Verse 31
But whoever of you is obedient to God and His Messenger, and acts righteously, We shall give her a twofold reward, in other words, twice the reward for other women (variant readings [for ta‘mal and nu’tihā] are [impersonal] ya‘mal, ‘[whoever] acts’, and yu’tihā, ‘He will give her’). And We have prepared a noble provision for her, in Paradise, in addition [to the twofold reward].
Verse 32
O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other, group of, women. If you fear, God, for you are more exalted [in status], then do not be complaisant in your speech, with men, lest he in whose heart is a sickness, hypocrisy, aspire [to you], but speak honourable words, without any complaisance.
Verse 33
And stay in your houses (read qirna or qarna, derived from al-qarār, and is actually, aqrirna or aqrarna from qarirtu or qarartu: the vowelling of the rā’ is moved to the qāf and [the rā’] is omitted together with the conjunctive hamza) and do not flaunt your finery (tabarrajna, with one of the two original tā’ [of tatabarrajna] letters omitted) in the [flaunting] manner of the former Time of Ignorance, in other words, before Islam, when they used to display their beauty to men — [the stipulation regarding] such ‘displays’ after [the coming of] Islam is mentioned in the verse: and not to display their adornment except what is apparent [Q. 24:31]. And maintain prayer and pay the alms, and obey God and His Messenger. Indeed God will but to rid you of sin, O, People of the House, in other words, [O] women of the Prophet (s), and to purify you, of it, with a thorough purification.
Verse 34
And remember that which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God, [of] the Qur’ān, and wisdom, the Sunna. Truly God is Kind, to His friends, Aware, of all His creatures.
Verse 35
Indeed the men who have submitted [to God] and the women who have submitted [to God], and the believing men and the believing women, and the obedient men and the obedient women, and the men who are truthful and the women who are truthful, in their faith, and the patient men and the patient women, [steadfast] in [performing] acts of obedience, and the humble men and the humble women, and the charitable men and the charitable women, and the men who fast and the women who fast, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard their private parts, from what is unlawful, and the men who remember God often and the women who remember God often — for them God has prepared forgiveness, of [their] acts of disobedience, and a great reward, for their acts of obedience.
Verse 36
And it is not [fitting] for any believing man or believing woman, when God and His Messenger have decided on a matter, to have (read takūna or yakūna) a choice in their matter, in contravention of the decision of God and His Messenger. This [verse] was revealed regarding ‘Abd Allāh b. Jahsh and his sister Zaynab, whose hand the Prophet had asked for in marriage, but meaning on behalf of Zayd b. Hāritha. They were loathe to this [proposal] when they found out [that it was on the latter’s behalf], for they had thought that the Prophet (s) wanted to marry her himself. But afterwards they consented because of the [following part of the] verse: And whoever disobeys God and His Messenger has certainly strayed into manifest error. Thus the Prophet (s) gave her in marriage to Zayd. Then on one occasion he [the Prophet] caught sight of her and felt love for her, whereafter [when he realised that] Zayd lost his affection for her and so said to the Prophet (s), ‘I want to part with her’. But the Prophet said to him, ‘Retain your wife for yourself’, as God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 37
And when (idh is dependent because of [an implied preceding] udhkur, ‘mention [when]’) you said to him to whom God had shown favour, by [guiding him to] Islam, and to whom you [too] had shown favour: by manumitting him — this was Zayd b. Hāritha, who had been a prisoner of war before [the coming of] Islam (in the period of al-jāhiliyya). The Messenger of God (s) purchased him before his call to prophethood, and then manumitted him and adopted him as his son — ‘Retain your wife for yourself and fear God’, before divorcing her. But you had hidden in your heart what God was to disclose, [what] He was to manifest of your love for her and of [the fact] that should Zayd part with her you would marry her, and you feared people, would say, ‘He has married his son’s wife!’, though God is worthier that you should fear Him, in all things, so take her in marriage and do not be concerned with what people say. Zayd subsequently divorced her and her [obligatory] waiting period was completed. God, exalted be He, says: So when Zayd had fulfilled whatever need he had of her, We joined her in marriage to you — the Prophet consummated his marriage with her without [the customary] permission [from her legal guardian] and gratified the Muslims with [a feast of] bread and meat — so that there may not be any restriction for the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have fulfilled whatever wish they have of them. And God’s commandment, that which He has decreed, is bound to be realised.
Verse 38
There is no restriction for the Prophet in what God has ordained, [in what] He has made lawful, for him: [that is] God’s precedent (sunnata’Llāhi is in the accusative because the operator of the oblique has been removed [from the oblique construction ka-sunnati’Llāhi, ‘as is God’s precedent’) with those who passed away before, of prophets, which is that there is no restriction for them in this respect, a [special] dispensation for them regarding marriage — and God’s commandment, what He does, is inexorable destiny
Verse 39
— [those] who (alladhīna qualifies the previous alladhīna) deliver the Messages of God and fear Him, and fear no one except Him, and therefore they do not fear what people [might] say about that which God has made lawful for them. And God suffices as Reckoner, as keeper of the deeds of His creatures and [as One] to reckon with them.
Verse 40
Muhammad is not the father of any man among you: he is not Zayd’s biological father and so it is not unlawful for him to marry his [former] wife Zaynab [after him]; but, he is, the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets, and so he will not have a son that is a [fully grown] man to be a prophet after him (a variant reading [for khātim al-nabiyyīna] has khātam al-nabiyyīn, as in the instrument [known as a] ‘seal’, in other words, their [prophethood] has been sealed by him). And God has knowledge of all things, among these is the fact that there will be no prophet after him, and even when the lord Jesus descends [at the end of days] he will rule according to his [Muhammad’s] Law.
Verse 41
O you who believe! Remember God with much remembrance.
Verse 42
And glorify Him morning and evening, in other words, at the beginning of the day and at the end of it.
Verse 43
It is He Who blesses you, that is to say, Who shows mercy to you, and His angels, ask forgiveness for you, that He may bring you forth, that He may always bring you forth, from darkness, namely, [from] disbelief, into light, namely, faith. And He is Merciful to the believers.
Verse 44
Their greeting, from Him, exalted be He, on the day they encounter Him will be ‘Peace’, [extended to them] by the tongues of the angels. And He has prepared for them a noble reward, namely, Paradise.
Verse 45
O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness, against those to whom you have were sent, and as a bearer of good tidings, for those who affirm your sincerity, of Paradise, and as a warner, for those who deny you, of the [punishment of the] Fire,
Verse 46
and as a summoner to God, to obedience to Him, by His leave, by His command, and as a illuminating lamp, in other words, the equivalent of it, in terms of one’s being able to find guidance therewith.
Verse 47
And give good tidings to the believers that there will be for them a great bounty from God, namely, Paradise.
Verse 48
And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, in [assenting to do] what contravenes your Law; and disregard, leave aside, their injuriousness — do not retaliate against them for it until you receive a command [from God] regarding [how to deal with] them. And put your trust in God, for He will suffice you, and God suffices as Guardian, One to Whom matters are entrusted.
Verse 49
O you who believe if you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them (read tamassūhunna or tumāsūhunna) that is, before you have copulated with them, there shall be no [waiting] period for you to reckon against them, [no] waiting period [needed to preclude pregnancy] or otherwise. But provide for them, give them what they can use for [securing] comforts, in cases where no dowry has been fixed for them; otherwise theirs is to retain half of what was fixed, but no more — this is what Ibn ‘Abbās said and it is [the opinion] followed by al-Shāfi‘ī’; and release them in a gracious manner, leave them be without [the intention to cause them any] harm.
Verse 50
O Prophet! Indeed We have made lawful for you your wives whom you have given their dowries and what your right hand owns, of those whom God has given you as spoils of war, from the disbelievers, [whom you have] taken captive, such as Safiyya and Juwayriyya, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you, as opposed to those who did not emigrate, and any believing woman if she gift herself [in marriage] to the Prophet and if the Prophet desire to take her in marriage, and ask for her hand in marriage without paying [her] a dowry — a privilege for you exclusively, not for the [rest of the] believers (nikāh, ‘marriage’, when expressed by the term hiba, ‘gift’, denotes [marriage] without dowry). Indeed We know what We have imposed upon them, namely, the believers, with respect to their wives, in the way of rulings, to the effect that they should not take more than four wives and should only marry with [the consent of] a legal guardian, [the presence of] witnesses and [the payment of] a dowry, and, with respect to, what their right hands own, of slavegirls, in the way of purchase or otherwise, so that the handmaiden be one lawful for her master, such as a slavegirl belonging to the People of the Scripture (kitābiyya), and not a Magian or an idolater, and that she should be ascertained [as not carrying child] with the necessary waiting period (istibrā’) before copulation; so that (li-kaylā is semantically connected to what came before [this last statement]) there may be no [unnecessary] restriction for you, [no] constraint in marriage [for you]. And God is Forgiving, of what is difficult to guard against, Merciful, in giving dispensations [allowing for latitude] in this respect.
Verse 51
You may put off (read turji’ or turjī), you may postpone [consorting with], whomever of them you wish, namely, of your wives, from their turn [for intimacy], and consort, embrace [in conjugality], whomever you wish, of them, and come unto her, and as for whomever you may desire of those whom you have set aside, from their share, you would not be at fault, to desire her and consort with her [again]. He was given the choice in this respect after it had been obligatory for him to give each wife her [equal] share [of conjugality]. That, freedom of choice, makes it likelier that they will be comforted and not grieve, and that they will be satisfied with what you give them, of what has been mentioned of your freedom to choose [whom to consort with], every one of them (kulluhunna emphasises the subject of [the verb] yardayna, ‘they will be satisfied’) will be well-pleased with what you give her. And God knows what is in your hearts, with respect to [your] women and [your] preferring some [to others]. We have given you the freedom to choose [from among them] in order to make it easier for you to have what you desire. And God is Knower, of His creatures, Forbearing, in refraining from punishing them.
Verse 52
Women are not lawful for you (read lā tahillu, or lā yahillu) beyond that, beyond the nine that have chosen you [as their husband], nor [is it lawful] for you to change (tabaddala: one of the two original tā’ letters [of tatabaddala] has been omitted) them for other wives, by divorcing them or some of them and marry in place of those whom you divorce, even though their beauty impress you, except those whom your right hand owns, of slavegirls, which is [in contrast] lawful for you. In addition to these [slavegirls] the Prophet (s) came to own Māriya [the Copt]. She bore for him Ibrāhīm, who died during his lifetime. And God is Watcher over, Preserver [of], all things.
Verse 53
O you who believe, do not enter the Prophet’s houses unless permission is granted you, to enter by invitation, to [share] a meal, and so you enter, without waiting for the [right] moment, [for] when it is ready (ināhu, a verbal noun from anā, ya’nī). But when you are invited, enter, and, when you have had your meal, disperse, without, lingering for, any [leisurely] conversation, amongst yourselves. Indeed that, lingering, is upsetting for the Prophet, and he is [too] shy of you, to make you leave, but God is not shy of the truth, that you should leave — in other words, He would never refrain from declaring it (a variant reading [for yastahyī] has yastahī). And when you ask anything of [his] womenfolk, in other words, the wives of the Prophet (s), ask them from behind a screen, a curtain. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts, than [entertaining] sinful thoughts. And you should never cause the Messenger of God hurt, in any way; nor ever marry his wives after him. Assuredly that in God’s sight would be very grave, as a sin.
Verse 54
Whether you disclose anything or keep it hidden, regarding marrying them after him, truly God has knowledge of all things, and will requite you for it.
Verse 55
They [the Prophet’s wives] would not be at fault with regard to [socialising with] their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their own, believing, women, or what their right hands own, of slavegirls or [male] servants, in seeing them or conversing with them without a screen. And fear [O women] God, in what you have been commanded. Surely God is Witness to all things, with nothing being hidden from Him.
Verse 56
Indeed God and His angels bless the Prophet, Muhammad (s). O you who believe, invoke blessings on him and invoke peace upon him in a worthy manner, in other words, say: ‘O God, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace’ (Allāhumma sallī ‘alā sayyidinā Muhammad wa-sallim).
Verse 57
Indeed those who are injurious to God and His Messenger — and they are the disbelievers, who attribute to God what He is exalted above of such things as [His having] a son or a partner and they deny His Messenger — God has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, He has banished them [from His mercy], and has prepared for them a humiliating chastisement, and that is the Fire.
Verse 58
And those who cause hurt to believing men and believing women without the latter’s having done anything, [those who] accuse them of what they have not done, have verily borne [the guilt of] calumny, they have borne lies, and [the burden of] manifest sin.
Verse 59
O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks closely over themselves (jalābīb is the plural of jilbāb, which is a wrap that covers a woman totally) — in other words, let them pull part of it [also] over their faces, leaving one eye [visible], when they need to leave [the house] for something. That makes it likelier that they will be known, to be free women, and not be molested, by being approached. In contrast, slavegirls did not use to cover their faces and so the disbelievers used to pester them. And God is Forgiving, of any occasion in the past when they may have neglected to cover themselves, Merciful, to them in His veiling them.
Verse 60
If (la-in, the lām is for oaths) the hypocrites do not desist, from their hypocrisy, and likewise those in whose hearts is a sickness, [in their urge] to fornicate, as well as the scaremongers in the city, who alarm the believers by saying [to them things like], ‘Your enemy is here and your raiding parties have been massacred!’, or [they say to them], ‘They have been defeated!’. Assuredly We will urge you [to take action] against them, We will give you sway over them, then they will not be your neighbours, they will not dwell near you, in it except for a little [while], after which they will depart.
Verse 61
Accursed, banished from mercy, [shall they be], wherever they are found they shall be seized and slain violently, that is to say, that is the ruling concerning them — meant as a command [for the Prophet].
Verse 62
God’s precedent, in other words, God has made this His precedent [in dealing], with those who passed away before, with regard to the hypocrites of past communities who used to alarm believers with their scaremongery, and you will find that there is no changing God’s precedent, [no changing of it] from Him.
Verse 63
People, [such as] the people of Mecca, question you concerning the Hour: when will it be? Say: ‘Knowledge thereof lies only with God — and what do you know, [what would] provide you with knowledge thereof? In other words, you do not know it, perhaps the Hour is near’.
Verse 64
God has indeed cursed the disbelievers, He has banished them [from His mercy], and prepared for them a blaze, a violent fire into which they shall be admitted,
Verse 65
to abide, their abiding having been foreordained, therein forever. They shall not find any protector, to preserve them from it, or helper, to ward it off from them.
Verse 66
On the day when their faces are turned about in the Fire they shall say, ‘O (yā is for alerting) would that we had obeyed God and obeyed the Messenger!’
Verse 67
And they, namely, those who had been the followers [of the leaders of error], shall say, ‘Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders (read [plural] sādatanā, or sādātanā, which is the plural of the plural) and elders, and they led us astray from the way, the path of guidance.
Verse 68
Our Lord, give them a double chastisement, in other words, twice the like of our chastisement, and curse them, chastise them, with numerous curses!’, with the equivalent number [of chastisements] (la‘nan kathīran, ‘numerous curses’, is also read la‘nan kabīran, [which means] ‘with a mighty curse’).
Verse 69
O you who believe, do not behave, towards your Prophet, as did those who harmed Moses — when they would say, for example, ‘The only reason he does not wash with us is that he has an inflammation in his testicles’ — whereat God absolved him of what they alleged: when Moses placed his robe on a rock to go to wash, the rock hurtled away with it until it came to a halt amid a group of men from the Children of Israel. As Moses chased it and took his robe to cover himself, they saw that he had no such inflammation (udra is an inflammation of the testicle). And he was distinguished in God’s sight. An instance of our Prophet (s) being subjected to hurt was when [on one occasion] while dividing up the spoils a man said to him, ‘This is a division that I do not want to please God!’, whereat the Prophet (s) became angered and said, ‘May God have mercy upon Moses, for truly he was hurt with worse than this, but endured’ — reported by al-Bukhārī.
Verse 70
O you who believe, fear God and speak words of integrity, what is proper.
Verse 71
He will rectify your deeds for you, He will accept them, and will forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys God and His Messenger has verily achieved a great success, he has attained his ultimate goal.
Verse 72
Indeed We offered the Trust — [the obligation to] prayer and other matters which, when performed, result in reward and when neglected, result in punishment — to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and created in them the power of comprehension and speech [at the time of that offer], but they refused to bear it and were apprehensive of it; but man, Adam, undertook it, when it was offered to him. Truly he is a wrongdoer, to his own soul because of what he undertook, ignorant, of [the responsibility that comes with] it —
Verse 73
so that God may chastise (li-yu‘adhdhiba, the lām therein is semantically connected to ‘aradnā, ‘We offered’, which resulted in ‘Adam’s undertaking’) the hypocrites, men and women, and the idolaters, men and women, those who forsake the Trust, and that God may relent to the believing men and believing women, who fulfil the Trust. And God is Forgiving, to believers, Merciful, to them.
Verse 1
Praise be to God — God, exalted be He, praises Himself with these [words]; the import constitutes the eulogy that ‘praise’ is ever-established [for God] and it entails the attribution to Him of all that is beautiful, exalted be He — to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, as possessions and creation. And to Him belongs [all] praise in the Hereafter, as in this world, for His friends praise Him as they enter Paradise. And He is the Wise, in what He does, the Aware, of His creatures.
Verse 2
He knows what penetrates the earth, of water and so forth, and what issues out of it, of vegetation and so on, and what comes down from the heaven, of provision and so on, and what ascends into it, of deeds and so on, and He is the Merciful, to His friends, the Forgiving, to them.
Verse 3
And those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour, the Resurrection, will never come to us’. Say, to them: ‘Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you — [by] the Knower of the Unseen (read ‘ālimi’l-ghaybi as an adjectival qualification [of wa-rabbī, ‘by my Lord’], or read ‘ālimu’l-ghaybi, as the predicate of a [missing] subject [such as huwa, ‘He is’]; or read ‘allāmi’l-ghaybi). Not [even] the weight of an atom escapes, is hidden [from], Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz),
Verse 4
that He may requite, thereat, those who believe and perform righteous deeds — for such there will be forgiveness and a fair provision, in Paradise.
Verse 5
And those who strive against, [who strive] to invalidate, Our signs, namely, the Qur’ān, deeming Us inomnipotent (mu‘ajjizīna, a variant reading [of this] here and later on [in verse 38, below] is mu‘ājizīna: [so that respectively these mean] ‘deeming that We are incapable’ [mu‘ajjizīna], or [if read mu‘ājizīna] ‘vying with Us, in order to elude Us’) for they suppose that there is no [such thing as] resurrection or punishment — for such there will be a chastisement of an awful punishment’ (read either alīmin or alīmun [respectively] as an adjectival qualification of rijzin, ‘punishment’ or ‘adhābun, ‘chastisement’).
Verse 6
And those who have been given knowledge — the believers from among the People of the Scripture, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions — see, they know, that what has been revealed to you from your Lord, that is, the Qur’ān, is the, decisive, truth, and [that] it guides to the path, the way, of the Mighty, the Praised, in other words, of God, the Lord of Might Who is ever-praised.
Verse 7
And those who disbelieve say, that is, some of them say to others in order to provoke disbelief [in them]: ‘Shall we show you a man — namely, Muhammad (s) — who will inform you that when you have been utterly torn to pieces you shall indeed be created anew?’
Verse 8
Has he invented (read a’ftarā; the hamza, read with a fatha vowelling, is for the interrogative and suffices in place of the conjunctive hamza) a lie against God, in this [respect], or is there a madness in him, [does he suffer] a dementia on account of which he has imagined that? God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but those who do not believe in the Hereafter, that comprises resurrection and chastisement, will be in the chastisement, thereat, and in error that is far, from the truth, in this world.
Verse 9
Have they not observed what is before them and what is behind them, in other words, what is above them and what is beneath them, of heaven and earth? If We will [it], We can make the earth swallow them or let fall on them fragments (read kisfan or kisafan: ‘large pieces’) from the heaven (a variant reading has the third person singular for all three verbs [sc. yashā’, ‘He will’, yakhsif, ‘He makes to swallow’, yusqit, ‘He lets fall’]). Surely in that, which is observed, there is a sign for every penitent servant, turning back to his Lord, [signs] indicating God’s power to resurrect and to do what He will.
Verse 10
And verily We bestowed on David a [great] favour from Us — prophethood and scripture — and We said: ‘O mountains, repeat with him [in praise], by making glorifications, and the birds [too]!’ (read wa’l-tayra in the accusative as a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of jibāl, ‘mountains’, in other words, and We also called on them to glorify [God] with him). And We made iron malleable for him, so that it was as dough in his hands.
Verse 11
And We said: ‘Fashion, from it, long coats of mail — complete suits of armour which the person wearing it drags behind him along the ground — and measure [well] the links’, that is, in the weaving of the coats (the maker of these is called sarrād). In other words, make them so that the rings thereof are arranged properly. And act, O family of David, together with him, righteously. Indeed I am Seer of what you do, and will requite you for it accordingly.
Verse 12
And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would be based on an implicit [missing verb] sakhkharnā, ‘We disposed’) its morning course, meaning its journey from the morning to the noon, was a month’s journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from the noon to sunset, was a month’s journey. And We caused a fount of [molten] copper to flow for him, in other words, We caused the copper to melt for him, and so the fount flowed for three days and nights like water, and to this day people have been using of that [copper] which was given to Solomon [at that time]. And of the jinn [there] were those who worked before him by the leave, by the command, of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, to him to obey him [Solomon], We would make them taste the chastisement of the Blaze, the Fire in the Hereafter — but it is also said, [that their chastisement was] in this world, in which case an angel would smite one of them with a lash thereof that would scorch him.
Verse 13
They fashioned for him whatever he wished: lofty shrines (mahārīb are high edifices which are ascended by stairs) and statues (tamāthīl is the plural of timthāl, which is any thing which you fashion as a likeness [of another]), in other words, brass, crystal or marble figures — the use of figures was not prohibited according to his Law; and basins (jifān is the plural of jafna) like cisterns (jawābin is the plural of jābiya, which is a large basin) — around each ‘basin’ a thousand men would gather to eat — and cauldrons built into the ground, fixed with foundations, and cannot be moved from their places: these were made from the [rocks of the] mountains of Yemen, and to which one ascended by climbing up a ladder. And We said: ‘Work, O, House of David, in obedience to God, in thankfulness, to Him for what He has given you. And few indeed of My servants are thankful’, labouring in obedience to Me in thanks for My favours.
Verse 14
And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, [when] he died — he remained supported against his staff an entire year, while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary, unaware of his death, until [finally] when a termite ate through his staff, he fell to the ground [and was seen to be] dead — nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite (al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba, passive verbal form, in other words, ‘it [the piece of wood] was eaten away by a termite [al-arada]’) that gnawed away at his staff (read minsa’atahu or minsātahu, replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a ‘staff’, so called because [when describing it one would say] yunsa’u bihā, to mean it is used to repel or drive away [creatures]’). And when he fell down, dead, the jinn realised, it became apparent to them, that (an, is softened, in other words, annahum) had they known the Unseen — comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead — they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement, [in] that hard labour of theirs, [in which they continued] as they supposed him to be alive, which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year, judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words, [they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement] for a single day or even a single night [longer].
Verse 15
Verily there was for Sheba (Saba’, declined [as li-Saba’in] or left as indeclinable [li-Saba’a], is [the name of] a tribe that took its name from one of their Arab ancestors) in their dwelling-place, in Yemen, a sign: indicating God’s power, exalted be He, two gardens (jannatān, a substitution [for āyatun, ‘a sign’]) to the right and to the left, in other words, on the right side of their valley and on its left side. And it was said to them: ‘Eat of your Lord’s provision and give thanks to Him, for the graces He has bestowed on you in the land of Sheba. A good land — in which there was no dung, gnats, flies, fleas, scorpions, or snakes, and in which when a stranger passed through with his clothes lice-infected, these [lice] would be killed off because of the purity of its air — and, God is, a forgiving Lord.’
Verse 16
But they were disregardful, of giving thanks to Him and became disbelievers, so We unleashed upon them the flood of the Dam (al-‘arim is the plural of ‘arima, which is a structure or something similar that holds water back [to be stored] for when it is needed), in other words, [We unleashed upon them] the flood-waters of their valley which had been held back by the mentioned [structure] so that they engulfed their two gardens together with all their property. And We gave them in place of their two gardens two gardens bearing (dhawātay, a dual form of [feminine plural] dhawāt; usually [the form dhātay from] the singular [would have been used]) bitter fruit, bitter and vile (ukul may be read as a genitive annexation [ukulin khamtin] in the sense of ‘that which is eaten [thereof being bitter]; or it may be read without [as ukuli khamtin]; and this [phrase] is supplemented [by the following, wa-athlin wa-shay’in min sidrin qalīl) and tamarisk and sparse lote trees.
Verse 17
That, replacement [of what they had], is what We requited them with for their ingratitude: and is anyone but the ingrate ever [so] requited? (read hal yujāzā illā’l-kafūru; or read as hal nujāzī illā’l-kafūra, ‘Would We requite anyone but the ingrate?’), in other words, it is only the like of such who is called to account.
Verse 18
And We set between them, between Sheba, who were in Yemen, and the towns which We had blessed, with [abundance of] water and trees — these being the towns of Syria, to which they used to travel for commerce — prominent towns, continuous [along the route] from Yemen to Syria, and We facilitated [for travellers] the journeying through them, such that they would rest for the afternoon in one and spend the night in the next, [and so on] until the end of their travel, having no need of any supplies or water along the way; and We said, ‘Travel through them night and day safely’, having no fear by night or by day.
Verse 19
But they said, ‘Our Lord, make far apart (ba‘‘id: a variant reading has bā‘id) the stages of our travel’, to Syria: make these [stages through] deserts, so that they could glory before the poor in riding their camels and bearing their supplies and water, and so they behaved wantonly with the graces [bestowed on them by God], and they wronged their souls, through disbelief, and so We made them bywords, [of wrongdoing] in this respect, for those who came after them, and We caused them to disintegrate totally, We scattered them all over the lands. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there are signs, lessons, for every [servant who is] steadfast, [in refraining] from acts of disobedience, grateful, for [God’s] graces.
Verse 20
And verily Iblīs proved true (read sadaqa or saddaqa) his opinion of them, that is, of the disbelievers among them — [the folk of] Sheba — which was that by his tempting them to go astray, they would follow him. So they followed him ([if the verb above is read] sadaqa, this would mean that ‘he was right in his opinion’, and [if read] saddaqa, it would mean that ‘he found this [opinion of his] to be true’) — [all] except a group of the believers (mina’l-mu’minīna, [the min, ‘of’] is explicative [not partitive], in other words, [all except that group] who were the believers: they did not follow him).
Verse 21
And he did not have any warrant over them, any power to sway [them], from Us, but that We might know, by [this] knowledge being made manifest, him who believed in the Hereafter from him who was in doubt thereof, and so requite each of the two accordingly. And your Lord is Preserver, Watcher, of all things.
Verse 22
Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Call on those whom you have asserted, those whom you have asserted to be gods, besides God, in other words, other than Him, so that they might benefit you, as you are wont to assert. God, exalted be He, says of them: They do not possess [even] so much as the weight of an atom, of good or evil, in the heavens or in the earth, and they do not have any share in either of them, nor has He, exalted be He, among them, the gods, any auxiliary’, [anyone required as His] helper.
Verse 23
And intercession will not avail with Him, exalted be He — this was in response to their saying that their gods would intercede [for them] with Him — except for him to whom leave is given, in this respect (read adhina, ‘[to whom] He gives leave’; or udhina, ‘[to whom] leave is given’). Yet, when fear is banished from their hearts (read active fazza‘a, or passive fuzzi‘a), [when fear] is removed from them, upon leave being given for this [intercession], they will say — some will say to others in anticipation of a favourable outcome — ‘What has your Lord said?’, concerning this. They will say: [He has said] the saying that is, ‘The truth’, in other words, leave has been given for it. And He is the Exalted, above His creation, by [His] subjugation [of them], the Great, the Tremendous.