prophet told something in confidence to one of his wives; and when she thereupon divulged it, and God made this known to him, he acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over some of it. 4 And as soon as he let her know it, she asked, "Who has told thee this?" 5 - [to which] he replied, "The All-Knowing, the All-Aware has told me."
66:4 [Say, O Prophet: 6] "Would that you two turn unto God in repentance, for the hearts of both of you have swerved [from what is right]! 7 And if you uphold each other against him [who is God's message-bearer, know that] God Himself is his Protector, and [that,] therefore, 8 Gabriel, and all the righteous among the believers and all the [other] angels will come to his aid."
66:5 [O wives of the Prophet!] Were he to divorce [any of] you, God might well give him in your stead spouses better than you - women who surrender themselves unto God, who truly believe, devoutly obey His will, turn [unto Him] in repentance [whenever they have sinned] worship [Him alone] and go on and on [seeking His goodly acceptance] 9 - be they women previously married or virggins.
66:6 O YOU who have attained to faith! Ward off from yourselves and those who are close to you 11 that fire [of the hereafter] whose fuel is human beings and stones: 12 [lording] over it are angelic powers awesome [and] severe, 13 who do not disobey God in whatever He has commanded them, but [always] do what they are bidden to do.
66:7 [Hence,] O you who are bent on denying the truth, make no [empty] excuses today: 15 [in the life to come] you shall be but recompensed for what you were doing [in this world].
66:8 O you who have attained to faith! Turn unto God in sincere repentance: 16 it may well be .that your Sustainer will efface from you your bad deeds, and will admit you into gardens through which running waters flow, on a Day on which God will not shame the Prophet and those who share his faith: 17 their light will spread rapidly before them, and on their right; 18 [and] they will pray: "O our Sustainer! Cause this our light to shine for us forever, 19 and forgive us our sins: for, verily, Thou hast the power to will anything!"
66:9 O PROPHET! Strive hard against the deniers of the truth and the hypocrites, and be adamant with them. 20 And [if they do not repent,] their goal shall be hell - and how vile a journey's end!
66:10 For those who are bent on denying the truth God has propounded a parable in [the stories of] Noah's wife and Lot's wife: they were wedded to two of Our righteous servants, and each one betrayed her husband; 21 and neither of the two [husbands] will be of any avail to these two women when they are told [on Judgment Day], "Enter the fire with all those [other sinners] who enter it!"
66:11 And for those who have attained to faith God has propounded a parable in [the story of] Pharaoh's wife^ 23 as she prayed "O my Sustainer! Build Thou for me a mansion in the paradise [that is] with Thee, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me, from all evildoing folk!
66:12 And [We have propounded yet another parable of God-consciousness in the story of] Mary, the daughter of Imran, 24 who guarded her chastity, whereupon We breathed of Our spirit into that [which was in her womb], 25 and who accepted the truth of her Sustainer's words - and [thus,] of His revelations 26 - and was one of the truly devout.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
67:1 HALLOWED be He in whose hand all dominion rests, since He has the power to will anything:
67:2 He who has created death as well as life, 1 so that He might put you to a test [and thus show] which of you is best in conduct, and [make you realize that] He alone is almighty, truly forgiving.
67:3 [Hallowed be] He who has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another: 2 no fault will thou see in the creation of the Most Gracious. And turn thy vision [upon it] once more: canst thou see any flaw?
67:4 Yea, turn thy vision [upon it] again and yet again: [and every time] thy vision will fall back upon thee, dazzled and truly defeated....
67:5 And, indeed, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with lights, 4 and have made them the object of futile guesses for the evil ones [from among men]: 5 and for them have We readied suffering through a blazing flame -
67:6 for, suffering in hell awaits all who are [thus] bent on blaspheming against their Sustainer: 6 and how vile a journey's end!
67:7 When they are cast into that [hell], they will hear its breath indrawing as it boils up,
67:8 well-nigh bursting with fury; [and] every time a host [of such sinners] is flung into it, its keepers will ask them, "Has no warner ever come to you?"
67:9 They will reply: "Yea, a warner did indeed come unto us, but we gave him the lie and said, 'Never has God sent down anything [by way of revelation]! You [self-styled warners] are but lost in a great delusion!'"
67:10 And they will add: "Had we but listened [to those warnings], or [at least] used our own reason, we would not [now] be among those who are destined for the blazing flame!"
67:11 Thus will they come to realize their sins: but [by that time,] remote will have become all good from those who are destined for the blazing flame.
67:12 [As against this,] behold, for those who stand in awe of God although He is beyond the reach of their perception, 9 there is forgiveness in store and a great reward.
67:13 AND [know, O men, that] whether you keep your beliefs 10 secret or state them openly, He has full knowledge indeed of all that is in [your] hearts.
67:14 How could it be that He who has created [all] should not know [all]? 12 Yea, He alone is unfathomable [in His wisdom], aware!
67:15 He it is who has made the earth easy to live upon: 14 go about, then, in all its regions, and partake the sustenance which He provides: but [always bear in mind that] unto Him you shall be resurrected.
67:16 Can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven 15 will not cause the earth to swallow you up when, lo and behold, it begins to quake?
67:17 Or can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven will not let loose against you a deadly stormwind, 16 whereupon you would come to know how [true] My warning was?
67:18 And, indeed, [many of] those who lived aforetime^ 17 did give the lie [to My warnings]: and how awesome was My rejection [of them]!
67:19 Have they, then, never beheld the birds above them, spreading their wings and drawing them in? None but the Most Gracious upholds them: for, verily, He keeps all things in His sight.
67:20 [And] is there any, besides the Most Gracious, that could be a shield^ 18 for you, and could succour you [against danger]? They who deny this truth are but lost in self- delusion!
67:21 Or is there any that could provide you with sustenance if He should withhold His provision [from you]? Nay, but they [who are bent on denying the truth] stubbornly persist in their disdain [of God's messages] and in their headlong flight [from Him]!
67:22 But then, is he that goes along with his face close to the ground^19 better guided than he that walks upright on a straight way?
67:23 SAY: "[God is] He who has brought you [all] into being, and has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and hearts: 20 [yet] how seldom are you grateful!"
67:24 Say: "It is He who has multiplied you on earth; and it is unto Him that you shall be gathered [on resurrection]."
67:25 But they [only] ask, "When is this promise to be fulfilled? [Answer this, O you who believe in it,] if you are men of truth!"
67:26 Say thou, [O Prophet:] "Knowledge thereof rests with God alone; and I am only a plain warner."
67:27 Yet in the end, when they shall see that [fulfilment] close at hand, the faces of those who were bent on denying the truth will be stricken with grief; and they will be told, "This it is that you were [so derisively] calling for!"
67:28 SAY [O Prophet]: "What do you think? Whether God destroys me and those who follow me, or graces us with His mercy 21 - is there anyone that could protect [you] deniers of the truth from grievous suffering [in the life to come]?"
67:29 Say: "He is the Most Gracious: we have attained to faith in Him, and in Him have we placed our trust; and in time you will come to know which of us was lost in manifest error."
67:30 Say [unto those who deny the truth]: "What do you think? If of a sudden all your water were to vanish underground, who [but God] could provide you with water from [new] unsullied springs?"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
68:1 Nun. 1 CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]!
68:2 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman!
68:3 And, verily, thine shall be a reward neverending -
68:4 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life;
68:5 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see,
68:6 which of you was bereft of reason.
68:7 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way.
68:8 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth:
68:9 they would like thee to be soft [with them], so that they might be soft [with thee].
68:10 Furthermore, 6 defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths,
68:11 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales,
68:12 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor,
68:13 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, 7 and, in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men].
68:14 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children
68:15 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"?
68:16 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace!
68:17 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them 11 as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow,
68:18 and made no allowance [for the will of God]:
68:19 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep,
68:20 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak.
68:21 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another,
68:22 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!"
68:23 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another,
68:24 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares],"
68:25 - and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose.
68:26 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!"
68:27 - [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!"
68:28 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'"
68:29 They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!"
68:30 - and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches.
68:31 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously!
68:32 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: 15 for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!"
68:33 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; 16 but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it!
68:34 For, behold, it is the God-conscious [alone] whom gardens of bliss await with their Sustainer:
68:35 or should We, perchance, treat those who surrender themselves unto Us 17 as [We would treat] those who remain lost in sin?
68:36 What is amiss with you? 18 On what do you base your judgment [of right and wrong]?
68:37 Or have you, perchance, a [special] divine writ which you study,
68:38 and in which you find all that you may wish to find?
68:39 Or have you received a solemn promise, binding on Us till Resurrection Day, that yours will assuredly be whatever you judge [to be your rightful due]?
68:40 Ask them which of them is able to vouch for this!
68:41 Or have they, perchance, anys ages to support their views? 20 Well, then, if they are sincere in this their claim, let them produce those supporters of theirs
68:42 on the Day when man's very being shall be bared to the bone, 21 and when they [who now deny the truth] shall be called upon to prostrate themselves [before God], 22 and shall be unable to do so:
68:43 downcast will be their eyes, with ignominy overwhelming them - seeing that they had been called upon [in vain] to prostrate themselves [before Him] while they were yet sound [and alive].
68:44 Hence, leave Me alone with such as give the lie to this tiding. 23 We shall bring them low, step by step, without their perceiving how it has come about:
68:45 for, behold, though I may give them rein for a while, My subtle scheme is exceedingly firm!
68:46 Or is it that [they fear lest] thou ask them for a reward, [O Prophet,] so that they would be burdened with debt [if they listened to thee]?
68:47 Or [do they think] that the hidden reality [of all that exists] is within their grasp, so that [in time] they can write it down?
68:48 BEAR THEN with patience thy Sustainer's will and be not like him of the great fish, who cried out [in distress] after having given in to anger.
68:49 [And remember:] had not grace from his Sustainer reached him, 28 he would indeed have been cast forth upon that barren shore in a state of disgrace:
68:50 but [as it was,] his Sustainer had elected him and placed him among the righteous.
68:51 Hence, [be patient,] even though they who are bent on denying the truth would all but kill thee with their eyes whenever they hear this reminder, and [though] they say, "[As for Mubammad,] behold, most surely he is a madman!"
68:52 [Be patient:] for this is nought else but a reminder [from God] to all mankind.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
69:1 OH, THE LAYING-BARE of the truth!
69:2 How awesome that laying-bare of the truth!
69:3 And what could make thee conceive what that laying-bare of the truth will be?
69:4 THE LIE gave [the tribes of] Thamud and `Ad to [all tidings of] that sudden calamity!
69:5 Now as for the Thamud - they were destroyed by a violent upheaval [of the earth];
69:6 and as for the `Ad - they were destroyed by a storm wind furiously raging,
69:7 which He willed against them for seven nights and eight days without cease, so that in the end thou couldst see those people laid low [in death], as though they were so many [uprooted] trunks of hollow palm trees:
69:8 and dost thou now see any remnant of them?
69:9 And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown 5 - [all of them] indulged in sin upon sins
69:10 and rebelled against their Sustainer's apostles: and so He took them to task with a punishing grasp exceedingly severe!
69:11 [And] behold: when the waters [of Noah's flood] burst beyond all limits, it was We who caused you 6 to be borne [to safety] in that floating ark,
69:12 so that We might make all this 7 a [lasting] reminder to you all, and that every wide-awake ear might consciously take it in.
69:13 Hence, [bethink yourselves of the Last Hour,] when the trumpet [of judgment] shall be sounded with a single blast,
69:14 and the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke!
69:15 And so, that which must come to pass 8 will on that day have come to pass;
69:16 and the sky will be rent asunder 9 - for, frail will it have become on that Day - ;
69:17 and the angels [will appear] at its ends, 10 and, above them, eight will bear aloft on that Day the throne of thy Sustainer's almightiness...
69:18 On that Day you shall be brought to judgment: not [even] the most hidden of your deeds will remain hidden.
69:19 Now as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, 12 he will exclaim: "Come you all!" Read this my record!
69:20 Behold, I did know that [one day] I would have to face my account!
69:21 And so he will find himself in a happy state of life,
69:22 in a lofty paradise,
69:23 with its fruits within easy reach.
69:24 [And all who are thus blest will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!"
69:25 But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand, 14 he will exclaim: "Oh, would that I had never been shown this my record,
69:26 and neither known this my account!
69:27 Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me!
69:28 Of no avail to me is all that I have [ever] possessed,
69:29 [and] all my power of argument has died away from me!"
69:30 Thereupon the command will go forth:] "Lay hold of him, and shackle him,
69:31 and then let him enter hell,
69:32 and then thrust him into a chain [of other sinners like him 17 - a chain] the length whereof is seventy cubits:
69:33 for, behold, he did not believe in God, the Tremendous,
69:34 and did not feel any urge 19 to feed the needy:
69:35 and so, no friend has here today,
69:36 nor any food save the filth
69:37 which none but the sinners eat!"
69:38 BUT NAY! I call to witness an that you can see,
69:39 as well as all that you cannot see!
69:40 Behold, this [Quran] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle,
69:41 and is not - however little you may [be prepared to] believe it - the word of a poet;
69:42 and neither is it - however little you may [be prepared to] take it to heart - the word of a soothsayer:
69:43 [it is] a revelation from the Sustainer of all the worlds.
69:44 Now if he [whom We have entrusted with it] had dared to attribute some [of his own] sayings unto Us,
69:45 We would indeed have seized him by his right hand,
69:46 and would indeed have cut his life-vein.
69:47 and none of you could have saved him!
69:48 And, verily, this [Qur'an] is a reminder to all the God-conscious!
69:49 And, behold, well do We know that among you are such as will give the lie to it:
69:50 yet, behold, this [rejection] will indeed become a source of bitter regret for all who deny the truth [of God's revelation] -
69:51 for, verily, it is truth absolute!
69:52 Extol, then the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's mighty name!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
70:1 ONE who is minded to ask might ask 1 about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall
70:2 those who deny the truth. 2 [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off,
70:3 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent:
70:4 all the angels and all the inspiration [ever granted to man] ascend unto Him 4 [daily,] in a day the length whereof is [like] fifty thousand years...
70:5 Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience:
70:6 behold, men 6 look upon that [reckoning] as something far away -
70:7 but, We see it as near!
70:8 [It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead,
70:9 and the mountains will be like tufts of wool,
70:10 and [when] no friend will ask about his friend,
70:11 though they may be in one another's sight: [for,] everyone who was lost in sin will on that Day but desire to ransom himself from suffering at the price of his own children,
70:12 and of his spouse, and of his brother,
70:13 and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him,
70:14 and of whoever [else] lives on earth, all of them - so that he could but save himself.
70:15 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame,
70:16 tearing away his skin!
70:17 It will claim all such as turn their backs [on what is right], and turn away [from the truth],
70:18 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men].
70:19 VERILY, man is born with a restless disposition.
70:20 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity;
70:21 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he selfishly withholds it [from others].
70:22 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer.
70:23 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer
70:24 and in whose possessions there is a due share, acknowledged [by them],
70:25 for such as ask [for help] and such as are deprived [of what is good in life];
70:26 and who accept as true the [coming of the] Day of Judgment;
70:27 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement -
70:28 for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure;
70:29 and who are mindful of their chastity,
70:30 [not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock] - : 13 for then, behold, they are free of all blame,
70:31 whereas such as seek to go beyond that [limit] are truly transgressors;
70:32 and who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges:
70:33 and who stand firm whenever they bear witness;
70:34 and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent].
70:35 These it is who in the gardens [of paradise] shall be honoured!
70:36 WHAT, THEN, is amiss with such as are bent on denying the truth, that they run about confusedly to and fro before thee,
70:37 [coming upon thee] from the right and from the left, in crowds?
70:38 Does every one of them hope to enter [by this means] a garden of bliss?
70:39 Never! For, behold, We have created them out of something that they know [only too well]!
70:40 But nay! I call to witness [Our being] the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise and sunset: 17 verily, well able are We
70:41 to replace them with [people] better than they are; for there is nothing to prevent Us [from doing what We will].
70:42 Hence, leave them to indulge in idle talk and play [with words] 19 until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs which they have been promised -
70:43 the Day when they shall come forth in haste from their graves, as if racing towards a goal-post,
70:44 with downcast eyes, with ignominy overwhelming them: that Day which they were promised again and...
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
71:1 BEHOLD. We sent Noah unto his people. [saying:] "Warn thy people ere grievous suffering befall them!
71:2 [And Noah] said: "O my people! I am but a plain warner to you, [sent to tell you]
71:3 that you should worship God [alone] and be conscious of Him. "Now do pay heed unto me,
71:4 so that He may forgive you some of your sins, and grant you respite until a term known [to Him alone]: 1 but, behold, when the term appointed by God does come, it can never be put back - if you but knew it!"
71:5 [And after a time, Noah] said: "O my Sustainer! Verily, I have been calling unto my people night and day
71:6 but my call has only caused them to flee farther and farther away [from Thee].
71:7 And behold, whenever I called unto them with a view to Thy granting them forgiveness, they put their fingers into their ears, and wrapped themselves up in their garments [of sin]; 3 and grew obstinate, and became [yet more] arrogant in their false pride.
71:8 "And behold I called unto them openly;
71:9 and, behold I preached to them in public; and I spoke to them secretly, in private;
71:10 and I said: "Ask your Sustainer to forgive you your sins - for, verily, He is all-forgiving!
71:11 He will shower upon you heavenly blessings abundant,
71:12 and will aid you with worldly goods and children, and will bestow upon you gardens, and bestow upon you running waters.
71:13 "What is amiss with you that you cannot look forward to God's majesty,
71:14 seeing that He has created [every one of] you in successive stages?
71:15 "Do you not see how God has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another,
71:16 and has set up within them the moon as a light [reflected] and set up the sun as a [radiant] lamp?
71:17 "And God has caused you to grow out of the earth in [gradual] growth; 10 and thereafter He will return you to it [in death]:
71:18 and [then] He will bring you forth [from It] in resurrection.
71:19 "And God has made the earth a wide expanse for you,
71:20 so that you might walk thereon on spacious paths.'"
71:21 [And] Noah continued: "O my Sustainer! Behold, they have opposed me [throughout], for they follow people whose wealth and children lead them increasingly into ruin,
71:22 and who have devised a most awesome blasphemy [against Thee],
71:23 inasmuch as they said [to their followers], 'Do not ever abandon your gods: abandon neither Wadd nor Suwa', and neither Yaghuth nor Ya'uq nor Nasr!'
71:24 "And so they have led many a one astray: hence, ordain Thou that these evildoers stray but farther and farther away [from all that they may desire]!"
71:25 And so, because of their sins, they were drowned [in the great flood], and were doomed to suffer the fire [of the hereafter]; 16 and they found none who could succour them against God.
71:26 And Noah prayed: "O my Sustainer! Leave not on earth any of those who deny the truth:
71:27 for, behold, If Thou dost leave them, they will [always try to] lead astray those who worship Thee, and will give birth to nothing but wickedness and stubborn ingratitude.
71:28 "O my Sustainer! Grant Thy forgiveness unto me and unto my parents, and unto everyone who enters my house as a believer, and unto all believing men and believing women [of later times]; and grant Thou that the doers of evil shall increasingly meet with destruction!"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
72:1 SAY: "It has been revealed to me that some of the unseen beings gave ear [to this divine writ], 1 and thereupon said [unto their fellow-beings]: 'Verily, we have heard a wondrous discourse,
72:2 'guiding towards consciousness of what is right; and so We have come to believe in it. And we shall never ascribe divinity to anyone beside our Sustainer,
72:3 'for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son!
72:4 'And [now we know] that the foolish among us were wont to say outrageous things about God,
72:5 'and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God.
72:6 'Yet [it has always happened] that certain kinds of humans would seek refuge with certain kinds of [such] invisible forces: 4 but these only increased their confusion -
72:7 'so much so that they came to think, as you [once] thought, that God would never [again] send forth anyone [as His apostle].
72:8 'And [so it happened] that we reached out towards heaven: 6 but we found it filled with mighty guards and flames,
72:9 'notwithstanding that we were established in positions [which we had thought well-suited] to listening to [whatever secrets might be in] it: 8 and anyone who now [or ever] tries to listen will [likewise] find a flame lying in wait for him!
72:10 'And [now we have become aware] that we [created beings] may not know whether evil fortune is intended for [any of] those who live on earth, or whether it is their Sustainer's will to endow them with consciousness of what is right:
72:11 'Just as [we do not know how it happens] that some from among us are righteous, while some of us are [far] below that: we have always followed widely divergent paths.
72:12 'And, withal, we have come to know that we can never elude God [while we live] on earth, and that we can never elude Him by escaping [from life].
72:13 'Hence, as soon as we heard this [call to His] guidance, we came to believe in it: and he who believes in his Sustainer need never have fear of loss or injustice.
72:14 'Yet [it is true] that among us are such as have surrendered themselves to God - just as there are among us such as have abandoned themselves to wrongdoing.'" Now as for those who surrender themselves to Him - it is they that have attained to consciousness of what is right;
72:15 but as for those who abandon themselves to wrongdoing - they are indeed but fuel for [the fires of] hell!'"
72:16 [KNOW,] THEN, that if they [who have heard Our call] keep firmly to the [right] path, We shall certainly shower them with blessings abundant,
72:17 so as to test them by this means: for he who shall turn away from the remembrance of his Sustainer, him will He cause to undergo suffering most grievous.
72:18 And [know] that all worship 14 is due to God [alone]: hence, do not invoke anyone side by side with God!
72:19 Yet [thus it is] that whenever a servant of God stands up in prayer to Him, they [who are bent on denying the truth] would gladly overwhelm him with their crowds.
72:20 Say: "I invoke my Sustainer alone, for I do not ascribe divinity to anyone beside Him."
72:21 Say: "Verily, it is not in my power to cause you harm or to endow you with consciousness of what is right."
72:22 Say: "Verily, no one could ever protect me from God, nor could I ever find a place to hide from Him
72:23 if I should fail to convey 16 [to the world whatever illumination comes to me] from God and His messages." Now as for him who rebels against God and His Apostle - verily, the fire of hell awaits him, therein to abide beyond the count of time.
72:24 [Let them, then, wait] until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned: 18 for then they will come to understand which [kind of man] is more helpless and counts for less!
72:25 Say: "I do not know whether that [doom] of which you were forewarned is near, or whether my Sustainer has set for it a distant term."
72:26 He [alone] knows that which is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, and to none does He disclose aught of the mysteries of His Own unfathomable knowledge,
72:27 unless it be to an apostle whom He has been pleased to elect [therefor]: 21 and then He sends forth [the forces of heaven] to watch over him in whatever lies open before him and in what is beyond his ken 22 -
72:28 so as to make manifest that it is indeed [but] their Sustainer's messages that these [apostles] deliver: for it is He who encompasses [with His knowledge] all that they have [to say], 23 just as He takes count, one by one, of everything [that exists].
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
73:1 O THOU enwrapped one!
73:2 Keep awake [in prayer] at night, all but a small part
73:3 of one-half thereof^ 2 - or make it a little less than that,
73:4 or add to it [at will]; and [during that time] recite the Qur'an calmly and distinctly, with thy mind attuned to its meaning.
73:5 Behold, We shall bestow upon thee a weighty message -
73:6 [and,] verily, the hours of night the mind most strongly and speak with the clearest voice,
73:7 whereas by day a long chain of doings is thy portion.
73:8 But [whether by night or by day,] remember thy Sustainer's name, and devote thyself unto Him with utter devotion.
73:9 The Sustainer of the east and the west [is He]: there is no deity save Him: hence, ascribe to Him alone the power to determine thy fate,
73:10 and endure with patience whatever people may say [against thee], and avoid them with a comely avoidance.
73:11 And leave Me alone [to deal] with those who give the lie to the truth 6 - those who enjoy the blessings of life [without any thought of God] - and bear thou with them for a little while:
73:12 for, behold, heavy fetters [await them] with Us, and a blazing fire,
73:13 and food that chokes, and grievous suffering
73:14 on the Day when the earth and the mountains will be convulsed and the mountains will [crumble and] become like a sand-dune on the move!
73:15 BEHOLD, [O men,] We have sent unto you an apostle who shall bear witness to the truth before you, even as We sent an apostle unto Pharaoh:
73:16 and Pharaoh rebelled against the apostle, whereupon We took him to task with a crushing grip.
73:17 How, then, if you refuse to acknowledge the truth, will you protect yourselves on that Day which shall turn the hair of children grey,
73:18 [the Day] on which the skies shall be rent asunder, [and] His promise [of resurrection] fulfilled?
73:19 This, verily, is a reminder: let him who wills, then set out on a way to his Sustainer!
73:20 BEHOLD, [O Prophet,] thy Sustainer knows that thou keepest awake [in prayer] nearly two-thirds of the night, or one-half of it, or a third of it, together with some of those who follow thee. 11 And God who determines the measure of night and day, is aware that you would never grudge it: 12 and therefore He turns towards you in His grace. Recite, then, as much of the Qur'an as you may do with ease. He knows that in time there will be among you sick people, and others who will go about the land in search of God's bounty, and others who will fight in God's cause. 13 Recite, then, [only] as much of it as you may do with ease, and be constant in prayer, and spend in charity, 14 and [thus] lend unto God a goodly loan: for whatever good deed you may offer up in your own behalf, you shall truly find it with God - yea, better, and richer in reward. And [always] seek God's forgiveness: behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
74:1 O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded!
74:2 Arise and warn!
74:3 And thy Sustainer's greatness glorify!
74:4 And thine inner self purify!
74:5 And all defilement shun!
74:6 And do not through giving seek thyself to gain,
74:7 but unto thy Sustainer turn in patience.
74:8 And [warn all men that] when the trumpet-call [of resurrection] is sounded,
74:9 that very Day shall be a day of anguish,
74:10 not of ease, for all who [now] deny the truth!
74:11 LEAVE Me alone [to deal] with him whom I have created alone,
74:12 and to whom I have granted resources vast,
74:13 and children as [love's] witnesses,
74:14 and to whose life I gave so wide a scope:
74:15 and yet, he greedily desires that I give yet more!
74:16 Nay, verily, it is against Our messages that he knowingly, stubbornly sets himself^
74:17 [and so] I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb!
74:18 Behold, [when Our messages are conveyed to one who is bent on denying the truth,] he reflects and meditates [as to how to disprove them] -
74:19 and thus he destroys himself, 9 the way he meditates:
74:20 yea, he destroys himself, the way he meditates!
74:21 and then he looks [around for new arguments],
74:22 and then he frowns and glares,
74:23 and in the end he turns his back [on Our message], and glories in his arrogance,
74:24 and says, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence handed down [from olden times]!
74:25 This is nothing but the word of mortal man!"
74:26 [Hence,] I shall cause him to endure hell-fire [in the life to come]!
74:27 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is?
74:28 It does not allow to live, and neither leaves [to die],
74:29 making [all truth] visible to mortal man.
74:30 Over it are nineteen [powers].
74:31 For We have caused none but angelic powers to lord over the fire [of hell]; 16 and We have not caused their number to be aught but a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth 17 - to the end that they who have been granted revelation aforetime might be convinced [of the truth of this divine writ]; 18 and that they who have attained to faith [in it] might grow yet more firm in their faith; and that [both] they who have been granted the earlier revelation and they who believe [in this one] might be freed of all doubt; and that they in whose hearts is disease^ 19 and the who deny the truth outright might ask, "What does [your] God mean by this parable?" 20 In this way God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]. 21 And none can comprehend thy Sustainers forces save Him alone: and all this 22 is but a reminder to mortal man.
74:32 NAY, but consider the moon!
74:33 Consider the night when it departs,
74:34 and the morn when it dawns!
74:35 Verily, that [hell-fire) is Indeed one of the great [forewarnings] -
74:36 a warning to mortal man -
74:37 to everyone of you, whether he chooses to come forward or to hang back!
74:38 [On the Day of Judgment,] every human being will be held in pledge for whatever [evil] he has wrought -
74:39 save those who shall have attained to righteousness:
74:40 [dwelling] In gardens [of paradise], they will inquire
74:41 of those who were lost in sin:
74:42 "What has brought you into hell-fire?"
74:43 They will answer: "We were not among those who prayed;
74:44 and neither did we feed the needy;
74:45 and we were wont to indulge in sinning together with all [the others] who indulged in it;
74:46 and the Day of Judgment we were wont to call a lie -
74:47 until certainty came upon us [in death]."
74:48 And so, of no benefit to them could be the intercession of any that would intercede for them.
74:49 WHAT, THEN, is amiss with them 28 that they turn away from all admonition
74:50 as though they were terrified asses
74:51 fleeing from a lion?
74:52 Yea, everyone of them claims that he [himself] ought to have been given revelations unfolded!
74:53 Nay, but they do not [believe in and, hence, do not] fear the life to come.
74:54 Nay, verily, this is an admonition -
74:55 and whoever wills may take it to heart.
74:56 But they [who do not believe in the life to come] will not take it to heart unless God so wills: 30 [for] He is the Fount of all God-consciousness, and the Fount of all forgiveness.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
75:1 NAY! I call to witness the Day of Resurrection!
75:2 But nay! I call to witness the accusing voice of man's own conscience!
75:3 Does man think that We cannot [resurrect him and] bring his bones together again?
75:4 Yea indeed, We are able to make whole his very finger-tips!
75:5 None the less man chooses to deny what lies ahead of him,
75:6 asking [derisively], "When is that Resurrection Day to be?"
75:7 But [on that Day,] when the eyesight is by fear confounded,
75:8 and the moon is darkened,
75:9 and the sun and the moon are brought together
75:10 on that Day will man exclaim "Whither to flee?"
75:11 But nay: no refuge [for thee, O man]!
75:12 With thy Sustainer, on that Day, the journey's end will be!
75:13 Man will be apprised, on that Day, of what he has done and what he has left undone:
75:14 nay, but man shall against himself be an eye-witness,
75:15 even though he may veil himself in excuses.
75:16 MOVE NOT thy tongue in haste, [repeating the words of the revelation:]
75:17 for, behold, it is for Us to gather it [in thy heart,] and to cause it to be read [as it ought to be read].
75:18 Thus, when We recite it, follow thou its wording [with all thy mind]:
75:19 and then, behold, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear.
75:20 NAY, but [most of] you love this fleeting life,
75:21 and give no thought to the life to come [and to Judgment Day]!
75:22 Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,
75:23 looking up to their Sustainer;
75:24 and some faces will on that Day be overcast with despair,
75:25 knowing that a crushing calamity is about to befall them.
75:26 NAY, but when [the last breath] comes up to the throat [of a dying man],
75:27 and people ask, "Is there any wizard [that could save him]?"
75:28 the while he [himself] knows that this is the parting,
75:29 and is enwrapped in the pangs of death 11 - :
75:30 at that time towards thy Sustainer does he feel impelled to turn!
75:31 [Useless, though, will be his repentance: 13] for [as long as he was alive] he did not accept the truth, nor did he pray [for enlightenment],
75:32 but, on the contrary, he gave the lie to the truth and turned away [from it],
75:33 and then went arrogantly back to what he had come from.
75:34 [And yet, O man, thine end comes hourly] nearer unto thee, and nearer -
75:35 and ever nearer unto thee, and nearer!
75:36 DOES MAN, then, think that he is to be left to himself to go about at will?
75:37 Was he not once a [mere] drop of sperm that had been spilt,
75:38 and thereafter became a germ-cell - whereupon He created and formed [it] in accordance with what [it] was meant to be,
75:39 and fashioned out of it the two sexes, the male and the female?
75:40 Is not He, then; able to bring the dead back to life?
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
76:1 HAS THERE [not] been an endless span of time^ 1 before man [appeared - a time] when he was not yet a thing to be thought of?
76:2 Verily, it is We who have created man out of a drop of sperm intermingled, 3 so that We might try him [in his later life]: and therefore We made him a being endowed with hearing and sight.
76:3 Verily, We have shown him the way: 4 [and it rests with him to prove himself] either grateful or ungrateful.
76:4 [Now,] behold, for those who deny the truth 5 We have readied chains and shackles, and a blazing flame -
76:5 [whereas,] behold, the truly virtuous shall drink from a cup flavoured with the calyx of sweet-smelling flowers:
76:6 a source [of bliss] whereof God's servants shall drink, seeing it flow in a flow abundant.
76:7 [The truly virtuous are] they [who] fulfil their vows, 9 and stand in awe of a Day the woe of which is bound to spread far and wide,
76:8 and who give food - however great be their own want of it - unto the needy, and the orphan, and the captive,
76:9 [saying, in their hearts,] "We feed you for the sake of God alone: we desire no recompense from you, nor thanks:
76:10 behold, we stand in awe of our Sustainer's judgment 12 on a distressful, fateful Day!"
76:11 And so, God will preserve them from the woes of that Day, and will bestow on them brightness and joy,
76:12 and will reward them for all their patience in adversity with a garden [of bliss] and with [garments of] silk.
76:13 In that [garden] they will on couches recline, and will know therein neither [burning] sun nor cold severe,
76:14 since its [blissful] shades will come down low over them, 14 and low will hang down its clusters of fruit, most easy to reach.
76:15 And they will be waited upon with vessels of silver and goblets that will [seem to] be crystal -
76:16 crystal-like, [but] of silver - the measure whereof they alone will determine.
76:17 And in that [paradise] they will be given to drink of a cup flavoured with ginger,
76:18 [derived from] a source [to be found] therein, whose name is "Seek Thy Way".
76:19 And immortal youths will wait upon them: 18 when thou seest them, thou wouldst deem them to be scattered pearls;
76:20 and when thou seest [anything that is] there thou wilt see [only] bliss and a realm transcendent
76:21 Upon those [blest] will be garments of green silk and brocade; and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver. 19 And their Sustainer will them to drink of a drink most pure.
76:22 [And they will be told:] "Verily, all this is your reward since Your endeavour [in life] has met [God's] goodly acceptance!"
76:23 VERILY, [O believer,] it is We who have bestowed from on high this Qur'an upon thee, step by step 21 - truly a bestowal from on high!
76:24 Await, then, in all patience thy Sustainer's judgment, 22 and pay no heed to any of them, who is a wilful sinner or an ingrate;
76:25 and bear in mind thy Sustainer's name^ 23 at morn and evening
76:26 and during some of the night, 24 and prostrate thyself before Him, and extol His limitless glory throughout the long night.
76:27 Behold, they [who are unmindful of God] love this fleeting life, and leave behind them [all thought of] a grief-laden Day.
76:28 [They will not admit to themselves that] it We who have created them and strengthened their make^ 26 - and [that] if it be Our will We can replace them entirely with others of their kind.
76:29 VERILY, all this is an admonition: whoever, then, so wills, may unto his Sustainer find a way.
76:30 But you cannot will it unless God wills [to show you that way]: 28 for, behold, God is indeed all-seeing, wise.
76:31 He admits unto His grace everyone who wills [to be admitted]; 29 but as for the evildoers - for them has He readied grievous suffering [in the life to come].
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
77:1 CONSIDER these [messages,] sent forth in waves
77:2 and then storming on with a tempest's force!
77:3 Consider these [messages] that spread [the truth] far and wide,
77:4 thus separating [right and wrong] with all clarity,
77:5 and then giving forth a reminder,
77:6 [promising] freedom from blame or [offering] a warning!
77:7 BEHOLD, all that you are told to expect 4 will surely come to pass.
77:8 Thus, [it will come to pass] when the stars are effaced,
77:9 and when the sky is rent asunder,
77:10 and when the mountains are scattered like dust,
77:11 and when all the apostles are called together at a time appointed. . .
77:12 For what day has the term [of all this] been set?
77:13 For the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false]!
77:14 And what could make thee conceive what that Day of Distinction will be?
77:15 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:16 Did We not destroy [so many of] those [sinners] of olden days?
77:17 And We shall let them be followed by those of later times:
77:18 [for] thus do We deal with such as are lost in sin.
77:19 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:20 Did We not create you out of a humble fluid
77:21 which We then let remain in [the womb's] firm keeping
77:22 for a term pre-ordained?
77:23 Thus have We determined [the nature of man's creation]: and excellent indeed is Our power to determine [what is to be]!
77:24 Woe, on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:25 Have We not caused the earth to hold within itself
77:26 the living and the dead? 9 -
77:27 and have We not set on it proud, firm mountains, and given you sweet water to drink?
77:28 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:29 GO ON towards that [resurrection] which you were wont to call a lie!
77:30 Go on towards the threefold shadow
77:31 that will offer no [cooling] shade and will be of no avail against the flame
77:32 which - behold!- will throw up sparks like [burning] logs,
77:33 like giant fiery ropes!
77:34 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth -
77:35 that Day on which they will not [be able to] utter a word,
77:36 nor be allowed to proffer excuses!
77:37 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth -
77:38 that Day of Distinction [between the true and the false, when they will be told]: "We have brought you together with those [sinners] of olden times;
77:39 and if you [think that you] have a subterfuge left, try to outwit Me!"
77:40 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:41 [AS AGAINST this,] behold, the God-conscious shall dwell amidst [cooling] shades and springs,
77:42 and [partake of] whatever fruit they may desire;
77:43 [and they will be told:] "Eat and drink in good cheer in return for what you did [in life]!"
77:44 Thus, behold, do We reward the doers of good;
77:45 [but] woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!
77:46 EAT [your fill] and enjoy your life for a little while, O you who are lost in sin!
77:47 [But] woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth,
77:48 and when they are told, "Bow down [before God]", do not bow down:
77:49 woe on that Day unto those who give the to the truth!
77:50 In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
78:1 ABOUT WHAT do they [most often] ask one another?
78:2 About the awesome tiding [of resurrection],
78:3 on which they [so utterly] disagree.
78:4 Nay, but in time they will come to understand [it]!
78:5 And once again: 2 Nay, but in time they will come to understand!
78:6 HAVE WE NOT made the earth a resting-place [for you],
78:7 and the mountains [its] pegs?
78:8 And We have created you in pairs;
78:9 and We have made your sleep [a symbol of] death
78:10 and made the night [its] cloak
78:11 and made the day [a symbol of] life.
78:12 And We have built above you seven firmaments,
78:13 and have placed [therein the sun,] a lamp full of blazing splendour.
78:14 And from the wind-driven clouds We send down waters pouring in abundance,
78:15 so that We might bring forth thereby grain, and herbs,
78:16 and gardens dense with follage.
78:17 VERILY, the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false] 9 has indeed its appointed time:
78:18 the Day when the trumpet [of resurrection] is sounded and you all come forward in multitudes;
78:19 and when the skies are opened and become [as wide-flung] gates;
78:20 and when the mountains are made to vanish as if they had been a mirage.
78:21 [On that Day,] verily, hell will lie in wait [for those who deny the truth] -
78:22 a goal for all who are wont to transgress the bounds of what is right!
78:23 In it shall they remain for a long time.
78:24 Neither coolness shall they taste therein nor any [thirst-quenching] drink -
78:25 only burning despair and ice-cold darkness:
78:26 a meet requital [for their sins]!
78:27 Behold, they were not expecting to be called to account,
78:28 having given the lie to Our messages one and all:
78:29 but We have placed on record every single thing [of what they did].
78:30 [And so We shall say:] "Taste, then, [the fruit of your evil doings,] for now We shall bestow on you nothing but more and more suffering!"
78:31 [But,] verily for the God-conscious there is supreme fulfilment in store:
78:32 luxuriant gardens and vinyards,
78:33 and splendid companions well matched,
78:34 and a cup [of happiness] overflowing.
78:35 No empty talk will they hear in that [paradise], nor any lie.
78:36 [All this will be] a reward from thy Sustainer, a gift in accordance with [His Own] reckoning 17 -
78:37 [a reward from] the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Most Gracious! [And] none shall have it in their power to raise their voices unto Him
78:38 on the Day when all [human] souls 18 and all the angels will stand up in ranks: none will speak but he to whom the Most Gracious will have given leave; and [everyone] will say [only] what is right.
78:39 That will be the Day of Ultimate Truth: 20 whoever wills, then, let him take the path that leads towards his Sustainer!
78:40 Verily, We have warned you of suffering near at hand - [suffering] on the Day when man shall [clearly] see what his hands have sent ahead, and when he who has denied the truth shall say, "Oh, would that I were mere dust... !"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
79:1 CONSIDER those [stars] that rise only to set,
79:2 and move [in their orbits] with steady motion,
79:3 and float [through space] with floating serene,
79:4 and yet overtake [one another] with swift overtaking:
79:5 and thus they fulfil the [Creator's] behest!
79:6 [HENCE, 4 think of] the Day when a violent convulsion will convulse [the world],
79:7 to be followed by further [convulsions]!
79:8 On that Day will [men's] hearts be throbbing,
79:9 [and] their eyes downcast. . .
79:10 [And yet,] some say, "What! Are we indeed to be restored to our former state -
79:11 even though we may have become [a heap of] crumbling bones?"
79:12 [And] they add, "That, then, would be a return with loss!"
79:13 [But,] then, that [Last Hour] will be [upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry -
79:14 and then, lo, they will be fully awakened [to the truth]!
79:15 HAS THE STORY of Moses ever come within thy ken.
79:16 Lo! His Sustainer called out to him in the twice-hallowed valley:
79:17 "Go unto Pharaoh - for, verily, he has transgressed all bounds of what is right -
79:18 and say[unto him], 'Art thou desirous of attaining to purity?
79:19 [If so,] then I shall guide thee towards [a cognition of] thy Sustainer, so that [henceforth] thou wilt stand in awe [of Him].'"
79:20 And thereupon he [went to Pharaoh and] made him aware of the great wonder [of God's grace].
79:21 But [Pharaoh] gave him the lie and rebelliously rejected [all guidance],
79:22 and brusquely turned his back [on Moses];
79:23 and then he gathered [his great ones], and called [unto his people],
79:24 and said, "I am your Lord All-Highest!"
79:25 And thereupon God took him to task, [and made him] a warning example in the life to come as well as in this world.
79:26 In this, behold, there is a lesson indeed for all who stand in awe [of God].
79:27 [O MEN!] Are you more difficult to create than the heaven which He has built?
79:28 High has He reared its vault and formed it in accordance with what it was meant to be;
79:29 and He has made dark its night and brought forth its light of day.
79:30 And after that, the earth: wide has He spread its expanse,
79:31 and has caused its waters to come out of it, and its pastures,
79:32 and has made the mountains firm:
79:33 [all this] as a means of livelihood for you and your animals.
79:34 AND SO, when the great overwhelming event [of, resurrection] comes to pass -
79:35 on that Day man will [clearly] remember all that he has ever wrought;
79:36 and the blazing fire [of hell] will be lad open before all who [are destined to] see it.
79:37 For, unto him who shall have transgressed the bounds of what is right,
79:38 and preferred the life of this world [to the good of his soul],
79:39 that blazing fire will truly be the goal!
79:40 But unto him who shall have stood in fear of his Sustainer's Presence, and held back his inner self from base desires,
79:41 paradise will truly be the goal!
79:42 THEY WILL ASK thee [O Prophet] about the Last Hour: "When will it come to pass?"
79:43 [But] how couldst thou tell anything about it,
79:44 [seeing that] with thy Sustainer alone rests the beginning and the end [of all knowledge] thereof?
79:45 Thou art but [sent] to warn those who stand in awe of it.
79:46 On the Day when they behold it, [it will seem to them] as if they had tarried [in this world] no longer than one evening or [one night, ending with] its morn!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
80:1 HE FROWNED and turned away
80:2 because the blind man approached him!
80:3 Yet for all thou didst know, [O Muhammad,] he might perhaps have grown in purity,
80:4 or have been reminded [of the truth], and helped by this reminder.
80:5 Now as for him who believes himself to be self-sufficient -
80:6 to him didst thou give thy whole attention,
80:7 although thou art not accountable for his failure to attain to purity;
80:8 but as for him who came unto thee full of eagerness
80:9 and in awe [of God]
80:10 him didst thou disregard!
80:11 NAY, VERILY, these [messages] are but a reminder:
80:12 and so, whoever is willing may remember Him
80:13 in [the light of His] revelations blest with dignity,
80:14 lofty and pure,
80:15 [borne] by the hands of messengers
80:16 noble and most virtuous.
80:17 [But only too often] man destroys himself: how stubbornly does he deny the truth!
80:18 [Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates him?
80:19 Out of a drop of sperm He creates him, and thereupon determines his nature,
80:20 and then makes it easy for him to go through life;
80:21 and in the end He causes him to die and brings him to the grave;
80:22 and then, if it be His will, He shall raise him again to life,
80:23 Nay, but [man] has never yet fulfilled what He has enjoined upon him!
80:24 Let man, then, consider [the sources of] his food:
80:25 [how it is] that We pour down water, pouring it down abundantly;
80:26 and then We cleave the earth [with new growth], cleaving it asunder,
80:27 and thereupon We cause grain to grow out of it,
80:28 and vines and edible plants,
80:29 and olive trees and date-palms,
80:30 and gardens dense with foliage,
80:31 and fruits and herbage,
80:32 for you and for your animals to enjoy.
80:33 AND SO, when the piercing call [of resurrection] is heard
80:34 on a Day when everyone will [want to] flee from his brother,
80:35 and from his mother and father,
80:36 and from his spouse and his children:
80:37 on that Day, to every one of them will his own state be of sufficient concern.
80:38 Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,
80:39 laughing, rejoicing at glad tidings.
80:40 And some faces will on that Day with dust be covered,
80:41 with darkness overspread:
80:42 these, these will be the ones who denied the truth and were immersed in iniquity!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
81:1 WHEN THE SUN is shrouded in darkness,
81:2 and when the stars lose their light,
81:3 and when the mountains are made to vanish,
81:4 and when she-camels big with young, about to give birth, are left untended,
81:5 and when all beasts are gathered together,
81:6 and when the seas boil over,
81:7 and when all human beings are coupled [with their deeds],
81:8 and when the girl-child that was buried alive is made to ask
81:9 for what crime she had been slain,
81:10 and when the scrolls [of men's deeds] are unfolded,
81:11 and when heaven is laid bare,
81:12 and when the blazing fire [of hell] is kindled bright,
81:13 and when paradise is brought into view:
81:14 [on that Day] every human being will come to know what he has prepared [for himself].
81:15 BUT NAY! I call to witness the revolving stars,
81:16 the planets that run their course and set,
81:17 and the night as it darkly falls,
81:18 and the morn as it softly breathes:
81:19 behold, this [divine writ] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle,
81:20 with strength endowed, secure with Him who in almightiness is enthroned
81:21 [the word] of one to be heeded, and worthy of trust!
81:22 For, this fellow-man of yours is not a madman:
81:23 he truly beheld [the angel - beheld] him on the clear horizon;
81:24 and he is not one to begrudge others the knowledge [of whatever has been revealed to him] out of that which is beyond the reach of human Perception.
81:25 Nor is this [message] the word of any satanic force accursed.
81:26 Whither, then, will you go?
81:27 This [message] is no less than a reminder to all mankind -
81:28 to everyone of you who wills to walk a straight way.
81:29 But you cannot will it unless God, the Sustainer of all the worlds, wills [to show you that way].
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
82:1 WHEN THE SKY is cleft asunder,
82:2 and when the stars are scattered,
82:3 and when the seas burst beyond their bounds,
82:4 and when the graves are overturned -
82:5 every human being will [at last] comprehend, what he has sent ahead and what he has held back [in this world].
82:6 O MAN! What is it that lures thee away from thy bountiful Sustainer,
82:7 who has created thee, and formed thee in accordance with what thou art meant' to be, and shaped thy nature in just proportions,
82:8 having put thee together in whatever form He willed [thee to have]?
82:9 Nay, [O men,] but you [are lured away from God whenever you are tempted to] give the lie to [God's] Judgment!
82:10 And yet, verily, there are ever-watchful forces over you,
82:11 noble, recording,
82:12 aware of whatever you do!
82:13 Behold, [in the life to come] the truly virtuous: will indeed be in bliss,
82:14 whereas, behold, the wicked will indeed be in a blazing fire -
82:15 [a fire] which they shall enter on Judgment Day,
82:16 and which they shall not [be able to] evade.
82:17 And what could make thee conceive what that Judgment Day will be?
82:18 And once again: What could make thee conceive what that Judgment Day will be?
82:19 [It will be] a Day when no human being shall be of the least avail to another human being: for on that Day [it will become manifest that] all sovereignty is God's alone.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
83:1 WOE UNTO THOSE who give short measure:
83:2 those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full -
83:3 but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due!
83:4 Do they not know that they are bound to be raised from the dead
83:5 [and called to account] on an awesome Day -
83:6 the Day when all men shall stand before the Sustainer of all the worlds?
83:7 NAY, VERILY, the record of the wicked is indeed [set down] in a mode inescapable!
83:8 And what could make thee conceive what that that mode inescapable will be?
83:9 A record [indelibly] inscribed!
83:10 Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth -
83:11 those who give the lie to the [coming of] Judgment Day:
83:12 for, none gives the lie to it but such as are wont to transgress against all that is [and are] immersed in sin:
83:13 [and so,] whenever Our messages are conveyed to them, they but say, "Fables of ancient times!"
83:14 Nay, but their hearts are corroded by all [the evil] that they were wont to do!
83:15 Nay, verily, from [the grace of] their Sustainer shall they on that Day be debarred;
83:16 and then, behold, they shall enter the blazing fire
83:17 and be told: "This is the [very thing] to which you were wont to give the lie!"
83:18 NAY, VERILY - the record of the truly virtuous is [set down] in a mode most lofty!
83:19 And what could make thee conceive what that mode most lofty will be?
83:20 A record [indelibly] inscribed,
83:21 witnessed by all who have [ever] been drawn close unto God.
83:22 Behold, [in the life to come] the truly virtuous will indeed be in bliss:
83:23 [restingJ on couches, they will look up [to God]:
83:24 upon their faces thou wilt see the brightness of bliss.
83:25 They will be given a drink of pure wine whereon the seal [of God] will have been set,
83:26 pouring forth with a fragrance of musk. To that [wine of paradise], then, let all such aspire as [are willing to] aspire to things of high account:
83:27 for it is composed of all that is most exalting
83:28 a source [of bliss] whereof those who are drawn close unto God shall drink.
83:29 BEHOLD, those who have abandoned themselves to sin are wont to laugh at such as have attained to faith
83:30 and whenever they pass by them, they wink at one another [derisively];
83:31 and whenever they return to people of their own kind, they return full of jests;
83:32 and whenever they see those [who believe,] they say, "Behold, these [people] have indeed gone astray!"
83:33 And, withal, they have no call to watch over [the beliefs of] others. . .
83:34 But on the Day [of Judgment], they who had attained to faith will [be able to] laugh at the [erstwhile] deniers of the truth:
83:35 [for, resting in paradise] on couches, they will look on [and say to themselves]:
83:36 "Are these deniers of the truth being [thus] requited for [aught but] what they were wont to do?"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
84:1 WHEN THE SKY is split asunder,
84:2 obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must;
84:3 and when the earth is leveled,
84:4 and casts forth whatever is in it, and becomes utterly void,
84:5 obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must -:
84:6 [then,] O man - thou [that] hast, verily, been toiling towards thy Sustainer in painful toil - then shalt thou meet Him!
84:7 And as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand,
84:8 he will in time be called to account with an easy accounting,
84:9 and will [be able to] turn joyfully to those of his own kind.
84:10 But as for him whose record shall be given to him behind his back;
84:11 he will in time pray for utter destruction:
84:12 but he will enter the blazing flame.
84:13 Behold, [in his earthly life] he lived joyfully among people of his own kind -
84:14 for, behold, he never thought that he would have to return [to God].
84:15 Yea indeed! His Sustainer did see all that was in him!
84:16 BUT NAY! I call to witness the sunset's [fleeting] afterglow,
84:17 and the night, and what it [step by step] unfolds,
84:18 and the moon, as it grows to its fullness:
84:19 [even thus, O men,] are you bound to move; onward from stage to stage.
84:20 What, then, is amiss with them that they will not believe [in a life to come]? -
84:21 and [that], when the Qur'an is read unto them, they do not fall down in prostration?
84:22 Nay, but they who are bent on denying the truth give the lie [to this divine writ]!
84:23 Yet God has full knowledge of what they conceal [in their hearts].
84:24 Hence, give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come] -
84:25 unless it be such [of them] as [repent, and] attain to faith, and do good works: for theirs shall be a reward unending!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
85:1 CONSIDER the sky full of great constellations,
85:2 and [then bethink thyself of] the promised Day,
85:3 and [of] Him who witnesses [all], and [of] that unto which witness is borne [by Him]!
85:4 THEY DESTROY [but] themselves, they who would ready a pit
85:5 of fire fiercely burning [for all who have attained to faith]!
85:6 Lo! [With glee do] they contemplate that [fire],
85:7 fully conscious of what they are doing to the believers,
85:8 whom they hate for no other reason than that they believe in God, the Almighty, the One to whom all praise is due,
85:9 [and] to whom the dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs. But God is witness unto everything!
85:10 Verily, as for those who persecute believing men and believing women, and thereafter do not repent, hell's suffering awaits them: yea, suffering through fire awaits them!
85:11 [But,] verily, they who attain to faith and do righteous deeds shall [in the life to come] have gardens through which running waters flow - that triumph most great!
85:12 VERILY, thy Sustainer's grip is exceedingly strong!
85:13 Behold, it is He who creates [man] in the first instance, and He [it is who] will bring him forth anew.
85:14 And He alone is truly-forgiving, all-embracing in His love,
85:15 in sublime almightiness enthroned,
85:16 a sovereign doer of whatever He wills.
85:17 HAS IT ever come within thy ken, the story of the [sinful] hosts
85:18 of Pharaoh, and of [the tribe of] Thamud?
85:19 And yet, they who are bent on denying the truth persist in giving it the lie:
85:20 but all the while God encompasses them [with His knowledge and might] without their being aware of it.
85:21 Nay, but this [divine writ which they reject] is a discourse sublime,
85:22 upon an imperishable tablet [inscribed].
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
86:1 CONSIDER the heavens and that which comes in the night!
86:2 And what could make thee conceive what it is that comes in the night?
86:3 It is the star that pierces through [life's] darkness:
86:4 [for] no human being has ever been left unguarded.
86:5 LET MAN, then, observe out of what he has been created:
86:6 he has been created out of a seminal fluid
86:7 issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman].
86:8 Now, verily, He [who thus creates man in the first instance] is well able to bring him back [to life]
86:9 on the Day when all I secrets will be laid bare,
86:10 and [man] will have neither strength nor helper!
86:11 Consider the heavens, ever-revolving,
86:12 and the earth, bursting forth with plants!
86:13 BEHOLD, this [divine writ] is indeed a word that between truth and falsehood,
86:14 and is no idle tale.
86:15 Behold, they [who refuse to accept it] devise many a false argument [to disprove its truth];
86:16 but I shall bring all their scheming to nought.
86:17 Let, then, the deniers of the truth have their will: let them have their will for a little while!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
87:1 EXTOL the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's name:[the glory of] the Al-Highest,
87:2 who creates [every thing], and thereupon forms it in accordance with with what it is meant to be,
87:3 and who determines the nature [of all that exists], and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfilment],
87:4 and who brings forth herbage,
87:5 and thereupon causes it to decay into rust-brown stubble!
87:6 WE SHALL teach thee, and thou wilt not forget [aught of what thou art taught],
87:7 save what God may will [thee to forget] - for, verily, He [alone] knows all that is open to [man's] perception as well as all that is hidden [from it] -:
87:8 and [thus] shall We make easy for thee the path towards [ultimate] ease.
87:9 REMIND, THEN, [others of the truth, regardless of] whether this reminding [would seem to] be of use [or not]:
87:10 in mind will keep it he who stands in awe [of God],
87:11 but aloof from it will remain that most hapless wretch -
87:12 he who [in the life to come] shall have to endure the great fire
87:13 wherein he will neither die nor remain alive.
87:14 To happiness [in the life to come] will indeed attain he who attains to purity [in this world],
87:15 and remembers his Sustainer's name, and prays [unto Him].
87:16 But nay, [O men,] you prefer the life of this world,
87:17 although the life to come is better and more enduring.
87:18 Verily, [all] this has indeed been [said] in the earlier revelations -
87:19 the revelations of Abraham and Moses.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
88:1 HAS THERE COME unto thee the tiding of the Overshadowing Event?'
88:2 Some faces will on that Day be downcast,
88:3 toiling [under burdens of sin], worn out [by fear],
88:4 about to enter a glowing fire,
88:5 given to drink from a boiling spring.
88:6 No food for them save the bitterness of dry thorns,
88:7 which gives no strength and neither stills hunger.
88:8 [And] some faces will on that Day shine with bliss,
88:9 well-pleased with [the fruit of] their striving,
88:10 in a garden sublime,
88:11 wherein thou wilt hear no empty talk.
88:12 Countless springs will flow therein,
88:13 [and] there will be thrones [of happiness] raised high,
88:14 and goblets placed ready,
88:15 and cushions ranged,
88:16 and carpets spread out...
88:17 DO, THEN, they [who deny resurrection] never gaze at the clouds pregnant with water, [and observe] how they are created?
88:18 And at the sky, how it is raised aloft?
88:19 And at the mountains, how firmly they are reared?
88:20 And at the earth, how it is spread out?
88:21 And so, [O Prophet,] exhort them; thy task is only to exhort:
88:22 thou canst not compel them [to believe].
88:23 However, as for him who turns away, being bent on denying the truth,
88:24 him will God cause to suffer the greatest suffering [in the life to come]:
88:25 for behold, unto Us will be their return,
88:26 and verily, It is for Us to call them to account.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
89:1 CONSIDER the daybreak
89:2 and the ten nights!
89:3 Consider the multiple and the One!
89:4 Consider the night as it runs its course!
89:5 Considering all this - could there be, to anyone endowed with reason, a [more] solemn evidence of the truth?
89:6 ART THOU NOT aware of how thy Sustainer has dealt with [the tribe of] `Ad,
89:7 [the people of] Iram the many-pillared,
89:8 the like of whom has never been reared in all the land? -
89:9 and with [the tribe of] Thamud, who hollowed out rocks in the valley? -
89:10 and with Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles?
89:11 [It was they] who transgressed all bounds of equity all over their lands,
89:12 and brought about great corruption therein:
89:13 and therefore thy Sustainer let loose upon them a scourge of suffering:
89:14 for, verily, thy Sustainer is ever on the watch!
89:15 BUT AS FOR man, whenever his Sustainer tries him by His generosity and by letting him enjoy a life of ease, he says, "My Sustainer has been [justly] generous towards me";
89:16 whereas, whenever He tries him by straitening his means of livelihood, he says, "My Sustainer has disgraced me!"
89:17 But nay, nay, [O men, consider all that you do and fail to do:] you are not generous towards the orphan,
89:18 and you do not urge one another to feed the needy,
89:19 and you devour the inheritance [of others] with devouring greed,
89:20 and you love wealth with boundless love!
89:21 Nay, but [how will you fare on Judgment Day,] when the earth is crushed with crushing upon crushing,
89:22 and [the majesty of] thy Sustainer stands revealed, as well as [the true nature of] the angels; rank upon rank?
89:23 And on that Day hell will be brought [within sight]; on that Day man will remember [all that he did and failed to do]: but what will that remembrance avail him?
89:24 He will say, "Oh, would that I had. provided beforehand for my life [to come]!"
89:25 For, none can make suffer as He will make suffer [the sinners] on that Day,
89:26 and none can bind with bonds like His.
89:27 [But unto the righteous God will say,] "O thou human being that hast attained to inner peace!
89:28 Return thou unto thy Sustainer, well-pleased [and] pleasing [Him]:
89:29 enter, then, together with My [other true] servants -
89:30 yea, enter thou My paradise!"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
90:1 NAY! I call to witness this land -
90:2 this land in which thou art free to dwell -
90:3 and [I call to witness] parent and offspring:
90:4 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial.
90:5 Does he, then, think that no one has power over him?
90:6 He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!"
90:7 Does he, then, think that no one sees him?
90:8 Have We not given him two eyes,
90:9 and a tongue, and a pair of lips,
90:10 and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]?
90:11 But he would not try to ascend the steep uphill road...
90:12 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road?
90:13 [It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin],
90:14 or the feeding, upon a day of [one's own] hunger,
90:15 of an orphan near of kin,
90:16 or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust -
90:17 and being, withal, of those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion.
90:18 Such are they that have attained to righteousness;
90:19 whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as have lost themselves in evil,
90:20 [with] fire closing in upon them.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
91:1 CONSIDER the sun and its radiant brightness,
91:2 and the moon as it reflects the sun!
91:3 Consider the day as it reveals the world,
91:4 and the night as it veils it darkly!
91:5 Consider the sky and its wondrous make,
91:6 and the earth and all its expanse!
91:7 Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be,
91:8 and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God!
91:9 To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes this [self] to grow in purity,
91:10 and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness].
91:11 TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud,
91:12 when that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit his evil deed],
91:13 although God's apostle had told them, "It is a she-camel belonging to God, so let her drink [and do her no harm]!"
91:14 But they gave him the lie, and cruelly slaughtered her - whereupon their Sustainer visited them wwith utter destruction for this their sin, destroying them all alike:
91:15 for none [of them] had any fear of what might befall them.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
92:1 CONSIDER the night as it veils [the earth] in darkness,
92:2 and the day as it rises bright!
92:3 Consider the creation of the male and the female!
92:4 Verily, [O men,] you aim at most divergent ends!
92:5 Thus, as for him who gives [to others] and is conscious of God,
92:6 and believes in the truth of the ultimate good -
92:7 for him shall We make easy the path towards [ultimate] ease.
92:8 But as for him who is niggardly, and thinks that he is self-sufficient,
92:9 and calls the ultimate good a lie -
92:10 for him shall We make easy the path towards hardship:
92:11 and what will his wealth avail him when he goes down [to his grave]?
92:12 BEHOLD, it is indeed for Us to grace [you] with guidance;
92:13 and, behold, Ours is [the dominion over] the life to come as well as [over] this earlier part [of your life]:
92:14 and so I warn you of the raging fire -
92:15 [the fire] which none shall have to endure but that most hapless wretch
92:16 who gives the lie to the truth and turns away [from it].
92:17 For, distant from it shall remain he who is truly conscious of God:
92:18 he that spends his possessions [on others] so that he might grow in purity -
92:19 not as payment for favours received,
92:20 but only out of a longing for the countenance of his Sustainer, the All-Highest:
92:21 and such, indeed, shall in time be well-pleased.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
93:1 CONSIDER the bright morning hours,
93:2 and the night when it grows still and dark.
93:3 Thy Sustainer has not forsaken thee, nor does He scorn thee:
93:4 for, indeed, the life to come will be better for thee than this earlier part [of thy life]!
93:5 And, indeed, in time will thy Sustainer grant thee [what thy heart desires], and thou shalt be well-pleased.
93:6 Has He not found thee an orphan, and given thee shelter?
93:7 And found thee lost on thy way, and guided thee?
93:8 And found thee in want, and given thee sufficiency?
93:9 Therefore, the orphan shalt thou never wrong,
93:10 and him that seeks [thy] help shalt thou never chide,
93:11 and of thy Sustainer's blessings shalt thou [ever] speak.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
94:1 HAVE WE NOT opened up thy heart,
94:2 and lifted from thee the burden
94:3 that had weighed so heavily on thy back?
94:4 And [have We not] raised thee high in dignity?
94:5 And, behold, with every hardship comes ease:
94:6 verily, with every hardship comes ease!
94:7 Hence, when thou art freed [from distress], remain steadfast,
94:8 and unto thy Sustainer turn with love.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
95:1 CONSIDER the fig and the olive,
95:2 and Mount Sinai,
95:3 and this land secure!
95:4 Verily, We create man in the best conformation;
95:5 and thereafter We reduce him to the lowest of low -
95:6 excepting only such as attain to faith and do good works: and theirs shall be a reward unending!
95:7 What, then, [O man,] could henceforth cause thee to give the lie to this moral law?
95:8 Is not God the most just of judges?
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
96:1 READ 1 in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created -
96:2 created man out of a germ-cell!
96:3 Read - for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One
96:4 who has taught [man] the use of the pen -
96:5 taught man what he did not know!
96:6 Nay, verily, man becomes grossly overweening
96:7 whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient:
96:8 for, behold, unto thy Sustainer all must return.
96:9 HAST THOU ever considered him who tries to prevent
96:10 a servant [of God] from praying?
96:11 Hast thou considered whether he is on the right way,
96:12 or is concerned with God-consciousness?
96:13 Hast thou considered whether he may [not] be giving the lie to the truth and turning his back [upon it]?
96:14 Does he, then, not know that God sees [all]?
96:15 Nay, if he desist not, We shall most surely drag him down upon his forehead 8 -
96:16 the lying, rebellious forehead! -
96:17 and then let him summon [to his aid] the counsels of his own [spurious] wisdom,
96:18 [the while] We shall summon the forces of heavenly chastisement!
96:19 Nay, pay thou no heed to him, but prostrate thyself [before God] and draw close [unto Him]!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
97:1 BEHOLD, from on high have We bestowed this [divine writ] on Night of Destiny.
97:2 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that Night of Destiny?
97:3 The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months:
97:4 in hosts descend in it the angels, 3 bearing divine inspiration 4 by their Sustainer's leave; from all [evil] that may happen
97:5 does it make secure, 5 until the rise of dawn.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
98:1 IT IS NOT [conceivable] that such as are bent on denying the truth - [be they] from among the followers of earlier revelation or from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God 1 - should ever be abandoned [by Him] ere there comes unto them the [full] evidence of the truth:
98:2 an apostle from God, conveying [unto them] revelations blest with purity,
98:3 wherein there are ordinances of ever-true soundness and clarity.
98:4 Now those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime 3 did break up their unity [of faith] after such an evidence of the truth had come to them.
98:5 And withal, they were not enjoined aught but that they should worship God, sincere in their faith in Him alone, turning away from all that is false; 5 and that they should be constant in prayer; and that they should spend in charity: 6 for this is a moral law endowed with ever-true soundness and clarity.
98:6 Verily, those who [despite all evidence] are bent on denying the truth 8 - [be they] from among the followers of earlier revelation or from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God - will find themselves in the fire of hell, therein to abide: they are the worst of all creatures.
98:7 [And,] verily, those who have attained to faith, and do righteous deeds - it is they, they who are the best of all creatures.
98:8 Their reward [awaits them] with God: gardens of perpetual bliss, through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time; well-pleased is God with them, and well-pleased are they with Him: all this awaits him who of his Sustainer stands in awe!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
99:1 WHEN THE EARTH quakes with her [last] mighty quaking,
99:2 and [when] the earth yields up her burdens,
99:3 and man cries out, "What has happened to her?" -
99:4 on that Day will she recount all her tidings,
99:5 as thy Sustainer will have inspired her to do!
99:6 On that Day will all men come forward, cut off from one another, 3 to be shown their [past] deeds.
99:7 And so, he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it;
99:8 and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
100:1 Oh, 1 the chargers that run panting,
100:2 sparks of fire striking,
100:3 rushing to assault at morn,
100:4 thereby raising clouds of dust,
100:5 thereby storming [blindly] into any host!
100:6 VERILY, towards his Sustainer man is most ungrateful
100:7 and to this, behold, he [himself] bears witness indeed:
100:8 for, verily, to the love of wealth is he most ardently devoted.
100:9 But does he not know that [on the Last Day,] when all that is in the graves is raised and brought out,
100:10 and all that is [hidden] in men's hearts is bared -
100:11 that on that Day their Sustainer [will show that He] has always been fully aware of them?
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
101:1 OH, the sudden calamity!
101:2 How awesome the sudden calamity!
101:3 And what could make thee conceive what that sudden calamity will be?
101:4 [It will occur] on the Day when men will be like moths swarming in confusion,
101:5 and the mountains will be like fluffy tufts of wool. . . .
101:6 And then, he whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance
101:7 shall find himself in a happy' state of life;
101:8 whereas he whose weight is light in the balance
101:9 shall be engulfed by an abyss.
101:10 And what could make thee conceive what that [abyss] will be?
101:11 A fire hotly burning!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
102:1 YOU ARE OBSESSED by greed for more and more
102:2 until you go down to your graves.
102:3 Nay, in time you will come to understand!
102:4 And once again: 2 Nay, in time you will come to understand!
102:5 Nay, if you could but understand [it] with an understanding [born] of certainty,
102:6 you would indeed, most surely, behold the blazing fire [of hell]!
102:7 In the end you will indeed, most surely, behold it with the eye of certainty:
102:8 and on that Day you will most surely be called to account for [what you did with] the boon of life!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
103:1 CONSIDER the flight of time!
103:2 Verily, man is bound to lose himself
103:3 unless he be of those 2 who attain to faith, and do good works, and enjoin upon one another the keeping to truth, and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
104:1 WOE unto every slanderer, fault-finder!
104:2 [Woe unto him 2] who amasses wealth and counts it a safeguard,
104:3 thinking that his wealth will make him live forever!
104:4 Nay, but [in the life to come such as] he shall indeed be abandoned to crushing torment!
104:5 And what could make thee conceive what that crushing torment will be?
104:6 A fire kindled by God,
104:7 which will rise over the [guilty] hearts:
104:8 verily, it will close in upon them
104:9 in endless columns!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
105:1 ART THOU NOT aware of how thy Sustainer dealt with the Army of the Elephant?
105:2 Did He not utterly confound their artful planning?
105:3 Thus, He let loose upon them great swarms of flying creatures
105:4 which smote them with stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained,
105:5 and caused them to become like a field of grain that has been eaten down to stubble 3 -
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
106:1 SO THAT the Quraysh might remain secure,
106:2 secure in their winter and summer journeys,
106:3 Let them, therefore, worship the Sustainer of this Temple;
106:4 who has given them food against hunger, and made them safe from danger.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
107:1 HAST THOU ever considered [the kind of man] who gives the lie to all moral law?
107:2 Behold, it is this [kind of man] that thrusts the orphan away,
107:3 and feels no urge 2 to feed the needy.
107:4 Woe, then, unto those praying ones
107:5 whose hearts from their prayer are remote
107:6 those who want only to be seen and praised,
107:7 and, withal, deny all assistance [to their fellow-men]!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
108:1 BEHOLD, We have bestowed upon thee good in abundance:
108:2 hence, pray unto thy Sustainer [alone], and sacrifice [unto Him alone].
108:3 Verily, he that hates thee has indeed been cut off [from all that is good]!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
109:1 SAY: "O you who deny the truth!
109:2 "I do not worship that which you worship,
109:3 and neither do you worship that which I worship!
109:4 "And I will not worship that which you have [ever] worshipped,
109:5 and neither will you [ever] worship that which I worship.
109:6 Unto you, your moral law, and unto me, mine !"
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
110:1 WHEN GOD'S SUCCOUR comes, and victory,
110:2 and thou seest people enter God's religion 1 in hosts,
110:3 extol thy Sustainer's limitless glory, and praise Him, and seek His forgiveness: for, behold, He is ever an acceptor of repentance.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
111:1 DOOMED are the hands of him of the glowing countennce: and doomed is he!
111:2 What will his wealth avail him, and all that he has gained?
111:3 [In the life to come] he shall have to endure a fire fiercely glowing;
111:4 together with his wife, that carrier of evil tales,
111:5 [who bears] around her neck a rope of twisted strands!
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
112:1 SAY: "He is the One God:
112:2 "God the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of All Being.
112:3 "He begets not, and neither is He begotten;
112:4 "and there is nothing that could be compared with Him.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
113:1 SAY: "I seek refuge with the Sustainer of the rising dawn,
113:2 "from the evil of aught that He has created,
113:3 "and from the evil of the black darkness whenever it descends,
113:4 "and from the evil of all human beings bent on occult endeavours,
113:5 "and from the evil of the envious when he envies."
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
114:1 SAY: "I seek refuge with the Sustainer of men, -
114:2 "the Sovereign of men,
114:3 "the God of men,
114:4 "from the evil of the whispering, elusive tempter
114:5 "who whispers in the hearts of men
114:6 "from all [temptation to evil by] invisible forces as well as men,"