Verse 1
Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those — these verses — are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (āyātu’l-kitābi: this annexation functions in the sense of min, ‘from’) and of a manifest Qur’ān, one that makes evident what is truth and what is falsehood (wa-qur’ānin mubīnin is [made up of] a supplement with an added adjectival qualification).
Verse 2
It may be that (read rubbamā or rubamā) those who disbelieve, on the Day of Resurrection, when they witness their predicament and that of the Muslims, will wish that they had been muslims (rubba here is used to indicate ‘many’, since many of them will wish this; but it is also said to indicate ‘few’, since they will be so stupefied by the terrors that they will not come out of their stupor to wish such a thing, except on a few occasions:
Verse 3
Leave them, the disbelievers, O Muhammad (s), to eat and to enjoy, this world of theirs, and that they be diverted, distracted, by hope, of a long life and other [such] matters, [that keep them] away from faith, for they will come to know, the sequel of their affair — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].
Verse 4
And We did not destroy any town (min qaryatin: min is extra), meaning, its inhabitants, but that it had a known decree, a [pre-]determined term, after which it would be destroyed.
Verse 5
No community (min ummatin: min is extra) can outstrip its [predetermined] term nor can they [seek to] delay it, [nor can they] put it off.
Verse 6
And they, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, say, to the Prophet (s): ‘O you, to whom the Remembrance, the Qur’ān — as you claim — has been revealed, lo! you are indeed possessed!
Verse 7
Why do you not bring us the angels, if you are of the truthful?’, in saying that you are a prophet and that this Qur’ān is from God.
Verse 8
God, exalted be He, says: The angels do not descend (tanazzalu: one of the two tā’ letters [of tatanazzalu] has been omitted) save with the truth, with the chastisement; and then, that is, upon the descent of the angels with the chastisement, they [the disbelievers] would not be reprieved, [would not] be granted respite.
Verse 9
Verily it is We (nahnu emphasises the subject of inna, or [functions as] a separating pronoun) Who have revealed the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, and assuredly We will preserve it, against substitution, distortion, additions and omissions.
Verse 10
And verily We sent before you, messengers, to former factions, sects.
Verse 11
And never did a messenger come to them but that they mocked him, in the same way that your people have mocked you — this is meant to comfort the Prophet (s).
Verse 12
Thus We cause it to find its way, in other words, in the same way that We have caused denial to enter the hearts of those [individuals], We cause it to enter, into the hearts of the sinners, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca.
Verse 13
They do not believe in him, in the Prophet (s), even though the example of the men of old has already gone before, that is, the way of God [in dealing] with them [those of old], by chastising them for denying [the truthfulness of] their prophets: those [Meccans] are like these former.
Verse 14
And even if We were to open for them a gate from the heaven, and they were to continue ascending through it, the gate,
Verse 15
they would say, ‘It is merely that our eyes have been dazzled, they have been shut. Nay, we are a folk bewitched!’, imagining this.
Verse 16
And verily We have placed in the heaven constellations, twelve [of them]: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo (al-sunbula), Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, which are the mansions of 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 We have adorned it, with [these] planets, for beholders;
Verse 17
and We have guarded them, with meteors, from every outcast devil;
Verse 18
except the one who listens by stealth — he is pursued by a clear flame, a shining meteor that burns him, or pierces him or drives him insane.
Verse 19
And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.
Verse 20
And We have made for you therein [means of] livelihood (read ma‘āyish), such as fruits and grains, and, We have made [this] for you, those for whom you do not provide, such as servants, [crawling] creatures and cattle; it is God Who provides for them.
Verse 21
And there is not a thing but that the stores thereof, the keys to its stores, are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure, according to the benefits [of all creatures].
Verse 22
And We send the winds as fertilisers, to fertilise the clouds, whereupon they fill up with water, and send down out of the heaven, [out of] the clouds, water, rain, so that We give it to you to drink, for you are not the storers thereof, that is, the stores thereof are not in your control.
Verse 23
Indeed it is We Who give life and bring death, and We are the heirs, Who shall endure, inheriting all creation.
Verse 24
And verily We know the predecessors among you, that is, those creatures from Adam who have already passed, and verily We know the successors, those who will come afterwards, until the Day of Resurrection.
Verse 25
And it is indeed your Lord Who will gather them, lo! He is Wise, in His actions, Knower, of His creatures.
Verse 26
And verily We created man, Adam, out of a dry [clinking] clay, that gives off a clinking sound when it is tapped, of malleable mud, black [mud].
Verse 27
And the jānn, the father of the jinn, namely, Iblīs, We created beforehand — that is, before the creation of Adam — out of the permeative fire, a smokeless fire that can escape through openings.
Verse 28
And, mention, when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am going to create a mortal out of a dry clay [drawn] from a malleable mud.
Verse 29
So, when I have proportioned him, completed him, and breathed, caused to flow, of My Spirit in him, so that he becomes a living thing — the annexation of ‘the Spirit’ to him is a conferring of honour upon Adam — fall down in prostration before him!’, a prostration [meant as an act] of salutation by bowing.
Verse 30
And so the angels prostrated, all of them together (kulluhum ajma‘ūn contains two elements of emphasis),
Verse 31
except Iblīs, the father of the jinn — he was [standing] among the angels: he refused to be among those prostrating.
Verse 32
He, [God] exalted be He: ‘O Iblīs what is wrong with you, what prevents you, that you are not among those prostrating?’
Verse 33
Said he, ‘I was not about to prostrate myself, I should not prostrate myself, before a mortal whom You have created out of a dry clay [drawn] from malleable mud’.
Verse 34
Said He, ‘Then be gone from hence, that is, from the Garden — but it is also said, from the heavens — for you are indeed accursed, outcast.
Verse 35
And indeed the curse shall rest upon you until the Day of Judgement’, [the Day] of Requital.
Verse 36
Said he, ‘My Lord! Reprieve me until the day when they, mankind, shall be resurrected’.
Verse 37
Said He, ‘Then lo! you are of those reprieved,
Verse 38
until the day of the known time’, the time of [the blowing of] the First Trumpet.
Verse 39
Said he, ‘My Lord, because You have lead me astray (bi-mā, ‘because’, the bi- is for oaths, the response for which is [what follows]) I shall adorn for them [evil acts], acts of disobedience, in the earth and I shall lead them astray, all of them;
Verse 40
except those servants of Yours who are sincerely devoted [to You]’, namely, believers.
Verse 41
He, [God] exalted be He, said, ‘This is a straight path [leading] to Me,
Verse 42
in other words, truly over My servants, that is, believers, you shall have no warrant, [no] power, except those who follow you from among the perverse, the disbelievers.
Verse 43
And truly Hell shall be their tryst, all of them, that is, all those who follow you, shall be with you [in Hell].
Verse 44
It has seven gates, [seven] layers — to each gate, therein, belongs an appointed portion, lot, of them.
Verse 45
Truly the God-fearing shall be amidst gardens, orchards, and springs’, flowing through them.
Verse 46
And it shall be said to them: ‘Enter them in peace, that is, safe from all danger — or [it means enter] with [the greeting of] ‘Peace!’, in other words: say, ‘Peace’ and then enter, secure!’, from all terror.
Verse 47
And We remove whatever rancour, spite, may be in their breasts. As brethren (ikhwānan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to them), [they shall recline] upon couches, facing one another (mutaqābilīn is also a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, they do not look upon each other’s backs, because the couches revolve with them in them.
Verse 48
No toil, [no] weariness, will touch them, nor will they be expelled from thence, ever.
Verse 49
Tell, inform, O Muhammad (s), My servants that verily I am the Forgiving, of believers, the Merciful, to them,
Verse 50
and that My chastisement, of those who are disobedient, is the painful chastisement.
Verse 51
And tell them of the guests of Abraham, that is, the angels — there were twelve, ten or three of them, among them Gabriel;
Verse 52
[how] when they entered unto him, and said, ‘Peace!’, that is, [they said] this very word (salām). He, Abraham, said, after having offered them food which they did not eat: ‘Lo! we are afraid of you’.
Verse 53
They said, ‘Do not be afraid; lo!, we, are the messengers of your Lord [sent to], give you good tidings of a knowledgeable boy’, one very knowledgeable [boy], namely, Isaac — as we mentioned in sūrat Hūd [Q. 11:69].
Verse 54
He said, ‘Do you give me good tidings, of a boy, when old age has befallen me?’ (‘alā an massaniya l-kibaru is a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, despite the fact of its having befallen me? So, of what, thing, do you give me good tidings?’ (an interrogative meant to indicate amazement).
Verse 55
They said, ‘We give you good tidings in truth, sincerely; so do not be of the despairing’, the despondent.
Verse 56
He said, ‘And who — in other words, no one — despairs (read yaqnitu or yaqnatu) of the mercy of his Lord, save those who are astray?’, [save] disbelievers.
Verse 57
He said, ‘So what is your business, O you who have been sent [by God]?’
Verse 58
They said, ‘We have been sent to a sinning folk, a disbelieving [folk], namely, the people of Lot, in order to destroy them;
Verse 59
[all] except the family of Lot; indeed we shall save them, all of them, because of their faith,
Verse 60
except his wife — We have decreed that she indeed should be of those who will remain behind’, [of] those who will stay behind in the chastisement, because of her unbelief.
Verse 61
And when those who had been sent [by God] came to the family of Lot, that is, to Lot [himself],
Verse 62
he said, to them, ‘Indeed you are strangers’, that is, I do not know you.
Verse 63
They said, ‘Rather, we have come to you because of that which they, your people, used to doubt, namely, the chastisement.
Verse 64
And we have brought you the Truth and indeed we speak truthfully, in what we say.
Verse 65
So travel with your family in a portion of the night and follow their rear, walk behind them; and let none of you turn round, lest he see the dreadful nature of that [punishment] which will be sent down on them, and go whither you are commanded’, namely, [to] Syria.
Verse 66
And We conveyed, We revealed, to him the matter, which was, that these [sinners] was to be eradicated by morning (musbihīn is a circumstantial qualifier,), in other words, their annihilation will take place in the morning.
Verse 67
And then came the people of the city, the city of Sodom, that is, the people of Lot, upon being told that there were handsome clean-shaven individuals — namely, the angels — in the house of Lot, rejoicing (yastabshirūn is a circumstantial qualifier), desiring to commit an abomination with them.
Verse 68
He, Lot, said, ‘Lo! these are my guests, so do not disgrace me;
Verse 69
and fear God, and do not humiliate me’, by seeking them to commit an abomination with them.
Verse 70
They said, ‘Have we not forbidden you from [entertaining] anyone?’, from offering them hospitality?
Verse 71
He said, ‘These here are my daughters, if you must be doing’, what you desire [to do] in the way of satisfying your lust, then marry them. God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 72
By your life — this is an address to the Prophet (s) — in their drunkenness they were bewildered, hesitant.
Verse 73
Then the Cry, the Cry of Gabriel, seized them at sunrise.
Verse 74
And We made their, that is, their cities’, topmost part their nethermost, by Gabriel’s raising them [the cities] to the heaven and dropping them face down onto the earth, and We rained on them stones of baked clay, clay baked in fire.
Verse 75
Indeed in that, which is mentioned, there are signs, indications of God’s Oneness, for those who take note, [those who] observe and take heed.
Verse 76
And indeed they, that is, the cities of the people of Lot, are on a road that [still] remains, Quraysh’s route to Syria, [one] not yet effaced: so why do they not take heed from their example?
Verse 77
There is indeed a sign, a lesson, in that for believers.
Verse 78
And certainly (in has been softened, in other words [understand it as being] innahu) the dwellers in the wood, a huddle of trees near Midian — these were the people of [the prophet] Shu‘ayb — were evildoers, for denying Shu‘ayb.
Verse 79
So We exacted retribution from them, by destroying them through extreme heat. And certainly both of them, that is, the cities of the people of Lot and those of [the dwellers in] the wood, are upon a open road, plain [to see]: so will you not take heed from their example, O people of Mecca?
Verse 80
And verily the dwellers in al-Hijr — a valley between Medina and Syria — namely, [the tribe of] Thamūd, denied those who had been sent [by God], when they denied [the prophet] Sālih, as this constituted a denial of the other messengers, since they all shared the fact that they came with [the Message proclaiming] the Oneness of God.
Verse 81
And We brought them Our signs, by way of the she-camel [of Sālih], but they were averse [to them], refusing to reflect on them.
Verse 82
And they used to hew out dwellings from the mountains, feeling secure.
Verse 83
But the Cry seized them in the morning.
Verse 84
And so that which they used to count as gain, in the way of building fortresses and amassing riches, did not avail, [did not] protect, them, from the chastisement.
Verse 85
We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with the Truth. And truly the Hour shall come, without doubt, whereupon every person will be requited according to his deeds. So be forgiving, O Muhammad (s), to your people, with gracious forgiveness: turn away from them without [any feeling of] anxiety — this was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse [Q. 9:5].
Verse 86
Truly your Lord, He is the Creator, of everything, the Knowing, of everything.
Verse 87
And verily We have given you seven of the oft-repeated [verses] — the Prophet (s) said that this meant [sūrat] al-Fātiha, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim], since it is repeated in every unit of prayer (rak‘a) — and the great Qur’ān.
Verse 88
Do not extend your glance toward that which We have given different groups of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, should they not believe, and lower your wing, temper your nature, for the believers.
Verse 89
And say: ‘Indeed, I am the warner, of God’s chastisement, lest it be sent down on you, the clear [warner], clear in [his] warning.
Verse 90
Even as We sent down, chastisement, on those who make division, the Jews and the Christians,
Verse 91
those who have reduced the Recitation, namely, those scriptures revealed to them, to parts, believing in some and disbelieving in others. It is [alternatively] said that the individuals meant here were those who ‘divided up’ among themselves the roads to Mecca, barring people from Islam. Some of them said that the Qur’ān was sorcery, some that it was soothsaying, and others that it was poetry.
Verse 92
By your Lord, We shall question them all — a questioning involving rebuke —
Verse 93
about what they used to do.
Verse 94
So proclaim, O Muhammad (s), what you have been commanded, to [proclaim], in other words, declare it openly and carry it out, and turn away from the idolaters — this was [revealed] before the command to struggle [against the idolaters].
Verse 95
Indeed We have sufficed you against the mockers, [who mocked] you, by Our having destroyed each one of them through some harm, and these were: al-Walīd b. al-Mughīra, al-‘Āsī b. Wā’il, ‘Udayy b. Qays, al-Aswad b. al-Muttalib and al-Aswad b. ‘Abd Yaghūth,
Verse 96
those [mockers] who set up besides God another god: (this [entire clause] is an adjectival qualification; but it is also said to be the subject, and because there is an implicit conditional meaning [in the above-mentioned clause], the [particle] fā’ has been inserted into the predicate, which is [the following]) soon they will know, the sequel of their affair.
Verse 97
And verily (wa-laqad is for confirmation) We know that your breast is [at times] oppressed by what they say, in the way of mockery and denial.
Verse 98
So glorify, intimately [repeating], the praise of your Lord, in other words, say subhāna’Llāhi wa-bi-hamdihi — and be of those who prostrate themselves, those who pray;
Verse 99
and worship your Lord until Certainty — Death — comes to you.
Verse 1
When the idolaters found chastisement slow in coming, the following was revealed: God’s commandment has come, that is, the Hour [has come] ([this verb] atā is in the past tense because it means that [the event therein described] will come to pass) in other words, it [God’s commandment] is close at hand, so do not seek to hasten it, do not demand it before its [due] time, for it will come to pass without doubt. Glory be to Him — an affirmation of His transcendence — and exalted be He above what they associate, with Him, in the way of others.
Verse 2
He sends down the angels, namely, Gabriel, with the Spirit, with the Revelation, of His command, by His will, to whomever He will of His servants, and these are the prophets, [saying] that (an is explicative): Warn, threaten the disbelievers with chastisement and make them aware, that there is no God save Me: so fear Me, fear Me.
Verse 3
He created the heavens and the earth with the Truth, that is, with the purpose of [manifesting] truth. Exalted be He above what they associate, with Him in the way of idols.
Verse 4
He created man from a drop of fluid, of sperm, until He makes him strong and tough, yet behold! he is disputatious, extremely quarrelsome, openly, making this [disputatiousness] clear in his rejection of resurrection, contending: Who shall revive the bones when they are decayed? [Q. 36:78].
Verse 5
And the cattle, camels, cows and sheep (al-an‘āma, ‘cattle’, is in the accusative because of the implied verb [governing it], as explained by [the following words, khalaqahā lakum]), He created them for you, [you being] included among the number of mankind. In them there is warmth, that by which you keep warm in the way of clothes and garments, [taken] from their hairs and wools, as well as [other] uses, such as [their] offspring, milk and for you to ride, and of them you eat (the adverbial clause [wa-minhā, ‘of them’] precedes [the verb] for the purpose of [establishing harmony with] the end-rhyme [of the Qur’ānic verse]);
Verse 6
and for you there is in them beauty, adornment, when you bring them [home] to rest, [when you] return them to their resting places in the evening, and when you drive them forth to pasture, when you bring them out to the grazing pastures in the morning.
Verse 7
And they bear your burdens, your baggage, to a land which you could not reach, without being on camel-back, save with great trouble to yourselves, [save by] straining them. Indeed your Lord is Gentle, Merciful, to you, in having created these for you.
Verse 8
And, He created, horses and mules and asses, that you may ride them, and for adornment (wa-zīnatan is an object denoting reason; the use of both of these reasons [‘to ride’ and ‘for adornment’] as illustrations of [God’s] graces does not preclude that they may have been created for other purposes, such as for consumption in the case of horses — which is established [as lawful] by a hadīth in both Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim]); and He creates what you do not know, of marvelous and strange things.
Verse 9
And God’s is the direction of the way, that is, to point out the straight path, and some of them, that is, the paths, are deviant, swerving away from straightness. And had He willed, to guide you, He would have guided you, to seek the way, all, so that you would be [rightly] guided of your own choice.
Verse 10
He it is Who sends down water from the heaven, whence you have drink, for you to drink, and whence are trees, which grow because of this [water], whereat you let your animals graze.
Verse 11
With it He makes the crops grow for you, and olives and date-palms and vines and all kinds of fruit. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there is a sign, indicating His Oneness, exalted He be, for people who reflect, upon His handiwork and therefore believe.
Verse 12
And He disposed for you the night and the day and the sun (wa’l-shamsa, read in the accusative as a supplement to what precedes it; or read wa’l-shamsu in the nominative as a subject [of a new sentence]) and the moon and the stars (also read both ways) are disposed (musakhkharātin, read in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier, or in the nominative [musakhkharātun] as a predicate) by His command, by His will. Surely in that there are signs for people who understand, [a people] who reflect.
Verse 13
And, He has disposed for you, whatever He has created for you in the earth, of animals, plants and otherwise, diverse in hue, such as red, yellow, green and otherwise. Surely in that there is a sign for people who remember, [a people who] are admonished.
Verse 14
And He it is Who disposed the sea, [He it is Who] subdued it, that it might be sailed upon and dived in, that you may eat from it fresh meat, that is, fish, and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear, namely, pearls and coral. And you see, observe, the ships ploughing therein, ploughing through the water, that is, cleaving it as they sail upon it, coming and going with the same wind; and that you may seek (wa-li-tabtaghū is a supplement to li-ta’kulū, ‘that you may eat’) of His bounty, exalted He be, by way of commerce, and that you might be thankful, to God for [all] that.
Verse 15
And He cast into the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake, move, with you, and, He made therein, rivers, such as the Nile, and ways, roads, so that you might be guided, to your destinations,
Verse 16
— and landmarks [as well], by which you might find the roads, [landmarks] such as mountains, during the day, and by the star, meaning, by the stars, they are guided, to the roads and to the direction of prayer (qibla) by night.
Verse 17
Is He then Who creates — namely, God — as he who does not create, namely, idols, so that you associate them with Him in worship? No. Will you not then remember, this, and so become believers?
Verse 18
And if you were to count God’s grace you could never reckon it, number it precisely, let alone be able to give thanks for it. Indeed God is Forgiving, Merciful, since He bestows graces upon you despite your shortcomings and your [acts of] disobedience.
Verse 19
And God knows what you keep secret and what you disclose.
Verse 20
And those whom you invoke (tad‘ūna, or read yad‘una ‘they invoke’) besides God, namely, the idols, do not create anything, but are themselves created, fashioned from stones and other [materials].
Verse 21
They are dead, possessing no life (amwātun, ‘dead’, is a second predicate), not living (an emphasis), and they, the idols, are not aware when, is the time [in which], they shall be raised, that is, creatures: so how can they be worshipped? For, only the Creator, the Living, the Knower of the Unseen can be a God.
Verse 22
Your God, the One deserving of your worship, is One God, without [any] equal in [terms of] His essence or His attributes, and this is God, exalted He be. But as for those who do not believe in the Hereafter their hearts are in denial, rejecting the Oneness [of God], and they are arrogant, scorning to believe in it.
Verse 23
Without doubt, verily, God knows what they keep secret and what they disclose, and will requite them for it. Indeed He does not love the arrogant, meaning, He will punish them.
Verse 24
The following was revealed regarding al-Nadr b. al-Hārith: And when it is said to them, ‘What is it (mā is an interrogative particle; dhā is a relative particle) that your Lord has revealed?’, to Muhammad (s), they say, [that] these [revelations] are, ‘fables, lies, of the ancients’, in order to lead people astray.
Verse 25
That they may bear, at the conclusion of the matter, their burdens, their sins, complete, none of them expunged, on the Day of Resurrection and also, [bear] some, of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without any knowledge, because they summoned them to error and they [the latter] followed them, and thus both share in the sin. How evil, awful, is the burden they bear, this load [of sins] of theirs which they carry.
Verse 26
Those before them had indeed plotted, [those] such as Nimrod — he built a lofty tower that he might ascend through it to the heavens and wage war against its inhabitants; then God came at, He aimed at, their edifice from the foundations, from the base, unleashing against it winds and earthquake, which demolished it; and so the roof collapsed upon them from above them, that is, while they were beneath it, and the chastisement came upon them whence they were not aware, from a direction which would not have occurred to them: [alternatively] it is said that this [description] is a simile for [demonstrating] the thwarting of that which they had settled on in the way of plots against [God’s] messengers.
Verse 27
Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them, humiliate them, and He, God, will say, to them by the tongues of the angels, in rebuke: ‘Where are those associates of Mine, as you [were wont to] claim, concerning whom, for whose sake, you used to make breaches?’, you used to opposed the believers. Those who were given knowledge, from among the prophets and believers, will say, ‘Truly disgrace on this day, as well as misfortune, are for the disbelievers — they say this rejoicing at their [the disbelievers’] misfortune —
Verse 28
those whom the angels take [in death] (read [feminine person] tatawaffāhum or [masculine] yatawaffāhum) while they are wronging themselves’, through disbelief. Then they will offer submission, becoming compliant and submitting themselves [to belief in God] upon death, saying: ‘We were not doing any evil’, [any] associating others with God, whereat the angels say: ‘Nay! Surely God is Knower of what you used to do’, and will requite you for it.
Verse 29
And it will also be said to them: So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein! Evil indeed is the lodging, the abode, of the arrogant.
Verse 30
And it is said to those who fear, idolatry, ‘What has your Lord revealed?’ They will say, ‘Good! For those who were virtuous, by [embracing] faith, in this world, there will be a virtuous [reward], namely, a goodly life; and truly the abode of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise, is better, than the world and all that is in it. God says [the following] regarding it: And truly excellent is the abode of the God-fearing, it [the Hereafter] is.
Verse 31
Gardens of Eden, as a [place of] residence (jannātu ‘Adnin is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) which they will enter, [Gardens] underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall have whatever they wish. So, [with such] a reward, God rewards the God-fearing,
Verse 32
those whom (alladhīna is a description) the angels take away [in death] while they are goodly, pure of any unbelief, saying, to them upon death: ‘Peace be on you!, and it is said to them in the Hereafter: Enter Paradise because of what you used to do’.
Verse 33
Do they, the disbelievers, await anything but that the angels should come to them (read [feminine person] ta’tīhim or [masculine] ya’tīhim) to seize their spirits, or that there should come your Lord’s command?, chastisement, or the resurrection that entails it. So, just as these have done, did those before them, from among the [former] communities: they denied their messengers and were therefore destroyed. And God did not wrong them, destroying them for no sin, but they used to wrong themselves, through disbelief.
Verse 34
So that the evils of what they did smote them, that is, the requital of these [evil things smote them], and there besieged, it was sent down [against], them that which they used to mock, namely, the chastisement.
Verse 35
And the idolaters, from among the Meccans, say, ‘Had God willed we would not have worshipped anything besides Him — neither we, nor our fathers — nor would we have deemed anything sacred besides Him’, in the way of those [camels] called bahīras and sā’iba. In other words, our idolatry and our deeming [these animals] sacred are [effected] by His will; therefore He must be satisfied with this. God, exalted He be, says: So did those before them, that is, they denied their messengers regarding that which they [the messengers] brought them. Yet are messengers charged with anything save plain conveyance [of the Message]? It is not their duty to guide.
Verse 36
And verily We sent forth among every community a messenger, just as We have sent you forth among these [Meccans], [to say]: ‘Worship God, profess [belief in] His Oneness, and shun false deities’, graven images, and do not worship them. Then among them were some whom God guided, and they believed, and among them were some who deserved to be in error, according to God’s knowledge, and so they did not believe. So travel, O disbelievers of Mecca, in the land and observe the nature of the consequence of those who denied, their messengers, in that they were destroyed.
Verse 37
If you, O Muhammad (s), are eager for them to be guided, when God has already made them go astray, you will not be able to achieve this: For God does not guide (read passive lā yuhdā [?], or active lā yahdī) he whom He has [already] sent astray, he whom He desires to send astray, and they will have no helpers, [no] protectors from God’s chastisement.
Verse 38
And they swear by God their most earnest oaths, in other words, with their utmost earnestness therein, that God will not resurrect the dead. God, exalted be He, says: Nay, He will resurrect them: it is a promise binding upon Him (both wa‘dan and haqqan are verbal nouns, used for emphasis, and are in the accusative because of the verbal actions implicit in them; in other words, He promised that and made it a binding truth) but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not know, that.
Verse 39
That He may make clear to them (li-yubayyina is semantically connected to an implied yab‘athuhum, ‘He will resurrect them’) what they differ, with believers, in, of matters of religion, by punishing them and rewarding the believers, and that the disbelievers may know that they were liars, when they denied the Resurrection.
Verse 40
All that We say to a thing, when We will it, that is, when We will that it come into existence (qawlunā is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is, in other words, and that [thing] is (a variant reading [for fa-yakūnu] has fa-yakūna as a supplement to naqūla). The verse is intended as an affirmation of the power [of God] to resurrect.
Verse 41
And those who emigrated for God’s cause, to establish His religion, after they had been wronged, through harm, [those] from among the people of Mecca — these were the Prophet (s) and his Companions — truly We shall lodge them in this world in a goodly lodging, namely, Medina, and the reward of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise, is surely greater, grander, did they but know, that is, the disbelievers — or those who stayed behind and did not emigrate — [did they but know] the honour that belongs to emigrants, they would have followed them.
Verse 42
They are, those who endure, the harm inflicted by the idolaters and [endure] the emigration in order to make manifest the religion, and put their trust in their Lord, so that He provides for them whence they do not reckon.
Verse 43
And We did not send before you anything other than men, to whom We revealed, and [sent] not angels: ‘So ask the followers of the Remembrance, those knowledgeable in the Torah and the Gospels; if you do not know’, that, then they know it, and you are more likely to believe them than the believers are to believe Muhammad (s),
Verse 44
[We sent them] with clear signs (bi’l-bayyināt is semantically connected to an omitted [verb]), namely, We sent them with clear arguments, and the Books and We have revealed to you the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, that you may make clear to mankind what has been revealed to them, therein, in the way of [what is] lawful and unlawful, and that perhaps they might reflect, upon this and take heed.
Verse 45
Do they feel secure, those who have schemed evil, schemes against the Prophet (s) at the Council Assembly, [schemes] such as detaining him, killing him or banishing him, as mentioned in [sūrat] al-Anfāl [Q. 8:30], that God will not cause the earth to swallow them, as [God did] with Qārūn [Q. 28:81], or that the chastisement will not come upon them whence they are not aware of?, that is, in a way which would not occur to them. Indeed, they were destroyed at Badr even though they had never anticipated it.
Verse 46
Or that He will not seize them in their going to and fro, during their travels for commerce, whereupon they will not be able to escape?, [whereupon] they will not be able to elude the chastisement.
Verse 47
Or that He will not seize them amid [growing] fear?, [amid] a gradual diminishing [of their numbers] little by little, until all are destroyed (‘alā takhawwufin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb [God] or the object). Indeed then your Lord is Gentle, Merciful, insofar as He does not hasten for them their punishment.
Verse 48
Or have they not observed the things which God has created, which cast a shadow, such as trees or a mountain, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left (shamā’il is the plural of shimāl), in other words, towards both sides, at the beginning of the day and at its end, prostrating to God (sujjadan is a circumstantial qualifier), that is to say, subservient to Him with respect to what is required of them, and [how] they, the shadows, are subject?, humbled: they [the shadows] are likened to rational beings [in this description].
Verse 49
And to God prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of living creatures, that is, [of] every single thing that moves thereupon; in other words, to Him it [everything] is subservient in terms of what is required of it — most of what is given [by way of example] is non-rational, since these are [the more] numerous — and the angels [also prostrate] — these are singled out for mention because of their merit — and they are not arrogant, they do [not] disdain to worship Him.
Verse 50
They, that is, the angels, fear (yakhāfūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing [the verb] yastakbirūna, ‘they are [not] arrogant’) their Lord from above them (min fawqihim is a circumstantial qualifier referring to [the suffixed pronoun] -hum [of fawqihim]) in other words, [they fear their Lord], being High above them with the power to subjugate, and they do what they are commanded, to [do].