Verse 31
But whoever of you is obedient to God and His Messenger, and acts righteously, We shall give her a twofold reward, in other words, twice the reward for other women (variant readings [for ta‘mal and nu’tihā] are [impersonal] ya‘mal, ‘[whoever] acts’, and yu’tihā, ‘He will give her’). And We have prepared a noble provision for her, in Paradise, in addition [to the twofold reward].
Verse 32
O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other, group of, women. If you fear, God, for you are more exalted [in status], then do not be complaisant in your speech, with men, lest he in whose heart is a sickness, hypocrisy, aspire [to you], but speak honourable words, without any complaisance.
Verse 33
And stay in your houses (read qirna or qarna, derived from al-qarār, and is actually, aqrirna or aqrarna from qarirtu or qarartu: the vowelling of the rā’ is moved to the qāf and [the rā’] is omitted together with the conjunctive hamza) and do not flaunt your finery (tabarrajna, with one of the two original tā’ [of tatabarrajna] letters omitted) in the [flaunting] manner of the former Time of Ignorance, in other words, before Islam, when they used to display their beauty to men — [the stipulation regarding] such ‘displays’ after [the coming of] Islam is mentioned in the verse: and not to display their adornment except what is apparent [Q. 24:31]. And maintain prayer and pay the alms, and obey God and His Messenger. Indeed God will but to rid you of sin, O, People of the House, in other words, [O] women of the Prophet (s), and to purify you, of it, with a thorough purification.
Verse 34
And remember that which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God, [of] the Qur’ān, and wisdom, the Sunna. Truly God is Kind, to His friends, Aware, of all His creatures.
Verse 35
Indeed the men who have submitted [to God] and the women who have submitted [to God], and the believing men and the believing women, and the obedient men and the obedient women, and the men who are truthful and the women who are truthful, in their faith, and the patient men and the patient women, [steadfast] in [performing] acts of obedience, and the humble men and the humble women, and the charitable men and the charitable women, and the men who fast and the women who fast, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard their private parts, from what is unlawful, and the men who remember God often and the women who remember God often — for them God has prepared forgiveness, of [their] acts of disobedience, and a great reward, for their acts of obedience.
Verse 36
And it is not [fitting] for any believing man or believing woman, when God and His Messenger have decided on a matter, to have (read takūna or yakūna) a choice in their matter, in contravention of the decision of God and His Messenger. This [verse] was revealed regarding ‘Abd Allāh b. Jahsh and his sister Zaynab, whose hand the Prophet had asked for in marriage, but meaning on behalf of Zayd b. Hāritha. They were loathe to this [proposal] when they found out [that it was on the latter’s behalf], for they had thought that the Prophet (s) wanted to marry her himself. But afterwards they consented because of the [following part of the] verse: And whoever disobeys God and His Messenger has certainly strayed into manifest error. Thus the Prophet (s) gave her in marriage to Zayd. Then on one occasion he [the Prophet] caught sight of her and felt love for her, whereafter [when he realised that] Zayd lost his affection for her and so said to the Prophet (s), ‘I want to part with her’. But the Prophet said to him, ‘Retain your wife for yourself’, as God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 37
And when (idh is dependent because of [an implied preceding] udhkur, ‘mention [when]’) you said to him to whom God had shown favour, by [guiding him to] Islam, and to whom you [too] had shown favour: by manumitting him — this was Zayd b. Hāritha, who had been a prisoner of war before [the coming of] Islam (in the period of al-jāhiliyya). The Messenger of God (s) purchased him before his call to prophethood, and then manumitted him and adopted him as his son — ‘Retain your wife for yourself and fear God’, before divorcing her. But you had hidden in your heart what God was to disclose, [what] He was to manifest of your love for her and of [the fact] that should Zayd part with her you would marry her, and you feared people, would say, ‘He has married his son’s wife!’, though God is worthier that you should fear Him, in all things, so take her in marriage and do not be concerned with what people say. Zayd subsequently divorced her and her [obligatory] waiting period was completed. God, exalted be He, says: So when Zayd had fulfilled whatever need he had of her, We joined her in marriage to you — the Prophet consummated his marriage with her without [the customary] permission [from her legal guardian] and gratified the Muslims with [a feast of] bread and meat — so that there may not be any restriction for the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have fulfilled whatever wish they have of them. And God’s commandment, that which He has decreed, is bound to be realised.
Verse 38
There is no restriction for the Prophet in what God has ordained, [in what] He has made lawful, for him: [that is] God’s precedent (sunnata’Llāhi is in the accusative because the operator of the oblique has been removed [from the oblique construction ka-sunnati’Llāhi, ‘as is God’s precedent’) with those who passed away before, of prophets, which is that there is no restriction for them in this respect, a [special] dispensation for them regarding marriage — and God’s commandment, what He does, is inexorable destiny
Verse 39
— [those] who (alladhīna qualifies the previous alladhīna) deliver the Messages of God and fear Him, and fear no one except Him, and therefore they do not fear what people [might] say about that which God has made lawful for them. And God suffices as Reckoner, as keeper of the deeds of His creatures and [as One] to reckon with them.
Verse 40
Muhammad is not the father of any man among you: he is not Zayd’s biological father and so it is not unlawful for him to marry his [former] wife Zaynab [after him]; but, he is, the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets, and so he will not have a son that is a [fully grown] man to be a prophet after him (a variant reading [for khātim al-nabiyyīna] has khātam al-nabiyyīn, as in the instrument [known as a] ‘seal’, in other words, their [prophethood] has been sealed by him). And God has knowledge of all things, among these is the fact that there will be no prophet after him, and even when the lord Jesus descends [at the end of days] he will rule according to his [Muhammad’s] Law.
Verse 41
O you who believe! Remember God with much remembrance.
Verse 42
And glorify Him morning and evening, in other words, at the beginning of the day and at the end of it.
Verse 43
It is He Who blesses you, that is to say, Who shows mercy to you, and His angels, ask forgiveness for you, that He may bring you forth, that He may always bring you forth, from darkness, namely, [from] disbelief, into light, namely, faith. And He is Merciful to the believers.
Verse 44
Their greeting, from Him, exalted be He, on the day they encounter Him will be ‘Peace’, [extended to them] by the tongues of the angels. And He has prepared for them a noble reward, namely, Paradise.
Verse 45
O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness, against those to whom you have were sent, and as a bearer of good tidings, for those who affirm your sincerity, of Paradise, and as a warner, for those who deny you, of the [punishment of the] Fire,
Verse 46
and as a summoner to God, to obedience to Him, by His leave, by His command, and as a illuminating lamp, in other words, the equivalent of it, in terms of one’s being able to find guidance therewith.
Verse 47
And give good tidings to the believers that there will be for them a great bounty from God, namely, Paradise.
Verse 48
And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, in [assenting to do] what contravenes your Law; and disregard, leave aside, their injuriousness — do not retaliate against them for it until you receive a command [from God] regarding [how to deal with] them. And put your trust in God, for He will suffice you, and God suffices as Guardian, One to Whom matters are entrusted.
Verse 49
O you who believe if you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them (read tamassūhunna or tumāsūhunna) that is, before you have copulated with them, there shall be no [waiting] period for you to reckon against them, [no] waiting period [needed to preclude pregnancy] or otherwise. But provide for them, give them what they can use for [securing] comforts, in cases where no dowry has been fixed for them; otherwise theirs is to retain half of what was fixed, but no more — this is what Ibn ‘Abbās said and it is [the opinion] followed by al-Shāfi‘ī’; and release them in a gracious manner, leave them be without [the intention to cause them any] harm.
Verse 50
O Prophet! Indeed We have made lawful for you your wives whom you have given their dowries and what your right hand owns, of those whom God has given you as spoils of war, from the disbelievers, [whom you have] taken captive, such as Safiyya and Juwayriyya, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you, as opposed to those who did not emigrate, and any believing woman if she gift herself [in marriage] to the Prophet and if the Prophet desire to take her in marriage, and ask for her hand in marriage without paying [her] a dowry — a privilege for you exclusively, not for the [rest of the] believers (nikāh, ‘marriage’, when expressed by the term hiba, ‘gift’, denotes [marriage] without dowry). Indeed We know what We have imposed upon them, namely, the believers, with respect to their wives, in the way of rulings, to the effect that they should not take more than four wives and should only marry with [the consent of] a legal guardian, [the presence of] witnesses and [the payment of] a dowry, and, with respect to, what their right hands own, of slavegirls, in the way of purchase or otherwise, so that the handmaiden be one lawful for her master, such as a slavegirl belonging to the People of the Scripture (kitābiyya), and not a Magian or an idolater, and that she should be ascertained [as not carrying child] with the necessary waiting period (istibrā’) before copulation; so that (li-kaylā is semantically connected to what came before [this last statement]) there may be no [unnecessary] restriction for you, [no] constraint in marriage [for you]. And God is Forgiving, of what is difficult to guard against, Merciful, in giving dispensations [allowing for latitude] in this respect.
Verse 51
You may put off (read turji’ or turjī), you may postpone [consorting with], whomever of them you wish, namely, of your wives, from their turn [for intimacy], and consort, embrace [in conjugality], whomever you wish, of them, and come unto her, and as for whomever you may desire of those whom you have set aside, from their share, you would not be at fault, to desire her and consort with her [again]. He was given the choice in this respect after it had been obligatory for him to give each wife her [equal] share [of conjugality]. That, freedom of choice, makes it likelier that they will be comforted and not grieve, and that they will be satisfied with what you give them, of what has been mentioned of your freedom to choose [whom to consort with], every one of them (kulluhunna emphasises the subject of [the verb] yardayna, ‘they will be satisfied’) will be well-pleased with what you give her. And God knows what is in your hearts, with respect to [your] women and [your] preferring some [to others]. We have given you the freedom to choose [from among them] in order to make it easier for you to have what you desire. And God is Knower, of His creatures, Forbearing, in refraining from punishing them.
Verse 52
Women are not lawful for you (read lā tahillu, or lā yahillu) beyond that, beyond the nine that have chosen you [as their husband], nor [is it lawful] for you to change (tabaddala: one of the two original tā’ letters [of tatabaddala] has been omitted) them for other wives, by divorcing them or some of them and marry in place of those whom you divorce, even though their beauty impress you, except those whom your right hand owns, of slavegirls, which is [in contrast] lawful for you. In addition to these [slavegirls] the Prophet (s) came to own Māriya [the Copt]. She bore for him Ibrāhīm, who died during his lifetime. And God is Watcher over, Preserver [of], all things.
Verse 53
O you who believe, do not enter the Prophet’s houses unless permission is granted you, to enter by invitation, to [share] a meal, and so you enter, without waiting for the [right] moment, [for] when it is ready (ināhu, a verbal noun from anā, ya’nī). But when you are invited, enter, and, when you have had your meal, disperse, without, lingering for, any [leisurely] conversation, amongst yourselves. Indeed that, lingering, is upsetting for the Prophet, and he is [too] shy of you, to make you leave, but God is not shy of the truth, that you should leave — in other words, He would never refrain from declaring it (a variant reading [for yastahyī] has yastahī). And when you ask anything of [his] womenfolk, in other words, the wives of the Prophet (s), ask them from behind a screen, a curtain. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts, than [entertaining] sinful thoughts. And you should never cause the Messenger of God hurt, in any way; nor ever marry his wives after him. Assuredly that in God’s sight would be very grave, as a sin.
Verse 54
Whether you disclose anything or keep it hidden, regarding marrying them after him, truly God has knowledge of all things, and will requite you for it.
Verse 55
They [the Prophet’s wives] would not be at fault with regard to [socialising with] their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their own, believing, women, or what their right hands own, of slavegirls or [male] servants, in seeing them or conversing with them without a screen. And fear [O women] God, in what you have been commanded. Surely God is Witness to all things, with nothing being hidden from Him.
Verse 56
Indeed God and His angels bless the Prophet, Muhammad (s). O you who believe, invoke blessings on him and invoke peace upon him in a worthy manner, in other words, say: ‘O God, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace’ (Allāhumma sallī ‘alā sayyidinā Muhammad wa-sallim).
Verse 57
Indeed those who are injurious to God and His Messenger — and they are the disbelievers, who attribute to God what He is exalted above of such things as [His having] a son or a partner and they deny His Messenger — God has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, He has banished them [from His mercy], and has prepared for them a humiliating chastisement, and that is the Fire.
Verse 58
And those who cause hurt to believing men and believing women without the latter’s having done anything, [those who] accuse them of what they have not done, have verily borne [the guilt of] calumny, they have borne lies, and [the burden of] manifest sin.
Verse 59
O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks closely over themselves (jalābīb is the plural of jilbāb, which is a wrap that covers a woman totally) — in other words, let them pull part of it [also] over their faces, leaving one eye [visible], when they need to leave [the house] for something. That makes it likelier that they will be known, to be free women, and not be molested, by being approached. In contrast, slavegirls did not use to cover their faces and so the disbelievers used to pester them. And God is Forgiving, of any occasion in the past when they may have neglected to cover themselves, Merciful, to them in His veiling them.
Verse 60
If (la-in, the lām is for oaths) the hypocrites do not desist, from their hypocrisy, and likewise those in whose hearts is a sickness, [in their urge] to fornicate, as well as the scaremongers in the city, who alarm the believers by saying [to them things like], ‘Your enemy is here and your raiding parties have been massacred!’, or [they say to them], ‘They have been defeated!’. Assuredly We will urge you [to take action] against them, We will give you sway over them, then they will not be your neighbours, they will not dwell near you, in it except for a little [while], after which they will depart.
Verse 61
Accursed, banished from mercy, [shall they be], wherever they are found they shall be seized and slain violently, that is to say, that is the ruling concerning them — meant as a command [for the Prophet].
Verse 62
God’s precedent, in other words, God has made this His precedent [in dealing], with those who passed away before, with regard to the hypocrites of past communities who used to alarm believers with their scaremongery, and you will find that there is no changing God’s precedent, [no changing of it] from Him.
Verse 63
People, [such as] the people of Mecca, question you concerning the Hour: when will it be? Say: ‘Knowledge thereof lies only with God — and what do you know, [what would] provide you with knowledge thereof? In other words, you do not know it, perhaps the Hour is near’.
Verse 64
God has indeed cursed the disbelievers, He has banished them [from His mercy], and prepared for them a blaze, a violent fire into which they shall be admitted,
Verse 65
to abide, their abiding having been foreordained, therein forever. They shall not find any protector, to preserve them from it, or helper, to ward it off from them.
Verse 66
On the day when their faces are turned about in the Fire they shall say, ‘O (yā is for alerting) would that we had obeyed God and obeyed the Messenger!’
Verse 67
And they, namely, those who had been the followers [of the leaders of error], shall say, ‘Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders (read [plural] sādatanā, or sādātanā, which is the plural of the plural) and elders, and they led us astray from the way, the path of guidance.
Verse 68
Our Lord, give them a double chastisement, in other words, twice the like of our chastisement, and curse them, chastise them, with numerous curses!’, with the equivalent number [of chastisements] (la‘nan kathīran, ‘numerous curses’, is also read la‘nan kabīran, [which means] ‘with a mighty curse’).
Verse 69
O you who believe, do not behave, towards your Prophet, as did those who harmed Moses — when they would say, for example, ‘The only reason he does not wash with us is that he has an inflammation in his testicles’ — whereat God absolved him of what they alleged: when Moses placed his robe on a rock to go to wash, the rock hurtled away with it until it came to a halt amid a group of men from the Children of Israel. As Moses chased it and took his robe to cover himself, they saw that he had no such inflammation (udra is an inflammation of the testicle). And he was distinguished in God’s sight. An instance of our Prophet (s) being subjected to hurt was when [on one occasion] while dividing up the spoils a man said to him, ‘This is a division that I do not want to please God!’, whereat the Prophet (s) became angered and said, ‘May God have mercy upon Moses, for truly he was hurt with worse than this, but endured’ — reported by al-Bukhārī.
Verse 70
O you who believe, fear God and speak words of integrity, what is proper.
Verse 71
He will rectify your deeds for you, He will accept them, and will forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys God and His Messenger has verily achieved a great success, he has attained his ultimate goal.
Verse 72
Indeed We offered the Trust — [the obligation to] prayer and other matters which, when performed, result in reward and when neglected, result in punishment — to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and created in them the power of comprehension and speech [at the time of that offer], but they refused to bear it and were apprehensive of it; but man, Adam, undertook it, when it was offered to him. Truly he is a wrongdoer, to his own soul because of what he undertook, ignorant, of [the responsibility that comes with] it —
Verse 73
so that God may chastise (li-yu‘adhdhiba, the lām therein is semantically connected to ‘aradnā, ‘We offered’, which resulted in ‘Adam’s undertaking’) the hypocrites, men and women, and the idolaters, men and women, those who forsake the Trust, and that God may relent to the believing men and believing women, who fulfil the Trust. And God is Forgiving, to believers, Merciful, to them.
Verse 1
Praise be to God — God, exalted be He, praises Himself with these [words]; the import constitutes the eulogy that ‘praise’ is ever-established [for God] and it entails the attribution to Him of all that is beautiful, exalted be He — to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, as possessions and creation. And to Him belongs [all] praise in the Hereafter, as in this world, for His friends praise Him as they enter Paradise. And He is the Wise, in what He does, the Aware, of His creatures.
Verse 2
He knows what penetrates the earth, of water and so forth, and what issues out of it, of vegetation and so on, and what comes down from the heaven, of provision and so on, and what ascends into it, of deeds and so on, and He is the Merciful, to His friends, the Forgiving, to them.
Verse 3
And those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour, the Resurrection, will never come to us’. Say, to them: ‘Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you — [by] the Knower of the Unseen (read ‘ālimi’l-ghaybi as an adjectival qualification [of wa-rabbī, ‘by my Lord’], or read ‘ālimu’l-ghaybi, as the predicate of a [missing] subject [such as huwa, ‘He is’]; or read ‘allāmi’l-ghaybi). Not [even] the weight of an atom escapes, is hidden [from], Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz),
Verse 4
that He may requite, thereat, those who believe and perform righteous deeds — for such there will be forgiveness and a fair provision, in Paradise.
Verse 5
And those who strive against, [who strive] to invalidate, Our signs, namely, the Qur’ān, deeming Us inomnipotent (mu‘ajjizīna, a variant reading [of this] here and later on [in verse 38, below] is mu‘ājizīna: [so that respectively these mean] ‘deeming that We are incapable’ [mu‘ajjizīna], or [if read mu‘ājizīna] ‘vying with Us, in order to elude Us’) for they suppose that there is no [such thing as] resurrection or punishment — for such there will be a chastisement of an awful punishment’ (read either alīmin or alīmun [respectively] as an adjectival qualification of rijzin, ‘punishment’ or ‘adhābun, ‘chastisement’).
Verse 6
And those who have been given knowledge — the believers from among the People of the Scripture, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions — see, they know, that what has been revealed to you from your Lord, that is, the Qur’ān, is the, decisive, truth, and [that] it guides to the path, the way, of the Mighty, the Praised, in other words, of God, the Lord of Might Who is ever-praised.
Verse 7
And those who disbelieve say, that is, some of them say to others in order to provoke disbelief [in them]: ‘Shall we show you a man — namely, Muhammad (s) — who will inform you that when you have been utterly torn to pieces you shall indeed be created anew?’
Verse 8
Has he invented (read a’ftarā; the hamza, read with a fatha vowelling, is for the interrogative and suffices in place of the conjunctive hamza) a lie against God, in this [respect], or is there a madness in him, [does he suffer] a dementia on account of which he has imagined that? God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but those who do not believe in the Hereafter, that comprises resurrection and chastisement, will be in the chastisement, thereat, and in error that is far, from the truth, in this world.
Verse 9
Have they not observed what is before them and what is behind them, in other words, what is above them and what is beneath them, of heaven and earth? If We will [it], We can make the earth swallow them or let fall on them fragments (read kisfan or kisafan: ‘large pieces’) from the heaven (a variant reading has the third person singular for all three verbs [sc. yashā’, ‘He will’, yakhsif, ‘He makes to swallow’, yusqit, ‘He lets fall’]). Surely in that, which is observed, there is a sign for every penitent servant, turning back to his Lord, [signs] indicating God’s power to resurrect and to do what He will.
Verse 10
And verily We bestowed on David a [great] favour from Us — prophethood and scripture — and We said: ‘O mountains, repeat with him [in praise], by making glorifications, and the birds [too]!’ (read wa’l-tayra in the accusative as a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of jibāl, ‘mountains’, in other words, and We also called on them to glorify [God] with him). And We made iron malleable for him, so that it was as dough in his hands.
Verse 11
And We said: ‘Fashion, from it, long coats of mail — complete suits of armour which the person wearing it drags behind him along the ground — and measure [well] the links’, that is, in the weaving of the coats (the maker of these is called sarrād). In other words, make them so that the rings thereof are arranged properly. And act, O family of David, together with him, righteously. Indeed I am Seer of what you do, and will requite you for it accordingly.
Verse 12
And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would be based on an implicit [missing verb] sakhkharnā, ‘We disposed’) its morning course, meaning its journey from the morning to the noon, was a month’s journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from the noon to sunset, was a month’s journey. And We caused a fount of [molten] copper to flow for him, in other words, We caused the copper to melt for him, and so the fount flowed for three days and nights like water, and to this day people have been using of that [copper] which was given to Solomon [at that time]. And of the jinn [there] were those who worked before him by the leave, by the command, of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, to him to obey him [Solomon], We would make them taste the chastisement of the Blaze, the Fire in the Hereafter — but it is also said, [that their chastisement was] in this world, in which case an angel would smite one of them with a lash thereof that would scorch him.
Verse 13
They fashioned for him whatever he wished: lofty shrines (mahārīb are high edifices which are ascended by stairs) and statues (tamāthīl is the plural of timthāl, which is any thing which you fashion as a likeness [of another]), in other words, brass, crystal or marble figures — the use of figures was not prohibited according to his Law; and basins (jifān is the plural of jafna) like cisterns (jawābin is the plural of jābiya, which is a large basin) — around each ‘basin’ a thousand men would gather to eat — and cauldrons built into the ground, fixed with foundations, and cannot be moved from their places: these were made from the [rocks of the] mountains of Yemen, and to which one ascended by climbing up a ladder. And We said: ‘Work, O, House of David, in obedience to God, in thankfulness, to Him for what He has given you. And few indeed of My servants are thankful’, labouring in obedience to Me in thanks for My favours.
Verse 14
And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, [when] he died — he remained supported against his staff an entire year, while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary, unaware of his death, until [finally] when a termite ate through his staff, he fell to the ground [and was seen to be] dead — nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite (al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba, passive verbal form, in other words, ‘it [the piece of wood] was eaten away by a termite [al-arada]’) that gnawed away at his staff (read minsa’atahu or minsātahu, replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a ‘staff’, so called because [when describing it one would say] yunsa’u bihā, to mean it is used to repel or drive away [creatures]’). And when he fell down, dead, the jinn realised, it became apparent to them, that (an, is softened, in other words, annahum) had they known the Unseen — comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead — they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement, [in] that hard labour of theirs, [in which they continued] as they supposed him to be alive, which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year, judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words, [they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement] for a single day or even a single night [longer].
Verse 15
Verily there was for Sheba (Saba’, declined [as li-Saba’in] or left as indeclinable [li-Saba’a], is [the name of] a tribe that took its name from one of their Arab ancestors) in their dwelling-place, in Yemen, a sign: indicating God’s power, exalted be He, two gardens (jannatān, a substitution [for āyatun, ‘a sign’]) to the right and to the left, in other words, on the right side of their valley and on its left side. And it was said to them: ‘Eat of your Lord’s provision and give thanks to Him, for the graces He has bestowed on you in the land of Sheba. A good land — in which there was no dung, gnats, flies, fleas, scorpions, or snakes, and in which when a stranger passed through with his clothes lice-infected, these [lice] would be killed off because of the purity of its air — and, God is, a forgiving Lord.’
Verse 16
But they were disregardful, of giving thanks to Him and became disbelievers, so We unleashed upon them the flood of the Dam (al-‘arim is the plural of ‘arima, which is a structure or something similar that holds water back [to be stored] for when it is needed), in other words, [We unleashed upon them] the flood-waters of their valley which had been held back by the mentioned [structure] so that they engulfed their two gardens together with all their property. And We gave them in place of their two gardens two gardens bearing (dhawātay, a dual form of [feminine plural] dhawāt; usually [the form dhātay from] the singular [would have been used]) bitter fruit, bitter and vile (ukul may be read as a genitive annexation [ukulin khamtin] in the sense of ‘that which is eaten [thereof being bitter]; or it may be read without [as ukuli khamtin]; and this [phrase] is supplemented [by the following, wa-athlin wa-shay’in min sidrin qalīl) and tamarisk and sparse lote trees.
Verse 17
That, replacement [of what they had], is what We requited them with for their ingratitude: and is anyone but the ingrate ever [so] requited? (read hal yujāzā illā’l-kafūru; or read as hal nujāzī illā’l-kafūra, ‘Would We requite anyone but the ingrate?’), in other words, it is only the like of such who is called to account.
Verse 18
And We set between them, between Sheba, who were in Yemen, and the towns which We had blessed, with [abundance of] water and trees — these being the towns of Syria, to which they used to travel for commerce — prominent towns, continuous [along the route] from Yemen to Syria, and We facilitated [for travellers] the journeying through them, such that they would rest for the afternoon in one and spend the night in the next, [and so on] until the end of their travel, having no need of any supplies or water along the way; and We said, ‘Travel through them night and day safely’, having no fear by night or by day.
Verse 19
But they said, ‘Our Lord, make far apart (ba‘‘id: a variant reading has bā‘id) the stages of our travel’, to Syria: make these [stages through] deserts, so that they could glory before the poor in riding their camels and bearing their supplies and water, and so they behaved wantonly with the graces [bestowed on them by God], and they wronged their souls, through disbelief, and so We made them bywords, [of wrongdoing] in this respect, for those who came after them, and We caused them to disintegrate totally, We scattered them all over the lands. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there are signs, lessons, for every [servant who is] steadfast, [in refraining] from acts of disobedience, grateful, for [God’s] graces.
Verse 20
And verily Iblīs proved true (read sadaqa or saddaqa) his opinion of them, that is, of the disbelievers among them — [the folk of] Sheba — which was that by his tempting them to go astray, they would follow him. So they followed him ([if the verb above is read] sadaqa, this would mean that ‘he was right in his opinion’, and [if read] saddaqa, it would mean that ‘he found this [opinion of his] to be true’) — [all] except a group of the believers (mina’l-mu’minīna, [the min, ‘of’] is explicative [not partitive], in other words, [all except that group] who were the believers: they did not follow him).
Verse 21
And he did not have any warrant over them, any power to sway [them], from Us, but that We might know, by [this] knowledge being made manifest, him who believed in the Hereafter from him who was in doubt thereof, and so requite each of the two accordingly. And your Lord is Preserver, Watcher, of all things.
Verse 22
Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Call on those whom you have asserted, those whom you have asserted to be gods, besides God, in other words, other than Him, so that they might benefit you, as you are wont to assert. God, exalted be He, says of them: They do not possess [even] so much as the weight of an atom, of good or evil, in the heavens or in the earth, and they do not have any share in either of them, nor has He, exalted be He, among them, the gods, any auxiliary’, [anyone required as His] helper.
Verse 23
And intercession will not avail with Him, exalted be He — this was in response to their saying that their gods would intercede [for them] with Him — except for him to whom leave is given, in this respect (read adhina, ‘[to whom] He gives leave’; or udhina, ‘[to whom] leave is given’). Yet, when fear is banished from their hearts (read active fazza‘a, or passive fuzzi‘a), [when fear] is removed from them, upon leave being given for this [intercession], they will say — some will say to others in anticipation of a favourable outcome — ‘What has your Lord said?’, concerning this. They will say: [He has said] the saying that is, ‘The truth’, in other words, leave has been given for it. And He is the Exalted, above His creation, by [His] subjugation [of them], the Great, the Tremendous.
Verse 24
Say: ‘Who provides for you from the heavens, rain, and [from] the earth?’, vegetation. Say: ‘God!’ — [even] if they do not say it, there is no other [valid] answer. And indeed either we or you are — in other words [either] one of the two parties [is] — rightly guided or in manifest error. The ambiguity here [concerning which of the two is rightly guided] is intended as a gentle invitation for them to [embrace] faith if their way to it is facilitated [by God].
Verse 25
Say: ‘You will not be questioned about the sins we committed, nor shall we be questioned about what you do’, for we are quit of you.
Verse 26
Say: ‘Our Lord will bring us together, on the Day of Resurrection, then He will judge between us with truth, and He will admit the truthful into Paradise and the liars into the Fire. And He is the Judge, the Knowing’, in what He judges.
Verse 27
Say: ‘Show me, apprise me of, those whom you have joined to Him as associates, in worship. No indeed! — [this is] meant to deter them from [even] supposing that He has an associate. Rather He is God, the Mighty, Whose way will prevail, the Wise’, in the way in which He manages [the affairs of] His creation and so He could not have any associate in His kingdom.
Verse 28
And We did not send you except to all (kāffatan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-nās, ‘mankind’, and is made to precede [li’l-nās] because of the importance attached to it) of mankind [both] as a bearer of good tidings, to believers, of Paradise, and a warner, to the disbelievers, of chastisement, but most people, such as the disbelievers of Mecca, do not know, this.
Verse 29
And they say, ‘When shall this promise, of chastisement, be [fulfilled], if you are being truthful?’, concerning it.
Verse 30
Say: ‘Yours is the tryst of a Day which you can neither defer nor advance by a single hour’, and this is the Day of Resurrection.
Verse 31
And those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca, say, ‘We will not believe in this Qur’ān, nor in that which was [revealed] before it’ — in other words, what preceded it, such as the Torah and the Gospel, both of which contain proofs of the Resurrection — because they reject the truth of this [last]. God, exalted be He, says of them: But if you were to see, O Muhammad (s), when the evildoers, the disbelievers, are brought to stand before their Lord, bandying arguments against one another. Those who were oppressed — the followers — will say to those who were arrogant — the leaders: ‘Had it not been for you, barring us from faith, we would have been believers’, in the Prophet.
Verse 32
Those who were arrogant will say to those who were oppressed, ‘Was it us who barred you from guidance after it had come to you?, Nay! Rather you were guilty’, of your own accord.
Verse 33
And those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, ‘Nay, but [it was your] scheming night and day, in other words, [such were] your schemes against us during both [of these times], when you used to command us to disbelieve in God and set up partners with Him’. And they, that is, the two parties, will conceal their remorse, for not having believed in Him, when they see the chastisement, in other words, each person will hide it [his remorse] from the next for fear of being reviled; and We will place fetters around the necks of the disbelievers, [while they are] in the Fire. Shall they be requited except, the requital, for what they used to do?, in the world.
Verse 34
And We did not send a warner to any town without its affluent ones, its leaders, those enjoying [life’s] comforts, saying, ‘Indeed we disbelieve in that [Message] with which you have been sent’.
Verse 35
And they say, ‘We possess more wealth and children, than those who are believers, and we shall not be chastised’.
Verse 36
Say: ‘Truly my Lord extends provision, He makes it abundant, for whomever He will, as a test, and restricts [it], for whomever He will, to try [them], but most people, such as the disbelievers of Mecca, do not know’, this [truth].
Verse 37
Nor is it your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us in closeness, except for, but [it is], those who believe and act righteously: those, they shall have a twofold reward for what they did, in other words, [they shall have it] as the reward of their action — as a good deed, for example, is rewarded tenfold or more — and they shall be in the lofty abodes, of Paradise, secure, from death and otherwise (a variant reading [for al-ghurufāt] is al-ghurfa [the generic noun] implying a plural).
Verse 38
And those who strive against Our signs, namely, the Qur’ān, [seeking] to invalidate it, supposing [Us] to be inomnipotent — or [supposing] that they can elude Us — those, they will be arraigned into the chastisement.
Verse 39
Say: ‘My Lord extends provision, He makes it abundant, for whomever He will of His servants, as a test, and restricts [it] for him, after having extended it — or [He restricts it] for him whom He will to try, and whatever thing you may expend, for [the cause of] good, He will replace it. And He is the best of providers’. It is said that every man ‘provides for’ his dependants (yarzuqu ‘ā’ilatahu), meaning that [he does so] from the provision given [to him] by God.
Verse 40
And, mention, on the Day when He will gather them all together, namely, [all] the idolaters, He will say to the angels, ‘Was it these who used to worship you?’ (read a-hā’ūlā’i iyyākum, pronouncing both hamzas, or by replacing the first with a yā’ or dropping it altogether).
Verse 41
They will say, ‘Glory be to You, exalted above that You should have an associate! You are our Supporter, not they, in other words, as far as we are concerned there are no bonds of association between us and them. Nay, (bal, is to indicate transition) rather, they used to worship the jinn, the devils, in other words, [they used to] obey them and [agree to] worship us; most of them were believers in them’, accepting as truth what these [jinn] used to say to them.
Verse 42
God, exalted be He, says: ‘So today none among you has any power over another, in other words, none of those worshipped [have any power] over any of those who worshipped, either to benefit, [through] intercession, or to hurt’, [through] chastisement. And We shall say to those who did wrong, who disbelieved: ‘Taste the chastisement of the Fire which you used to deny!’
Verse 43
And when Our signs, [from] the Qur’ān, are recited to them, [being] clear signs, evident [ones], by the tongue of our Prophet Muhammad (s), they say, ‘This is just a man who desires to bar you from [worshipping] what your fathers used to worship’, of idols. And they say, ‘This, Qur’ān, is nothing but a calumny, a lie, that has been invented, against God. And those who disbelieve say to the truth, the Qur’ān, when it comes to them, ‘This is nothing but plain sorcery’. God, exalted be He, says:
Verse 44
And We did not give them any scriptures for them to study, nor did We send them any warner before you, so on what grounds do they deny you?
Verse 45
And those who were before them [also] denied, and they, these ones [the Meccans], have not received [even] a tenth of what We gave those [others], in the way of might, long life and abundance of wealth. Yet they denied My messengers, [who were sent] to them, so how was My abhorrence! [so how was] My rebuttal against them through punishment and destruction, in other words, it was appropriate.
Verse 46
Say: ‘I will give you just one [piece of] admonition: namely, that you rise up for God, in other words, for His sake, in twos and individually, and then reflect: and realise [that], there is no madness in your companion, Muhammad (s). He is just a warner to you before [the befalling of] a severe chastisement’, in the Hereafter, if you disobey him.
Verse 47
Say, to them: ‘I have not asked you, in return for [my] warning and delivering the Message [to you], any reward, since it is for [the benefit of] you, in other words, I do not ask you for any reward in return for this. Indeed my reward lies only with God, and He is Witness over all things’, observing [them all], knowing my truthfulness.
Verse 48
Say: ‘Indeed my Lord hurls the truth, He casts it onto His prophets — [He is] the Knower of the Unseen’, [of] all that is hidden from His creatures throughout the heavens and the earth.
Verse 49
Say: ‘The truth, Islam, has come. And falsehood, disbelief, neither originates nor restores [anything]’, in other words, it leaves no trace [of itself] behind.
Verse 50
Say: ‘If I go astray, from the truth, I will be going astray only to my own loss, that is to say, the sin of my going astray shall be held against me; and if I am rightly guided, it will have been by what my Lord reveals to me, of the Qur’ān and wisdom. Truly He is Hearer, of supplications, Nigh’.
Verse 51
If you could but see, O Muhammad (s), when they are stricken with terror, at the Resurrection, you would see a dreadful thing, and so there is no escape, for them, from Us, that is to say, they will not [be able to] elude Us, and they are seized from a close quarter, namely, [from] the graves.
Verse 52
And they will say, ‘We believe in him [now]’, in other words, [in] Muhammad (s) — or [if read ‘We believe in it’, then] in the Qur’ān. But how can they attain [it] (read tanāwush or tanā’ush), that is, attain faith, from a place that is far away, from the place for [attaining] it — as they are [now] in the Hereafter, and the [proper] place for [attaining] it was in this world —
Verse 53
when they disbelieved in it before?, in this world. And they throw guesses at the Unseen from a far-off place, in other words, [they make guesses] about something the knowledge of which was hidden far away from them, as when they would say that the Prophet was a sorcerer, or a poet, or a soothsayer, or that the Qur’ān was sorcery, poetry or soothsaying.
Verse 54
And a barrier is set between them and what they crave, in the way of faith — in other words, [their craving] to embrace it — just as was done with their counterparts, in [respect to] disbelief, formerly, in other words, before them. Indeed they used to be in grave doubt, [doubt] causing them to have misgivings about that in which they now believe, but the proofs for which they never considered in this world.
Verse 1
Praise be to God, God praises Himself with in these [terms], as explained at the beginning of [the preceding] sūrat Saba’, Originator of the heavens and the earth, the One Who created them without any precedent, Appointer of the angels as messengers, to [His] prophets, having wings in [sets of] two or three or four. He multiplies in creation, in angels and other [creatures], what He will. Surely God has power over all things.
Verse 2
Whatever mercy God unfolds for mankind, in the way of provision or rain, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, thereof, none can release it after Him, that is, after His withholding it. And He is the Mighty, Whose way prevails, the Wise, in what He does.
Verse 3
O people, that is, the people of Mecca, remember God’s grace to you, in His making you dwell within the [Meccan] Sanctuary and preventing raids against you. Is there any creator (min khāliqin: min is extra; khāliq is the subject) other than God (read ghayru’Llāhi or gharyri’Llāhi, as an adjectival qualification of khāliq, ‘creator’, either concording with the [oblique] form [of min khāliqin] or concording with the syntactical status [thereof]; the predicate of the subject [is the following]) who provides for you from the heaven, rain, and, from the, earth?, vegetation (the interrogative is [actually] an affirmative, that is to say, ‘there is no creator or provider other than Him). There is no god except Him. So how then do you deviate?, how are you turned away from affirming His Oneness when you already affirm that He is the Creator and the Provider?
Verse 4
And if they deny you, O Muhammad (s), with regard to your coming with [the message of] God’s Oneness, resurrection, reckoning and punishment, verily [other] messengers before you were denied, in this respect, so be steadfast as they were steadfast; and to God all matters are returned, in the Hereafter, when He will requite the deniers and grant victory to the messengers.
Verse 5
O mankind! Indeed God’s promise, of resurrection and of other issues, is true. So do not let the life of this world deceive you, from believing in [all of] that, and do not let the Deceiver, Satan, deceive you concerning God, on account of His forbearance and respiting [of sinners in this life].
Verse 6
Truly Satan is an enemy to you. So treat him as an enemy, by being obedient to God and do not obey him; he only summons his faction, his followers in disbelief, so that they may be among the inhabitants of the Blaze, the fierce Fire.
Verse 7
Those who disbelieve, theirs will be a severe chastisement; but those who believe and perform righteous deeds, theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward — this is a declaration of what [fate] will be for the adherents of Satan and what will be for his opponents [respectively].
Verse 8
The following was revealed regarding Abū Jahl and others: Is he, the evil of whose deeds is made [to seem] fair to him, by distortion, so that he deems it good […]? (a-fa-man, ‘is he [whose]’ constitutes the subject, the predicate of which is [an omitted] ‘like one whom God has guided?’ No! And this [predicate] is indicated by [what follows]). Indeed God leads astray whomever He will and guides whomever He will. So do not let your soul expire for their sake, for those to whom it has made [to seem] fair, out of sighings, by becoming anguished lest they do not believe. Indeed God is Knower of what they do, and He will requite them for it.
Verse 9
And it is God Who unleashes the winds (al-riyāha: a variant reading has al-rīha) and they raise clouds (fa-tuthīru’l-sahāba: the imperfect tense here is used to narrate the past), that is, they stir them up, then We drive them (there is a shift here from the third person [to the first person] address) to a dead land (read mayyitin or maytin), wherein is no plant life, and therewith revive the earth, of that land, after it has been dead, [after] its having been dried-out. In other words, We made seeds and grass grow in it: Such will be the Raising, that is, the Resurrection and the bringing [of the dead] back to life.
Verse 10
Whoever desires glory [should know that] all glory belongs to God, in this world and in the Hereafter, and it cannot be obtained from Him except through obedience to Him, so let such [a one] be obedient to Him. To Him ascends good words, that is to say, He is aware of such [good words], and these are [statements such as] ‘there is no god except God’ and the like; and as for righteous action, He exalts it, He accepts it; but those who plot evil, schemes against the Prophet — [as was the case] at the council assembly, in the way of imprisoning him, killing him or expelling him, as mentioned in [sūrat] al-Anfāl [Q. 8:30] — theirs shall be a severe chastisement and their plotting shall come to nothing: it shall be ruined.
Verse 11
And God created you from dust, by having created your father Adam from it, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, in other words, from sperm, by creating his seed from it; then He made you pairs, males and females. And no female bears or brings forth except with His knowledge (illā bi-‘ilmihi is a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, ‘[except] that it is known by Him’) and no long-living person is given long life, in other words, the life of none is increased for one who has a long life, nor is anything diminished of his life, in other words, [of the life of] that same long-living person or some other long-living person, but it is [recorded] in a Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet. Surely that is easy for God.
Verse 12
Nor are the two [kinds of] seas alike: this one is extremely sweet, pleasant to drink and that one is salty, extremely bitter. Yet from each, of the two, you eat fresh meat, namely, fish, and obtain, from the salt — and it is also said, from both of them — ornaments which you wear, namely, pearls and coral. And you see, you sight, the ships therein, in each of the two [seas], ploughing through (mawākhira, in other words, tamkhuru’l-mā’a, meaning, ‘it cleaves it as it makes its way through it, coming and going by the same wind) that you may seek of His bounty, exalted be He, through commerce, and that perhaps you may give thanks, to God for this [bounty].
Verse 13
He, God, makes the night pass, enter, into the day, so that it becomes longer, and He makes the day pass into the night, so that it becomes longer, and He has disposed the sun and the moon, each, of them, moving, in its course, to an appointed term — [to] the Day of Resurrection. That is God, your Lord; to Him belongs [all] sovereignty. As for those on whom you call, [whom] you worship, besides Him, in other words, other than Him — and they are the idols — they do not possess [even] so much as the husk of a date-stone.
Verse 14
If you call on them, they will not hear your call, and [even] if they heard —hypothetically [speaking] — they would not [be able to] respond to you; and on the Day of Resurrection they will disown your [idolatrous] associations, in other words, your associating them with God [in power], that is to say, they will declare themselves innocent of you and of your worship of them. And none can inform you, about the state in the two abodes, like One Who is Aware, Knower, and this is God, exalted be He.
Verse 15
O mankind! You are the ones who are in need of God, in every state. And God, He is the Independent, [without any need] of His creatures, the Praised, the One Who is praised in whatever He does with them.
Verse 16
If He will, He can take you away and bring about a new creation, instead of you.
Verse 17
And that is not an arduous thing for God.
Verse 18
And no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another [sinful soul]. And should one, soul, burdened heavily, with sin, call for, some of, its burden to be borne, by another, nothing of it will be borne, even if, the one called, be a relative, kin, such as a father or a son — the impossibility of ‘having something borne [by another]’ in both instances is something ordained by God. You can only warn those who fear their Lord in secret, in other words, those who fear Him despite not having seen Him, for they are the ones to benefit from the warning, and observe the prayer, maintain [performance of] it. For whoever purifies himself, cleansing himself of idolatry and other [similar abominations], is purifying himself only for [the sake of] his own soul, because the reforming of his self pertains to him. And to God is the [end of the] journeying, the return in the Hereafter when He will requite according to deeds.
Verse 19
Nor are the blind and the seer equal, that is, the disbeliever and the believer [are not equal],
Verse 20
nor darkness — disbelief — and light — faith;
Verse 21
nor shade and torrid heat, namely, Paradise and the Fire;
Verse 22
nor are the living equal to the dead, the believers and the disbelievers [respectively] (the addition of the particle lā, ‘nor’, in all three instances is for emphasis). Indeed God makes to hear whomever He will, to be guided, so that such [a person] then responds to Him by embracing faith. But you cannot make those who are in the graves to hear, namely, the disbelievers — whom He has likened to the dead — [to hear] and so respond.
Verse 23
You are but a warner, to them.
Verse 24
Truly We have sent you with the truth, with [right] guidance, as a bearer of good tidings, to him who responds to it, and a warner, to him who does not respond to it. And there is not a community but there has passed, there has been, in it a warner, a prophet to warn it.
Verse 25
And if they, that is, the people of Meccans, deny you, those before them also denied: their messengers brought them manifest signs, miracles, and with scriptures, such as the scrolls of Abraham, and with the illuminating Book, namely, the Torah and the Gospel, so endure [patiently] as they endured.
Verse 26
Then I seized those who disbelieved, for their denial, and how was My abhorrence!, [how was] My rebuttal against them by way of punishment and destruction, in other words, it was appropriate.
Verse 27
Have you not seen, [have you not] realised, that God sends down water from the heaven, wherewith We bring forth (there is here a shift from the third person [to the first person] address) fruits of diverse hues, such as green, red, and yellow [fruits] and so on? And in the mountains are streaks (judad is the plural of judda, which is a mountain trail or the like) white and red, and yellow, of diverse hues, some intense and some pale, and [others] pitch-black? (gharābību sūd is a supplement to judadun, ‘streaks’, meaning, dark-black rocks: one commonly says aswad ghirbīb, but rarely ghirbīb aswad).
Verse 28
And of humans and beasts and cattle, there are diverse hues likewise, like the diversity of the [hues of] fruits and mountains. Indeed only those of God’s servants who have knowledge fear Him, in contrast to the ignorant, such as the disbelievers of Mecca. Truly God is Mighty, in His kingdom, Forgiving, of the sins of His faithful servants.
Verse 29
Indeed those who recite the Book of God and observe prayer, they maintain [performance of] it, and expend of what We have provided them secretly and openly, [to give] as alms and otherwise, anticipate a commerce that will never be ruined,
Verse 30
that He may pay them in full their rewards, the reward for their mentioned deeds, and enrich them out of His bounty. Truly He is Forgiving, of their sins, Appreciative, of their obedience.
Verse 31
And that which We have revealed to you of the Book, the Qur’ān, is the truth, confirming what was [revealed] before it, in other words, [confirming] the Books that came before it. Indeed, with regard to His servants, God is truly Aware and Seeing, knowing [both their] inward and outward aspects.
Verse 32
Then We gave the Book, the Qur’ān, to those of Our servants whom We chose, namely, your community. Yet some of them are those who wrong themselves, by failing to act fully in accordance with it, and some of them are moderate, acting in accordance with it most of the time, and some are those who take the lead in [performing] good works, so that in addition to his [acquiring] knowledge he disseminates it and shows [others] the way [to proper conduct] as well as acting in accordance [with the Qur’ān], by the leave of God, by His will. That, bequest to them of the Book, is the greatest favour!
Verse 33
Gardens of Eden, as a [permanent] residence, into which they will be admitted, the three [types of servants mentioned] (read active yadkhulūnahā, ‘they will enter it’, or passive yudkhalūnahā, ‘into which they will be admitted’, as the predicate of the subject jannāt, ‘gardens’) — therein they will be adorned (yuhallawna is a second predicate) with, some, bracelets of gold and pearls, studded with gold, and their garments therein will be of silk.
Verse 34
And they will say, ‘Praise be to God Who has removed, all, grief from us. Truly our Lord is Forgiving, of sins, Appreciative, of obedience,
Verse 35
Who out of His favour has made us to dwell in the Abode of [everlasting] Stay, wherein no toil shall touch us, nor shall we be touched by any fatigue’, lack of strength caused by exhaustion, [and this is] because [religious] obligations no longer apply therein (the second of these [‘fatigue’], which is consequent upon the first [‘toil’], is mentioned in order to make explicit the non-existence [of any toil in Paradise]).
Verse 36
And as for those who disbelieve, there will be for them the fire of Hell: they will neither be done away with, through death, so that they may die, and find rest, nor will any [aspect] of its chastisement be lightened for them, [not even for] a single moment. In this way, in the way that We requite these, We requite every ingrate, [every] disbeliever (read yujzā kullu kafūrin, ‘every ingrate is [so] requited’; or najzī kulla kafūrin, ‘[so] We requite every ingrate’).
Verse 37
While therein they will be crying out, calling for help in distress, howling and saying: ‘Our Lord! Bring us forth, from it, and we will act righteously, other than how we used to act’. But it will be said to them: ‘Did We not give you long life, enough, time, in which to take heed, for him who would take heed? And [moreover] the warner, the Messenger, came to you, but you did not respond to his call, so taste now [this chastisement]! For the evildoers, the disbelievers, have no helper’, to ward off from them the chastisement.
Verse 38
Truly God is Knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth; truly He knows well what is in the breasts, what is in the hearts — thus there is all the more reason that He should [also] have knowledge of other things, given the way people are.
Verse 39
It is He Who made you successors in the earth (khalā’if, ‘successors’, is the plural of khalīfa) in other words, one succeeding the other. So whoever disbelieves, of you, his disbelief will be to his own detriment, that is, the evil consequences of his disbelief [will be so]. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers with their Lord [in anything] except disfavour, wrath. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers [in anything] except loss, of [the reward of] the Hereafter.
Verse 40
Say: ‘Have you considered your associates on whom you call, [those whom] you worship, besides God?, in other words, other than God — and they are the idols whom you asserted to be partners of God, exalted be He. Show me, apprise me of, what [part] of the earth they have created. Or do they have some partnership, some share alongside God, in, the creation of, the heavens?’ Or have We given them a scripture, so that they are [acting] upon a clear proof, a definitive argument, therefrom?, to the effect that they have some partnership with Me? Nothing of the sort! Nay, but the evildoers, the disbelievers, promise one another nothing but delusion, falsehood, when they say that the idols will intercede for them.
Verse 41
Truly God sustains the heavens and the earth lest they disappear, in other words, He prevents them from disappearing. And if (wa-la-in: the lām is for oaths) they were to disappear there is none that can sustain them after Him, in other words, other than Him. Truly He is ever Forbearing, Forgiving, in deferring the punishment of the disbelievers.
Verse 42
And they, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, swore by God their most solemn oaths, [they swore] with utmost effort [to be sincere] in them, that if a warner, a messenger, were to come to them, they would be more readily guided than any one of the communities, [than] the Jews, the Christians or others, in other words, [more readily guided] than any one of these — having [themselves] seen the extent to which these [groups] called each other liars, given that: The Jews say, ‘The Christians stand on nothing’, and the Christians say, ‘The Jews stand on nothing’, [Q. 2:113]. But when a warner, namely, Muhammad (s), did come to them, this, coming of his, only increased them in aversion, further away from [right] guidance,
Verse 43
acting with disdain in the land, against faith (istikbāran fī’l-ardi, an object denoting reason) and devising, acts of, evil, in the way of idolatry and otherwise; and evil schemes will beset, surround, only their authors, namely, the one who devises [such evil] (the qualifying of makr, ‘scheme’, with the noun al-sayyi’, ‘evil’, is intrinsic [to the fact that it is a scheme], and so the annexation of the former to the latter is said to be alternative usage in which the annexed term is implied, as a precaution against annexing a noun to an adjective). So do they expect, do they await, anything but the precedent of the ancients?, God’s way [of dealing] with them, such as chastising them for their denial of the messengers? Yet you will never find any change in God’s precedent, and you will never find any revision in God’s precedent, that is to say, chastisement is never replaced by anything else, nor is it ever meted out other than to the one who deserves it.
Verse 44
Have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them — and they were mightier than these in power?, but [still] God destroyed them for their denial of the messengers. And God is not such that anything in the heavens or in the earth can escape Him, pre-empt Him or elude Him. Truly He is ever Knower, of all things, Omnipotent.
Verse 45
Were God to take mankind to task for what they have acquired, of acts of disobedience, He would not leave on its surface, that is, the earth’s, a single creature, a single living thing moving thereon. But He reprieves them to an appointed term, namely, [to] the Day of Resurrection. And when their term comes — then truly [they will know that] God is ever Seer of His servants, and so He will requite them according to [the nature of] their deeds, rewarding the believers and punishing the disbelievers.
Verse 1
Yā sīn: God knows best what He means by these [letters].
Verse 2
By the Definitive Qur’ān, made definitive by its marvellous arrangement and unique meanings,
Verse 3
you, O Muhammad (s), are indeed of those sent [by God],
Verse 4
on a (‘alā is semantically connected to the preceding [statement]) straight path, that is, [you follow] the way of the prophets before you, [enjoining] the affirmation of God’s Oneness and guidance (the emphasis expressed by the oath [in ‘by the definitive Qur’ān’] and the remainder [of the statement] is a response to the disbelievers’ saying to him, ‘You have not been sent [by God]!’ [Q. 13:43].
Verse 5
A revelation from the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Merciful, to His creatures (tanzīla’l-‘azīzi’l-rahīm is the predicate of an implicit subject, namely, al-qur’ān),
Verse 6
that you may warn, therewith, a people (qawman, connected to tanzīla, ‘a revelation’) whose fathers were not warned, in the period of the interval (al-fatra), so they, this people, are oblivious, to faith and right guidance.
Verse 7
The word, for chastisement, has already proved true, it has become due, for most of them, for they, in other words, most of them, will not believe.
Verse 8
Indeed We have put fetters around their necks, to bind to them their hands (because ghull [is a fetter that] shackles the hands to the neck), such that they, the hands, are, bound, up to the chins (adhqān is the plural of dhaqan, which is where the two sides of the beard meet) so that their heads are upturned, they are unable to lower them: this [statement] is figurative and is meant to indicate their inability to yield to faith or to lower their heads to it.
Verse 9
And We have set before them a barrier (read saddan or suddan in both instances) and behind them a barrier; so We have covered them, so they do not see — this is also figurative, depicting the way in which the paths of faith are closed to them.
Verse 10
And it is the same to them whether you warn them (read a-andhartuhum, pronouncing both hamzas; or by substituting an alif for the second one; or by not pronouncing the second one but inserting an alif between the one not pronounced and the other one, or without [the insertion]) or do not warn them, they will not believe.
Verse 11
You can only warn, in other words, your warning will only benefit, him who follows the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, and fears the Compassionate One in secret, who fears Him despite not having seen Him; so give him the good tidings of forgiveness and a noble reward, namely, Paradise.
Verse 12
Truly it is We Who bring the dead to life, for the resurrection, and record, in the Preserved Tablet, what they have sent ahead, during their lives, of good or evil, that they may be requited for it, and their vestiges, what conduct was followed after them as good practice. And everything (kulla shay’in is in the accusative because of the verb that governs it [and is the following]) We have numbered, We have recorded precisely, in a clear register, a clear Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet.
Verse 13
And strike for them as a similitude (mathalan is the first direct object) the inhabitants (ashāba is the second direct object) of the town, [of] Antioch (Antākya), when the messengers, namely, Jesus’s disciples, came to it (idh jā’ahā’l-mursalūna is an inclusive substitution for ashāba’l-qaryati, ‘the inhabitants of the town’).
Verse 14
When We sent to them two men, and they denied them both (from idh arsalnā ilayhim ithnayni fa-kadhdhabūhumā to the end is a substitution for the previous idh, ‘when’), so We reinforced [them] (read fa-‘azaznā or fa-‘azzaznā, in other words, We reinforced the two men) with a third, and they said, ‘We have indeed been sent to you [by God]’.
Verse 15
They said, ‘You are nothing but humans like us, and the Compassionate One has revealed nothing. You are only lying!’
Verse 16
They said, ‘Our Lord knows (qālū rabbunā ya‘lamu functions like an oath. Emphasis is intensified by this [oath] and also by the [addition of the] lām to what was before [simply, mursalūna, ‘we have been sent’] to counter their intensified denial) that we have indeed been sent to you [by Him]!
Verse 17
And our duty is only to communicate in clear terms’, to deliver the Message clearly and manifestly with plain proofs, such as the curing of the blind, the leper and the diseased and the bringing of the dead back to life.
Verse 18
They said, ‘We augur ill of you, for we have been deprived of rain because of you. If (la-in: the lām is for oaths) you do not desist, we will surely stone you and there shall befall you, at our hands, a painful chastisement’.
Verse 19
They said, ‘May your augury of ill be with you!, [as punishment] for your disbelief. What! [Even] if (a-in: the interrogative hamza has been added to the conditional in, ‘if’, the hamza may be pronounced or elided, but in both cases add an alif between it and the other one) [it be that] you are being reminded?, [even if] you are being admonished and made to fear [God’s chastisement]? (the response to the conditional has been omitted, that is to say, ‘do you augur ill and disbelieve [even if it be that you are being admonished]?’ and this [response] constitutes the object of the interrogative, which is meant [rhetorically] as a rebuke). Nay, but you are a profligate people!’, who transgressing the bounds [set by God] with your [practice of] idolatry.
Verse 20
And there came a man from the furthest part of the city — this was Habīb the carpenter, who had believed in these messengers and whose house lay at the far end of the city — hastening, with a hurried pace, after he had heard that the people had denied the messengers. He said, ‘O my people, follow the messengers!
Verse 21
Follow (ittabi‘ū, this reiterates the preceding [ittabi‘ū]) them who do not ask you for any reward, in return for [delivering to you] the message, and who are rightly guided. And so he was asked, ‘Do you follow their religion?’ So he replied:
Verse 22
And why should I not worship Him Who originated me, [Him Who] created me — in other words: there is nothing to prevent me from worshipping Him when the necessitating factors for this exist, and the same applies to you — and to Whom you shall be returned?, after death, whereupon He will requite you for your disbelief.
Verse 23
Shall I take (a-attakhidu: regarding the two hamzas here, the same applies as mentioned with regard to a-andhartuhum above; this is an interrogative meant as a denial) besides Him, in other words, other than Him, [other] gods, idols, whose intercession, [that intercession of theirs] which you assert, if the Compassionate One should wish me any harm, will not avail me in any way, nor will they [be able to] save me? (wa-lā yunqidhūn is an adjectival qualification of ālihatan, ‘gods’).
Verse 24
Truly then, in other words, in the case of me worshipping [gods] other than God, I would be in manifest error.
Verse 25
Lo! I believe in your Lord. So listen to me!’, in other words, hear what I have to say; but they stoned him and he died.
Verse 26
It was said, to him upon his death: ‘Enter Paradise!’ — but it is also said that he entered it while he was [still] alive. He said, ‘O (yā is for calling attention [to something]), would that my people knew
Verse 27
with what [munificence] my Lord has forgiven me, [would that they knew] of His great forgiveness, and made me of the honoured ones!’