Verse 22
The day when they see the angels, [while they stand] together with the rest of creation, namely, on the Day of Resurrection (yawma is in the accusative because of an implied [preceding] udhkur, ‘mention’), there will be no good tidings on that day for the guilty, that is, the disbelievers, in contrast to the believers for whom there shall be the good tidings of Paradise, and they will say, ‘A forbidding ban!’, as was their [the pagan] custom in this world whenever a misfortune befell them; in other words [they mean] ‘awdhan ma‘ādhan, seeking refuge from the angels [who will chastise them]. God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 23
And We shall attend to, We shall turn to, the works they did, that were good, such as voluntary alms or kindness to kin, a hospitable reception of a guest or the succour of a troubled person in this world, and turn them into scattered dust (habā’an manthūran), namely, [as] those individual particles of dust which one might observe near a window when the sun is shining through. In other words, [We shall make their good works] like those [particles of dust] in their uselessness, there being no reward for such [works], for lack of any [binding] obligation [to reward them therefor]; but they are rewarded for it in the life of this world.
Verse 24
Those who will be the inhabitants of Paradise on that day, the Day of Resurrection, will be in a [far] better abode, than are the disbelievers in this world, and a [far] better resting place, than theirs [the latter’s]; in other words, a [better] place for qā’ila, which is a rest taken during midday during hot days. From this [last interpretation of maqīlan] it has been inferred that the Reckoning will be concluded in half a day, as is stated in one hadīth.
Verse 25
And on the day when the heaven, each of the [seven] heavens, will be split asunder with the clouds, in other words, [split asunder] together with them [the clouds] (al-ghamām is white cloud) and the angels will be sent down, from every heaven, in a [majestic] descent, and this is the Day of Resurrection (it [yawma, ‘on the day’] is in the accusative because of an implied [preceding] udhkur, ‘mention’; a variant reading [for tashaqqaqu] is tashshaqqaqu, ‘will be split asunder’, where the second tā’ [of the original form tatashaqqaqu] has been assimilated with it the [the shīn]; another variant reading [instead of nuzzila al-malā’ikatu, ‘the angels will be sent down’] has nunzilu al-malā’ikata, ‘We will send down the angels’);
Verse 26
true Sovereignty on that day will belong to the Compassionate One, with no one else sharing it with Him, and it, that day, will be a hard day for the disbelievers, in contrast to the believers.
Verse 27
And [it will be] a day when the wrongdoer, the idolater, ‘Uqba b. Abī Mu‘ayt — who had uttered the two-part profession [‘there is no god but God, Muhammad (s) is His Messenger’] but retracted it in order to please Ubayy b. Khalaf — will bite his hands, in regret and anguish on the Day of Resurrection, saying, ‘O (yā is for drawing attention) would that I had followed a way with the Messenger!, Muhammad (s), a route to guidance.
Verse 28
O woe to me! (yā waylatā: the [final] alif stands in place of the [first person singular] possessive yā’, yā waylatī, meaning ‘[alas] for my destruction!’) Would that I had not taken so and so, in other words, [that] Ubayy, as friend!
Verse 29
Verily he has led me astray from the Remembrance, namely, the Qur’ān, after it had come to me, by causing me to recant my belief in it. God, exalted be He, says: And Satan is ever a deserter of, the disbelieving, man’, abandoning him and dissociating from him in [times of] tribulation.
Verse 30
And the Messenger, Muhammad (s), says, ‘O my Lord, lo! my people, the [tribe of] Quraysh, consider this Qur’ān as something to be shunned’, to be disregarded.
Verse 31
God, exalted be He, says: So, just as We have appointed for you enemies from among the idolaters of your people, We have appointed to every prophet, before you, an enemy from among the guilty, the idolaters — so be steadfast as they were; but your Lord suffices as a Guide, for you, and a Helper, to bring you victory over your enemies.
Verse 32
And those who disbelieve say, ‘Why has the Qur’ān not been revealed to him all at once?’, as the Torah, the Gospel and the Book of Psalms [were]. God, exalted be He, says: We have revealed it, thus, in parts, [it is], that We may strengthen your inner-heart with it, and We have arranged it in a specific order, that is to say, We produce it in stages one part after another, gradually and deliberately, in order to facilitate its comprehension and its memorisation.
Verse 33
And they do not bring you any similitude, to invalidate your mission, but that We bring you the truth, that refutes it, and [what is] better [as] exposition, explanation.
Verse 34
They are, those who will be gathered on their faces, that is, [those who] will be driven [as cattle], toward Hell: they will be in the worst place, namely, Hell, and furthest astray from the way, [they will be] on a path of error worse than that of others; and this [path] is their disbelief.
Verse 35
And verily We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, and made Aaron, his brother, [go] with him as a minister, an assistant.
Verse 36
Then We said, ‘Go both of you to the people who have denied Our signs’, that is, to the Egyptians — Pharaoh and his folk. So they went to them with the Message but they [the Egyptians] denied both of them. Then We destroyed them utterly.
Verse 37
And, mention, the people of Noah, when they denied the messengers, in denying Noah — it is as though he were many messengers given the length of time he remained among them; or [it is thus expressed in the plural] because to deny him is [equivalent] to denying all the other messengers, for they all came with the same [Message concerning] affirmation of God’s Oneness — We drowned them (this is the response to lammā, ‘when’) and made them a sign, a lesson, for mankind, thereafter, and We have prepared, in the Hereafter, for the evildoers, the disbelievers, a painful chastisement, in addition to what [chastisement] may befall them in this world.
Verse 38
And, mention, ‘Ād, the people of Hūd, and Thamūd, the people of Sālih, and the dwellers at al-Rass (al-rass) — the name of a ‘well’; their prophet is said to have been Shu‘ayb; although some say it was someone else. [The story is that] they had been sitting around it [on one occasion] when it collapsed beneath them [burying them] together with their dwellings. And many generations, peoples, in between, that is, between [the people of] ‘Ād and the dwellers at al-Rass.
Verse 39
For each [of them] We struck similitudes, when establishing arguments against them, and We destroyed them only after warning [them], and each [of them] We ruined utterly, We destroyed utterly, because of their denial of the prophets sent to them.
Verse 40
And verily they, namely, the disbelievers of Mecca, will have passed by the town on which an evil shower was rained (al-saw’, ‘evil’, is the verbal noun from sā’a, ‘was evil’), that is, [it was showered] with stones. This was the principal town of the towns inhabited by the people of Lot; God destroyed its inhabitants for their committing acts of lewdness. Can it be that they have not seen it?, on their journeys to Syria, and so take heed thereof? (the interrogative is affirmative). Nay, but it is that they do not expect, they have [no] fear of [any], resurrection, and so they do not believe.
Verse 41
And when they see you, they take you in mockery only, as an object of derision, saying, ‘Is this the one whom God has sent as a messenger?, as he is wont to claim? — contemptuously of him as one not worthy of being a messenger.
Verse 42
Indeed (in, softened in place of the hardened form, with its subject omitted, namely, innahu) he was about to lead us astray, turn us away, from our gods, had we not stood by them’, he would have turned us away from them. God, exalted be He, says: And soon they will know, when they behold the chastisement, with their own eyes in the Hereafter, who is further astray from the way, who is further upon the path of error: they or the believers?
Verse 43
Have you seen — inform Me [about] — him who has taken as his god his own desire?, that is, as something that will be bring about his ruin (the indirect object [ilāhahu, ‘as his god’] precedes the direct object because it is more important; the clause [beginning] man ittakhadha, ‘him who has taken’, constitutes the first direct object of a-ra’ayta, ‘have you seen’, the second being [the following, a-fa-anta …]) Will you be a guardian over him?, a protector to preserve him from following his desires? No.
Verse 44
Or do you suppose that most of them listen, listening so as to understand, or comprehend?, what you say to them? They are but as the cattle — nay, but they are further astray from the way, further from these [cattle] upon the path of misguidance, for at least they [cattle] yield to the person who looks after them, whereas these [disbelievers] do not obey their Master, Who is gracious to them.
Verse 45
Have you not seen, contemplated, the work of, your Lord, how He extends the [twilight] shadow?, from the point of daybreak to the point of sunrise. For had He, your Lord, willed, He would have made it still, ever-present so that it does not disappear with the rising of the sun. Then We made the sun an indicator of it, [of] the shadow; were it not for the sun the shadow would not have been known.
Verse 46
Then We retract it, the extended shadow, to Us by gentle retraction, subtle [retraction], through the rising of the sun.
Verse 47
And He it is Who made for you the night as a garment, veiling [you] like a garment, and sleep for repose, rest for bodies through the [temporary] cessation of labour, and He made the day for rising, [a time] in which all rise to seek their livelihood and so on.
Verse 48
And He it is Who sends forth the winds (al-riyāha; a variant has al-rīha, ‘the wind’) dispersing before His mercy (nushuran, ‘dispersing’), scattered before the [coming of the] rain (a variant reading has nushran, the singular of which is nashūr, similar [in pattern] to rasūl, ‘messenger’ [plural rusul]; another reading has nashran, as a verbal noun; and a third variant has bushran, in other words, [the winds function as] mubashshirāt, ‘bearers of good tidings’, the singular of which is bashīr); and We send down from the heaven purifying water,
Verse 49
with which We revive a dead land (read maytan, in the softened form, equally valid for the masculine and the feminine, but in the masculine [here] because of the [masculine] noun indicating ‘place’ [implicit therein]) and We give it, the water, as drink to the many cattle, camels, cows and sheep, and humans We have created (anāsiyy is the plural of insān: properly it [the plural] should be anāsīn but the [final] nūn has been replaced with a yā’, with which the [other] yā’ has been assimilated; or it [anāsiyy] is [simply] the plural of insiyy).
Verse 50
And verily We have distributed it, the water, among them, so that they may remember (li-yadhdhakkarū should actually be li-yatadhakkarū, but the tā’ has been assimilated with the dhāl; a variant reading has li-yadhkurū), that is to say, [so that they may remember] therewith the grace of God. But most people are only intent on ingratitude, on denial of the grace, saying, ‘We have received [this] rain because of such-and-such a storm’.
Verse 51
And had We willed, We could have sent forth in every town a warner, to threaten its inhabitants [with God’s chastisement]; instead We have sent you to the inhabitants of all towns as a warner for your reward to be a great one.
Verse 52
So do not obey the disbelievers, in their desires, but struggle against them therewith, that is, through [adherence to] the Qur’ān, with a great endeavour.
Verse 53
And He it is Who merged the two seas: letting them [flow] one adjacent to the other: this one palatable, sweet, and the other saltish, bitter; and He set between the two an isthmus, so that the one does not mix with the other, and a forbidding ban, a shield that prevents the two from becoming mixed.
Verse 54
And He it is Who created man from water, [He created] from a sperm-drop a human being, and made for him ties of blood and ties of marriage, whether it be a male or a female, they marry for the purposes of procreation. For your Lord is ever Powerful, with the power to do whatever He will.
Verse 55
And they, the disbelievers, worship besides God that which neither benefits them, when they worship it, nor harms them, should they refrain therefrom — and these are idols; and the disbeliever is ever a partisan against his Lord, an assistant to Satan through his obedience to him.
Verse 56
And We have not sent you except as a bearer of good tidings, of Paradise, and as a warner, a threatener [of people] with the [chastisement of the] Fire.
Verse 57
Say: ‘I do not ask of you in return for this, that is, for delivering that [Message] with which I have been sent, any reward, except that whoever wishes to follow a way to his Lord [should do so]’, by expending his wealth for the sake of [attaining] God’s pleasure, exalted be He; then [whoever wishes to do so] I will not prevent him from doing so.
Verse 58
And put your trust in the Living One Who does not die, and make glorifications, ensconced, in His praise, in other words, say: subhāna’Llāhi wa’l-hamdu li’Llāh, ‘Glory be to God and praise be to God’. And He suffices as One Aware, as Knower, of the sins of His servants (khabīran, ‘One Aware’, is semantically connected to bi-dhunūbi, ‘of the sins’).
Verse 59
He it is, Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, of the [length of the] days of this world, since there was no sun at that point — had He willed He could have created them in an instant, but His not having done so is because He will to teach His creatures to be circumspect — then presided upon the Throne (al-‘arsh in the [classical] language is the seat on which a king sits) the Compassionate One (al-rahmānu substitutes for the subject of [the verb] istawā, ‘presided’) a presiding befitting of Him; so ask, O man, about Him, about the Compassionate One, anyone who is well aware, to inform you about His attributes!
Verse 60
And when it is said to them, to the disbelievers of Mecca, ‘Prostrate yourselves before the Compassionate One’, they say, ‘And what is the Compassionate One? Should we prostrate ourselves to whatever you bid us’ (ta’murunā; or read ya’murunā, ‘[whatever] he bids us’) — [in both cases] the one bidding is Muhammad (s) — when we do not know who He is? No! And it, this that is said to them, increases their aversion, to faith.
Verse 61
God, exalted be He, says: Blessed, magnified, is He Who has placed in the heaven constellations, twelve [of them]: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo (al-sunbula), Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. They are the mansions for the seven orbiting planets: Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, Venus: Taurus and Libra, Mercury: Gemini and Virgo, the Moon: Cancer, the Sun: Leo, Jupiter: Sagittarius and Pisces, and Saturn: Capricorn and Aquarius; and has, also, placed in it a lamp, namely, the sun, and a shining moon (a variant reading [for sirājan, ‘sun’] has the plural surujan, which would mean ‘luminous stars’). The moon is singled out for mention because of its particular merit.
Verse 62
And He it is Who made the night and day [to appear] in succession, that is, one succeeding the other, for him who desires to remember (read yadhdhakkara or yadhkura, as before [Q. 25:50]) — so that if he misses [the opportunity to do] some good during the one, he can do it during the other; or desires to be thankful, for the graces of his Lord to him during both [of these periods].
Verse 63
And the [true] servants of the Compassionate One (‘ibādu’l-rahmāni is the subject, and what comes after it, all the way up to ūlā’ika yujzawna, ‘they will be rewarded’ [of verse 75 below] are adjectival qualifiers of this [subject], with the exception of the parenthetical statements) are those who walk upon the earth modestly, that is, peacefully and humbly, and who, when the ignorant address them, with what they are averse to, say [words of] peace (salām), in other words, words by which they are safe (yaslamūna) from [committing] any sin;
Verse 64
and who spend the night before their Lord, prostrating (sujjad is the plural of sājid) and standing [in worship], in other words, they spend the night performing prayers;
Verse 65
and who say, ‘Our Lord, avert from us from the chastisement of Hell. Truly its chastisement is abiding, that is, irrevocable.
Verse 66
It is truly a wretched abode and residence!’, in other words, [it is truly wretched] as a place in which to abide and reside.
Verse 67
And who, when they expend, upon their dependants, are neither prodigal nor parsimonious (read yaqturū or yuqtirū); but between such, prodigality and parsimony, lies — [between the two] their expenditure [is in] — moderation;
Verse 68
and [those] who do not call on another god along with God, nor slay the soul which God has forbidden, that it be slain, except with due cause, and who do not commit fornication — for whoever does that, namely, [whoever does] one of these three things, shall meet with retribution;
Verse 69
doubled (yudā‘af: a variant reading has yuda‘‘af) will be the chastisement for him on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein (both verbs may be read in [the imperfect] apocopated form [yudā‘af, ‘it will be doubled’, and yakhlud, ‘he will abide’] as substitutions, or with the [indicative] damma inflection [yudā‘afu and yakhludu] to indicate the beginning of a new sentence) abased (muhānan is a circumstantial qualifier);
Verse 70
except for him who repents, and believes, and acts righteously, from among them, for such, God will replace their, mentioned, evil deeds with good deeds, in the Hereafter, for God is ever Forgiving, Merciful, that is, He is ever possessed of such attributes;
Verse 71
and whoever repents, of his sins, from among other than those mentioned, and acts righteously, indeed turns to God with due repentance, that is, he returns to God a sincere return, and God will requite him with good;
Verse 72
and those who do not give false testimony, that is, [testimony containing] mendacity and falsehood, and, when they come across senseless talk, in the way of vile speech and otherwise, they pass by with dignity, shunning such [vanity];
Verse 73
and those who, when they are reminded, [when] they are admonished, of the revelations of their Lord, that is, [reminded] of the Qur’ān, do not fall on them deaf and blind, but fall [on them] listening, contemplating, benefiting and obedient;
Verse 74
and those who say, ‘Our Lord! Grant us in our spouses and our offspring (read plural dhurriyyātinā or singular dhurriyyatinā) a joyful sight, for us, so that we see them obedient to You, and make us paragons, of virtue, for the God-fearing’.
Verse 75
Those, they will be rewarded with the sublime abode, the highest degree in Paradise, forasmuch as they were steadfast, in obedience to God, and they will be met (read yulaqqawna or yalqawna) therein, in this sublime abode, with a greeting and [words of] peace, from the angels;
Verse 76
abiding therein. Excellent is it as an abode and station, as a place of residence for them (ūlā’ika, ‘those, they …’, and what comes after it constitute the predicate to the subject ‘ibādu’l-rahmāni, ‘the servants of the Compassionate One’).
Verse 77
Say, O Muhammad (s), to the people of Mecca: ‘My Lord would not be concerned with you (mā is for negation) were it not for your supplications, to Him [when you are] in adversity, which He then removes. But, why should He be concerned with you when, you have denied, the Messenger and the Qur’ān, and so that, the chastisement, will remain binding’, permanently bound to you in the Hereafter, in addition to what will befall you in this world; and so on the day of Badr seventy of them were slain (the response to [the conditional] lawlā, ‘were it not for …’ is indicated the preceding words).
Verse 1
Tā sīn mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].
Verse 2
Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the Manifest Book, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation [āyātu’l-kitābi] conveys the [partitive] meaning of min), [the Manifest meaning] the one that manifests what is truth from what is falsehood.
Verse 3
Perhaps, O Muhammad (s), you might kill yourself, out of distress for the reason, that they, namely, the people of Mecca, will not become believers (la‘alla here expresses sympathy, in other words [what is meant is] ‘have pity on it [your self] by alleviating [the burden of] this distress’).
Verse 4
If We will We will send down to them a sign from the heaven before which their necks will remain (fa-zallat, [although grammatically in the past tense] is being used in the sense of the imperfect tense) bowed in humility, and they will believe (since ‘necks’ are described as ‘bowed in humility’, [a status] which in fact refers to those who possess them, the adjectival form [khādi‘ūn, ‘bowed in humility’] used therein is the one [normally] used for rational beings).
Verse 5
And there would never come to them from the Compassionate One any remembrance, any [revelation from the] Qur’ān, that is new (muhdathin, is an explicative adjective) but that they used to disregard it.
Verse 6
Verily then they have denied, it; but soon there will come to them the news, the consequences, of that which they used to deride.
Verse 7
Have they not contemplated, observed, the earth, how many We have caused to grow therein, in other words, [We have caused to grow therein] many, of every splendid kind [of vegetation], [of every] fair species.
Verse 8
Surely in that there is a sign, an indication of the perfection of His power, exalted be He; but most of them, in God’s knowledge, are not believers (kāna here according to Sībawayhi is extra).
Verse 9
And surely your Lord, He is the Mighty One, Who will exact vengeance from the disbelievers, the Merciful, Who shows mercy to believers.
Verse 10
And, mention, O Muhammad (s), to your people, when your Lord called to Moses, on the night he saw the fire and the bush, [saying]: ‘Go to the wrongdoing folk, as a messenger,
Verse 11
Pharaoh’s folk, to them as well as him — they wronged their souls by disbelieving in God and [wronged] the Children of Israel by enslaving them — Will they not (a-lā: the hamza indicates a negation meant as a rebuke) show fear?’, of God by being obedient to Him and affirm His Oneness?
Verse 12
He, Moses, said, ‘My Lord, I fear they will deny me,
Verse 13
and that anguish will constrain my breast, because of their denial of me, and that my tongue will not utter clearly, to deliver the Message, because of the knot in it. So give the Mission to, my brother, Aaron, alongside me.
Verse 14
And I have sinned against them, by my slaying of the Egyptian man, and I fear they will slay me’, for this.
Verse 15
Said He, exalted be He: ‘Certainly not!, they shall not slay you. Go both of you, you and your brother — this address [although in the dual form] is predominantly for the person present as opposed to the absent one — with Our signs. We will indeed be with you, hearing, what you say and what is said to you (ma‘akum: the two [Moses and Aaron] are referred to here with the plural pronoun).
Verse 16
So the two of you approach Pharaoh and say, “Indeed We are — [indeed] each of the two of us is, the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, to you,
Verse 17
that you should let go forth with us, to Syria, the Children of Israel” ’. So they approached him and said to him that which has been mentioned.
Verse 18
He, Pharaoh, said, to Moses, ‘Did we not rear you among us, in our homes, as a child?, as an infant, only recently born but weaned, and did you not stay with us for years of your life?, for thirty years — he would dress from Pharaoh’s clothes and ride chariots of his, and was referred to as Pharaoh’s son.
Verse 19
And you committed that deed of yours — namely, his slaying of the Egyptian — being an ingrate’, a denier of my favours to you in having reared you [among us] and not enslaved you.
Verse 20
He, Moses, said, ‘I did that then, when I was astray, from the knowledge and the Message which God would later give me.
Verse 21
So I fled from you, as I was afraid of you. Then my Lord gave me judgement, knowledge, and made me one of the messengers.
Verse 22
That is a favour with which you now reproach me that you have enslaved the Children of Israel’ (an ‘abbadta banī Isrā’īl, is explicative of tilka, ‘that’) in other words, you have enslaved them but not me: there is no favour in that, for your enslavement of them is wrong (some [scholars] have reckoned there to be an interrogative hamza of denial at the beginning of this verse [a-tilka ni‘matun, ‘is that a favour?’]).
Verse 23
Pharaoh said, to Moses, ‘And what is “the Lord of the Worlds” ’, the One Whose Messenger you say you indeed are? In other words: what exactly is He? And since there is no way for creation to know the true nature of God, but only to know Him through [an articulation of] His attributes, Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, responds to him with [mention of] some of these [attributes]:
Verse 24
He said, ‘The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, in other words, the Creator of [all] that — should you have conviction’, that He, exalted be He, is their Creator, then believe in Him alone.
Verse 25
He, Pharaoh, said to those, noblemen among his folk, who were around him, ‘Did you not hear?!’, his response, how it does not correspond to the question [I asked]?
Verse 26
He, Moses, said, ‘Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers’. Now, even though this [fact] is comprised by what was [said] before it enrages Pharaoh, and therefore:
Verse 27
He said, ‘Verily this messenger of yours sent to you is a madman!’
Verse 28
He, Moses, said, ‘The Lord of the east and the west and all that is between them — should you comprehend,’, that He is such [a Lord] then believe in Him alone.
Verse 29
He, Pharaoh, said, to Moses: ‘If you choose any god other than me, I will surely make you a prisoner!’. His [Pharaoh’s] prison was very harsh, for a person would be shut up [in a dungeon] underground alone, where he could neither see nor hear anyone else.
Verse 30
He, Moses, said, to him: ‘What, would you do this even, if I bring you something manifest?’, patent proof of my Mission?
Verse 31
He, Pharaoh, said, to him: ‘Then bring it, if you are truthful’, in this.
Verse 32
So he threw down his staff, and lo! it was a manifest serpent, a great snake.
Verse 33
Then he drew out his hand, he brought it out of his pocket, and lo! it was white, glowing, before the onlookers, and not its usual skin colour.
Verse 34
He, Pharaoh, said to the council around him, ‘Surely this man is a cunning sorcerer, an expert in the art of magic,
Verse 35
who seeks to expel you from your land by his sorcery. So what do you advise?’
Verse 36
They said, ‘Put him and his brother off for a while, postpone [judgement of] their affair, and send musterers into the cities
Verse 37
to bring you every cunning sorcerer’, to surpass Moses in the art of magic.
Verse 38
So the sorcerers were assembled at a fixed time of a known day, which was the morning of the Festival Day.
Verse 39
And it was said to the people, ‘Will you assemble!’
Verse 40
Maybe we will follow the sorcerers, should they be the victors’ (the interrogative [of the previous verse] is an incitement to assemble and the optative sense [implicit in la‘alla] is due to their anticipation of victory, and hence their continued adherence to their religion and rejection of Moses).
Verse 41
So when the sorcerers came, they said to Pharaoh, ‘Shall we indeed (read a-inna either by pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second, but in both cases inserting an alif) have a reward if we were to be the victors?’
Verse 42
He said, ‘Yes [of course]! And you shall then be among those closest [to me]’.
Verse 43
Moses said to them, after they had said to him, Either you cast, or we shall be the casters [Q. 7:115]: ‘Cast what you have to cast’ — the command to do this signifies an authorisation for them to cast and a means whereby the truth will be made to prevail.
Verse 44
So they cast their ropes and their staffs, and said, ‘By the power of Pharaoh we shall surely be the victors!’
Verse 45
Thereat Moses cast his staff and lo! it was swallowing (talqafu: one of the original two tā’ letters [of taltaqifu] has been assimilated) what they had faked, [what they had] transformed through illusion, making their ropes and staffs appear to be moving serpents.
Verse 46
So the sorcerers fell down prostrating.
Verse 47
They said, ‘We believe in the Lord of the Worlds,
Verse 48
the Lord of Moses and Aaron’, for they realised that what they had witnessed in the case of the staff could not have been the result of [mere] sorcery.
Verse 49
Pharaoh said, ‘Do you believe (a-āmantum, read pronouncing both hamzas or replacing the second one with an alif) him, Moses, though I have not given you leave? He is indeed your chief, the one who has taught you sorcery — so that he only taught you some [tricks] and then surpassed you with others. Soon you will know, what I will do with you! I will assuredly cut off your hands and legs on opposite sides — in other words, the right hand of each one together with his left leg — then I shall surely crucify you all.’
Verse 50
They said, ‘There is no harm [in that], no damage will be done to us thereby. Surely to our Lord, after we die, whichever way that may be, we shall return, in the Hereafter.
Verse 51
Indeed We hope our Lord will forgive us our iniquities, for being the first to believe’, in our time.
Verse 52
And We revealed to Moses, after many years which he spent among them calling them to the truth with God’s signs but all of which only increased them in insolence, [saying], ‘Journey with My servants, the Children of Israel, by night (a variant reading [for an asri] is an isr, from the verb sarā, one form of asrā) go with them by night in the direction of the sea, for indeed you will be pursued’. Pharaoh and his armies will pursue you, but when they enter the sea in pursuit of you, I will deliver you and drown them.
Verse 53
Then Pharaoh, having been informed of their night departure, sent to the cities — it is said that he ruled a thousand cities and twelve thousand villages — musterers, to assemble the army, saying:
Verse 54
‘Lo! these are but a small gang. It is said that they [the Children of Israel] numbered 670,000, while his [Pharaoh’s] vanguard alone numbered 700,000 and so he deemed their number insignificant in comparison to his huge army.
Verse 55
And indeed they have enraged us, their actions infuriate us,
Verse 56
and indeed we are all on our guard’, ready (a variant reading [for hadhirūna] has hādhirūn, meaning ‘alert’).
Verse 57
God, exalted be He, says: So We made them, Pharaoh and his folk, go forth, out of Egypt, in order to pursue Moses and his people, from gardens, orchards on either side of the Nile, and springs, streams running from the Nile through their dwellings,
Verse 58
and treasures, visible riches of gold and silver — these [riches] are called kunūz [as opposed to amwāl, ‘riches’] because that [portion] which is [always] due to God, exalted be He, from them had not been paid — and splendid places, exquisite residences for princes and ministers surrounded by their retinues.
Verse 59
So [it was], that is, Our expulsion [of them] was as We have described, and We made the Children of Israel to inherit these, after drowning Pharaoh and his folk.
Verse 60
Then they pursued them, they caught them up, at sunrise.
Verse 61
And when the two hosts sighted each other, the companions of Moses said, ‘We have been caught!’, Pharaoh’s hosts have caught us up and we have no power against them.
Verse 62
He, Moses, said, ‘Certainly not!, they shall not catch us up; indeed I have my Lord with me, to provide assistance. He will guide me’, to the route of deliverance.
Verse 63
God, exalted be He, says: Thereupon We revealed to Moses: ‘Strike the sea with your staff’, and he struck it, whereupon it parted, it split into twelve parts, and each part was as a mighty mountain, between each of these parts were paths which they followed, such that not even the saddles or the felts of the riders were touched by water.
Verse 64
And there We brought near the others, Pharaoh and his folk, until they followed them across the same paths.
Verse 65
And We delivered Moses and all those who were with him, by bringing them out of the sea while it was in the state mentioned [above].
Verse 66
Then We drowned the others, Pharaoh and his folk by closing the sea on them after they had entered the sea and the Children of Israel had exited therefrom.
Verse 67
Surely in that, drowning of Pharaoh and his folk, there is a sign, a lesson for those [generations] who would come after them; but most of them are not believers, in God. The only ones to believe were Āsiya — Pharaoh’s wife — Hizqīl, the believing man of Pharaoh’s family, and Maryam daughter of Nāmūsī, she who pointed out the bone remains of [the prophet] Joseph, peace be upon him.
Verse 68
And surely your Lord, He is the Mighty, for He wrought vengeance upon the disbelievers by drowning them, the Merciful, to believers, delivering them from drowning.
Verse 69
And recite to them, the disbelievers of Mecca, the tiding, the tale, of Abraham (Ibrāhīma is substituted by [the following, idh qāla, ‘when he said’])
Verse 70
when he said to his father and his people, ‘What do you worship?’
Verse 71
They said, ‘We worship idols — they reiterate the verb [in the response] in order to supplement it with [the following remark] — and remain cleaving to them’, we remain worshipping them all day; they give a longer response to indicate their [misplaced] pride in such [an act].
Verse 72
He said, ‘Do they hear you when you supplicate?
Verse 73
Or do they bring you benefit, when you worship them, or harm?, to you, if you do not?
Verse 74
They said, ‘Rather, we found our fathers so doing’, that is, doing the same as we do.
Verse 75
He said, ‘Have you considered what you have been worshipping,
Verse 76
you and your ancestors?
Verse 77
They are indeed hateful to me, I do not worship them; but the Lord of the Worlds, I do worship Him,
Verse 78
[He] Who created me, it is He Who guides me, to [the proper] religion,
Verse 79
and provides me with food and drink,
Verse 80
and when I am sick, it is He Who cures me;
Verse 81
and Who will make me die, then give me life,
Verse 82
and Who, I hope, will forgive me my iniquity on the Day of Judgement, [the Day] of Requital.
Verse 83
My Lord! Grant me [unerring] judgement, knowledge, and unite me with the righteous, the prophets.
Verse 84
And confer on me a worthy repute, excellent praise, among posterity, those who will come after me up to the Day of Resurrection.
Verse 85
And make me among the inheritors of the Garden of Bliss, among those who will be given it.
Verse 86
And forgive my father, for indeed he is one of those who are astray, by Your relenting to him and forgiving him: this was before it became clear to him [Abraham] that he [his father] was an enemy of God, as mentioned in sūrat Barā’a [Q. 9:114].
Verse 87
And do not disgrace me, do not expose me, on the day when they, mankind, are resurrected;
Verse 88
of which [day] God, exalted be He, says [the following]: the day when neither wealth nor children will avail, anyone,
Verse 89
except him who comes to God with a heart that is sound, [free] from idolatry and hypocrisy — and this is the heart of the believer, whom such [things] will avail.
Verse 90
And Paradise will be brought near for the God-fearing, and they will [be able to] see it,
Verse 91
and Hell will be revealed [plainly] for the perverse, the disbelievers.
Verse 92
And it will be said to them, ‘Where is that which you used to worship
Verse 93
besides God?, that is, other than Him, in the way of idols. Do they help you, by averting from you the chastisement, or do they help one another?’, by averting it from themselves? No [neither]!
Verse 94
Then they will be hurled, cast, into it, they and the perverse,
Verse 95
and the hosts of Iblīs, his followers and those jinn and humans who were obedient to him, all together.
Verse 96
They, the perverse, shall say, as they wrangle therein, with those whom they used to worship:
Verse 97
‘By God, we had indeed (in, softened in place of the hardened form, with its subject omitted, in other words [it would usually be] innahu) been in manifest error,
Verse 98
when we equated you, in worship, with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 99
And it was none other than the sinners, the devils or our predecessors, whose example we were following, that led us astray, from guidance.
Verse 100
So [now] we have no intercessors, as the believers have, in the way of angels, prophets and [other] believers,
Verse 101
nor any sympathetic friend, who might be concerned for us.
Verse 102
If only we had another turn, [another] return to this world, we would have been among those who believe!’ (law, ‘if only’, here is for [the conditional] optative, to which nakūna, ‘we would have been’, constitutes the response).
Verse 103
Surely in that, which is mentioned of the tale of Abraham and his people, there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 104
And truly your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 105
The people of Noah denied the messengers, by denying him, for they all brought the same message affirming God’s Oneness; or [it is] because he stayed among them for so long that it was as though he was many messengers (the feminine [person of the verb kadhdhabat, ‘denied’, governed by] qawm, ‘the people’, is on account of the import, but it is masculine on account of its [morphological] form);
Verse 106
when Noah, their brother — [their brother only] in terms of lineage — said to them, ‘Will you not fear?, God?
Verse 107
Truly I am a trusted messenger [sent] to you, to deliver the Message with which I have been sent.
Verse 108
So fear God and obey me, in what I enjoin you to of God’s Oneness and obedience to Him.
Verse 109
I do not ask of you any reward for it, for delivering it; for my reward lies only with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 110
So fear God and obey me’ — he repeats this [statement] for emphasis.
Verse 111
They said, ‘Shall we believe in you, in your words, when it is the lowliest people who follow you?’ (wa’ttaba‘aka: a variant reading has wa-atbā‘uka, ‘[when] your followers’, plural of tābi‘, ‘follower’, as a subject) the riffraff, such as the weavers and the shoemakers.
Verse 112
He said, ‘And what do I know of what they may have been doing?
Verse 113
Their reckoning is only my Lord’s concern, and He will requite them, if only you were aware — had you known this, you would not have reviled them.
Verse 114
And I am not about to drive away the believers.
Verse 115
I am just a plain warner’.
Verse 116
They said, ‘Lo! if you do not desist, O Noah, from what you say to us, you will assuredly be among those assailed’, with stones or curses.
Verse 117
He, Noah, said, ‘My Lord, my people have denied me,
Verse 118
so judge conclusively between me and them, and deliver me and the believers who are with me’.
Verse 119
He, exalted be He, says: So We delivered him and those who were with him in the laden ark, [the ship] filled with humans, animals and birds.
Verse 120
Then afterwards, after We delivered them, We drowned the rest, of his people.
Verse 121
Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 122
Truly your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 123
‘Ād denied the messengers,
Verse 124
when Hūd, their brother, said to them, ‘Will you not fear God?
Verse 125
Truly I am a trusted messenger [sent] to you.
Verse 126
So fear God and obey me.
Verse 127
I do not ask of you any reward for this; for my reward lies only with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 128
Do you build on every prominence, every high place, a monument, an edifice as a signpost for passers-by, so that you may hurl abuse?, at those who pass by you and deride them (ta‘bathūna, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of [the verb] tabnūna, ‘you build’).
Verse 129
And you set up structures, for [extracting] water underground, that perhaps you might, as though you will, last forever, therein and not die.
Verse 130
And when you assault, to smite or slay, you assault like tyrants, mercilessly!
Verse 131
So fear God, in this, and obey me, in what I have commanded you.
Verse 132
And fear Him Who has provided you, Who has been gracious to you, in a way that you know,
Verse 133
provided you with cattle and sons,
Verse 134
and gardens, orchards, and springs, rivers.
Verse 135
Indeed I fear for you the chastisement of a tremendous day’, in this world and in the Hereafter should you disobey me.
Verse 136
They said, ‘It is the same to us whether you admonish [us] or are not one of those who admonish, anyway. In other words, we will not heed your admonition.
Verse 137
This, that you threaten us with, is merely the fabrication of the ancients, that is, their inventions and lies (a variant reading [for khalq, ‘fabrication’] is khuluq, ‘ethos’, in other words, this denial of resurrection to which we adhere is merely ‘the ethos of the ancients’, in other words, their nature and wont);
Verse 138
and we will not be chastised’.
Verse 139
So they denied him, concerning the chastisement, whereupon We destroyed them, in this world with the [barren] wind [cf. Q. 51:41]. Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 140
Truly your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 141
Thamūd denied the messengers,
Verse 142
when Sālih, their brother, said to them, ‘Will you fear God?
Verse 143
Truly I am a trusted messenger [sent] to you.
Verse 144
So fear God and obey me.
Verse 145
I do not ask of you any reward for this; for my reward lies only with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 146
Will you be left secure in that which is here, of good things —
Verse 147
amid gardens and springs,
Verse 148
and farms and date palms with slender, delicate and tender, spathes?
Verse 149
And you hew dwellings out of the mountains arrogantly (a variant reading [of farihīna, ‘arrogant’] has fārihīn, ‘skilfully’).
Verse 150
So fear God and obey me, in what I have commanded you,
Verse 151
and do not obey the command of the prodigal,
Verse 152
who cause corruption in the earth, through acts of disobedience, and act righteously’, by being obedient to God.
Verse 153
They said, ‘You are indeed one of the bewitched, those who have succumbed so many times to sorcery that their minds have been overcome.
Verse 154
And, moreover, you are just a human being like us. So bring [us] a sign, if you are sincere’, in your Mission.
Verse 155
He said, ‘This is a she-camel; she shall drink, a share of the water, and you shall drink [each] on a known day.
Verse 156
And do not cause her any harm, for then you shall be seized by the chastisement of an awful day’, [awful] because of the awfulness of the chastisement.
Verse 157
But they hamstrung her — a group of them hamstrung her with the approval of others; and then became remorseful, for having hamstrung it.
Verse 158
So they were seized by the chastisement, which had been promised and were destroyed. Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 159
Truly your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 160
The people of Lot denied the messengers,
Verse 161
when Lot, their brother, said to them, ‘Will you not fear God?
Verse 162
Truly I am a trusted messenger [sent] to you.
Verse 163
So fear God and obey me.
Verse 164
I do not ask of you any reward for this; my reward lies only with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 165
What! Of all people you come unto males [to fornicate],
Verse 166
and forsake the wives your Lord has created for you?, in other words, [you forsake intimacy with] their front parts? Nay, but you are a transgressing folk’, overstepping [the bounds of] what is lawful into what is unlawful.
Verse 167
They said, ‘If you do not desist, O Lot, from reproaching us, you will assuredly be of those expelled’, from our land.
Verse 168
He, Lot, said, ‘Truly I abhor, I detest, what you do.
Verse 169
My Lord, deliver me and my family from what they do’, that is, from the punishment for it.
Verse 170
So We delivered him and all his family,
Verse 171
except an old woman — his wife — among those who stayed behind, whom We destroyed.
Verse 172
Then We destroyed [all] the others,
Verse 173
and We rained on them a rain, [We rained on them] stones — this [detail] pertains to [the previous] statement concerning their destruction — and evil was, their rain, the rain of those who were warned!
Verse 174
Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 175
Surely your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 176
The dwellers in the wood (a variant reading [for ashābu’l-aykati] has ashābu laykata), a thicket of trees near Midian, denied the messengers,
Verse 177
when Shu‘ayb — He [God] does not say ‘their brother’ [in this instance] because he [Shu‘ayb] was not [in terms of lineage] one of them — said to them, ‘Will you not fear God?
Verse 178
Truly I am a trusted messenger [sent] to you.
Verse 179
So fear God and obey me.
Verse 180
I do not ask of you any reward for this; indeed my reward lies only with the Lord of the Worlds.
Verse 181
Give full measure and do not be of those who give short measure,
Verse 182
and weigh with an even balance,
Verse 183
and do not defraud people in their goods, do not diminish anything of what is due to them, and do not be degenerate in the earth, seeking corruption, by killing or otherwise ([ta‘thaw, ‘degenerate’] derives from ‘athiya, meaning afsada, ‘to corrupt’; mufsidīna, ‘seeking corruption’, is a circumstantial qualifier emphasising the import of its operator [ta‘thaw]).
Verse 184
And fear Him Who created you and the former generations’, [all] creation [before you].
Verse 185
They said, ‘You are indeed one of the bewitched.
Verse 186
You are just a human being like us. And we indeed (in, softened in place of the hardened form, its subject omitted, in other words [it would be] innahu) think that you are one of the liars.
Verse 187
Then make fragments (read kisfan or kisafan) of the heaven fall upon us, if you are of the truthful’, in your Mission.
Verse 188
He said, ‘My Lord knows best what you are doing’, and will requite you for it.
Verse 189
But they denied him, so they were seized by the chastisement of the day of the shade (al-zulla) — a cloud which gave them shade when they suffered a bout of extreme heat but which then rained down fire on them and they were incinerated. Assuredly it was the chastisement of a tremendous day.
Verse 190
Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.
Verse 191
Surely your Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
Verse 192
Truly it, the Qur’ān, is the revelation of the Lord of the Worlds,
Verse 193
brought down by the Trustworthy Spirit, Gabriel,
Verse 194
upon your heart, that you may be [one] of the warners,
Verse 195
in a clear Arabic tongue (a variant reading [for nazala, ‘he brought down’, verse 193] has nuzzila, ‘was sent down’, and al-rūha, ‘the Spirit’, in the accusative, the subject of the verb being God).
Verse 196
And truly it, the allusion to the Qur’ān [that would be] revealed to Muhammad (s), is in the Scriptures, the Books, of the ancients, such as the Torah and the Gospel.
Verse 197
Is it not a sign, of this fact, for them, for the disbelievers of Mecca, that the learned of the Children of Israel recognise it?, [those] such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, from among those who became [Muslim] believers: they are able inform [you] of this (read yakun with āyatan in the accusative, or takun with āyatun in the nominative).
Verse 198
For had We revealed it to some non-Arabs (a‘jamūn is the plural of a‘jam),
Verse 199
and had he recited it to them, that is, [to] the disbelievers of Mecca, they would not have believed in it, disdaining to follow it.
Verse 200
So, in the same way in which We would have caused denial of it to penetrate [the hearts of disbelievers] had it been recited by a non-Arab, We have caused, denial of, it to penetrate the hearts of the criminals, the Meccan disbelievers, when Muhammad (s) recites it.
Verse 201
They will not believe in it until they behold the painful chastisement,
Verse 202
so that it will come upon them suddenly while they are not aware.
Verse 203
Thereupon they will say, ‘Shall we be granted any respite?’, that we might become believers?; and it shall be said to them, ‘No!’, and they will say, ‘When will this chastisement be?’ God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 204
So do they [seek to] hasten Our chastisement?
Verse 205
Consider [this] then — inform Me: If We were to let them enjoy [life] for [many] years,
Verse 206
then there were to come on them that which they have been promised, of chastisement,
Verse 207
in what way (mā here is interrogative) would that enjoyment which they were given avail them?, in averting the chastisement or mitigating it? It would be of no avail!
Verse 208
And We have not destroyed any town but it had warners, messengers to warn its inhabitants;
Verse 209
as a reminder, an admonition for them; for We were never unjust, for We destroy them [only] after they have been warned. The following was revealed to refute what the idolaters were saying:
Verse 210
It, the Qur’ān, has not been brought down by the devils.
Verse 211
Neither would it behove, befit, them, to bring it down, nor are they capable, [of doing] that.
Verse 212
Truly they are barred, restrained with blazing stars, from the hearing, of the sayings of the angels.
Verse 213
So do not invoke any other god with God, lest you be among the chastised — if you were to do what they call you to.
Verse 214
And warn the nearest of your kinsfolk, namely, the Banū Hāshim and the Banū al-Muttalib: ‘He [the Prophet] warned them publicly …’, as reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
Verse 215
And lower your wing, show your gentle side, to the believers, the affirmers of God’s Oneness, who follow you.
Verse 216
But if they, your kinsfolk, disobey you, say, to them: ‘I am absolved of what you do’, in worshipping [gods] other than God.
Verse 217
And put your trust (wa-tawakkal, or read fa-tawakkal, ‘then put your trust’) in the Mighty, the Merciful, God, in other words, entrust Him with all your affairs,
Verse 218
Who sees you when you stand, for prayer,
Verse 219
and your movements — in [performing] the [various] parts of prayer: standing, sitting, bowing and prostrating — among those who prostrate, those who perform the prayers.
Verse 220
Truly He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
Verse 221
Shall I inform you, O disbelievers of Mecca, upon whom the devils descend? (tanazzalu: one of the tā’ letters in the original [tatanazzalu] has been omitted).
Verse 222
They descend upon every sinful, profligate, liar, such as Musaylama and other soothsayers.
Verse 223
They, the devils, report the heard [sayings], what they hear from the angels [they report] to the soothsayers, but most of them are liars, adding much that is false to what they hear — this was [revealed] before the devils were barred from the heaven.
Verse 224
As for the poets, [only] the perverse follow them, in their poetry, propounding it and reciting it on their behalf to others; they are thus reprehensible.
Verse 225
Have you not noticed that — are you not aware that — in every valley, of the valleys of rhetoric and the art thereof, they rove, overstepping the bounds [of decency] in [their] eulogies and diatribes,
Verse 226
and that they say, we do, what they do not do?, in other words, that they lie.
Verse 227
Save those, poets, who believe and perform righteous deeds and remember God frequently, in other words, [those whom] poetry does not distract from the remembrance [of God], and vindicate themselves, by lampooning the disbelievers, after they have been wronged, by the disbelievers’ reviling of them [as belonging] together with all believers — such [individuals] are not reprehensible. God, exalted be He, says: God does not like the utterance of evil words out loud, unless a person has been wronged [Q. 4:148]; He, exalted be He, also says: so whoever commits aggression against you, commit aggression against him in the manner that he committed against you [Q. 2:194]; and those, poets and others, who are wrongdoers will soon know the reversal, the return, with which they will meet, [by which] they will return, after death.
Verse 1
Tā sīn: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the Qur’ān, signs from it, and a Manifest Book, manifesting [what is] truth from [what is] falsehood (wa-kitābin, ‘Book’, is a supplement [to al-qur’ān] with the addition of an adjective [mubīn, ‘manifest’]).
Verse 2
It is, a guidance, guiding from error, and good tidings for the believers, who believe in it, of Paradise;
Verse 3
those who observe prayer, performing it in the way that it should be [performed], and give alms and who are certain of the Hereafter, knowing it [to be true] through the [many] proofs thereof (hum, ‘they’, is repeated because a separation has taken place between it [the first hum] and the predicate [yūqinūna]).
Verse 4
Truly those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have adorned their, vile, deeds for them, by making such [deeds] seem sensuous so that they then deem them wholesome, and so they are bewildered, confused about why We deem these [deeds] to be vile.
Verse 5
Those are they for whom there is an awful chastisement, the worst [chastisement] in this world: being killed or being taken captive; and in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers, because they will end up in the Fire which has been made everlasting for them.
Verse 6
And truly you — this is an address to the Prophet (s) — are receiving the Qur’ān, it is being transmitted to you intensely, from One Wise, Knowing, in such [transmission].
Verse 7
Mention, when Moses said to his family, [to] his wife, during his journey from Midian [back] to Egypt: ‘Assuredly I notice, I see in the distance, a fire. I will bring you news from there, about the [journey’s] route — for he had lost his way — or bring you a firebrand (read as a genitive annexation [bi-shihābi qabasin] as an explication [of shihāb, ‘flame’]; or read without [annexation, bi-shihābin qabasin] meaning, a flame of fire at the end of a wick or a wooden stick) that perhaps you might warm yourselves’, (tastalūn: the tā’ replaces the tā’ of the [8th verbal form] ifta‘ala [sc. istalā]; it derives from salaya or saliya, ‘to be exposed to the blaze of fire’), [that perhaps] you might warm yourselves from the cold.
Verse 8
But when he reached it, he was called [with the following words]: ‘Blessed is he, that is to say, God bless him, who is in the fire, namely, Moses, and who is around it, namely, the angels — or vice-versa ([the verb] bāraka may be followed immediately by the direct object or by a preposition and then the direct object; [a noun such as] makān, ‘location’, is implied after fī, ‘in’, [sc. man fī makāni’l-nār, ‘who is in the area of the fire’]); and Glory be to God, the Lord of the Worlds — this is included in the call, and is meant to declare that God is above all evil [associations].
Verse 9
O Moses, lo!, in other words, the fact is that, it is I, God, the Mighty, the Wise.
Verse 10
Throw down your staff’, and he threw it down. And when he saw it wriggling, moving, like a serpent, a slender snake, he turned his back in flight and did not come back. God, exalted be He, says: ‘O Moses, do not fear, it. Surely in My presence, before Me, the messengers do not fear, any snake or otherwise,
Verse 11
except him who has wronged, his soul, but then changed [his wrong] for good — he [then] performs [good deeds] — after [having done] evil, in other words, [he has] repented, then truly I am Forgiving, Merciful, I will accept his repentance and forgive him.
Verse 12
And insert your hand into your bosom, into the collar of your shirt, and it will emerge, not in its usual skin colour, but, white without any blemish, any [vestige of] leprosy, with a glare that dazzles the eyes, as one sign, among nine signs, with which you shall be sent [as God’s messenger], to Pharaoh and his folk; indeed they are an immoral lot’ .
Verse 13
But when Our signs came to them plain to see, illuminating and clear, they said, ‘This is manifest sorcery’, clear and evident [sorcery].
Verse 14
And they denied them, they did not affirm them, though, in reality, their souls had been convinced, in other words, [though] they were certain that these [signs] were from God, wrongfully and arrogantly, in defiance of believing in what Moses had brought ([these two adverbs] refer back to [the cause of] their denial). So behold, O Muhammad (s), how was the sequel for the agents of corruption, [a sequel] which you know: they were destroyed.
Verse 15
And verily We gave David and Solomon, his son, knowledge, of rendering [decisive] judgement between people, and [knowledge] of the speech of birds and of other things, and they said, giving thanks to God, ‘Praise be to God Who has favoured us, with prophethood and the disposal of jinn, humans and devils [to our service], over many of His believing servants’.
Verse 16
And Solomon inherited from David, prophethood and knowledge exclusively from among all his other children; and he said, ‘O people, we have been taught the speech of the birds, that is, the ability to understand their sounds, and we have been given of all things, given to prophets and kings. Indeed this, gift, is the manifest, the evident, favour’.
Verse 17
And, on one journey, Solomon’s hosts of jinn and humans and birds stood assembled for him as they were being arrayed, brought together [in groups] and marshalled.
Verse 18
When they came to the Valley of the Ants — which is [located] either in Tā’if or in Syria, and whose ants are either small or large — an ant, the queen ant, who had seen Solomon’s hosts, said, ‘O ants, enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you while they are unaware!’ — the ants are likened to rational beings in their use of the latter’s speech.
Verse 19
Whereat he, Solomon, smiled (fa-tabassama, the beginning [of the sentence]) amused (dāhikan, the end [of the sentence]) at its words, which he had heard from three miles away and which was carried to him by the winds. When he was on the verge of [entering] their valley, he [Solomon] made his hosts halt until they [the ants] had entered their dwellings — on this journey his hosts consisted of cavalry and infantry. And he said, ‘My Lord, inspire me to be thankful for Your grace with which You have favoured me and my parents, and to do good that will please You, and include me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants’, the prophets and saints.
Verse 20
And he reviewed the birds, to see the hoopoe — which would locate water beneath the ground and indicate its location by pecking at it, whereupon the devils would extract it, for Solomon required it for when he prayed; but he could not see him — then he said, ‘Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe?, in other words, is there something preventing me from seeing him? Or is he among the absent?, and so I cannot see him because he is absent?’ And when he became certain [of the hoopoe’s absence],
Verse 21
He said, ‘Assuredly I will chastise him with a severe chastisement, by having [all] his feathers as well as his tail plucked and leaving him out in the sun, where he would not be able to escape from reptiles, or I will slaughter him, by slitting his throat, unless he brings me (read la-ya’tiyannī or la-ya’tinannī) a clear warrant’, plain manifest proof for his [having a valid] excuse.
Verse 22
But he did not remain (read fa-makutha or fa-makatha) long [in absence], in other words, [he was away only] for a short while, and came to Solomon humbly, with his head up and his wings and tail lowered. Solomon pardoned him and asked him about what he had encountered during his absence: and he said, ‘I have discovered something of which you have no knowledge, and I have brought you from Sheba (this may be read in declined form [min Saba’in] or left as indeclinable [min Saba’a]) — a tribe in Yemen, whose name is taken from the name of one of their ancestors (which is also the reason why it may be declined) — a verified report.
Verse 23
I found a woman ruling over them, in other words, she was their queen, her name Bilqīs; and she has been given [an abundance] of all things, that kings might require, in the way of machines and instruments, and she possesses a great throne — its length was 80 cubits, its width 40 cubits, its height 30 cubits, and was made of gold and silver, encrusted with pearls, rubies, chrysolite, and emeralds, with its legs made of rubies, chrysolite and emeralds, containing seven [inner] doors, the door of each chamber shut.
Verse 24
I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God, and Satan has adorned for them their deeds and he has barred them from the Way, from the path of truth, so that they are not guided
Verse 25
to prostrate themselves to God (allā yasjudū should be read as an yasjudū: the lā is extra and with it has been assimilated the nūn of an, similar to [the construction] where God says, li-allā ya‘lama ahlu’l-kitābi, so that the People of the Scripture may know [Q. 57:29]; the sentence functions as the direct object of yahtadūna, ‘guided’, whose ilā, ‘to’, has been omitted); [He] Who brings forth the hidden (al-khab’ is a verbal noun, with the same meaning as al-makhbū’, ‘that which is hidden’) of rain and plants, in the heavens and the earth, and He knows what they conceal, within their hearts, and what they proclaim, with their tongues.
Verse 26
God — there is no god except Him, the Lord of the Mighty Throne’ (this clause constitutes an [independent] new sentence, which is a eulogy comprising [praise of] the Throne of the Compassionate One to counter the [description of the] throne of Bilqīs: between the two, however, is an unfathomable difference).
Verse 27
He, Solomon, said, to the hoopoe: ‘We shall see whether you have spoken the truth, in what you have informed us, or whether you are of the liars, that is, of their ilk — for [to say] that is rhetorically more powerful than [simply] saying ‘or whether you have lied’. He [the hoopoe] indicated to them the place of the water and it was extracted. They thus drank, performed their ablutions and prayed. Solomon then composed a letter in the following form: ‘From the servant of God, Solomon son of David, to Bilqīs, Queen of Sheba. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: Peace be upon those who follow Guidance. To wit: do not rise up against me [in defiance], but come to me in submission’. He then stamped it with musk and sealed it with his ring, and said to the hoopoe:
Verse 28
Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them, that is, to Bilqīs and her people, then turn away, withdraw, from them, but remain close by them, and see what [response] they shall return’, [and see] what kind of response they shall give. Thus, he took it and approached her [Bilqīs]. But as her soldiers were all around her, he cast it into her private chamber. When she saw it, she shuddered and was consumed by fear. She read what it said.
Verse 29
Then, she said, to the noblemen of her people: ‘O [members of the] council, lo! (read yā ayyuhā’l-mala’u innī, pronouncing [in the last two words] both hamzas; or by not pronouncing the second one and changing it into a wāw with kasra vowelling) a noble, a sealed, letter has been delivered to me.
Verse 30
It is from Solomon and lo! it is, in other words, its text says: “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Verse 31
Do not rise up against me [in defiance], but come to me in submission”’.
Verse 32
She said, ‘O [members of the] council, give me an opinion (read yā ayyuhā’l-mala’u aftūnī, pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second and changing it into a wāw), in other words, guide me, in this matter of mine. I never decide on a matter, I never conclude it, until you are present’.
Verse 33
They said, ‘We possess force and we possess great might, in other words, we are hardy in war. The matter is for you [to decide]. So see what you will command’, us, and we will obey you.
Verse 34
She said, ‘Indeed kings, when they enter a town, ruin it, with destruction, and reduce the mightiest of its inhabitants to the most abased. That is what they too will do, namely, the senders of this letter.
Verse 35
Now I will send them a gift and wait to see with what [response] the envoys return’, in the way of accepting the gift or rejecting it. If it be a king [to whom we have sent it], he will accept it; but if it be a prophet, he will reject it. Thus, she sent male and female servants, one thousand in total, together with five hundred bricks of gold, a crown studded with jewels, and musk, ambergris and other things with an envoy carrying a letter. The hoopoe thus hurried back to bring the news to Solomon, who ordered bricks of gold and silver to be made and laid out across a [vast] square the distance of nine parasangs from his seat and for a towering wall of gold and silver to be constructed around it, and for the most splendid creatures of the land and the sea, together with the children of the jinn, to be brought to line the right and left sides of the square.
Verse 36
But when he, the envoy, came to Solomon, with the gift and the servants, he said, ‘Are you supplying me with wealth? What God has given me, of prophethood and kingship, is better than what He has given you, of [the things of] this world. Nay, but it is you [and not I] who exult in your gift, for you pride yourselves upon [the possession of] the ornaments of this world!
Verse 37
Go back to them, with the gifts that you have brought, for We shall assuredly come to them with hosts which they will not be able to face and we shall expel them from there, from the land of Sheba (Saba’) — named [thus] after their tribal ancestor — humiliated, and they shall be utterly abased’, unless they come to me in submission. When the envoy returned to her with the gift, she had her throne placed inside seven doors inside her palace, with her palace inside seven palaces, and had all the doors locked with guards at them. She then prepared to make the journey to Solomon to see what he would command her. She departed with twelve thousand chieftains (qayl), each accompanied by thousands [of men] until when she came to within a parasang of him, he sensed her [arrival].
Verse 38
He said, ‘O [members of the] council, which of you (regarding the two hamzas read them in the way mentioned above [verse 32]) will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?’, compliant and obedient? For I may only [rightfully] seize it before this [submission] and not afterwards.
Verse 39
An afreet from among the jinn — a [jinn who is] powerful and stalwart — said, ‘I will bring it to you before you rise from your place, the one in which you sit when adjudicating — the period from morning to midday. Indeed I have the strength for it, that is, for carrying it, and I am trustworthy’, over what it may contain of jewels and other [precious] things. Solomon said, ‘I want something faster than that!’
Verse 40
The one who had knowledge of the, revealed, Scripture — and this was [one] Āsif b. Barkhiyā, a righteous individual with knowledge of God’s Greatest Name, which when invoked [in supplication] for something it is [immediately] granted — said: ‘I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you, after you look at something. So he [the afreet] said to him, ‘Look up towards the heaven’, which he did, and when his glance returned [in front of him] he found it [Bilqīs’ throne] placed before him — for in the instance in which Solomon looked up to the heaven, Āsif supplicated by invoking the Greatest Name that God bring it [thereto]; and this was done by having it travel under the earth until it sprung up below Solomon’s seat (kursī). Then, when he saw it standing, still, before him, he said, ‘This, bringing it to me, is of my Lord’s bounty, that He may try me, test me, whether I give thanks (read a-ashkur, pronouncing both hamzas; or by replacing the second one with an alif; or by not pronouncing the second one, but inserting an alif between the one not pronounced and the other one or without [the insertion]) or am ungrateful, for the favour. And whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake, because the reward for his thanks shall be his, and whoever is ungrateful, for the favour, [should know] then my Lord is surely Independent, with no need of his thanks, Generous’, by being bounteous to those who are ungrateful for it.
Verse 41
He said, ‘Disguise her throne for her — in other words, transform it such that when she sees it, it will be in an unrecognisable form — that we may see whether she will be guided, to recognising it, or be of those who cannot be guided’, to recognise when things are transformed around them. He [Solomon] sought thereby to test her mind, for it was said to have something wrong with it. Thus they transformed it by adding or taking away [certain things] and in other ways.
Verse 42
So when she came, it was said, to her: ‘Is your throne like this?’ She said, ‘It as though it is the one’. She had, in fact, recognised it; but she made a pretence to them just as they made a pretence to her, given that [when she was asked about the throne] it was not said, ‘Is this your throne?’, for had it been so, she would have replied, ‘Yes, it is’. When Solomon realised that she was perceptive and knowledgeable, he said: ‘And we were given the knowledge before her and we had submitted [to God].
Verse 43
And what she worshipped besides God, that is, other than Him, barred her, from the worship of God, for she belonged to disbelieving folk’.
Verse 44
It was, also, said to her, ‘Enter the palace [hallway]’ — this was a transparent white glass floor underneath which flowed sweet water that contained fish. Solomon had it made when he was told that her legs and feet resembled the shanks of a mule. And when she saw it, she supposed it to be a pool, of water, and so she bared her legs, to wade through it. Meanwhile Solomon was seated on his throne at the front part of the palace [hallway], and he saw that her legs and feet were [in fact] fair. He said, to her: ‘It is a hallway paved [smooth] with crystal’, and thereafter he called her to submit [to God]. She said, ‘My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, by worshipping other than You, and I submit with Solomon to God, the Lord of the Worlds’. He wanted to marry her but disliked the hair on her legs. So the devils made a [depilatory] lime mixture (nūra) and she removed it therewith. He married her and had [great] love for her. And he let her remain as ruler of her kingdom and would visit her once a month, staying for three days [every time]. Her reign came to an end at the same time as that of Solomon. It is reported that he became king at the age of 13 and died at the age of 53 — Glory be to the One whose enduring sovereignty will never end!
Verse 45
And verily We sent to Thamūd their brother, in terms of [his belonging to the same] tribe, Sālih, with the following [decree]: ‘Worship God!’, affirm His Oneness. And lo! they [then] became two parties quarrelling with one another, over religion, one party having become believers upon his arrival as messenger to them and the other party disbelievers.
Verse 46
He said, to the deniers: ‘O my people, why do you [seek to] hasten on evil before [seeking] good?, in other words, [why do you seek to hasten on] chastisement instead of mercy, when you say, ‘If what you bring us is true, then bring us the chastisement!’ Why do you not ask God to forgive you, [your] idolatry, so that you might be shown mercy?’, and not be chastised.
Verse 47
They said, ‘We augur evil (ittayyarnā is actually tatayyarnā, but the tā’ has been assimilated with the tā’, and a conjunctive hamza added) of you and of those who are with you’, namely, the believers — when they [the tribe of Thamūd] were deprived of rain and suffered hunger. He said, ‘Your evil augury is with God — He has given it to you; nay, but you are a people being tried’, being tested with good and evil [turns of fortune].
Verse 48
And there were in the city, the city of Thamūd, a band of nine men, that is, [nine] men, who were causing corruption in the land, with acts of disobedience, which included their corroding of dinar and dirham coins [rendering them worthless], and did not reform [their ways], through obedience [to God].
Verse 49
They said, that is, some said to others, ‘Swear to one another by God that we will attack him by night (la-nubayyitannahu; or [read] la-tubayyitunnahu, ‘that you will attack him by night’) together with his folk, that is, those who believed in him, in other words, [swear] that we will kill them at night; then we will surely say (la-naqūlanna; or [read] la-taqūlunna, ‘you surely will say’) to his heir, the avenger of his blood, that we did not witness, we were not present at, the destruction of his folk (read muhlika or mahlika, meaning ‘the destroying of them’ or ‘their death’ [respectively]), and so we do not know who killed them, and [that] indeed we are being truthful’.
Verse 50
So they plotted, thereby, a plot, but We [also] plotted a plot, in other words, We requited them by hastening on their punishment, while they were not aware.
Verse 51
So behold how was the consequence of their plot! For lo! We destroyed them and all their people, with Gabriel’s cry, or by the angels’ pelting them with stones, which they could see even though they could not see them [the angels].
Verse 52
So those then are their houses [lying] deserted (khāwiyatan is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier, the operator of which is the import of the demonstrative pronoun [tilka, ‘those’]) because of the evil which they did, that is, their disbelief. Surely in that there is a sign, a lesson, for a people who have knowledge, of Our power and are thus admonished.
Verse 53
And We delivered those who believed, in Sālih — and they numbered 4,000 — and were fearful, of idolatry.
Verse 54
And Lot (Lūtan is in the accusative because of an implied udhkur, ‘mention’, before it, and it [Lūtan] is substituted by [the following, idh qāla …]), when he said to his people, ‘What! Do you commit [such] abomination, namely, homosexual intercourse, while you watch?, that is to say, while you watch one another, [so] engrossed [are you] in the sinful act?
Verse 55
What! Do you (read a-innakum, pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second and inserting an alif between the two in both cases) come unto men in lust instead of women? Nay, but you are truly a people in ignorance’, of the consequence of your action.