Verse 18
Verily God was pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you, at al-Hudaybiyya, under the tree, this was an acacia — they [these believers] numbered 1300 or more; he took an oath of allegiance from them that they would fight against Quraysh and not [attempt to] flee from death. And He, God, knew what was in their hearts, of sincerity and loyalty, so He sent down the spirit of Peace upon them, and rewarded them with a near victory, which was the conquest of Khaybar, following their departure from al-Hudaybiyya,
Verse 19
and abundant spoils which they will capture, from Khaybar, and God is ever Mighty, Wise, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such attributes.
Verse 20
God has promised you abundant spoils which you will capture, through the [various] conquests. So He has expedited this one, the spoils of Khaybar, for you, and withheld men’s hands from you, with regard to your families, after you had set off [on the campaign], as the Jews had intended [to plot] against them; but God cast terror into their hearts; so that it, the expedited one (wa-li-takūna is a supplement to an implied verb, that is to say, li-tashkurūhu, ‘that you may give thanks to Him’) may be a sign for the believers, of their being assisted [by God], and that He may guide you on a straight path, that is to say, the way in which you should rely on Him and entrust any affair to Him, exalted be He;
Verse 21
and others (wa-ukhrā is an adjectival qualification of the implied subject maghānima, ‘spoils’) which you were not able to capture — namely, [spoils] from the Persians and the Byzantines; God has verily encompassed these [already], that is to say, He knows that they will be yours. And God has power over all things, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such an attribute.
Verse 22
And if those who disbelieve had fought you, at al-Hudaybiyya, they would have turned their backs [to flee] — then they would not have found any protector, to guard them, or helper.
Verse 23
[That is] the way of God (sunnata’Llāhi is a verbal noun emphasising the import of the preceding sentence about the defeat of the disbelievers and the victory of the believers, that is to say, sanna’Llāhu dhālika sunnatan, ‘God has established this as [His] way [of dealing with believers and disbelievers]’) which has taken its course before, and you will never find in God’s way any change, by Him.
Verse 24
And it is He Who withheld their hands from you, and your hands from them, in the valley of Mecca, at al-Hudaybiyya, after He had made you victors over them: for eighty of them surrounded your camp in order to inflict losses upon you, but they were captured and taken to the Prophet (s), who pardoned them and set them free, and this resulted in the truce. And God is ever Seer of what you do (read ta‘malūna, or ya‘malūna, ‘they do’), that is to say, He is ever possessed of this attribute.
Verse 25
They are the ones who disbelieved and barred you from the Sacred Mosque, that is, [barred you] from reaching it, and [prevented] the offering (wa’l-hadya is a supplement to the [suffixed pronoun] –kum, ‘you’ [of saddūkum, ‘they barred you’]), which was detained (ma‘kūfan is a circumstantial qualifier), from reaching its destination, that is, [from] the place at which it is customarily sacrificed, namely, the Sanctuary [itself] (an yablugha mahillahu, is an inclusive substitution). And were it not for [some of] the believing men and believing women, being present at Mecca alongside the disbelievers, whom you did not know, to be believers — lest you should trample them, that is to say, [lest] you should slay them together with the disbelievers, had you been given permission to embark on the conquest (an tata’ūhum is an inclusive substitution for –hum, ‘them’ [of lam ta‘lamūhum, ‘whom you did not know’]), and thus incur sin on account of them without, your, knowing, it … (the third person pronouns in both groups [of people] predominantly imply males; the response to lawlā, ‘were it not’, has been omitted [through ellipsis], being [something along the lines of] la-udhina lakum fī’l-fathi, ‘you would have been permitted to embark on the conquest’), but permission for this was not given at the time, so that God may admit into His mercy whom He will, such as those believers mentioned. Had they been clearly separated, [had] they [the believers] been distinguishable from the disbelievers, We would have surely chastised the disbelievers among them, of the people of Mecca [immediately] thereat, by permitting you to go ahead with the conquest thereof, with a painful chastisement.
Verse 26
When those who disbelieve (alladhīna kafarū is the subject [of the following verb ja‘ala]) nourished (idh ja‘ala is semantically connected to ‘adhdhabnā) in their hearts zealotry (al-hamiyya, [means] ‘disdain of something’), the zealotry of pagandom (hamiyyata’l-jāhiliyyati substitutes for al-hamiyyata, ‘zealotry’), namely, their barring of the Prophet and his Companions from [visiting] the Sacred Mosque, [but] then God sent down His spirit of Peace upon His Messenger and the believers, and so they [the disbelievers] made a truce with them on the condition that they [the believers] would [be allowed to] return the following year, and [such] zealotry would not overcome them [the believers] as it did the disbelievers [then] until they would come to fight them [later], and He made them, the believers, abide by the word of God-fearing (kalimata’l-taqwā): ‘there is no god except God, [and] Muhammad is His Messenger’ (it [kalima, ‘word’] is annexed to al-taqwā because it is the cause of it), for they were worthier of it, of the word, than the disbelievers, and deserving of it (wa-ahlahā is an explanatory supplement). And God is ever Knower of all things, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such an attribute, and among the things He knows is that they are worthy of it.
Verse 27
Verily God has fulfilled the vision for His Messenger in all truth: The Messenger of God (s) saw in his sleep, in the year of al-Hudaybiyya before his departure [from Medina], that he would enter Mecca together with his Companions safely, whereafter they would shave [completely] or shorten [their hair]. He informed his Companions of this and they rejoiced. But when they set off with him [from Medina], and the disbelievers impeded them at al-Hudaybiyya such that they had to retreat, which was distressing for them, for some of the hypocrites began to have doubts [about the Prophet’s sincerity], this [verse] was revealed (bi’l-haqqi, ‘in all truth’, is semantically connected to sadaqa, ‘fulfilled’, or it is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-ru’yā, ‘the vision’, and what comes after it is the explanation thereof): ‘You will assuredly enter the Sacred Mosque, God willing — this is [said] to secure blessings — in safety, to shave your heads, that is, all the hair, or to shorten [it], [to shorten] some of the hair (both muhalliqīna and muqassirīna are implied circumstantial qualifiers), without any fear’, ever. So He knew, [there to be] in the truce, what you did not know, in the way of reconciliation [between the believers and the Meccans], and assigned [you] before that, entry, a near victory, namely, the conquest of Khaybar — the vision was fulfilled in the following year.
Verse 28
It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it, that is, the religion of truth, prevail over all religion, over all the other religions. And God suffices as witness, to the fact that you have been sent with what has been mentioned, as God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 29
Muhammad (the subject) is the Messenger of God (its predicate) and those who are with him, that is, his Companions from among the believers (wa’lladhīna ma‘ahu, [another] subject, the predicate of which [is the following, ashiddā’u]) are hard, tough, against the disbelievers, showing them no mercy [but], merciful among themselves (ruhamā’u is a second predicate [of wa’lladhīna ma‘ahu, ‘and those who are with him’]), that is to say, they show mutual sympathy and affection for one another, much like a father and a son. You see, you observe, them bowing, prostrating [in worship] (both rukka‘an and sujjadan are circumstantial qualifiers). They seek (yabtaghūna is the beginning of a new sentence) bounty from God and beatitude. Their mark (sīmāhum is a subject), their distinguishing feature, is on their faces (fī wujūhihim is its predicate): this is a light and a radiance by which, in the Hereafter, they will be recognised as having been those who used to prostrate in this world, from the effect of prostration (min athari’l-sujūdi is semantically connected to the same thing to which the predicate is semantically connected, that is to say, kā’inatan, ‘[this] being [from the effect of prostration]’; syntactically, it is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of kā’inatan], which is also the subject of the predicate [sc. wujūhihim, ‘their faces’]). That, mentioned description, is their description (mathaluhum is the subject) in the Torah (fī’l-tawrāti is the predicate thereof); and their description in the Gospel (wa-mathaluhum fī’l-injīli, is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) is as a seed that sends forth its shoot (read shat’ahu or shata’ahu) and strengthens it (read āzarahu or azarahu), nourishing it and assisting it, and it grows stout and rises firmly, becoming strong and upright, upon its stalk, its roots (sūq is the plural of sāq), delighting the sowers, that is to say those who planted it, on account of its fairness. The Companions, may God be pleased with them, are being described in this way, for at the outset they were weak and very few in number; but then their number grew and they acquired strength in the most wholesome way, so that He may enrage the disbelievers by them (li-yaghīza bihimu’l-kuffāra is semantically connected to an omitted clause, which is suggested by what preceded, that is to say, ‘they are likened to this [so that God may enrage the disbelievers]’). God has promised those of them who believe and perform righteous deeds, the Companions (minhum, ‘of them’: min, ‘of’, is an indicator of the genus and not partitive, for they are all possessed of the mentioned attributes) forgiveness and a great reward — Paradise. Both of these [rewards] will also be given to those who will come after them, as is stated in other verses.
Verse 1
O you who believe, do not venture ahead of (tuqaddimū, [derives] from qaddama, with the sense of [the 5th form] taqaddama), that is to say, do not come forward with any [unwarranted] saying or deed [ahead of], God and His Messenger, the one communicating [the Message] from Him, that is to say, without their permission, and fear God. Surely God is Hearer, of your sayings, Knower, of your deeds: this was revealed regarding the dispute between Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, may God be pleased with them both, in the presence of the Prophet (s), over the appointment of al-Aqra‘ b. Hābis or al-Qa‘qā‘ b. Ma‘bad as commander [of his tribe].
Verse 2
The following was revealed regarding those who raised their voices in the presence of the Prophet (s): O you who believe, do not raise your voices — when you [want to] speak — above the voice of the Prophet, when he is speaking, and do not shout words at him, when you [wish to] confide in him, as you shout to one another, but [speak] lower than that, out of reverence for him, lest your works should be invalidated without your being aware, that is to say, for fear of this [happening] as a result of the raising of voices and the shouting mentioned.
Verse 3
The following was revealed regarding those who used to lower their voices in the presence of the Prophet (s), such as Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and others, may God be pleased with [all of] them: Truly those who lower their voices in the presence of God’s Messenger — they are the ones whose hearts God has tested for God-fearing, that is to say, [He has tested them] so that this [fear of God] may manifest itself in them. For them will be forgiveness and a great reward: Paradise.
Verse 4
The following was revealed regarding a group of people who came to see the Prophet (s) during the midday [resting] period while he was in his house, and called out to him: Truly those who call you from behind the apartments, the [private] chambers of his womenfolk (hujurāt is the plural of hujra, which is an area of ground on which stones are laid [yuhjaru ‘alayhi] to form a wall or the like), and it happened that each one of them called out, in that rough and crude Bedouin manner, from behind one of the apartments, as they did not know in which apartment he was, most of them do not understand, given the way in which they acted, your exalted status and the reverence that befits it.
Verse 5
And had they been patient (annahum, ‘they’, has independent status, on account of inceptiveness; alternatively, it is said to govern an implied verb such as thabata, ‘had [their patience] been maintained’) until you came out to them, it would have been better for them; and God is Forgiving, Merciful, to those of them who repent.
Verse 6
The following was revealed regarding al-Walīd b. ‘Uqba whom the Prophet had sent to the Banū al-Mustaliq in order to ascertain [their loyalty to Islam]. He already feared them on account of an old feud between him and them from the time of pagandom [before Islam], and so [upon seeing them come out to him] he returned and claimed that they had refused to give the voluntary alms and intended to kill him. And just as the Prophet (s) was making plans to raid them, they came to him to disavow what he [al-Walīd] had said about them: O you who believe, if a reprobate should come to you with some tiding, some piece of information, verify [it], [ascertain] his truthfulness from his mendacity (fa-tabayyanū: a variant reading has fa-tathabbatū, from al-thabāt, ‘to ascertain’), lest you injure a folk (an tusībū qawman, an object denoting reason), that is to say, for fear of this [happening], out of ignorance (bi-jahālatin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of the verb]), that is to say while you are ignorant; and then become remorseful of what you have perpetrated, erroneously against that folk. After they had returned to their homelands, the Prophet (s) sent Khālid [b. al-Walīd] to them, who observed only obedience and goodness in them and [later] informed the Prophet of this.
Verse 7
And know that the Messenger of God is among you, so do not speak falsehood, for God will inform him of the [real] state of affairs. If he were to obey you in many matters, which you communicate contrary to reality, so that the necessary [evil] consequences ensue, you would surely be in trouble, you would earn in addition to that sin, the sin for the consequences that ensue [from your error]. But God has endeared faith to you, adorning your hearts with it, and He has made odious to you disbelief and immorality and disobedience ([an instance of] suppletion with respect to import, as opposed to [lexical] form; for the one to whom ‘faith has been endeared …’ and so forth, will naturally be dissimilar in character to the mentioned [reprobate]). Those (there is here a shift from the second [to the third] person address) — they are the right-minded, the ones firmly established upon [the way of] their religion;
Verse 8
[that is] a favour from God (fadlan is a verbal noun, in the accusative because of the implied verbal action, that is, afdala, ‘He gives a favour’) and a grace, from Him, and God is Knower, of them, Wise, in His bestowal of graces on them.
Verse 9
And if two parties of believers (in tā’ifatāni mina’l-mu’minīna ... [to the end of] the verse, was revealed regarding a particular incident where the Prophet (s) was riding a donkey and happened to pass by Ibn Ubayy; the donkey urinated and so Ibn Ubayy held his nose, whereupon [‘Abd Allāh] Ibn Rawāhā said, ‘By God, the smell of the donkey’s urine is sweeter-smelling than your musk. Fighting then ensued between the two clans with fists, sandals and palm branches [being thrown about]) fall to fighting (iqtatalū: the plural is used on account of the [plural] import, for each party is made up of several individuals; a variant reading has [the dual form] iqtatalatā), make peace between them (baynahumā: the dual here takes into account the actual [dual] form [of tā’ifatān, ‘two parties’]). And if one of them aggresses against the other, fight the one which aggresses until it returns to God’s ordinance, [to] the truth. Then, if it returns, reconcile them, fairly, and act justly. Surely God loves the just.
Verse 10
The believers are indeed brothers, in religion. Therefore [always] make peace between your brethren, when they fall into dispute with one another (a variant reading [for the dual form akhawaykum, ‘your two brethren’] has ikhwatakum, ‘your brothers’) and fear God, so that perhaps you might receive mercy.
Verse 11
O you who believe, do not let any people, that is, any men among you, deride (yā ayyuhā’lladhīna āmanū lā yaskhar … [to the end of] the verse, was revealed regarding the [Banū] Tamīm delegation when they derided the poor among the Muslims, like ‘Ammār [b. Yāsir] and Suhayb [al-Rūmī]; al-sukhriya means ‘scorn’ and ‘disdain’) another people: who may be better than they are, in God’s sight; nor let any women, from among you, deride [other] women who may be better than they are. And do not defame one another, do not cast aspersions [on others] and hence have aspersions cast on you, that is, let none among you denigrate another; nor insult one another by nicknames, do not call another by a nickname which he detests, such as ‘O degenerate one!’ or ‘O disbeliever!’. Evil is the name, mentioned out of mockery, derision and mutual reviling, of immorality after faith! (al-fusūqu ba‘da’l-īmāni substitutes for al-ismu, ‘the name’, to indicate that it [such naming of others] is ‘immorality’ as it is [an action which is] usually repeated). And whoever does not repent, of such [immorality], those — they are the evildoers.
Verse 12
O you who believe, shun much suspicion. Indeed some suspicions are sins, that is to say, it causes one to fall into sin. This [suspicion] may have many forms, such as thinking ill of the good folk from among the believers — and such [good folk] are many — in contrast to the immoral individuals among them in whose case there is no sin, so long as it [the suspicion] is in accordance with their outward behaviour. And do not spy (tajassasū: one of the two tā’ letters [of tatajassasū] has been omitted): do not pursue the imperfections and faults of Muslims by searching them out; nor backbite one another, do not speak of him by [mentioning] something which he is averse to [having mentioned of himself], even if it be true. Would any of you love to eat the flesh of his brother dead? (read maytan or mayyitan). That is to say, it would not be right for him [to do so]. You would abhor it. Thus to backbite him in life would be like eating his flesh when he is dead. This latter [form of behaviour] has been suggested to you and you were averse to it, so be averse to the former too. And fear God, that is, His punishment for backbiting, by repenting of it; assuredly God is Relenting, accepting of the penitence of those who repent, Merciful, to them.
Verse 13
O mankind! We have indeed created you from a male and a female, [from] Adam and Eve, and made you nations (shu‘ūb is the plural of sha‘b, which is the broadest category of lineage) and tribes (qabā’il, which are smaller than nations, and are followed by ‘amā’ir, ‘tribal districts’, then butūn, ‘tribal sub-districts’, then afkhādh, ‘sub-tribes’, and finally fasā’il, ‘clans’; for example Khuzayma is the sha‘b, while Kināna is the qabīla, Quraysh is the ‘imāra, Qusayy is the batn, Hāshim is the fakhdh, and ‘Abbās is the fasīla) that you may come to know one another (ta‘ārafū: one of the two tā’ letters [of tata‘ārafū] has been omitted), that you may acquire knowledge of [the customs of] one another and not to boast to one another of [whose is the more] noble lineage, for pride lies only in [the extent to which you have] fear of God. Truly the noblest of you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing among you. Truly God is Knower, of you, Aware, of your inner thoughts.
Verse 14
The Bedouins — a group of men from among the Banū Asad — say, ‘We believe’, we affirm the truth in our hearts. Say, to them: ‘You do not believe; but rather say, “We have submitted”, we are outwardly compliant; for faith has not yet entered into your hearts’, hitherto; however, it is expected of you. Yet if you obey God and His Messenger, by [embracing] faith and in other ways, He will not diminish for you (read ya’litkum or yalitkum, by making the hamza an alif) anything of your deeds, that is, of the reward for them. God is indeed Forgiving, to believers, Merciful, to them.
Verse 15
The [true] believers, that is, those who are true in their [affirmation of] faith — as He makes explicit in what follows — are only those who believe in God and His Messenger, and then have not doubted, they have not been uncertain of [their] faith, and who strive with their wealth and their souls for the cause of God, hence their striving manifests the sincerity of their faith. It is they who are sincere, in their faith, not those who say, ‘We believe’, and from whom all that has been forthcoming is their submission [to the religion].
Verse 16
Say, to them: ‘Do you [pretend to] inform God about your religion (read the doubled [2nd verbal] form a-tu‘allimūna, ‘do you inform’), in other words, are you intimating to Him your [religious] status when you say, ‘We believe’, when God knows all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and [even though] God is Knower of all things?’
Verse 17
They deem it to be a favour to you that they have submitted, without [the need for any] fighting, unlike [those] others who submitted only after being fought. Say: ‘Do not deem your submission to be a favour to me (islāmakum, ‘your submission’, has dependent accusative status because of the omission of the genitive preposition bi-,which is also read as implicit before the an in both instances). Rather, it is God Who has done you a favour in that He has guided you to faith, if you are being sincere, when you say, ‘We believe’.
Verse 18
Truly God knows the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, that is, [He knows] all that is hidden in both, and God is Seer of what you do’ (may be read either as ya‘malūna, ‘they do’, or ta‘malūna, ‘you do’), nothing of which can be concealed from Him.
Verse 1
Qāf: God knows best what He means by this [letter]. By the glorious Qur’ān, [by] the noble [Qur’ān], the disbelievers of Mecca have [certainly] not believed in Muhammad (s).
Verse 2
Nay, but they consider it odd that there should have come to them a warner from among themselves, a messenger who is one of them, to threaten them with [the punishment of] the Fire after resurrection. So the disbelievers say, ‘This, warning, is an odd thing!
Verse 3
What! (read a-idhā pronouncing both hamzas, or not pronouncing the second, but inserting an alif between the two in both cases) When we are dead and have become dust?, shall we return [to life]? That is a far-fetched return!’, [an event that is] extremely remote.
Verse 4
We know what the earth diminishes, consumes, of them, and with Us is a preserving Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz), which contains everything that has been ordained [by God].
Verse 5
Nay, but they denied the truth, the Qur’ān, when it came to them and so they, with regard to the Prophet (s) and the Qur’ān, are [now] in a confounded situation, a troubled [one]. [For] on one occasion they said [that he was], ‘A sorcerer!’ [cf. Q. 38:4] and [that his statements were] ‘[Nothing but manifest] sorcery!’ [cf. Q. 37:15], on another, ‘A poet!’ [cf. Q. 21:5] and ‘Poetry!’ [cf. Q. 36:69], and still on another, ‘A soothsayer!’ [cf. Q. 52:29] and [that his statements were nothing more than] soothsaying [cf. Q. 69:42].
Verse 6
Have they not then looked, with their own eyes, at the heaven, being, above them, in order to take heed by their own minds [of the consequences for them] when they deny the Resurrection, how We have built it, without supports, and adorned it, with planets, and how there are no cracks in it?, no fissures blemishing it.
Verse 7
And the earth (wa’l-arda, is a supplement to the position of the words ilā l-samā’i, ‘at the heaven’), how, We have spread it out, [how] We have rolled it across the face of the water, and cast in it firm mountains, to fix it in place, and caused every delightful kind, [every delightful] specimen, causing delight by its [very] beauty, to grow in it,
Verse 8
as an insight (tabsiratan is a direct object denoting reason, that is to say, We did this to give an insight from Us) and a reminder for every penitent servant, who returns to obedience of Us.
Verse 9
And We send down from the heaven blessed water, containing much blessing, with which We cause to grow gardens, orchards, and the grain that is harvested,
Verse 10
and the date-palms that stand tall (bāsiqātin, is an implied [future] circumstantial qualifier) with piled spathes, one [cluster of dates] sitting on top of the other,
Verse 11
as provision for [Our] servants (rizqan li’l-‘ibādi, is a direct object denoting reason); and with it We revive a dead land (baldatan may be followed equally by the masculine [maytan] or the feminine [adjective, maytatan]). So, like that manner of reviving, shall be the rising, from the graves: so how can you deny it? (the interrogative is meant as an affirmative; the meaning then is that they have indeed observed [all of these things] and are aware of what has been mentioned [yet they disbelieve]).
Verse 12
The people of Noah denied before them (kadhdhabat has a feminine person inflection because of the [feminine gender of the] import of qawm, ‘people’) and [so did] the dwellers at al-Rass — this was the name of a well around which they dwelt together with their livestock; they worshipped idols, and it is said that their prophet was one Hanzala b. Safwān; but some say that he was some other [person] — and Thamūd, the people of Sālih,
Verse 13
and ‘Ād, the people of Hūd, and Pharaoh, the brethren of Lot,
Verse 14
and the dwellers in the wood, a small forest — the people of Shu‘ayb — and the people of Tubba‘ — a king [who ruled] in Yemen; he had submitted [to God] and had summoned his people to [the same] submission [to God], but they denied him. Each, of those mentioned, denied the messengers, as [your tribe] Quraysh have, and so My threat became due, the sending down of chastisement on all [of them] became incumbent, so do not be anguished by Quraysh’s disbelieving in you.
Verse 15
Were We then wearied by the first creation?, that is to say, We were not wearied by it, and likewise We will not be wearied by restoring it. Nay, yet they are in doubt about a new creation, which will be [at] the Resurrection.
Verse 16
And verily We created man and We know (wa-na‘lamu is a circumstantial qualifier with an implicit [preceding] nahnu) what (mā relates to the verbal action) his soul whispers to him, [what] it speaks [to him] (the bi- [of bihi, ‘him’] is extra, or it is [required] for the intransitive verb to become transitive [and take a direct object]; the [suffixed] personal pronoun [in bihi, ‘him’] refers to man); and We are nearer to him, in knowing [him], than his jugular vein (habli’l-warīdi: the genitive annexation is explicative; al-warīdān are two [principal] veins on either side of the neck).
Verse 17
When (idh is dependent because of an implied udhkur, ‘mention’) the two Receivers, the two angels charged with [recording] a person’s deeds, receive, [when they] observe and record, seated, that is, [while] both of them are sitting (qa‘īdun, ‘seated’, is the subject, the predicate of which is the preceding [clause]), on the right and on the left, [hand side] of him —
Verse 18
he does not utter a word but that there is beside him a watcher, a guardian, [who is] ready, present (both [raqībun, ‘watcher’, and ‘atīdun, ‘ready’] are meant to indicate the dual).
Verse 19
And the agony of death, its throes and distress, arrives with the truth, of the Hereafter, such that the one who denied it sees it with his own eyes — and this is the distress itself. That, namely, death, is what you used to shun, [what you used] to flee from and be terrified by.
Verse 20
And the Trumpet will be blown, for resurrection. That, namely, the day of the blast, is the Day of the Promised Threat, of chastisement for the disbelievers.
Verse 21
And, thereat, every soul will come, to the site for the Gathering, accompanied by a driver, an angel to drive it there, and a witness, to testify to its deeds, namely, the hands and the feet and others; and it will be said to the disbeliever:
Verse 22
‘Verily, in the world, you were oblivious of this, that has befallen you on this day; So [now] We have removed from you your covering, We have done away with your oblivion by what you witness on this day, and so your sight on this day is acute’, [it is] sharp, able to perceive what you used to reject in the world.
Verse 23
And his companion, the angel charged with him, will say, ‘This is what I have ready with me [as testimony]’, whereupon it will be said to Mālik [the Keeper of the Fire]:
Verse 24
‘Cast into Hell (alqiyā: meaning [either] alqi alqi, ‘cast, cast …’ [to denote repetition], or [the emphatic form] alqiyan, ‘cast!’, which is the reading of al-Hasan [al-Basrī], in other words, the [final] nūn has been changed into an alif), every obdurate disbeliever, obstinate to the truth,
Verse 25
hinderer of good, such as [the payment of] alms, transgressor, wrongdoer, skeptic, a doubter of his religion,
Verse 26
who has set up alongside God another god! (alladhī ja‘ala ma‘a’Llāhi ilāhan ākhara is the subject, with an implicitly conditional import, the predicate of which is [the following]). Cast him then into the severe chastisement’ (the explanation of this [dual form of the verb alqiyāhu, ‘cast him’] is as above).
Verse 27
And his companion, Satan, will say, ‘Our Lord! I did not make him a rebel, I did [not] lead him astray, but he [himself] was in extreme error’, and so when I invited him [to disobedience] he heeded my call — for this one had said, ‘he [Satan] made me a rebel’, by way of his [Satan’s] invitation to him.
Verse 28
He, exalted be He, will say, ‘Do not dispute in My presence, in other words, disputing is of no use here, for I had already given you, in [the life of] the world, the threat, of chastisement in the Hereafter should you not believe, and so it is [now] inevitable.
Verse 29
The word [that comes] from Me, in this respect, cannot be altered, and I am not unjust to servants’, that I should chastise them without any guilt [on their part] (zallām means dhū zulm, ‘one of injustice’, because of His words, There will be no injustice today [Q. 40:17]);
Verse 30
on the day (yawma is in the accusative because of zallām, ‘unjust’) when We will say (naqūlu, may also be read yaqūlu, ‘He will say’) to Hell, ‘Are you [now] full?’ (this interrogative is for confirmation of His promise to fill it [with mankind and jinn]), and it will say, by way of an interrogative, such as a question: ‘Are there any more?’: that is to say, ‘I [Hell] only have capacity for what I have been filled with’, in other words, ‘I am full!’.
Verse 31
And Paradise will be brought near for the God-fearing, to a place, not far [anymore], from them, and so they see it, whereupon it will be said to them:
Verse 32
‘This, that you see, is what you were promised (read tū‘adūna, or [third person plural] yū‘adūna, ‘they were promised’), in the world (and [what follows] substitutes for li’l-muttaqīna, ‘for the God-fearing’) — [it is] for every penitent one, [for every] person reverting [after sin] to obedience of God, who is mindful, mindful of the bounds [of God’s religion],
Verse 33
who fears the Compassionate One [while He is] in the Unseen, [the one who] fears Him without having seen Him, and comes with a penitent heart’, [a heart] eagerly applying itself to obedience of Him.
Verse 34
It will also be said to the God-fearing: ‘Enter it in peace!, that is to say, secure from every fear, or [it means enter it] with a greeting, that is to say, greet [yourselves] and enter. That, day in which this entry takes place, is the day of immortality’, [of] everlastingness in Paradise.
Verse 35
Therein they will have whatever they wish; and with Us there is yet more, as extra for what they did and for what they will request.
Verse 36
And how many a generation We destroyed before them, that is, before the disbelievers of Quraysh We destroyed many generations of disbelievers, who were mightier than these in prowess, and [who] then searched throughout the land [wondering]: is there any escape?, for them and others from death, but they found none.
Verse 37
Assuredly there is in that, which is mentioned, a reminder, an admonition, for him who has a heart, a mind, or gives ear, [or] listens to admonitions, in [full] witness, present in heart [and mind].
Verse 38
And verily We created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in six days, the first of which was Sunday and the last of which was Friday, and no weariness, no fatigue, touched Us: this was revealed as a refutation of the Jews’ claim that God rested on the Saturday and lay down upon the Throne. The preclusion of weariness in His case is [absolute] on account of His transcending of the attributes of creatures and the non-existence of any contiguity between Him and other [beings]: His command, when He wills a thing, is just to say to it ‘Be’, and it is [Q. 36:82].
Verse 39
So endure [patiently], addressing the Prophet (s), what they, the Jews and others, say, in the way of [anthropomorphic] comparisons and denials, and glorify with praise of your Lord, perform prayers with praise [of Him], before the rising of the sun, in other words, [perform] the morning prayer, and before the sunset, that is to say, [perform] both the midday and the afternoon prayers;
Verse 40
and glorify Him at [some part of the] night, that is to say, perform the two evening prayers, and after prostrations (read adbār, as the plural of dubur, or idbār as the verbal noun from adbara, ‘to pass’), in other words, perform supererogatory prayers as prescribed by the Sunna after the obligatory ones; it is also said to mean the actual uttering of glorifications at these times, with continuous praise.
Verse 41
And listen — O addressee to My words — on the day when the caller, namely, [the archangel] Isrāfīl, calls out from a place that is near, to the heaven: this is the Rock of the Holy House [of Jerusalem], the place on earth that is the nearest to the heaven. He [Isrāfīl] will say: ‘O withered bones, severed limbs, torn flesh and scattered hairs! God verily commands you to come together for the passing of judgement’.
Verse 42
On the day (yawma substitutes for the previous yawma) when they, that is, all creatures, hear the Call of truth, of the Resurrection — this will be Isrāfīl’s second blast, and it may precede or follow his [initial] call — that, day of the call and the hearing, is the day of coming forth, from the graves (yawma, ‘on the day, is in the accusative because of an implied yunādī, ‘[when] he will call’), that is to say, they will come to know the consequence of their denial.
Verse 43
Indeed it is We Who give life and bring death, and to Us is the journey’s end.
Verse 44
On the day when (yawma substitutes for the previous yawma, with the intervening [statement] being a parenthetical) the earth is split asunder (read tashaqqaqu, or tashshaqqaqu, where the original second tā’ [of tatashaqqaqu] has been assimilated with it [the shīn]) from them, [they will come] hastening forth (sirā‘an: [sirā‘] the plural of sarī‘, a circumstantial qualifier referring to an implied clause, that is to say [together they would read] fa-yakhrujūna musri‘īna, ‘they come forth hastening’). That is an easy gathering for Us (dhālika hashrun ‘alaynā yasīr: there is here a separation of the noun from its adjective by what is semantically connected to it, for the purpose of specification — which is [rhetorically] unobjectionable; dhālika, ‘that’, is meant to point out the signification of the ‘gathering’, which itself is [also] predicated by this [demonstrative particle], and this signification is the bringing back to life after extinction and the assembly for the exposition and the reckoning [before God]).
Verse 45
We know best what they, the disbelievers of the Quraysh, say, and you are not [to be] a coercer of them, so as to coerce them to [embrace] faith — but this was [revealed] before the command to struggle [against these disbelievers]. So admonish by the Qur’ān those who fear My threat, namely, believers.
Verse 1
By the scatterers, the winds that scatter dust and other things, that scatter (dharwan is a verbal noun; one may also say, tadhrīhi dharyan, ‘it blows it [sweeping it] away’);
Verse 2
and those that bear, the clouds that bear moisture [as], a burden (wiqran is the direct object of al-hāmilat, ‘those that bear’);
Verse 3
and those that run, the ships that run upon the surface of the water, with ease (yusran is a verbal noun functioning as a circumstantial qualifier, that is to say, muyassaratan);
Verse 4
and those that apportion by command: the angels who distribute provisions and the rains and other things across the lands and to [all] servants,
Verse 5
assuredly what you are promised (mā, ‘what’, relates to the verbal action), in other words, the promise given to them of resurrection and other matters, is true, is indeed a true promise,
Verse 6
and assuredly judgement, requital after the reckoning, will take place!, without doubt.
Verse 7
And by the heaven with all its tracks (hubuk is the plural of habīka, similar [in pattern and meaning] to turuq, tarīqa, ‘paths’), that is to say, [by the heaven] that is created with tracks similar to tracks made in the sand,
Verse 8
indeed you, O people of Mecca, with regard to the matter of the Prophet (s) and the Qur’ān, are of differing opinions: some say [of the Prophet that he is] ‘a poet’, ‘a sorcerer’, or ‘a soothsayer’, and [of the Qur’ān, that it is] ‘poetry’, ‘sorcery’, or ‘soothsaying’.
Verse 9
He is turned away therefrom, from the Prophet (s) and the Qur’ān, that is, [turned away] from believing therein, who has deviated, [who has been] turned away from guidance in God’s, exalted be He.
Verse 10
Perish the conjecturers, accursed be the liars, those of differing opinions,
Verse 11
who are in a stupor, in ignorance that has stupefied them, heedless, oblivious of the matter of the Hereafter.
Verse 12
They ask, the Prophet, asking [him] derisively: ‘When is the Day of Judgement?’, in other words, ‘when will it come?’, and the response [given] to them is that it will come:
Verse 13
on the day when they will be tormented in the Fire, that is to say, chastised in it, and it will be said to them during the chastisement:
Verse 14
‘Taste this torment of yours, this chastisement of yours. This, chastisement, is what you sought to hasten on!’, in the world in derision.
Verse 15
Truly the God-fearing will be amid gardens, orchards, and springs, flowing therein,
Verse 16
receiving (ākhidhīna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of the predicate of inna, ‘truly’) what their Lord has given them, of reward, for indeed formerly, [before] their entering Paradise, they had been virtuous, in the world.
Verse 17
Little of the night did they use to sleep (mā is extra; yahja‘ūna is the predicate of kānū; qalīlan, ‘little’, is an adverb), in other words, they used to sleep for a small portion of the night and perform prayers during most of it,
Verse 18
and at dawns they used to seek forgiveness: they used say, ‘Our Lord! Forgive us’,
Verse 19
and there was a share in their wealth [assigned] for the beggar and the deprived, [the latter being] the one who does not beg, because of his self-restraint.
Verse 20
And in the earth, in the way of mountains, seas, trees, fruits, plants and other things, there are signs, indications of God’s power, glory be to Him, exalted be He, and of His Oneness, for those who know with certainty,
Verse 21
and in your souls, there are also signs, from the beginning of your creation to its end, and in the marvelous aspects of your creation. Will you not then perceive?, [all] that and thus infer therefrom the Creator of it and His power.
Verse 22
And in the heaven is your provision, that is, the rain from which results the vegetation that is [your] provision, and [there is also] what you are promised, in the way of [the ultimate] return, reward and punishment, in other words, all of this is foreordained in the heaven.
Verse 23
So by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it, that which you are promised, is as assuredly true as [the fact] that you have [power of] speech (read mithlu, in the nominative, as an adjective, with the mā being extra; or read mithla, in the accusative, as being a compound with mā), that is to say: [it is as true] as your speech is in reality, that is, in your knowing it to be [true] necessarily by its issuing from you.
Verse 24
Has the story reached you — addressing the Prophet (s) — of Abraham’s honoured guests? — these were [said to be either] twelve, ten or three angels, one of whom was Gabriel.
Verse 25
When (idh is an adverbial qualifier of hadīthu dayfi, ‘the story of the guests’) they entered upon him and said, ‘Peace!’ — in other words [they said] these very words. He said, ‘Peace!’ — [also] these very words — [These are] an unfamiliar folk, whom we do not know — he said this to himself (qawmun munkarūna is the predicate of an implicit subject such as hā’ūlā’i, ‘these are’).
Verse 26
Then he went aside to his family, secretly, and brought a fat calf — in sūrat Hūd [it is said], a roasted calf [Q. 11:69] —
Verse 27
and he placed it near them saying, ‘Will you not eat?’: he invited them to eat, but they did not respond.
Verse 28
Then he conceived, he kept secret in himself, a fear of them. They said, ‘Do not be afraid!’, we are messengers from your Lord. And they gave him good tidings of [the birth of] a knowledgeable boy, one endowed with much knowledge, and this was Isaac, as mentioned in sūrat Hūd [Q. 11:71].
Verse 29
Then his wife, Sarah, came forward clamouring, shouting (fī sarratin is a circumstantial qualifier, that is to say, she came shouting) and smote, slapped, her face, and said, ‘A barren old woman!’, who has never given birth to a child, aged ninety-nine, with Abraham being one hundred years old; or [alternatively] he was a hundred and twenty years old and she was ninety years old.
Verse 30
They said, ‘So, just like what we have said with regard to the good tiding, has your Lord said. Indeed He is the Wise, in His actions, the Knower’, of His creatures.