| y_ali | asad | literal | tlt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. * | By the Mount (of Revelation); | CONSIDER Mount Sinai! [For my rendering of the adjurative particle wa as "Consider", see first half of note on 74:32. The expression at-tur (lit., "the mountain") is used in the Quran exclusively to denote Mount Sinai, on which Moses received his decisive revelation. In the present context it signifies, metonymically, revelation as such, to which the next verse calls attention.] | By/and the mountain. | swr+ alTwr bsm allh alrHmn alrHym ? walTwr | |||
| 2. * | By a Decree inscribed | Consider [God's] revelation, inscribed | By/and a Book written/inscribed/drafted. | wktab msTwr | |||
| 3. * | In a Scroll unfolded; | on wide-open scrolls. [I.e., always open to man's understanding (Razi).] | In spread/publicized parchment. | fy rq mn$wr | |||
| 4. * | By the much-frequented Fane; | Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]! [This is a metonym for the fact that ever since the dawn of human consciousness men have persistently - although often but dimly - realized the existence of God and have tried, spurred on by the continuous, direct revelation granted to His prophets, to come closer to Him through worship. Hence, Baydawi regards the expression al-bayt al-mamur as a metaphor for the heart of the believer.] | By/and to the House/Home, the frequently visited/inhabited/populated. | walbyt alm`mwr | |||
| 5. * | By the Canopy Raised High; | Consider the vault [of heaven] raised high! [I.e., "Consider the immensity and wonderful configuration of the visible universe as an evidence of a conscious Creator."] | By/and the roof/ceiling, the raised. | walsqf almrfw` | |||
| 6. * | And by the Ocean filled with Swell;- | Consider the surf-swollen sea! | By/and the sea/ocean, the filled and overflowed. | walbHr almsjwr | |||
| 7. * | Verily, the Doom of thy Lord will indeed come to pass;- | VERILY, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass: | That truly your Lord's torture (is) happening/falling (E). | an `Xab rbk lwaq` | |||
| 8. * | There is none can avert it;- | there is none who could avert it. | (There is) no repeller/pusher for it. | malh mn daf` | |||
| 9. * | On the Day when the firmament will be in dreadful commotion. | [It will come to pass] on the Day when the skies will be convulsed in [a great] convulsion, | A day/time the sky/space agitates/moves from side to side quickly (in) agitation/quick movement from side to side. | ywm tmwr alsma' mwra | |||
| 10. * | And the mountains will fly hither and thither. | and the mountains will move with [an awesome] movement. | And the mountains moves movement/manipulation. | wtsyr aljbal syra | |||
| 11. * | Then woe that Day to those that treat (Truth) as Falsehood;- | Woe, then, on that Day to all who give the lie to the truth - | So calamity/scandal (on) that day to the liars/falsifiers. | fwyl ywmYX llmkXbyn | |||
| 12. * | That play (and paddle) in shallow trifles. | all those who [throughout their lives] but idly played with things vain - | Those who, they are in a plunge/an engagement in conversation playing/amusing. | alXyn hm fy KwD yl`bwn | |||
| 13. * | That Day shall they be thrust down to the Fire of Hell, irresistibly. | on the Day when they shall be thrust into the fire with [an irresistible] thrust, [and will be told:] | A day/time they are being called repeatedly to Hell's fire, repelling/pushing away violently and roughly. | ywm yd`wn ali nar jhnm d`a | |||
| 14. * | "This:, it will be said, "Is the Fire,- which ye were wont to deny! | "This is the fire which you were wont to call a lie! | This (is) the fire which you were with it lying/denying. | hXh alnar alty kntm bha tkXbwn | |||
| 15. * | "Is this then a fake, or is it ye that do not see? | Was it, then, a delusion [This is obviously the meaning of the term sihr in the present context (see note on 74:24).] - or is it that you failed to see [its truth]? | So is magic/sorcery that (so is that magic/sorcery)? Or you do not see/look/understand? | afsHr hXa am antm latbSrwn | |||
| 16. * | "Burn ye therein: the same is it to you whether ye bear it with patience, or not: Ye but receive the recompense of your (own) deeds." | Endure it [now]! But [whether you] bear yourselves with patience or without patience, it will be the same to you: you are but being requited for what you were wont to do." [I.e., "you will have to endure it in either case, for it is but a consequence of your own doings and attitudes": a subtle allusion to the fact that the "punishments" and "rewards" in the life to come are but allegories of the logical consequences of the manner in which one acts or behaves in this life.] | Roast/suffer it, so be patient or do not be patient, (it is) equal/alike on (to) you, but/truly you are being reimbursed what you were making/doing. | aSlwha faSbrwa awla tSbrwa swa' `lykm anma tjzwn makntm t`mlwn | |||
| 17. * | As to the Righteous, they will be in Gardens, and in Happiness,- | [But,] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves [on that Day] in gardens and in bliss, | That truly the fearing and obeying (are) in treed gardens/paradises and blessing/comfort and ease. | an almtqyn fy jnat wn`ym | |||
| 18. * | Enjoying the (Bliss) which their Lord hath bestowed on them, and their Lord shall deliver them from the Penalty of the Fire. | rejoicing in all that their Sustainer will have granted them: for their Sustainer will have warded off from them all suffering through the blazing fire. | Enjoying/joyful with what their Lord gave them, and their Lord protected them (from) the Hell's torture. | fakhyn bma atahm rbhm wwqahm rbhm `Xab aljHym | |||
| 19. * | (To them will be said:) "Eat and drink ye, with profit and health, because of your (good) deeds." | [And they will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer as an outcome of what you were wont to do, | Eat and drink pleasurable/tasty because (of) what you were making/doing. | klwa wa$rbwa hnyYa bma kntm t`mlwn | |||
| 20. * | They will recline (with ease) on Thrones (of dignity) arranged in ranks; and We shall join them to Companions, with beautiful big and lustrous eyes. | reclining on couches [of happiness] ranged in rows!" [As explained by Razi in his comments on the above verse as well as on 18:31 and 55:54, the "reclining on couches" or "on carpets" in paradise is a symbol of inner fulfillment and peace of mind; and he points out that this is also alluded to in the identity of the verbal root sarra ("he was [or "became"] happy") in both the nouns surur ("happiness") and sari)' ("couch").] And [in that paradise] We shall mate them with companions pure, most beautiful of eye. [For an explanation of the expression hur in, see note on 56:22.] | Reclining/resting on royal beds/sofas lined/arranged, and We got them married with (spouses of) eyes with intense blackness of pupils and whiteness (beautifully contrasted). | mtkYyn `li srr mSfwf+ wzwjnahm bHwr `yn | |||
| 21. * | And those who believe and whose families follow them in Faith,- to them shall We join their families: Nor shall We deprive them (of the fruit) of aught of their works: (Yet) is each individual in pledge for his deeds. | And as for those who have attained to faith and whose offspring will have followed them in faith, We shall unite them with their offspring; and We shall not let aught of their deeds go to waste: [Implying that the righteousness of their children increases the merit of the parents.] [but] every human being will be held in pledge for whatever he has earned. [I.e., the righteousness of the parents cannot absolve their offspring from individual respon sibility.] | And those who believed and their descendants followed them with faith/belief, We made their descendants catch up/follow with them, and We did not reduce/diminish them from a thing from their deeds, each/every human with what he gained/won (is) accountable. | walXyn amnwa watb`thm Xrythm bayman alHqna bhm Xrythm wmaaltnahm mn `mlhm mn $Y kl amri bma ksb rhyn | |||
| 22. * | And We shall bestow on them, of fruit and meat, anything they shall desire. | And We shall bestow on them fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire: | And We extended/spread them with fruits and flesh/meat from what they desire/crave. | wamddnahm bfakh+ wlHm mmay$thwn | |||
| 23. * | They shall there exchange, one with another, a (loving) cup free of frivolity, free of all taint of ill. | and in that [paradise] they shall pass on to one another a cup which will not give rise to empty talk, and neither incite to sin. [Cf. 37:47 - "no headiness will there be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon": and 56:19 - "by which their minds will not be clouded, and which will not make them drunk": an allegory of conscious, joyful elation. As regards the preceding reference to "fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire", Razi observes that this symbolic "abundance" of sensual satisfaction will not lead to satiety but, rather, to a pleasurable desire which - contrary to what is man's lot in this world - can always be gratified.] | They give each other in it a cup/wine, (there is) no nonsense/senseless talk in it, and nor sinning/committing crimes. | ytnaz`wn fyha kasa lalGw fyha wlataxym | |||
| 24. * | Round about them will serve, (devoted) to them. Youths (handsome) as Pearls well-guarded. | And they will be waited upon by [immortal] youths, [See note on 56:17-18.] [as if they were children] of their own,*[as pure] as if they were pearls hidden in their shells. [Thus Razi, explaining the selfless devotion implied in the pronoun lahum (lit., "for them", i.e., "of their own").] | And servants/boys for them, circle/walk around on them, as if they are protected/covered pearls. | wyTwf `lyhm Glman lhm kanhm lWlW mknwn | |||
| 25. * | They will advance to each other, engaging in mutual enquiry. | And they [who are thus blest] will turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. [This symbolic "asking one another about their past lives" is meant to bring out the fact, often stressed in the Quran, that man's individual consciousness invariably survives his bodily death, to continue unbroken in the life to come.] | And some of them approached/came on (to) some (each other), they ask/question each other. | waqbl b`Dhm `li b`D ytsa'lwn | |||
| 26. * | They will say: "Aforetime, we were not without fear for the sake of our people. | They will say: "Behold, aforetime - when we were [still living] in the midst of our kith and kin - we were full of fear [at the thought of God's displeasure]: [Thus do all classical commentators - without, to my knowledge, any exception - interpret the above verse.] | They said: "We were before in our people/family afraid/compassionate." | qalwa ana kna qbl fy ahlna m$fqyn | |||
| 27. * | "But Allah has been good to us, and has delivered us from the Penalty of the Scorching Wind. | and so God has graced us with His favour, and has warded off from us all suffering through the scorching winds [of frustration]. | So God blessed on us and He protected/preserved us (from) the severe hot's/burning wind's torture. | fmn allh `lyna wwqana `Xab alsmwm | |||
| 28. * | "Truly, we did call unto Him from of old: truly it is He, the Beneficent, the Merciful!" | Verily, we did invoke Him [alone] ere this: [and now He has shown us] that He alone is truly benign, a true dispenser of grace!" [Sc., "through our own, actual experience". This interpolation is based on the reading of the subsequent word as annahu ("that He is"), according to the Medina school, in contrast with the more conventional Kufah and Basrah reading innahu ("verily, He is"). As Tabari stresses, either of these two readings is correct; I have chosen for my rendering the former inasmuch as it points to the overwhelming, direct insight which will be granted to the blessed on resurrection.] | We were from before, we call Him, that He truly is, He is the righteous/charitable, the merciful/most merciful. | ana kna mn qbl nd`wh anh hw albr alrHym | |||
| 29. * | Therefore proclaim thou the praises (of thy Lord): for by the Grace of thy Lord, thou art no (vulgar) soothsayer, nor art thou one possessed. | EXHORT, then, [O Prophet, all men:] for, by thy Sustainer's grace, thou art neither a soothsayer nor a madman. | So remind, so you are not with your Lord's blessing with a fortune teller/highly ranked priest or rabbi,and nor mad/insane. | fXkr fma ant bn`m+ rbk bkahn wlamjnwn | |||
| 30. * | Or do they say:- "A Poet! we await for him some calamity (hatched) by Time!" | Or do they say, "[He is but] a poet - let us wait what time will do unto him"? [Lit., "let us await for him the evil happenings of time", i.e., brought about by time: this is the meaning given by Jawhari and Zamakhshari (in the Asas) to the expression rayb al-manun (which latter word is, according to these two authorities, a synonym of dahr, "time"). In the present context, the phrase obviously denotes the expectation of the Prophet's detractors that time would prove his teachings to have been false or, at best, a delusion.] | Or they say: "A poet, we wait/remain with him the death's doubt/suspicion". | am yqwlwn $a`r ntrbS bh ryb almnwn | |||
| 31. * | Say thou: "Await ye!- I too will wait along with you!" | Say thou: "Wait, [then,] hopefully; behold, I, too, shall hopefully wait with you!" [I.e., "Whereas you are waiting for my message to be proved false, I am awaiting its fulfillment!"] | Say: "Wait/remain (watch) so that I am with you from the waiting/ remaining (watching)." | ql trbSwa fany m`km mn almtrbSyn | |||
| 32. * | Is it that their faculties of understanding urge them to this, or are they but a people transgressing beyond bounds? | Is it their minds that bid them [to take] this [attitude] - or are they [simply] people filled with overweening arrogance? [The meaning is: Have they any reasoned objection to the contents of this message - or do they simply reject the truth because their false pride in man's supposed "self-sufficiency" (cf. 96:6-7) prevents them from accepting the notion of responsibility before a Supreme Being?] | Or their minds/dreams order/command them with that, or they are a tyrannizing/arrogant nation? | am tamrhm aHlamhm bhXa am hm qwm TaGwn | |||
| 33. * | Or do they say, "He fabricated the (Message)"? Nay, they have no faith! | Or do they say, "He himself has composed this [message]"? Nay, but they are not willing to believe! | Or they say: "He made it up." But/rather, they do not believe. | am yqwlwn tqwlh bl layWmnwn | |||
| 34. * | Let them then produce a recital like unto it,- If (it be) they speak the truth! | But then, [if they deem it the work of a mere mortal,] let them produce another discourse like it - if what they say be true! | So they come (E) with an information/speech equal/alike to it, if they were truthful. | flyatwa bHdyx mxlh an kanwa Sadqyn | |||
| 35. * | Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? | [Or do they deny the existence of God?] [I.e., implicitly, by denying the fact of His revelation.] Have they themselves been created without anything [that might have caused their creation]? [I.e., by "spontaneous generation", as it were.] - or were they, perchance, their own creators? | Or they were created from without a thing, or they are the creators? | am Klqwa mn Gyr $Y am hm alKalqwn | |||
| 36. * | Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no firm belief. | [And] have they created the heavens and the earth? [This is a reductio ad absurdum of their unwillingness to admit the existence of a conscious Primary Cause underlying all creation.] Nay, but they have no certainty of anything! | Or they created the skies/space and the earth/Planet Earth, but/rather they are not sure/certain? | am Klqwa alsmawat walarD bl laywqnwn | |||
| 37. * | Or are the Treasures of thy Lord with them, or are they the managers (of affairs)? | [How could they?] Are thy Sustainer's treasures with them? [I.e., the treasures of His infinite knowledge and power.] Or are they in charge [of destiny]? | Or at them (are) your Lord's safes/storages (treasures)? Or they are the dominators/controllers? | am `ndhm KzaYn rbk am hm almSyTrwn | |||
| 38. * | Or have they a ladder, by which they can (climb up to heaven and) listen (to its secrets)? Then let (such a) listener of theirs produce a manifest proof. | Or have they a ladder by which they could [ascend to ultimate truths and] listen [to what is beyond the reach of human perception]? Let, then, any of them who have listened [to it] produce a manifest proof [of his knowledge]! | Or for them (is) a ladder, they hear/listen in (from) it? So their hearer/listener should come with a clear/evident proof/evidence/power. | am lhm slm ystm`wn fyh flyat mstm`hm bslTan mbyn | |||
| 39. * | Or has He only daughters and ye have sons? | Or, [if you believe in God, how can you believe that] He has [chosen to have] daughters, whereas you yourselves would have [only] sons? [This is addressed specifically to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, implying that "you not only blaspheme by ascribing progeny to God, but you intensify your blasphemy by ascribing to Him something that you yourselves despise, i.e., female offspring": cf. 16:57 - 59 and the corresponding notes.] | Or for Him (are) the daughters, and for you (are) the sons? | am lh albnat wlkm albnwn | |||
| 40. * | Or is it that thou dost ask for a reward, so that they are burdened with a load of debt?- | Or is it that [they who reject thy message, O Muhammad, fear lest] thou ask of them a reward, so that they would be burdened with debt [if they should listen to thee]? | Or you ask/question them (for) a reward/wage/fee, so they are from a burdensome debt heavy/burdened/loaded? | am tsAlhm ajra fhm mn mGrm mxqlwn | |||
| 41. * | Or that the Unseen in it their hands, and they write it down? | Or [do they think] that the hidden reality [of all that exists] is almost within their grasp, so that [in time] they can write it down? [For an explanation, see note on the identical passage in 68:47.] | Or at them (is) the unseen/absent so they write/dictate ? | am `ndhm alGyb fhm yktbwn | |||
| 42. * | Or do they intend a plot (against thee)? But those who defy Allah are themselves involved in a Plot! | Or do they want to entrap [thee in contradictions]? But they who are bent on denying the truth - it is they who are truly entrapped! [I.e., it is they who constantly lose themselves in contradictions, whereas the message of the Quran is free thereof (cf. 4:82 and the corresponding note).] | Or they want/intend a plot/conspiracy ? So those who disbelieved they are the plotted/conspired against. | am yrydwn kyda falXyn kfrwa hm almkydwn | |||
| 43. * | Or have they a god other than Allah. Exalted is Allah far above the things they associate with Him! | Have they, then, any deity other than God? Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity! | Or for them (is) a god other than God? God's praise/glory from what they share/make partners (with Him). | am lhm alh Gyr allh sbHan allh `ma y$rkwn | |||
| 44. * | Were they to see a piece of the sky falling (on them), they would (only) say: "Clouds gathered in heaps!" | AND YET, if they [who refuse to see the truth] were to see part of the sky falling down, they would [only] say, "[It is but] a mass of clouds!" | And if they see/understand pieces from the sky/space dropping/falling they say: "Piled/accumulated/heaped clouds." | wan yrwa ksfa mn alsma' saqTa yqwlwa sHab mrkwm | |||
| 45. * | So leave them alone until they encounter that Day of theirs, wherein they shall (perforce) swoon (with terror),- | Hence, leave them alone until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs, when they will be stricken with terror: | So leave them until they meet/find their day/time which in it they die/get thunderstruck. | fXrhm Hti ylaqwa ywmhm alXy fyh yS`qwn | |||
| 46. * | The Day when their plotting will avail them nothing and no help shall be given them. | the Day when none of their scheming will be of the least avail to them, and they will receive no succour. | A day/time their plotting/conspiracy does not enrich/suffice from them a thing, and nor they be given victory/aid. | ywm layGny `nhm kydhm $yYa wlahm ynSrwn | |||
| 47. * | And verily, for those who do wrong, there is another punishment besides this: But most of them understand not. | But, verily, for those who are bent on doing evil, there is suffering in store [even] closer at hand than that [supreme suffering in the hereafter]: but most of them are not aware of it. [As in 32:21, the Quran stresses here the fact that every evil deed is bound to react in some way or other, even in this world, against him who commits it - either by depriving him of the affection of those who surround him and, thus, deepening his inner loneliness, or, more directly, by creating circumstances which make the achievement of real happiness and satisfaction increasingly impossible.] | And that truly to those who were unjust/oppressive (is) a torture other than that, and but most of them do not know. | wan llXyn Zlmwa `Xaba dwn Xlk wlkn akxrhm lay`lmwn | |||
| 48. * | Now await in patience the command of thy Lord: for verily thou art in Our eyes: and celebrate the praises of thy Lord the while thou standest forth, | And so, await in patience thy Sustainer's judgment, for thou art well within Our sight. [I.e., "under Our protection".] And extol thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise whenever thou risest up, | And be patient for your Lord's judgment/rule, so that you are with Our eyes/sights, and praise/glorify with your Lord's praise/gratitude when you stand/get up. | waSbr lHkm rbk fank ba`ynna wsbH bHmd rbk Hyn tqwm | |||
| 49. * | And for part of the night also praise thou Him,- and at the retreat of the stars! | and extol His glory at night, and at the time when the stars retreat. | And from the night so praise/glorify Him, and (at) the star's/planet's passings/ends (settings).389 | wmn allyl fsbHh wadbar alnjwm | |||