Verse 28
And We did not send (mā here is for negation) down on his people, namely, Habīb’s, after him, after his death, any host from the heaven, that is, any angels to destroy them, nor do We [ever] send down, any angels to destroy anyone.
Verse 29
It, their punishment, was but one Cry — Gabriel gave a cry to them — and lo! they were extinguished, silent, dead.
Verse 30
Ah, the anguish for servants, [such as] these and their like from among those who denied the messengers and were destroyed (this [word, hasra] denotes ‘extreme agony’; the vocative here is being used metaphorically, in other words, ‘It is time for you [O anguish], so come now!’). Never did a messenger come to them but that they mocked him (this [statement] is given as an explanation of the cause thereof [of the ‘agony’] since it [the statement] entails their mockery which itself results in their being destroyed and which in turn is the cause of the ‘anguish’).
Verse 31
Have they — that is, those inhabitants of Mecca who said to the Prophet, ‘You have not been sent [by God]!’ [Q. 13:43] — not seen, [not] come to know (the interrogative is meant [rhetorically] as an affirmative) how many (kam here is predicative [as opposed to interrogative], in other words [it is to be understood as] kathīran, ‘many’; it is operated by the statement that comes next [below] and it comments on the operative clause for the statement that preceded it); the meaning then is as follows: indeed, many, generations, communities, We have destroyed before them, [how] that they, the ones destroyed, never return?, to those deniers [who are now alive]? So will they not learn from their example? (from annahum, ‘[how] that they’, to the end [of the verse] is a substitution for the preceding clause [kam ahlaknā qablahum mina’l-qurūni], bearing in mind the aforementioned general meaning).
Verse 32
And indeed (in, is either for negation or is in its softened form) every one of them, that is, every single creature (kullun is the subject) will be gathered (jamī‘un is the predicate of the subject) before Us, at the Scene, following their resurrection, arraigned (muhdarūna is a second predicate) for the Reckoning (read lammā with the sense of illā, or lamā with the lām functioning as a separator and the mā being extra).
Verse 33
And a sign for them, of the [truth of] resurrection (wa-āyatun lahum is a preceding predicate) is the dead earth (read maytatu or mayyitatu) which We revive, with water (ahyaynāhā is the subject) and out of which We bring forth grain, such as wheat, so that they eat thereof;
Verse 34
and We have placed therein gardens, orchards, of date-palms and vines, and We have caused, a number of, springs to gush forth therein,
Verse 35
that they might eat of its fruits (read thamarihi or thumurihi) in other words, [of] the fruits of the mentioned date-palms and otherwise; but it was not their hands that made it, namely, they did not cultivate the fruits. Will they not then give thanks?, for His favours to them, exalted be He?
Verse 36
Glory be to Him Who created all the pairs, the specimens, of what the earth produces, of seeds and other things, and of themselves, of males and females, and of what they do not know, of marvellous and strange creatures.
Verse 37
And a sign for them, of the tremendous power [of God], is the night, from which We strip, We separate, the day and, behold, they find themselves in darkness, passing into the darkness [of the night].
Verse 38
And the sun [which] runs (from wa’l-shamsu tajrī to the end [of the statement] is subsumed by [the introductory] wa-āyatun lahum, ‘and a sign for them’; alternatively, it constitutes another sign [for them]; similar is the case with wa’l-qamara, ‘and the moon’ [further below]) to its resting-place, in other words, it does not overstep it. That, namely, its running, is the ordaining of the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Knower, of His creation.
Verse 39
And the moon — (read wa’l-qamaru, in the nominative, or wa’l-qamara, in the accusative; and it may be in the accusative because of a following verb that governs it) We have determined it, with respect to its course, [to run] in phases — twenty eight phases in twenty eight nights of every month; it becomes concealed for two nights when the month has thirty days, and for one night when it has twenty nine days — until it returns, during its final phase seeming to the [human] eye, like an aged palm-bough, in other words, like the stalk with a date cluster when it ages, becoming delicate, arched and yellowish.
Verse 40
It does not behove — it is [neither] facilitated nor is it right for — the sun to catch up with the moon, and so appear together with it at night, nor may the night outrun the day, and thus it [the night] never arrives before the latter ends and each (kullun: the nunation compensates for the [missing] genitive annexation [that would have been constructed] with al-shams, ‘the sun’, al-qamar, ‘the moon’, and al-nujūm, ‘the stars’) [of these] is in an orbit, swimming, moving — these [celestial bodies] are being treated as [though they were] rational beings.
Verse 41
And a sign for them, of Our power, is that We carried their seed (dhurriyatahum: a variant reading has dhurriyyātihim), that is to say, their original ancestors, in the laden Ark, that is, Noah’s fully-loaded ship,
Verse 42
and We have created for them the like of it, that is, the like of Noah’s Ark, namely, the small and large ships resembling it which they have made, by the instruction of God, exalted be He, in which they ride.
Verse 43
And if We will, We drown them, despite the existence of ships [for them to ride safely in], whereat they have no one to call to, [none] to succour [them], nor are they rescued, delivered —
Verse 44
except by a mercy from Us and for an enjoyment until some time, in other words, they can only be saved by Our showing them mercy and Our permitting them to enjoy those pleasures of theirs until their terms [of life] are concluded.
Verse 45
And when it is said to them, ‘Beware of that which is before you, of the chastisement of this world, as [it is said] to others, and that which is behind you, of the chastisement of the Hereafter, that perhaps you might find mercy’, they turn away [in aversion].
Verse 46
And never did a sign of the signs of their Lord come to them, but that they turned away from it.
Verse 47
And when it is said, that is, [when] the poor ones from among the Companions [of the Prophet] say, to them: ‘Expend, on us, of what God has provided you’, of wealth, those who disbelieve say to those who believe, in mockery of them: ‘Are we to feed those whom, if God willed, He would feed?, as you are wont to believe? You, in saying this to us, together with this believe of yours, are only in manifest error!’ — as an explicit declaration of their disbelief this [statement] is very effective [in the way that it has been expressed].
Verse 48
And they say, ‘When will this promise, of resurrection, be [fulfilled], if you are being truthful?’, therein.
Verse 49
God, exalted be He, says: They await but a single Cry, namely [the cry of] Isrāfīl’s First Blast, that will seize them while they are disputing (read yakhassimūna, which is actually yakhtasimūna, where the vowel of the tā’ has been moved to the khā’ and it [the tā’] has been assimilated with the sād, in other words: while they are oblivious to it, busily engaged in disputes, concluding bargains, eating and drinking and so on; a variant reading has yakhsimūna similar [in pattern] to yadribūna, in which case the meaning is: while they dispute with one another).
Verse 50
Then they will not be able to make any testament, that is, to make a bequest, nor will they return to their folk, from their markets and their businesses, rather they will die then and there.
Verse 51
And the Trumpet is blown — this is the Horn — at the second Blast for the Resurrection [to take place]; between the two Blasts is an interval of forty years; and lo! they, those interred, will be scrambling out of their graves towards their Lord, emerging therefrom hurriedly.
Verse 52
They, the disbelievers among them, will say, ‘O (yā is for calling attention [to something]) woe to us! (waylanā means halākanā, ‘[O] our destruction!’, and it is a verbal noun which has no [regular] verbal conjugation) Who has raised us from our place of sleep?, [they say this] because they will have been asleep in the interval between the two blasts and will not have been punished [yet]. This, that is, [this] raising, is that which the Compassionate One had promised and, regarding which, the messengers had spoken the truth’: they affirm [this truth] when such affirmation is no longer of any benefit to them — but it is also said that this is said to them.
Verse 53
It is but a single Cry, and, behold, they will all be arraigned before Us!
Verse 54
So today no soul shall be wronged in any way, and you shall not be requited, except, the requital of, what you used to do.
Verse 55
Indeed today the inhabitants of Paradise are busy (read fī shughlin or fī shughulin), [oblivious] to what the inhabitants of the Fire are suffering, [busy] delighting in pleasures such as deflowering virgins — not busy with anything wearisome, as there is no toil in Paradise — rejoicing, blissful (fākihūna is a second predicate of inna, the first being fī shugulin, ‘busy’);
Verse 56
they (hum, the subject) and their spouses, beneath the shade (zilāl is the plural of zulla or zill, and is the predicate) in other words, no [blinding] sunlight affects them, reclining upon (muttaki’ūna is a second predicate, connected to ‘alā, ‘upon’) couches (arā’ik is the plural of arīka, which is a bed inside a curtained canopy, or the bedding therein).
Verse 57
They have fruits therein and, therein, they have whatever they call for, [whatever] they wish for.
Verse 58
“Peace!” (salāmun is a subject) — the word (qawlan is its predicate), that is, [peace] by way of a word, from a Lord [Who is] Merciful, to them, in other words, He says to them, ‘Peace be on you!’
Verse 59
And, He says: ‘Stand apart, O you sinners, on this day!, in other words, separate yourselves from the believers — [said to them] upon their mingling with the latter.
Verse 60
Did I not charge you, command you, O children of Adam, by the tongues of My messengers, that you should not worship Satan, [that you should] not obey him; truly he is a manifest enemy to you, one whose enmity is evident,
Verse 61
and that [you should] worship Me, [and that you should] affirm My Oneness and obey Me — that is the straight path?
Verse 62
For verily he has led astray from among you many a creature (jibillan is the plural of jabīl, similar [in pattern] to qadīm, ‘old’; a variant reading has jubulan). Did you not use to comprehend?, his enmity and his misguidance, or the chastisements that befell them and so believe? And it will be said to them in the Hereafter:
Verse 63
This is Hell, which you were promised!
Verse 64
Burn therein today [as chastisement] for that which you used to reject!’
Verse 65
Today We shall seal up their mouths, namely, [the mouths of] the disbelievers for their saying: By God, our Lord, we were never idolaters!’ [Q. 6:23]; and their hands shall speak to Us, and their feet shall bear witness, as will other [parts of their bodies] concerning what they used to earn, and so each limb will speak of that [sinful action] which issued from it.
Verse 66
And had We willed We would have obliterated their eyesight, We would have rendered them blind by obliterating them, then, they [would have tried to] advance towards the path, to be on their way as usual, but how would they have seen?, then. In other words, they would not have been to see.
Verse 67
And had We willed We would have transformed them, [into] apes or swine or stones, in their place (makānatihim, variant reading has makānātihim, the plural of makāna, meaning makān, in other words ‘in their dwellings’); then they would have neither been able to go ahead nor to return, in other words, they would not then be able to come and go.
Verse 68
And whomever We give long life, by prolonging his term [of life], We cause him to regress (nankushu; a variant reading has [2nd verbal form] nunakkishu, derived from al-tankīs) in creation, that is, in terms of his physical form, so that after having enjoyed strength and youth, he becomes feeble and decrepit. Will they then not understand?, that One Who is able to effect such [a state] — with which they are familiar — is also able to resurrect, that they might then become believers? (a variant reading [for ya‘qilūna, ‘they understand’] has [the second person plural] ta‘qilūna, ‘you understand’).
Verse 69
And We did not teach him, that is, the Prophet, poetry — this was [revealed] to refute their saying, ‘This Qur’ān that he has brought is but poetry!’ — nor is it, poetry, seemly, [nor is it] facilitated, for him. It — that which he has brought — is just Remembrance, an admonition, and a Qur’ān that clarifies, that manifests [God’s] rulings and other matters;
Verse 70
that he may warn (li-yundhira; or read li-tundhira, ‘that you may warn’), therewith, whoever is alive, able to comprehend what is being said to him — and such are the believers — and that the Word, of chastisement [from God], may be fulfilled against the disbelievers, who are like the dead, unable to comprehend what is said to them.
Verse 71
Or, have they not seen, have they [not] realised (the interrogative is meant as an affirmative, and the wāw inserted therein [in a-wa-lam] is for supplementation) that We have created for them, and for all human beings, of what Our hands worked, [of] what We have made without any partner or helper, cattle, namely, camels, cows and sheep, so that they are their owners?, masters [controlling them].
Verse 72
And We have subdued, We have disposed, these [cattle] for them, so that some of them provide rides for them and some of them they eat.
Verse 73
And there are other benefits for them therein, such as their wool, fur and hairs, and drinks, [made] from their milk (mashārib is the plural of mashrab meaning shurb, ‘a drink’; or [what is meant is] the place [from which the drink issues]). Will they not then give thanks?, to the One Who has bestowed these graces upon them and so become believers? In other words, they do not do [any of] this.
Verse 74
And they have taken besides God, in other words, other than Him, [other] gods, idols, which they worship, that perhaps they might be helped, protected against God’s chastisement by their gods’ interceding for them, as they are wont to claim.
Verse 75
They, their gods, cannot help them — they are being treated as [though they were] rational beings — and they, their idol gods, are their host, as they claim, their supporters, ever-present, [but] in the Fire, together with them.
Verse 76
So do not be grieved by their remarks, to you, that you have not been sent [by God] and otherwise. Assuredly We know what they conceal and what they proclaim, in this respect and otherwise, and We will requite them accordingly.
Verse 77
Or has man — namely, [the like of] al-‘Āsī b. Wā’il — not seen, [has he not] realised, that We created him from a drop, of sperm [and so on in stages] until We made him powerful and strong. Then lo! he is an open adversary, severely antagonistic towards Us, [openly] making this manifest by his denial of resurrection.
Verse 78
And he strikes for Us a similitude, in this respect, and forgets [the manner of] his creation, from a sperm-drop, a thing more curious than his similitude; he says, ‘Who will revive the bones when they are rot?’, in other words, [when they have become] withered (He does not say ramīmatun, ‘decayed’, because it [ramīmun, ‘rot’] is a noun and not an adjective). It is reported that he [al-‘Āsī] took some withered bones and crushed them into pieces and said to the Prophet (s), ‘Do you think that God can revive these [bones] after they have decayed and become rot?’ And so the Prophet (s) said, ‘Yes indeed! And He will also throw you into the Fire’.
Verse 79
Say: ‘He will revive them Who originated them the first time, and He is Knower of all creation, [of every single] creature, generally and in detail, before and after it has been created —
Verse 80
He Who has made for you, and for all human beings, fire from the green tree, namely, [from] the markh and ‘afār [variety], or [from] all trees, except for the jujube (‘unnāb), and, behold, from it you kindle’, [from it] you strike fire: this is proof of the power [of God] to resurrect, for in this [example of the green tree] He has combined [the elements of] water, fire and wood; but neither the water extinguishes the fire, nor does the fire ignite the wood.
Verse 81
Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth, in all their immensity, able to create the like of them?, namely, human beings, in all their minuteness? Yes indeed, He is able to do this — God Himself replies here. And He is the Creator (khallāq means Creator of many things), the Knower, of all things.
Verse 82
His command, His affair, when He wills a thing, that is, [when He will] to create something, is just to say to it ‘Be’, and it is (a variant reading [for fa-yakūnu] has fa-yakūna, as a supplement to yaqūla, ‘to say’).
Verse 83
So glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion of all things (malakūt means mulk: the wāw and tā’ have been added for hyperbole) and to Whom you will be returned, restored, in the Hereafter.
Verse 1
By those who are ranged in ranks — [by] the angels who range their souls in worship or their wings in the air awaiting their orders;
Verse 2
and the drivers who drive [away], the angels who drive the clouds;
Verse 3
and those who recite, that is to say, the readers of the Qur’ān, they recite it, by way remembrance (dhikran is a verbal noun referring to [the action of] al-tāliyāt, ‘those who recite’).
Verse 4
Indeed your God, O people of Mecca, is certainly One,
Verse 5
Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and Lord of the sun’s risings, that is, as well as the sun’s settings — each day it [the sun] has a rising and a setting.
Verse 6
We have indeed adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment, the stars, that is to say, [adorned] with their light or with them [the stars] (the genitive annexation [bi-zīnati’l-kawākib] is for explication; similarly [explicative] is the reading of bi-zīnatin, ‘with an adornment’, with nunation, [the adornment] explained as being ‘the stars’);
Verse 7
and to guard (wa-hifzan is in the accusative because of an implied verb) that is to say, ‘We have guarded it with meteors’, from every (min kulli is semantically connected to the implied verb) any rebellious devil, who is a transgressor, in rebellion against obedience.
Verse 8
They, namely, the devils (lā yasma‘ūna, this is [the beginning of] a new sentence) cannot listen in — this ‘listening’ of theirs represents that faculty with which they memorise [what they hear] — on the High Council, the angels in the heavens (the [normally transitive verb] al-samā‘ is complemented with the preposition ilā, ‘to’ [here ‘in on’] because it includes the additional sense of ‘paying attention’ [while listening]; a variant reading has yassamma‘una, which is actually yatasamma‘ūna, the tā’ have been assimilated with the sīn), for they, the devils, are pelted, with flames, from every side, from the remotest regions of the heavens,
Verse 9
to repel [them] (duhūran is a verbal noun from daharahu, meaning, ‘he repelled him, driving him away’; it is an object denoting reason) and theirs, in the Hereafter, is an everlasting chastisement;
Verse 10
except him who snatches a fragment (al-khatfa is the verbal noun, that is to say, ‘[that] one time’; the exceptive clause refers to the subject [of the verb] yasma‘ūna, in other words, ‘the only devil that is able to listen is the one that hears a word from the angels and snatches it away quickly’) and who is then pursued by a piercing flame (shihāb is a meteor) that pierces him, or burns him or robs him of his senses.
Verse 11
So ask them, in other words, inquire of the people of Mecca for affirmation or by way of rebuke: Are they stronger as a creation, or those [others] whom We created?, of angels, heavens, the two earths and all that is in them (the use of man, ‘those whom’ [in man khalaqnā] indicates that the reference is predominantly to [other] rational creatures). Indeed We created them, that is, their origin, Adam, from a viscous clay, that sticks to the hand. The [intended] meaning is that their physical make-up is fragile so let them not behave arrogantly by rejecting the Prophet and the Qur’ān, a fact which will result in their — easily accomplished — destruction.
Verse 12
Nay, but (bal is for effecting a transition from one object to another, which in this case is to inform of his state and theirs) you marvel, (‘ajibta) addressing the Prophet (s), that is, [you marvel] that they deny you, while they engage in ridicule, at your marvelling,
Verse 13
and [even] when they are reminded, [when] they are admonished with the Qur’ān, they are not mindful, they do not heed the admonition,
Verse 14
and when they see a sign, such as the splitting of the moon [cf. Q. 54:1], they make it an object of ridicule, they deride it.
Verse 15
And they say, regarding it: ‘This is nothing but manifest sorcery — and they say in denial of the Resurrection —
Verse 16
When we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we indeed be resurrected? (In both places [sc. a-idhā and a-innā] either pronounce both hamzas, or read without pronouncing the second one and inserting an alif between them, in both cases).
Verse 17
And our forefathers too?’ (read aw ābā’unā indicating a supplement; or read a-wa-ābā’unā as an interrogative, effecting the supplement with the wāw; so that what is being supplemented is either the inna together with its subject [sc. a-inna la-mab‘ūthūna], or the subject [of the verb] la-mab‘ūthūna, in which case the interrogative hamza is a separator).
Verse 18
Say: ‘Yes, you will be resurrected, and you will be utterly humiliated!’
Verse 19
For it will be only (innamā hiya, this [hiya] is a demonstrative pronoun explained by [the following, zajratun) a single cry and, lo! they, all creatures, will be, alive, watching, [to see] what will be done with them.
Verse 20
And they, the disbelievers, will say, ‘O (yā is for calling attention) woe to us!’, [O] our destruction [is here] (waylanā is a verbal noun without any [regular] verbal conjugation). And the angels will say to them: ‘This is the Day of Retribution’, the Day of Reckoning and Requital.
Verse 21
‘This is the Day of Judgement, between [all] creatures, that you used to deny!’
Verse 22
It is then said to the angels: ‘Gather those who did wrong, to their own souls through idolatry, together with their mates, their associates from among the devils, and what they used to worship,
Verse 23
besides God, in other words, other than Him, in the way of graven images, and lead them, direct them and drive them, to the path of Hell, the way to the Fire.
Verse 24
But [first] stop them, detain them on the path, for they must be questioned, about all their sayings and deeds, and it will be said to them in rebuke:
Verse 25
“What is wrong with you that you do not help one another?”, as was the case with you in this world. And it will be said to them:
Verse 26
Nay, but today they offer complete submission, [they are] compliant, abased.
Verse 27
And some of them will turn to others, questioning each other, blaming one another and disputing.
Verse 28
They, that is, the followers among them, will say, to those whom they followed: ‘Indeed you used to approach us from the right’, in other words, from that aspect in which we used to trust you, for you used to swear that you followed the truth, and so we believed you and we followed you — in other words, ‘Indeed, you have led us astray!’
Verse 29
They, the ones who were followed, say, to them [the followers]: ‘On the contrary! You were [simply] not believers, for it would only be true that we led you astray if you had actually been believers [in the first place] and then rejected faith and followed us.
Verse 30
And we did not have any warrant, any sway or power, over you, to compel you to follow us. Nay, but you [yourselves] were a rebellious folk, astray, like us.
Verse 31
So our Lord’s Words, of chastisement — namely, His Words: ‘Verily I shall fill Hell with jinn and mankind together’ [Q. 11:119] — have become due against us, both. Indeed we shall, both, taste, the chastisement with these Words — which prompts them to say:
Verse 32
So we led you astray — the reason for which is given by their saying — indeed we [ourselves] were astray’.
Verse 33
God, exalted be He, says: So they on that day, the Day of Resurrection, will share in the chastisement, for they shared in the error.
Verse 34
Indeed so, in the same way that We deal with these, We deal with sinners, other than these, in other words, We chastise both of them the followers and those who were followed.
Verse 35
For truly it was they who, in other words, [it was] these [sinners] who — given the context that follows — when it was said to them, ‘There is no god except God’, used to be scornful,
Verse 36
and would say, ‘Are we to abandon our gods for a mad poet?’, that is, for the sake of what Muhammad (s) says? (as regards the hamzas [in a-innā, ‘are we’], the same applies as mentioned above).
Verse 37
God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but he has brought [them] the truth and confirmed the [earlier] messengers, namely, those who had also brought this [truth], which is that there is no god except God.
Verse 38
‘You shall certainly (there is a shift from the third person address [to the second] here) taste the painful chastisement,
Verse 39
and you will only be requited, the requital for, what you used to do’.
Verse 40
Except for God’s sincere servants, namely, the believers (the exception clause here is a discontinuous one),
Verse 41
whose requital is mentioned in His saying: For them there will be, in Paradise, a distinct provision, morning and evening —
Verse 42
fruits (fawākihu either substitutes for rizqun, or is an explication thereof) here these [fruits] represent what is eaten for delight and not for the sake of preserving one’s health [as in this world], for the inhabitants of Paradise are in no need of preserving it given that their bodies will be created to be everlasting — and they will honoured, with God’s reward, glory be to Him, exalted be He,
Verse 43
in the Gardens of Bliss,
Verse 44
[reclining] upon couches, facing one another, so that they do not see the back of one another;
Verse 45
they are served from all round, each one of them [is so served], with a cup (ka’san, [this denotes] the vessel with the drink in it) from a spring, of wine that flows along the ground like streams of water,
Verse 46
white, whiter than milk, delicious to the drinkers, in contrast to the wine of this world which is distasteful to drink,
Verse 47
wherein there is neither madness, nothing to snatch away their minds, nor will they be spent by it (read yunzafūna or yunzifūna, from [1st form] nazafa or [4th form] anzafa, said of one drinking, in other words, they are [not] inebriated [by it], in contrast to the wine of this world),
Verse 48
and with them will be maidens of restrained glances, who reserved their glances [exclusively] for their spouses and do not look upon any other — because of the beauty they [the maidens] see in them — with beautiful eyes (‘īn means with large and beautiful eyes),
Verse 49
as if they were, in terms of [the starkness of their white] colour, hidden eggs, of ostriches, sheltered by their feathers from dust, the colour being that whiteness with a hint of pallor, which is the most beautiful of female complexions.
Verse 50
Some of them, some of the inhabitants of Paradise, will turn to others, questioning each other, regarding what they experienced in the [life of the] world.
Verse 51
One of them will say, ‘Indeed I had a comrade, a companion who used to reject [the idea of] resurrection,
Verse 52
who used to say, to me in reproach, “Are you really among those who affirm as truth, the Resurrection [and],
Verse 53
[that] when we are dead and have become dust and bones, we shall actually be called to account?” ’, that we shall be requited and reckoned with — he rejects [the truth of] this as well (as regards all three instances of the hamzas [sc. a-innaka, a-idhā, and a-innā] what has been mentioned above [applies]).
Verse 54
He, the one speaking, says, to his brethren [in Paradise], ‘Will you have a look?’, together with me into the Fire, to see his condition — but they will say, ‘No’.
Verse 55
Then he, that speaker, will take a look, through one of the apertures in Paradise, and he will catch sight of him, that is, he will see his comrade, in the centre of Hell, in the middle of the Fire.
Verse 56
He will say, to him, acknowledging that he [the latter] deserves his fate: ‘By God! You very nearly destroyed me, you [almost] ruined me through your misguidance (in, this has been softened from the hardened form [inna]).
Verse 57
And had it not been for the favour of my Lord, His grace to me in giving me faith, I [too] would have been of those arraigned’, with you, in the Fire. The inhabitants of Paradise will say:
Verse 58
Do we then not die [anymore],
Verse 59
aside from our first death, that is, the one [which we suffered] in this world, and are we not to be chastised?’ — this interrogative statement is one made out of [sheer] delight and in order to speak [at length] of the graces of God, exalted be He, in [His] granting of everlasting life and refraining from inflicting any punishment.
Verse 60
Truly this, that has mentioned [as being the reward] for the inhabitants of Paradise, is indeed the mighty success.
Verse 61
For the like of this let [all] the workers work — it is said that this is said to them, or it is what they say [themselves].
Verse 62
Is that, which is mentioned to them, a better hospitality (nuzul, denotes what is prepared for one who is being received as a guest and so forth) or the Zaqqūm tree, that is prepared for the inhabitants of the Fire — it is the vilest and most bitter tree of the Tihāma region, which God causes to grow in the Fire, as will be stated shortly.
Verse 63
We have indeed made it, for that reason [sc. its being a tree in the Fire], a trial for the wrongdoers?, namely, [for] the disbelievers of Mecca, for they said, ‘Fire consumes trees so how can it make them grow forth?’
Verse 64
Indeed it is a tree that comes forth from the very source of Hell, in other words, from the depths of Hell, with its branches extending up through all its [different] levels.
Verse 65
Its spathes, likened to the spathes of a date-palm, are like the heads of devils, [as] vile-looking snakes.
Verse 66
And indeed they, the disbelievers, will eat of it, despite its vileness, because of the severity of their hunger, and will fill their bellies from it.
Verse 67
Then, lo!, on top of it they will have a brew of boiling water, which they drink and which mixes with what they have eaten and becomes a brew thereof.
Verse 68
Then indeed their return shall be to Hell-fire — this suggests that they exit from it [only] to drink the boiling water, which is located outside it.
Verse 69
Lo! they found their fathers to be astray,
Verse 70
and so they are [also now] hurrying in their footsteps: they shall be prodded to follow them and they end up hurrying towards it [Hell-fire].
Verse 71
And verily most of the ancients, of past communities, went astray before them,
Verse 72
and We certainly had sent among them warners, in the way of messengers to threaten [them].
Verse 73
So behold how was the consequence for them who were warned, namely, the disbelievers: in other words the sequel for them was [that they ended up in] the chastisement;
Verse 74
[all] except God’s sincere servants, namely, the believers, who are saved from chastisement because they were sincere in their worship (mukhlisīna); or (if one reads mukhlasīna) because God has made them sincerely devoted to such [worship].
Verse 75
And verily Noah called to Us, when he said, ‘My Lord: I have been overcome, so help [me] [Q. 54:10], and how excellent were the Hearers of the prayer, for him, were We: in other words he invoked Us against his people, so We destroyed them by drowning [them].
Verse 76
And We delivered him and his family from the great distress, which was the drowning,
Verse 77
and made his descendants the survivors, thus all human beings are descended from him, peace be upon him. He had three sons: Shem (Sām), the ancestor of the Arabs, the Persians and the Byzantines; Ham (Hām), the ancestor of the Negroes; and Japheth (Yāfith), the ancestor of the Turks, the Khazar and [the peoples of] Gog and Magog and [the inhabitants of] such regions.
Verse 78
And We left, We preserved, for him, fair praise, among posterity: [among] the prophets and communities [after him] until the Day of Resurrection [which is]:
Verse 79
‘Peace, from Us, be to Noah among the worlds!’
Verse 80
Thus indeed, in the way that We requited them, We requite the virtuous.
Verse 81
He was indeed one of Our faithful servants.
Verse 82
Then We did drown the others, the disbelievers from among his folk.
Verse 83
And truly of his adherents, that is, of those who agreed with him on the fundaments of religion, was Abraham, despite the fact that there was a long interval between them, 2640 years, and between them came [the prophets] Hūd and Sālih.
Verse 84
When he came to his Lord, in other words, he continued to follow Him upon coming to Him, with a heart that was pure, of any doubt or the like,
Verse 85
when he said, [while still] in this continuous state of his, to his father and his folk, in reproach: ‘What do — what is it that — you worship?
Verse 86
Is it a calumny (a-ifkan, as regards the two hamzas, the same applies as mentioned before) — gods other than God — that you desire? (ifkan is an object denoting reason; ālihatan is the direct object of turīdūna, ‘you desire’; ifk denotes the worst kind of lie). In other words: do you worship [any] other than God?
Verse 87
What then is your supposition regarding the Lord of the Worlds?’, having worshipped other than Him, [do you think] that He will leave you without punishment? No! They were a people of astrologers. On one occasion, they went out to celebrate a festival of theirs and left their food behind with their idols, claiming that they were securing thereby blessings for it and that they would eat it upon their return. They had said to the lord Abraham: ‘Come out with us’.
Verse 88
And he cast a glance at the stars — to delude them into thinking that he relies on them, so that they would then trust him —
Verse 89
and said, ‘Indeed I feel [I will be] sick’, that is, I will fall ill.
Verse 90
So they went away, to their festival, leaving him behind.
Verse 91
Then he turned, he stole away, to their gods, the idols, in front of which the food had been placed, and said, mockingly: ‘Will you not eat? — but they failed to utter [a word].
Verse 92
He then said: What is wrong with you that you do not speak?’ — but [still] he received no response.
Verse 93
He then turned on them striking [them] with his right hand, with might, smashing them. Those who saw him reported this to [the rest of] his people.
Verse 94
So they came running towards him, walking hurriedly, and they said to him, ‘We worship them while you smash them?!’
Verse 95
He said, to them in reproach: ‘Do you worship what you [yourselves] have carved, out of stone and other materials, idols,
Verse 96
when God created you and whatever you make?’, [whether it be] your act of carving and that which you have carved? So worship Him alone! (the mā [in wa-mā ta‘malūna, ‘and whatever you make’] is that of the verbal noun; but it is also said to introduce a relative clause, or it is adjectivally qualified).
Verse 97
They said, amongst themselves: ‘Build for him a structure, then fill it with firewood and set it on fire, and when it is ablaze, then cast him into the fierce fire’.
Verse 98
So they sought to outwit him, by flinging him into the fire, so that it may destroy him, but We made them the lowermost, the vanquished, as he came out of the fire unharmed.
Verse 99
And he said, ‘I shall indeed depart to my Lord, I shall emigrating to Him from the abode of disbelief — He will guide me, to the place to which My Lord has commanded that I end up in, and this was Syria. When he reached the Holy Land, he said:
Verse 100
My Lord! Grant me, a child, of the righteous’.
Verse 101
So We gave him the good tidings of a forbearing son.
Verse 102
And when he was old enough to walk with him, that is, to go about with him and help him out — this is said to have been [either] at the age of seven or at the age of thirteen — he said, ‘O my dear son, I see, that is, I have seen, in a dream that I shall sacrifice you — and the visions of prophets are [always] true and their actions are [inspired] by the command of God, exalted be He. So see what you think’, of this dream. He consulted him so that he [his son] might accept the idea of being sacrificed and comply with the command for it. He said, ‘O my father (the [final] tā’ [in abati] replaces the yā’ of the genitive [possessive] annexation [yā abī]) do whatever you have been commanded, to do. You shall find me, God willing, of the steadfast’, in this [affair].
Verse 103
And when they had both submitted, [when] they had submitted to and were prepared to comply with God’s command, exalted be He, and he had laid him down on his forehead, [when] he had pushed him down to the ground thereon — every human being has two brows (jabīn) between which is the forehead (jabha); this was at Minā. Abraham passed the knife across his [son’s] throat but it did not do anything, by some impediment of the Divine Power,
Verse 104
We called to him, ‘O Abraham!
Verse 105
Verily you have fulfilled the vision’, by what you have done, in that you were able to go through with the act of sacrifice. In other words, that [which you have done] suffices for you [as redemption] (the statement nādaynāhu, ‘We called to him’, is the response to the lammā, ‘when’, so that the wāw [in wa-nādaynāhu, ‘We called to him’] is extra). So, in the same way that We have rewarded you, do We reward those who are virtuous, to their own souls in obeying the Command [of God], by removing from them their distress.
Verse 106
Truly this, sacrifice to which he was commanded, was indeed a clear test’, that is to say, the ultimate test [of faith].
Verse 107
Then We ransomed him, the one whom he had been commanded to sacrifice, namely, Ishmael or Isaac — two different opinions — with a mighty sacrifice, [a mighty] ram from Paradise, the same one that Abel had offered as as sacrifice: Gabriel, peace be upon him, brought it and the lord Abraham sacrificed it as he cried, Allāhu akbar, ‘God is Great’.
Verse 108
And We left, We preserved, for him among posterity, fair praise [namely]:
Verse 109
‘Peace, from Us, be to Abraham!’
Verse 110
So, in way that We rewarded him, do We reward those who are virtuous, to their own souls.
Verse 111
Indeed he is one of Our faithful servants.
Verse 112
And We gave him the good tidings of [the birth of] Isaac — some have argued that this proves that the one who was sacrificed was not him [Isaac] — a prophet (nabiyyan is a future circumstantial qualifier, that is to say, ‘he will come to be, with his prophethood decreed), one of the righteous.
Verse 113
And We blessed him, by multiplying his descendants, and Isaac, his son, [We also blessed] by appointing the majority of prophets from among his progeny. And among their descendants is he who is virtuous, [he who is] a believer, and he who plainly wrongs his soul, [he who is] a disbeliever, whose disbelief is manifest.
Verse 114
And verily We favoured Moses and Aaron, with prophethood,
Verse 115
and We delivered them and their people, the Children of Israel, from the great distress, namely, Pharaoh’s enslavement of them.
Verse 116
And We helped them, against the Egyptians, so that they became the victors.
Verse 117
And We gave them the enlightening scripture, the one whose statements concerning prescribed punishments and rulings and otherwise are excellently expressed — this is the Torah.
Verse 118
And We guided them to the straight path, [the straight] way,
Verse 119
and We left, We preserved, for them among posterity, fair praise [namely]:
Verse 120
‘Peace, from Us, be to Moses and Aaron!’
Verse 121
So, just as We rewarded them both, do We reward the virtuous.
Verse 122
Indeed both were among Our faithful servants.
Verse 123
And truly Elias (read [wa-inna Ilyās] with the initial hamza or without [wa-inna’l-yāsa) was [also] one of the messengers. Some think that this [Elias] was the son of Aaron’s brother — [Aaron] the brother of Moses; but some say that this [Elias] was some other [person], who was sent to the people living in and around Baalbak.
Verse 124
When (idh is dependent because of an implicit [verb] udhkur, ‘mention’) he said to his people, ‘Will you not fear [God]?
Verse 125
Do you call on Baal — this was the name of an idol of theirs which was made of gold, from which the name of their city derives, with the addition of [the suffix] bak — that is to say, do you worship him, and abandon the Best of Creators, and not worship Him,
Verse 126
God, your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers?’ (read [as predicates] allāhu, rabbukum and rabbu, in the nominative, because of the [implicit] omitted huwa [being the subject]; or read allāha, rabbakum and rabba, in the accusative, as supplements to ahsana, ‘the best of’).
Verse 127
But they denied him. So they will indeed be arraigned, in the Fire,
Verse 128
— [all] except God’s delivered servants, namely, the believers, who will be saved from it,
Verse 129
and We left for him among posterity, fair praise [namely]:
Verse 130
‘Peace, from Us, be to Elias!’. It is said that this [ilyāsīn] is [the same] Elias mentioned above; but it is also said that this denotes him together with [all] those who were believers with him, and so they have been coupled [under the same term] with him being the predominant, as when one might say al-Muhallabūn, ‘the Muhallabids’, to mean al-Muhallab and his folk; a variant reading has āl yāsīn, by which is meant his family as well as Elias himself.
Verse 131
Indeed so — just as We rewarded him — do We reward the virtuous.
Verse 132
Truly he is one of Our faithful servants.
Verse 133
And indeed Lot was one of the messengers;
Verse 134
mention, when We delivered him together with all his family,
Verse 135
except an old woman [who was] among those who stayed behind, in other words, those who stayed behind in the chastisement.
Verse 136
Then We destroyed [all] the others, the disbelievers from among his people.
Verse 137
And indeed you pass by them, by their remains and [the remains of] their dwellings during your travels, [both] in the morning, that is, during the daytime,
Verse 138
and at night: will you, O people of Mecca, not then understand?, what befell them and so take heed therefrom?
Verse 139
And indeed Jonah was one of the messengers;
Verse 140
when he fled to the laden ship — after he became furious with his people, as the chastisement which he had promised them did not come down on them; so he boarded the ship, which then stopped out in the deep sea. The seamen said, ‘There is a runaway slave here [upon this ship] who has fled from his master: a casting of lots should expose him!’
Verse 141
Then he drew lots, with the passengers on the ship, and was of those rejected, of the losers in the draw and so they threw him into the sea.
Verse 142
Then the whale swallowed him while he was blameworthy, that is, while he was guilty of a blameworthy thing, having gone to sea and embarked the ship without his Lord’s permission.
Verse 143
And had he not been one of those who glorify [God], that is to say, those who make remembrance [of God], for inside the whale’s belly he was repeatedly saying [the words] ‘There is no god except You. Glory be to You! I have indeed been one of the wrongdoers’ [Q. 21:87],
Verse 144
he would have tarried in its belly until the day when they are raised, in other words, the whale’s belly would have been his tomb until the Day of Resurrection.
Verse 145
Then We cast him, We flung him out of the belly of the whale, onto the barren land, onto the face of the earth, that is, onto the shore on that same day — or three, or seven, or twenty, or forty days later — and he was sick, ailing like a [newly-born] featherless chick.
Verse 146
And We made a gourd plant to grow above him, to provide shade for him with its stem, which is not the case usually with gourds, as a miracle for him; a mountain goat would come to him in the morning and in the evening and he would drink its milk, until he finally regained his strength.
Verse 147
And We sent him, afterwards — as [We had done] before, to a people in Nineveh, in the region of Mosul — to a [community of a] hundred thousand or, in fact, more — [a community of] twenty, thirty or seventy thousand.
Verse 148
And they believed, after they saw [with their own eyes] the chastisement which they had been promised. So We gave them comfort, We kept them alive to enjoy their wealth, for a while, until their terms [of life] would be concluded [while they took comfort] therein.
Verse 149
So ask them, inquire of the Meccan disbelievers, by way of reproach: are daughters to be for your Lord, after their claim that the angels were God’s daughters, while sons are to be for them?, so that the best becomes exclusively theirs?
Verse 150
Or did We create the angels females while they were witnesses?, to Our [act of] creation, that they might then say such a thing?
Verse 151
Lo! it is indeed out of their [own] mendacity, their [own] lies, that they say,
Verse 152
‘God has begotten’, when they say that the angels are God’s daughters. And verily they are liars, in this [respect].
Verse 153
Has He preferred daughters to sons? (read a’stafā, ‘has He preferred’, indicating an interrogative [hamza], which stands in place of the omitted conjunctive hamza).
Verse 154
What is wrong with you? How do you judge?, [how do you make] such a depraved judgement?
Verse 155
Will you not then remember? (tadhakkarūna: the tā’ [of tatadhakkarūna] has been assimilated with the dhāl), that He, glory be to Him, is exalted above having a child?
Verse 156
Or do you have a clear warrant?, plain definitive proof that God has a child?
Verse 157
Then produce your scripture, the Torah, and show Me this [as it is mentioned] in it, if you are being truthful, about this statement of yours.
Verse 158
And they, namely, the idolaters, have set up between Him, exalted be He, and the jinn, namely, the angels (jinna: they are so called because they are hidden [ijtinān] from vision) a kinship, by saying that they are God’s daughters, while the jinn certainly know that they, that is, those who say this, shall indeed be arraigned, into the Fire, to be chastised therein.
Verse 159
Glory be to God, affirming that He is exalted, above what they attribute, [to Him] in the way of His having a child,
Verse 160
— [all] except God’s devoted servants, namely, believers (the exceptive clause here is discontinuous) in other words, [that is] because they declare that God transcends what such individuals attribute [to Him].
Verse 161
For indeed you and what you worship, of idols,
Verse 162
— you cannot tempt, anyone, thereto, that is, to [incline to] your [worshipped] idols (‘alayhi, ‘thereto’, is semantically connected to His saying [bi-fātinīna], ‘you cannot tempt’),
Verse 163
except him who will burn in Hell, in God’s knowledge, exalted be He.
Verse 164
Gabriel said to the Prophet (s): And there is not one of us, [us] the company of angels, but has a known station, in the heavens, in which he worships God and which he does not transgress.
Verse 165
And indeed it is we who are the rangers, of our feet in prayer.
Verse 166
And indeed it is we who give glory, [it is we] who declare that God transcends what does not befit Him.
Verse 167
And indeed (in, is softened in place of the hardened one) they, the Meccan disbelievers, used to say,
Verse 168
‘If we had but a reminder, a scripture, from the ancients, that is, from among the scriptures of past communities,
Verse 169
we would have surely been God’s devoted servants’, [devoting] worship purely to Him.
Verse 170
God, exalted be He, says: Yet they disbelieved in it, in other words, in the Book that came to them, namely, the Qur’ān, more glorious than [all] those other scriptures; but they will come to know, the consequences of their disbelief.
Verse 171
And verily Our Word, [containing the promise] of victory, has gone beforehand in favour of Our servants, the messengers: and that [Word] is, I shall assuredly prevail, I and My messengers [Q. 58:21] —
Verse 172
or it is His [following] saying — assuredly they shall be helped,
Verse 173
and assuredly Our hosts, namely, the believers, they will indeed be the victors, over the disbelievers by [their being given] the definitive proofs and assistance against them in this world. And if some of these [believers] are not victorious over them in this world, then assuredly in the Hereafter [they will be so].
Verse 174
So leave them, in other words, shun the Meccan disbelievers, for a while, until [such time as] you are commanded to fight them;
Verse 175
and watch them, when the chastisement is sent down on them; for they will [soon] see, the consequences of their disbelief.
Verse 176
They then said in mockery, ‘When will this chastisement be sent down?’ God, exalted be He, threatens them by saying: Do they seek to hasten Our chastisement?
Verse 177
But when it descends in their courtyard — al-Farrā’ said that the Arabs find it sufficient to refer to a people by referring to ‘their courtyard’ — how awful, how terrible a morning, will be the morning for those who were warned (the overt noun [al-mundharīn] has replaced the [third person] pronominalisation [in sāhatihim]).
Verse 178
So leave them for a while,
Verse 179
and watch; for they will [soon] see — this [statement] is repeated in order to emphasise the threat made to them and to reassure the Prophet (s).
Verse 180
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, of Triumph, [exalted is He] above what they allege!, in the way of His having a child.
Verse 181
And peace be to the messengers, who convey from God the Message of the Oneness [of God] and [His] Laws.
Verse 182
And praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, for granting these [messengers] victory and destroying the disbelievers.
Verse 1
Sād: God knows best what He means by this [letter]. By the Qur’ān bearing the Remembrance, that is, [bearing] the Pronouncement; or [what is meant is that the Qur’ān is a Book] of renown (the response to this oath has been omitted, in other words: ‘It is not as the Meccan disbelievers say, that there are many gods’).
Verse 2
Nay, but those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca, dwell in conceit, in self-glory and [in] disdain of faith, and defiance, disagreement with, and enmity towards, the Prophet (s).
Verse 3
How many — in other words, many — a generation, a community of past communities, We have destroyed before them, and they cried out, when the chastisement was sent down on them, when it was no longer the time for escape, that is to say, the time was not one for fleeing (the [suffixed] tā’ [of wa-lāta] is extra; the sentence is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of [the verb] nādaw, ‘they cried out’) in other words, they called for help but the situation was such that there could be no escape or deliverance; but still the Meccan disbelievers have not taken heed from their example.
Verse 4
And they marvel that a warner has come to them from among themselves, a messenger from among their number, to warn them and to threaten them with [the punishment of] the Fire after resurrection — and this [warner] is the Prophet (s). And those who disbelieve (the overt noun [al-kāfirūnā] has replaced the [third person] pronominalisation) say, ‘This is a sorcerer, a liar.
Verse 5
Has he made the gods One God? — for he had said to them, ‘Say: there is no god except God’ — in other words [they objected]: how could one god suffice for all of creation? Lo! that is indeed a curious thing’.
Verse 6
And the council from among them go about, from the place of their assembly at the house of Abū Tālib and [the place] where they heard the Prophet (s) say, ‘Say: there is no god except God’, saying, ‘Go!, they say to one another, go, and stand by your gods, adhere firmly to worship of them; lo! this, that has been mentioned concerning the Oneness of God, is indeed a thing sought, from us.
Verse 7
We never heard of this in the latter-day creed, namely, the creed of Jesus. This is surely [nothing] but an invention, [mere] lies.
Verse 8
Has the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, been revealed to him, Muhammad (s), out of [all of] us’, when he is neither the elder nor the noblest among us? In other words, it could not have been revealed to him (read a-unzila pronouncing both hamzas, or not pronouncing the second one, but in both cases inserting an intervening alif or without [this insertion]). God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but they are in doubt concerning My Remembrance, My revelation, that is, the Qur’ān, for they deny the one who has brought it. Nay, but they have not yet tasted My chastisement, and if they were to taste it, they would certainly believe the Prophet (s) in what he has brought — but then [in such a case] their belief [in the Prophet] would be of no benefit to them.
Verse 9
Or do they possess the treasuries of your Lord’s mercy, the Mighty, the Victor, the Bestower?, [treasuries] such as prophethood and otherwise, so that they might give it to whomever they want?
Verse 10
Or do they possess the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them? If this is what they claim: Then let them ascend by the means, [of ascension] that lead to the heaven and bring [down] some revelation (wahy) and then assign it exclusively to whomever they wish (am in both verses represents the [rhetorical] hamza of denial).
Verse 11
A routed (mahzūmun is an adjectival qualification of jundun, ‘host’) host [is all that they are], in other words, they are [nothing but] a despicable host, nothing more — in their denial of you — from among the factions (mina’l-ahzābi, also an adjectival qualification of jundun) in other words, [they are] like those hosts of factions who were in confederation against prophets before you: these were defeated and destroyed, and likewise We shall destroy these [people].
Verse 12
Before them the people of Noah denied (the inflection of [the verb kadhdabat, ‘denied’, that is governed by] qawmu, ‘people’, is in the feminine person because of the [implicit] sense), and [so did those of] ‘Ād and Pharaoh, he of the stakes — he used to fix four stakes for the person who incurred his wrath and tie to these [stakes] that person’s hands and feet and then torture him —
Verse 13
and Thamūd and the people of Lot and the dwellers in the wood, a small forest, namely, the people of Shu‘ayb, peace be upon him — those were the factions.
Verse 14
Each one, of the factions, did not but deny the messengers, for when they deny one, they have [in effect] denied them all, since their call [to God] is [the same] one, namely, the call to [affirmation of] His Oneness. So My retribution was justified, [it was] necessary.
Verse 15
And these, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, do not await but a single Cry, namely, the Blast of the Resurrection that will herald chastisement for them, for which there will be no revoking (read fawāq or fuwāq).
Verse 16
And they said — after the following [verse] was revealed, As for him who is given his book in his right hand … to the end [of the verse, Q. 69:19] — ‘Our Lord, hasten on for us the record of our deeds before the Day of Reckoning’ — they said this mockingly.
Verse 17
God, exalted be He, says: Bear patiently what they say and remember Our servant David, the one of fortitude, that is to say, [the one] of fortitude in worship: he used to fast every other day and keep vigil for half the night, sleep for a third and then keep vigil for the [last] sixth. Indeed he was a penitent [soul], always returning to what pleases God.
Verse 18
Truly We disposed the mountains to glorify [God] with him, with the same glorification, at evening, at the time of the night prayer, and at sunrise, at the time of the morning prayer, which is when the sun has fully risen with its light extending everywhere.
Verse 19
And, We disposed, the birds, mustered [in flocks], gathered before him, glorifying with him; each, of the mountains and birds, turning to him, reverting to obedience of him by glorifying [God with him].
Verse 20
And We strengthened his Kingdom, We reinforced it with guards and hosts: every night there thirty thousand men would be standing guard at his sanctuary; and gave him wisdom, prophethood and sound judgement in [all] matters, and decisive speech, [the ability to formulate] a satisfactory statement [for a decision] in any endeavour.
Verse 21
And has there come to you, O Muhammad (s) (the purpose of the interrogative [indicated by hal] here is to provoke curiosity and a desire to listen to what will follow) the tale of the disputants, when they scaled the sanctuary?, David’s sanctuary, that is, his place of prayer, for they had been prohibited from entering by the [front] gates because of his being engaged in worship, in other words, [has it come to you] their tale and their account?
Verse 22
When they entered upon David, and he was frightened by them. And they said, ‘Do not fear; we are, two disputants (some say that this means ‘two groups’, in order to agree with the plural person [of the verb dakhalū, ‘they entered’]; others say, ‘two individuals’ with the plural person actually denoting these two; al-khasm may refer to a one or more individuals. These two were angels who had come in the form of two disputants, between whom there [was supposed to have] occurred the situation mentioned — [but] only hypothetically — in order to alert David, peace be upon him, to what he had done: he had ninety nine women but desired the woman of a man who had only her and no other. He [David] had married her and consummated the marriage. One of us has infringed upon the [rights of the] other, so judge justly between us and do not transgress, [do not] be unjust, and guide us, direct us, to the right path’, the correct way.
Verse 23
‘Behold, this brother of mine, in other words, my fellow co-religionist, has ninety-nine ewes — here used to represent the women — while I have a single ewe; yet he said, “Entrust it to me”, in other words, make me in charge of it, and he overcame me in speech’, in other words, in the argument; so the latter conceded charge of it to him.
Verse 24
He said, ‘He has certainly wronged you by asking for your ewe that he may add it to his sheep. And indeed many associates infringe upon [the rights of] one another, except such as believe and perform righteous deeds, but few are they!’ (mā emphasises the ‘fewness’). As the two angels were ascending to the heaven one said to the other, ‘He has certainly passed judgement on himself!’ David was thus alerted [to his deed]. God, exalted be He, says: And David thought, in other words, he became certain, that We had indeed tried him, that We had caused him to fall into a trial, that is, a test, through his love for that woman. So he sought forgiveness of his Lord and fell down bowing, in other words, prostrate, and repented.
Verse 25
So We forgave him that and indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us, that is, [even] more good [things] in this world, and a fair return, in the Hereafter.
Verse 26
‘O David! We have indeed made you a vicegerent on the earth, managing the affairs of people; so judge justly between people and do not follow desire, that is, the desires of the soul, that it then lead you astray from the way of God, that is to say, from the proofs that indicate [the truth of] His Oneness. Truly those who go astray from the way of God, in other words, from belief in God — for them there will be a severe chastisement because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning’, as a result of their having neglected faith. For had they been certain of [the truth of] the Day of Reckoning, they would have [first] been believers in this world.
Verse 27
And We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in vain, frivolously. That, namely, the creation of what has been mentioned as being for no [particular] purpose, is the supposition of those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca. So woe — a valley [in hell-fire] — to the disbelievers from the Fire!
Verse 28
Or shall We treat those who believe and perform righteous deeds like those who cause corruption in the earth; or shall We treat the God-fearing like the profligate? This was revealed when the Meccan disbelievers said to the believers, ‘In the Hereafter we will receive the same [reward] as that which you will receive’ (am, ‘or’, contains the [rhetorical] hamza of denial).
Verse 29
A Book (kitābun, the predicate of a missing subject, namely, hādhā, ‘this is’) that We have revealed to you, full of blessing, that they may contemplate (yaddabbarū is actually yatadabbarū, but the tā’ has been assimilated with the dāl) its signs, [that] they may reflect upon its meanings and become believers, and that they may remember, that they may be admonished — those people of pith, those possessors of intellect.
Verse 30
And We bestowed on David, Solomon, his son — what an excellent servant!, that is, Solomon. Truly he was a penitent [soul], always returning [to God] with glorification and remembrance at all times.
Verse 31
When one evening — which is the period after midday — there were displayed before him the prancing steeds (al-sāfināt, ‘horses’, is the plural of sāfina, which denotes [a horse] standing on three legs with the fourth supported on the edge of the hoof, and derives from [the verb] safana, yasfinu sufūnan; al-jiyād is the plural of jawād, which is a ‘racer’; the meaning is that these [horses] are such that when they are halted they stand still and when they run they surpass [others] in speed). One thousand horses were displayed before him after he had performed the midday prayer, for he had wanted to use them in a holy struggle (jihād) against an enemy. But when the display reached the nine-hundredth [horse], the sun set and he had not performed the afternoon prayer. So he was greatly distressed.
Verse 32
He said, ‘Lo! I have loved, I have desired, the love of [worldly] good things, that is, [of] horses, over the remembrance of my Lord’, that is, [over] the afternoon prayer, until it, that is, the sun, disappeared behind the [night’s] veil, [until] it was concealed by that which veils it from sight.
Verse 33
Bring them back to me!, that is, the horses that were displayed; and they so brought them back. Then he set about slashing, with his sword, [their] legs (al-sūq is the plural of sāq) and necks, in other words, he slaughtered them and cut off their legs as an offering [of atonement] to God, exalted be He, for having been distracted by them from the prayer. He gave all the meat thereof as voluntary alms and so God compensated him what was better and faster that these [horses], and this was the wind, which blew at his command as he wished.
Verse 34
And We certainly tried Solomon: We tested him by wresting his kingdom from him, because he had married a woman [solely] out of his desire for her. She used to worship idols in his [own] home without his knowledge. Now, [control of] his kingdom lay in his ring. On one occasion, needing to withdraw [to relieve himself], he took it off and left it with this woman of his, whose name was al-Amīna, as was his custom; but a jinn, [disguised] in the form of Solomon, came to her and seized it from her. And We cast upon his throne a [lifeless] body, which was that [very] jinn, and he was [the one known as] Sakhr — or it was some other [jinn]; he sat upon Solomon’s throne and so [as was the case with Solomon] the birds and other [creatures] devoted themselves to him [in service]. When Solomon came out [of his palace], having seen him [the jinn] upon his throne, he said to the people, ‘I am Solomon [not him]!’ But they did not recognise him. Then he repented — Solomon returned to his kingdom, many days later, after he had managed to acquire the ring. He wore it and sat upon his throne [again].
Verse 35
He said, ‘My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a kingdom that shall not belong to anyone after me, in other words, other than me (this [use of min ba‘dī to mean ‘other than me’] is similar to [Q. 45:23] fa-man yahdīh min ba‘di’Llāh, ‘who will guide him other than God?’). Truly You are the Bestower’.
Verse 36
So We disposed for him the wind, which blew softly, gently, at his command wherever he intended.
Verse 37
And the devils [also We disposed], every builder, building marvellous edifices, and diver, in the sea, bringing up pearls,
Verse 38
and others too, from among them, bounded together in fetters, in shackles with their hands tied to their necks.
Verse 39
And We said to him: ‘This is Our gift. So bestow, grant thereof to whomever you wish, or withhold, from giving, without any reckoning’, in other words, without your being called to account for any of this.
Verse 40
And indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us and a fair resort — a similar [statement] has already appeared [in another verse above].
Verse 41
And mention also Our servant Job, when he called out to his Lord, [saying], ‘Lo! Satan has afflicted me with hardship, harm, and suffering’, pain: he attributes all this to Satan, even though all things are from God, to show reverence [in his call] to Him, exalted be He.
Verse 42
And it was said to him: ‘Stamp your foot, on the ground — and he stamped [it] and a spring of water gushed forth, and it was said: This is a cool bath, [cool] water for you to wash with, and a drink’, for you to drink of. So he washed himself and drank [from it] whereat every ailment that had affected him internally and externally disappeared.
Verse 43
And We gave him [back] his family along with others like them, that is, God brought back to life all the children of his that had died and provided him with as many [in addition to them], as a mercy, a grace, from us, and a reminder, an admonition, to people of pith, possessors of intellect.
Verse 44
And [We said to him], ‘Take in your hand a bunch of twigs, or some blades of grass, and smite therewith, your wife — for he had sworn to smite her a hundred times on one occasion when she was late in coming to him — and do not break [your] oath’, by not smiting her: so he took a hundred rushes and smote her with them once [and that sufficed to fulfil his oath]. Truly We found him to be steadfast. What an excellent servant!, [was] Job. Indeed he was a penitent [soul], always returning to God, exalted be He.
Verse 45
And mention [also] Our servants Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob — men of fortitude, vigorous in their worship, and insight, deep understanding of religion (a variant reading [for ‘ibādanā, ‘Our servants’] has [singular] ‘abdanā, ‘Our servant’, with Ibrāhīma as the explication thereof, and what follows as being a supplement to ‘abdanā, ‘Our servant’).
Verse 46
Assuredly We purified them with an exclusive [thought], namely, the remembrance of the Abode, of the Hereafter: in other words to [always] remember it and to work for it (a variant reading [for bi-khālisatin dhikrā’l-dār] has the genitive construction [bi-khālisati dhikrā’l-dār], making this [dhikrā al-dār, ‘remembrance of the Abode’] the explicative thereof).
Verse 47
And indeed in Our sight they are of the elect, the excellent (akhyār is the plural of khayyir).
Verse 48
And mention [also] Our servants Ishmael, and Elisha, who was a prophet (the lām [here in al-Yasa‘] is extra) and Dhū’l-Kifl — there is disagreement over whether he was a prophet; it is said that [he was so called because] he looked after (kafala) a hundred prophets who had sought refuge with him from being killed. Each, that is, every one of them, was among the excellent (akhyār is the plural of khayyir).
Verse 49
This is a remembrance, of them, [made] by [the mention of] fair praise [of them] here; and indeed for the God-fearing, who comprise them, there will truly be a fair return, in the Hereafter —
Verse 50
Gardens of Eden (jannāti ‘Adnin is either a substitution for, or an explicative supplement to, husna ma’ābin, ‘a fair return’) whose gates are [flung] open for them;
Verse 51
reclining therein, on couches; therein they call for plenteous fruit and drink.
Verse 52
And with them [there] will be maidens of restrained glances, restricting their eyes to their spouses, of a like age, of the same age, girls who are thirty three years of age (atrāb is the plural of tirb).
Verse 53
‘This, that is mentioned, is what you are promised, by way of the unseen (there is a shift in the address away from the third [to the second] person]) for the Day of Reckoning.
Verse 54
This is indeed Our provision, which will never be exhausted’, in other words, one which will never cease (this [last] sentence [mā lahu min nafādin] is a circumstantial qualifier referring to rizqunā, ‘Our provision’; or it is a second predicate of inna, ‘indeed’, meaning that it will be ‘everlasting’).
Verse 55
That, which is mentioned, will be [the reward] for the believers [is so]; but for the insolent (this is a new sentence) there will surely be an evil [place of] return —
Verse 56
Hell, which they will enter — an evil resting place!
Verse 57
This, chastisement — inferred [as so] by what follows — let them then taste it: burning hot water and pus (read ghasāq or ghassāq), the festering matter excreted by the inhabitants of the Fire;
Verse 58
and other (ākhar may be plural or singular) kinds [of torment] resembling it, in other words, like the boiling water and pus mentioned, in pairs, of all sorts, in other words, their chastisement will consist of various kinds.
Verse 59
And it will be said to them as they enter the Fire with their followers: ‘This is a horde about to plunge, to enter, with you, into the Fire violently — at which point those who used to be followed say: no welcome [is there] for them [here]!, in other words, [they will find] no comfort for them [here]. They will indeed roast in the Fire’.
Verse 60
They, the followers, say, ‘Nay, but for you [there is] no welcome! You prepared this, that is, disbelief, for us. So what an evil abode!’, for us and for you, is the Fire.
Verse 61
They, also, say, ‘Our Lord, whoever prepared this for us, give him double his chastisement, that is, [give him in addition] the like of his chastisement, for his disbelief, in the Fire!’
Verse 62
And they, the disbelievers of Mecca, say, while they are in the Fire: ‘What is the matter with us that we do not see [here] men whom we used to count, in the world, among the wicked?
Verse 63
Did we treat them mockingly? (read sukhriyyan, or sikhriyyan), did we use to deride them in [the life of] the world (the [final] yā’ [in sikhriyyā] is attributive). In other words, are they missing? Or have [our] eyes missed them [here]?’, so that we have not caught sight of them. Such [men] were the poor among the Muslims, like ‘Ammār [b. Yāsir], Bilāl [al-Habashī], Suhayb [al-Rūmī] and Salmān [al-Fārisī].
Verse 64
Assuredly that is true: such [a scene] will necessarily take place, which is, the wrangling of the inhabitants of the Fire — as shown above.
Verse 65
Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘I am only a warner, to threaten [disbelievers] with [punishment in] the Fire. And there is no god except God, the One, the All-Compelling, of [all] His creatures;
Verse 66
Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Mighty, Whose way [always] prevails, the [ever] Forgiving’, of His friends.
Verse 67
Say, to them: ‘It is a tremendous tiding
Verse 68
from which you are turning away, namely, the Qur’ān, of which I have informed you and in which I have brought you what can only be known by revelation, and that is God’s saying:
Verse 69
I had no knowledge of the High Council, that is to say, [of] the angels, when they disputed, in the matter of Adam, when God, exalted be He, said [to them]: ‘I am appointing on earth a vicegerent’, to the end [of the verse, Q. 2:30].
Verse 70
All that is revealed to me is that I am just a plain warner’, one whose warning is clear.
Verse 71
Mention, when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am about to create a human being out of clay, and this was Adam.
Verse 72
So when I have proportioned him, completed him, and breathed in him, [when I have] caused to flow [therein], My spirit, so that he becomes a living [being] — the addition of ‘the spirit’ to Adam is an honour for him; the ‘spirit’ is a subtle body that gives life to a human being by permeating him — then fall down in prostration before him!’ — a prostration of salutation [that is actually] a bow.
Verse 73
Thereat the angels prostrated, all of them together (there are two emphases here [kulluhum and ajma‘ūn]);
Verse 74
except Iblīs, the father of the jinn, who was among the [audience of] angels; he was disdainful and he was one of the disbelievers, according to God’s knowledge, exalted be He.
Verse 75
He said, ‘O Iblīs! What prevents you from prostrating before that which I have created with My own hands?, in other words, whose creation I [Myself] have undertaken. This [in itself] is an honour for Adam, as God has [Himself] undertaken the [unmediated] creation of all creatures. Are you being arrogant, now, in refraining from prostrating (an interrogative meant as a rebuke); or are you of the exalted?’, of the proud, and have therefore disdained to prostrate yourself, because you are one of them?
Verse 76
He said, ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire and You created him from clay’.
Verse 77
He said, ‘Then begone hence, that is, from Paradise — or, it is said, [begone] from the heavens — for you are indeed accursed, outcast.
Verse 78
And indeed My curse shall be on you until the Day of Judgement’, [the Day] of Requital.
Verse 79
He said, ‘My Lord, then reprieve me until the day when they, mankind, will be raised’.
Verse 80
He said, ‘Then you will indeed be among the reprieved
Verse 81
until the day of the known time’, the time of the First Blast.
Verse 82
He said, ‘Now, by Your might, I shall surely pervert them all,
Verse 83
except those servants of Yours among them who will be saved’, namely, the believers.
Verse 84
He said, ‘So the truth is — and the truth I [always] speak (read both [words] in the accusative [fa’l-haqqa wa’l-haqqa]; or with the first in the nominative and the second in the accusative because of the verb [aqūlu, ‘I speak’] that follows. As for reading the first one in the accusative, this would be on account of the mentioned verb [qāla, ‘he said’]; but it is also said to be on account of its being a verbal noun, the sense being uhiqqu l-haqqa, ‘I establish the truth’; or [it is in the accusative by implication] if the particle for the oath [fa] is removed. It [the first haqq] could also be in the nominative because of its being the subject of a missing predicate, as in fa’l-haqqu minnī, ‘truth [comes] from Me’. It is also said that [the sentence means] fa’l-haqqu qasamī, ‘the truth is [this] oath from Me’, the response to which is the following [la-amla’anna …]) —
Verse 85
I shall assuredly fill Hell with you, by way of [filling it with] your progeny, and with whoever of them follows you, that is, of mankind, all together’.
Verse 86
Say: ‘I do not ask of you, in return for this, for delivering the Message [to you], any reward, any fee; nor am I an impostor, so as to make up the Qur’ān myself.
Verse 87
It is only, in other words, the Qur’ān is only, a reminder, an admonition, for all worlds, [those of] humans, jinn and [other] rational beings, [but] excluding the angels.
Verse 88
And you will assuredly come to know, O disbelievers of Mecca, its tiding, the news of its truth, in [due] time’, that is to say, on the Day of Resurrection (‘ilm, ‘knowing’, is here being used in the sense of ‘urf, ‘experience’; the prefixed lām [in la-ta‘lamunna, ‘you will assuredly know’] is for an implicit oath, in other words [what is meant is] wa’Llāhi [la-ta‘lamunna, ‘By God you will assuredly know’]).
Verse 1
The revelation of the Book, the Qur’ān (tanzīlu’l-kitābi, the subject) is from God (mina’Llāhi, its predicate) the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His handiwork.
Verse 2
Indeed We have revealed to you, O Muhammad (s), the Book with the truth (bi’l-haqqi is semantically connected to anzalnā, ‘We have revealed’); so worship God, devoting your religion purely to Him, [pure] of any idolatry, in other words, affirming His Oneness.
Verse 3
Surely to God belongs pure religion, none other than Him being deserving of it. And those who take besides Him, the idols [as], patrons: and they are the disbelievers of Mecca — they say: ‘We only worship them so that they may bring us near to God’ (zulfā, a verbal noun, with the sense of taqrīban, ‘for the sake of nearness’). God will indeed judge between them, and the Muslims, concerning that about which they differ, of religion, and so admit the believers into Paradise, and the disbelievers into the Fire. Truly God does not guide one who is a liar, attributing a child to Him, a disbeliever, worshipping other than God.
Verse 4
Had God wanted to take a son — as they allege [that He has], ‘The Compassionate One has taken [to Himself] a son’ [Q. 19:88], He could have chosen from what He has created whatever He willed, and taken it as a child, instead of the angels whom they claim to be God’s daughters, or [their claim] that ‘Ezra is the son of God’, or that ‘Jesus is the son of God’ [cf. Q. 9:30]. Glory be to Him, in exaltation of Him as being above that He should take a child. He is God, the One, the All-Compelling, over all His creatures.
Verse 5
He created the heavens and the earth with the truth (bi’l-haqqi is semantically connected to khalaqa, ‘He created’). He turns the night into day, so that it grows, and turns the day into night, so that it grows, and He has disposed the sun and the moon, each running, in its course, for an appointed term, until the Day of Resurrection. Verily it is He Who is the Mighty, Whose way [always] prevails, Requiter of His enemies, the [ever] Forgiving, of His friends.
Verse 6
He created you from a single soul, namely, Adam, then made from it its mate, Eve; and He sent down for you of the cattle, [of] camels, cows, small cattle, sheep and goats, eight kinds, of each kind a male and a female — as He makes clear in sūrat al-An‘ām [Q. 6:143f.]. He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, creation after creation, that is to say, as a sperm-drop, then a blood clot, then a foetus, in a threefold darkness, that is, the darkness of the belly, that of the womb and that of the placenta. That is God, your Lord. To Him belongs [all] sovereignty. There is no god except Him. Why then are you being turned away?, from worshipping Him to worshipping [things] other than Him?
Verse 7
If you are ungrateful, indeed God is Independent of you, though He does not approve of ingratitude for His servants, even if He should will it [to manifest itself] in some of them. And if you give thanks, to God and thus become believers, He will approve of it (read yardah, or yardahu, either lengthening the vowel or not), that is, [of such] thankfulness, for you. And no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another [soul], in other words, it will not bear [the responsibility for] it. Then to your Lord will be your return, whereat He will inform you of what you used to do. Indeed He is Knower of what is in the breasts, of what is in the hearts [of men].
Verse 8
And when distress befalls a person, that is, the disbeliever, he supplicates his Lord, he implores, turning, returning, to Him penitently. Then, when He bestows on him a grace from Himself, he forgets, he neglects, Him Whom he had supplicated, implored, before, namely, God (in other words mā functions as min, ‘whom’) and sets up equals, associates, with God, that he may lead [others] astray (read li-yadilla or li-yudilla) from His way — [from] the religion of Islam. Say: ‘Revel in your ingratitude for a while — for the remainder of your term [of life]. You shall indeed be among the inhabitants of the Fire’.
Verse 9
Or is he who (read, softened, a-man) devotes himself [in worship], observing duties of obedience, in the watches of the night, [during] its hours, prostrating and standing, in prayer, apprehensive of the [eventuality of the] Hereafter, in other words, fearing its chastisement, and hoping for the mercy, the Paradise, of his Lord … ?, like one who is disobedient through disbelief or otherwise? (a variant reading has am-man, pronouncing the hamza, so that am has the sense of bal, ‘rather’). Say: ‘Are those who know equal with those who do not know?’, in other words, they are not equal, just as the person of knowledge is not equal to the ignorant one. Only people of pith, possessors of intellect, remember, [only they] are admonished.
Verse 10
Say: ‘O servants of Mine who believe! Fear your Lord, that is to say, [fear] His chastisement, by being obedient to Him. For those who are virtuous in this world, through obedience, there will be good, and that is Paradise, and God’s earth is vast, so emigrate throughout it, away from the [company of] disbelievers and the sight of indecencies. Truly the steadfast, in [their] obedience [of God] and in [enduring] whatever [hardship] they may be tested with, will be paid their reward in full without any reckoning’, without any measure or any scales [to work it out].
Verse 11
Say: ‘Indeed I have been commanded to worship God devoting [my] religion purely to Him, [pure] of any idolatry,
Verse 12
and I have been commanded to be the first of those who submit’, from this community.
Verse 13
Say: ‘Indeed, should I disobey my Lord, I fear the chastisement of a tremendous day’.
Verse 14
Say: ‘God [alone] I worship, devoting [my] religion purely to Him, [pure] of any idolatry.
Verse 15
So worship whatever you wish besides Him’, other than Him — herein is a threat for them as well as a declaration [of the fact] that they do not worship God, exalted be He. Say: ‘Indeed the losers are those who [will] have lost their souls and their families on the Day of Resurrection, by condemning their souls to abide [forever] in the Fire, and their failure to attaining [the bliss promised among] the black-eyed virgins who would have been prepared for them in Paradise had they been believers. Truly that is the manifest loss!’
Verse 16
Above them they will have canopies, layers, of fire, and beneath them [they will have [similar] canopies, of fire. That is what God frightens His servants with, that is, the believing ones, that they may have fear of Him — this [sense of the verse] is suggested by [what follows]), “So, O servants of Mine, fear Me!”’
Verse 17
As for those who steer clear of the worship of false deities, graven images, and turn penitently, apply themselves, to God, there are good tidings for them, of Paradise. So give [such] good tidings to My servants,
Verse 18
who listen to the words [of God] and follow the best [sense] of it, which is that which contains [the means to] righteousness for them. Those, they are the ones whom God has guided; and those, they are the people of pith, the possessors of intellect.
Verse 19
Can he against whom the word of chastisement has been fulfilled …?, namely [the words], I will surely fill Hell [with jinn and mankind together] [Q. 11:119]; Will you deliver, bring out, one who is in the Fire? (this is the response to the conditional clause, in which the overt qualification [man fī’l-nār, ‘one who is in the Fire’] replaces the pronominalisation [a-fa-man, ‘he … whom’]; the hamza [in a-fa-anta, ‘will you’] is for rejection, in other words [the sense is that] you will not be able to guide him and therefore deliver him from the Fire).
Verse 20
But as for those who fear their Lord, and therefore obey Him — for them there will be lofty abodes with [other] lofty abodes built above them, with rivers flowing beneath them, that is, beneath [both] the upper and the lower abodes — a promise of God (wa‘da’Llāhi, in the accusative because of an implied verb governing it). God does not fail the tryst, [He does not break] His promise.
Verse 21
Have you not seen, realised, that God sends down water from the heaven, then conducts it as springs, making it enter points of springs, in the ground? Then with it He brings forth crops of diverse hues. Then they wither, they become dried-out, and you see them, for example, after having been green, turning yellow. Then He turns them into chaff. Truly in that there is a reminder for people of pith, possessors of intellect, by which they may be reminded, for it is an indication of God’s Oneness and His power.
Verse 22
Is he whose breast God has opened to Islam, and becomes guided, so that he follows a light from his Lord …?, like he whose heart He has sealed [with disbelief]? — this [understanding of the ellipsis] is indicated by [what follows]. So woe — an expression indicating ‘chastisement’ — to those whose hearts have been hardened against the remembrance of God, that is, [hardened] against the acceptance of the Qur’ān. Such are in manifest error.
Verse 23
God has revealed the best of discourses, a Book (kitāban, substitutes for ahsana, ‘the best’) namely, a Qur’ān, consimilar, in other words, some of its parts are similar to others in terms of [their] arrangement and otherwise, in coupled phrases — [a Book] in which the Promise [of reward] is coupled with the Threat [of punishment], together with other such [couplings] — whereat quiver, at the mention of whose Threat shiver, the skins of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts soften to, they are reassured by, the remembrance of God, that is, at the mention of His Promise. That, Book, is God’s guidance, by which He guides whomever He will, of His servants; and whomever God leads astray, for him there is no guide.
Verse 24
Is he who will be fending off, [is he] who will encounter, with his face the awful chastisement on the Day of Resurrection …?, that is, the most severe [chastisement], when he is flung into the Fire with his hands bound to his neck in fetters, [is he] like one who will be secure from it by entering Paradise? And it will be said to the wrongdoers, namely, the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Taste [now] what you used to earn’, that is, [taste] the requital for it.
Verse 25
Those who were before them denied, their messengers with regard to the coming of the chastisement; and so the chastisement came on them whence they were not aware, in a way that would never have occurred to them.
Verse 26
So God made them taste disgrace, abasement and humiliation, in the way of being transformed [into swine] and being killed and otherwise, in the life of this world. And the chastisement of the Hereafter will surely be greater, had they, that is, the deniers, known, [the nature of] the chastisement thereof, they would not have denied.
Verse 27
And verily We have struck, coined, for mankind in this Qur’ān every [kind of] similitude, that perhaps they may remember, [that perhaps] they may be admonished —
Verse 28
an Arabic Qur’ān (qur’ānan ‘arabiyyan, a circumstantial qualifier for emphasis) without any deviation, that is, [without] any contradiction or variance, that perhaps they may guard themselves, against disbelief.
Verse 29
God strikes, for the idolater and the believer in God’s Oneness, a similitude: a man (rajulan, substitutes for mathalan, ‘a similitude’) shared by several [masters], quarrelling, disputing, ill-mannered, and a man belonging exclusively to one man. Are the two equal in comparison? (mathalan, for specification), in other words, the slave of many [masters] is not the same as the slave of a single person. For in the case of the former, if all of his masters were to demand his service simultaneously, he would be confused as to whom of them he should serve — which is the similitude of the idolater; the latter [the slave of one] is the similitude of the one who believes in the One God. Praise be to God!, alone. Nay, but most of them, that is, the people of Mecca, do not know, the chastisement in which they will end up and so they associate others with God.
Verse 30
You — an address to the Prophet (s) — will indeed die, and they [too] will indeed die, and so there is no satisfaction to be gained from [another’s] death: this was revealed because they kept waiting for the Prophet (s) to die.
Verse 31
Then you will indeed, O mankind, concerning the injustices you committed towards one another, be contending before your Lord on the Day of Resurrection.