Surah 15. Al-Hijr

Alif. Lam. Ra.¹ THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation - of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.²

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

Regarding this lengthy rendering of the participial adjective mubin, see surah {12}, note [2]. In the above context, the term qur'an (which, whenever it appears without the definite article al denotes a solemn "recital" or "discourse") is preceded by the conjunction wa, which, in its simplest connotation, signifies "and"; but since it is used here to stress the present, particular instance of the divine writ (al-kitab), it can be omitted in the translation without affecting the meaning of the sentence.

Alif L'am Ra. These are the verses of the Divine Book, the Glorious Qur'an which makes the things clear.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Alif-Lãm-Ra. These are the verses of the Book; the clear Quran.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Alif. Lam. Ra. These are verses of the Scripture and a plain Reading.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Alif Lam Ra. These are the Ayats of Revelation of a Qur'an that makes things clear. ^{1932 1933 1934}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For these letters, see Appendix 1.

Cf. x. 1. and n. 1382.

Note how appropriately the different phrases in which the Qur-an is characterised bring out its different aspects as a Revelation. Let us just consider the phrases used at the beginning of the six A.L.M. Suras of which this is the last in order of arrangement. In x.1 we read, "Ayats (or verses or Signs) of the Book of Wisdom", the theme being the wonders of Allah's creation, and its relation to His Revelation. In xi. 1 we read, "a Book, with verses basic or fundamental, further explained in detail": the theme is Allah's Justice and punishment, to preserve the fundamental scheme of His Laws. In xii. 1 we read, "The Symbols verses of the Perspicuous Book"; the wonderful unfolding of Allah's Plan is explained in Joseph's story. In xiii. 1 we read, "The Signs (or verses) of the Book": the contrasts in the modes of Allah's Revelation and its reception by man are pointed out, but not illustrated by detailed examples as in Joseph's perspicuous story. In xiv. 1 we read, "A Book revealed to lead out of darkness into light": the theme being Abraham's prayer for man to be rescued from the darkness of false worship into the light of Unity. Here,in xv.1 we read, "Ayats (or verses) of Revelation,-of a Qur-an that makes things clear (or perspicuous)": the theme being an explanation of evil, and how Allah's Truth is protected from it.

And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their lifetime].³

  - Mohammad Asad

Since this revelation - i.e., the Qur'an - is clear in itself and clearly shows the truth, those who deliberately reject it now will have no excuse on Resurrection Day. As so often in the Qur'an, the past tense in the expression alladhina kafaru is indicative of conscious intent (see surah {2} note [6]).

The Day will come when the unbelievers will wish that they were Muslims.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'The day will come when' the disbelievers will certainly wish they had submitted 'to Allah'.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 lit., had been Muslims.

It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they had bowed (to Allah's Will) in Islam. ¹⁹³⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The time must inevitably come when those who allow themselves to be deceived by falsehood or deliberately break Allah's Law will find themselves in a terrible plight. They will then wish, ardently and again and again, that they had sought Allah's Will and walked in the light of Truth. That time may be early or late,-in this life, or at death, or at the Day of Judgment, but it must come. Man's own highest interest requires that he should awake to the Reality before it is too late for repentance.

Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth].

  - Mohammad Asad

Leave them alone to eat and enjoy themselves and be deluded by false hopes, for soon they will find out the Truth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'So' let them eat and enjoy themselves and be diverted by 'false' hope, for they will soon know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Leave them alone to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) Hope amuse them: soon will knowledge (undeceive them). ^{1936 1937}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Literally, "to eat", Cf. v. 66 and n. 776.

The foolish and the wicked set great store by the pleasures of this world. In their pride they think they have all knowledge. In the fulness of knowledge they will see how wrong they were. Meanwhile those who have received the Light should not for a single moment wonder at the apparent prosperity of the ungodly in this world. They should leave them alone, confident in the goodness and justice of Allah.

And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been made known to it;⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "unless it [the community] had a known divine writ (kitab ma'lum)" - i.e., unless the people in question had been shown through a divine writ the meaning of right and wrong, and had deliberately rejected this divine guidance: cf. the statement, in 26:208 , that "never have We destroyed any community unless it had had its warners", or in 6:131 , that God "would never destroy a community for its wrongdoing so long as its people are still unaware [of the meaning of right and wrong]".

Never did We destroy a town whose term of life was not ordained beforehand.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We have never destroyed a society without a destined term.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. ¹⁹³⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Kitabun ma'lum: literally, "a writing known". There are many shades of meaning implied, (1) For every people, as for every individual, there is a definite Term assigned: their faculty of choice gives them the opportunity of moulding their will according to Allah's Will, and thus identifying themselves with Allah's Universal Law. During that Term they will be given plenty of rope; after that Term is past, there will be no opportunity for repentance. (2) Neither the righteous nor the ungodly can hasten or delay the doom: Allah's Will must prevail, and He is All-Wise. (3) The destruction of a people is not an arbitrary punishment from Allah: the people bring it on themselves by their own choice; for the fixed Law or Decree of Allah is always made known to them beforehand, and in many ways.

[but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it].⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., every community - and, in the widest sense of this term, every civilization - has a God-willed, organic span of life resembling in this respect all other living organisms, destined to grow, to reach maturity and ultimately to decay. For the ethical implications of this law of nature and its bearing on the passage that follows, see 7:34 and the corresponding note [25].

No people can forestall their doom, nor can they postpone it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

No people can advance their doom, nor can they delay it.

  - Mustafa Khattab

No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Neither can a people anticipate its Term nor delay it. ¹⁹³⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vii. 34. Also see the last note.

And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad!

  - Mohammad Asad

They say: "O you to whom the reminder (The Qur'an) is being revealed! You are surely insane.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They say, 'O you to whom the Reminder¹ is revealed! You must be insane!

  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., the Quran.

And they say: O thou unto whom the Reminder is revealed, lo! thou art indeed a madman!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! Truly thou art mad (or possessed)! ¹⁹⁴⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Al-Mustafa was accused by the ungodly of being mad or possessed, because he spoke of higher things than they knew, and acted from motives purer and nobler than they could understand. So, in a minor degree, is the lot of all the righteous in the presence of an ungodly world. Their motives, actions, words, hopes, and aspirations are unintelligible to their fellows, and they are accused of being mad or out of their senses. But they know that they are on the right path, and it is the ungodly who are really acting against their own best interests.

Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth?"⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {6:8-9}. The reference of the unbelievers to the Prophet's revelation is obviously sarcastic (Zamakhshari); hence my interpolation of the word "allegedly". Although these verses relate primarily to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, they broadly describe the negative attitude of unbelievers of all times.

Why don't you bring us the angels, if you are of the truthful ones?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Why do you not bring us the angels, if what you say is true?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Why bringest thou not angels unto Us, if thou art of the truthful?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Why bringest thou not angels to us if it be that thou hast the Truth?" ¹⁹⁴¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 8-9, and notes 840, 841. On the part of the unbelievers, this is a mere taunt. They neither believe in Allah nor in angels nor in revelation nor in any but material things. It is ridiculous to suppose that they could be taken seriously.

[Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth;⁷ and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further respite!⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and not just to satisfy a frivolous demand of people who refuse to consider a prophetic message on its merits". Moreover - as is evident from the next clause - an actual appearance of the angels to ordinary men would but presage the Day of Judgment (described in 78:39 as "the Day of Ultimate Truth") and, thus, the doom of the deniers of the truth spoken of here.

Cf. 6:8 - "had We sent down an angel, all would indeed have been decided", i.e., the Day of Judgment would have come.

O Muhammad, tell them: "We do not send down the angels except for just cause (to execute Our scourge), and when they come, people are not given respite.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We do not send the angels down except for a just cause, and then 'the end of' the disbelievers will not be delayed.

  - Mustafa Khattab

We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly) behold! no respite would they have! ^{1942 1943}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Angels are not sent down to satisfy the whim or curiosity of the unbelievers. They are sent to bring inspiration to Allah's messengers and to execute Allah's decrees.

If the angels were to appear before the ungodly, it would mean that they came to execute just punishment, and then there would be no hope of respite possible for the ungodly.

Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder:⁹ and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption].¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the Qur'an. The grammatical form nazzalna implies a gradual revelation ("step by step") over a period of time, as has been pointed out by Zamakhshari in his commentary on 2:23 (see the last sentence of my corresponding note [14]).

This prophecy has been strikingly confirmed by the fact that the text of the Qur'an has remained free from all alterations, additions or deletions ever since it was enunciated by the Prophet in the seventh century of the Christian era; and there is no other instance of any book, of whatever description, which has been similarly preserved over such a length of time. The early-noted variants in the reading of certain words of the Qur'an, occasionally referred to by the classical commentators, represent no more than differences in respect of diacritical marks or of vocalisation, and, as a rule, do not affect the meaning of the passage in question. (See also note [11] on 85:22 , explaining the expression lawh mahfuz.)

Surely We have revealed this reminder (The Qur'an); and We will surely preserve it Ourself.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! We, even We, reveal the Reminder, and lo! We verily are its Guardian.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We have without doubt sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption). ¹⁹⁴⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The purity of the text of the Qur-an through fourteen centuries is a foretaste of the eternal care with which Allah's Truth is guarded through all ages. All corruptions, inventions, and accretions pass away, but Allah's pure and holy Truth will never suffer eclipse even though the whole world mocked at it and were bent on destroying it.

AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities¹¹ of old -

  - Mohammad Asad

The term shi'ah denotes a distinct group of people having in common the same persuasion or adhering to the same principles of behaviour, and is sometimes (though not here) used in the sense of "sect".

Certainly We sent Rasools before you among the early nations;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, We sent messengers before you 'O Prophet' among the groups of early peoples,

  - Mustafa Khattab

We verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We did send apostles before thee amongst the religious sects of old: ¹⁹⁴⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Shiya'un, plural of Shi'atun = a sect, a religious division. Mankind sees fragments of Truth at a time, and is apt to fall into fragments and divisions. All true messengers of Allah come to reconcile these fragments or divisions, for they preach the true Gospel of Unity. So came Al-Mustafa to bring back to Unity the many jarring sects among the Jews, Christians, and Pagans. His mission was held up to ridicule, but so was the mission of his predecessors. Mockery itself should not discourage the preachers of Truth.

and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him.

  - Mohammad Asad

but whenever a Rasool came to them, they mocked him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

but no messenger ever came to them without being mocked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But never came an apostle to them but they mocked him.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin,

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus do We let doubt creep into the hearts of the criminals;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This is how We allow disbelief 'to steep' into the hearts of the wicked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thus do We make it traverse the hearts of the guilty:

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Even so do We let it creep into the hearts of the sinners ¹⁹⁴⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If evil and disbelief exist in the world, we must not be impatient or lose our faith. We must recognise that if such things are permitted, they are part of the Universal Plan and purpose of Allah, Who is All-Wise and All-Good, but Whose wisdom and goodness we cannot fully fathom. One consolation we have, and that is stated in the next verse and the next note.

who do not believe in it,¹² although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken.¹³

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 6:10 and the corresponding note [9]. My interpolation of the words "derision of Our message" is based on Tabari's and Zamakhshari's interpretations of the above passage. Regarding God's "causing" the deniers of the truth to sin, see surah {2}, note [7], as well as surah {14}, note [4].

Lit., "although the way of life (sunnah) of those of olden times has already passed" - i.e., although the manner in which God has dealt with them has long since become a matter of common knowledge (Ibn Kathir).

that they do not believe in it (The Qur'an), despite the examples of the people who passed before them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They would not believe in this 'Quran' despite the 'many' examples of those 'destroyed' before.

  - Mustafa Khattab

They believe not therein, though the example of the men of old hath gone before.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That they should not believe in the (Message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. ¹⁹⁴⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Sects, divisions, and systems invented by men tend to pass away, but Allah's pure Truth of Unity endures for ever. This we see in history when we study it on a large scale. Cf. the parable in xiv. 24-26 Khalat: I have translated it here in the same sense as in xiii. 30 x. 102, and other places. Some Commentators give it a slightly different shade of meaning. The other meaning is seen in xlviii. 23.

Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it,

  - Mohammad Asad

Even if we had opened a gate in Heaven and they ascend through it and keep on ascending,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And even if We opened for them a gate to heaven, through which they continued to ascend,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And even if We opened unto them a Gate of Heaven and they kept mounting through it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Even if We opened out to them a gate from heaven and they were to continue (all day) ascending therein ¹⁹⁴⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 35. The spiritual kingdom is open to all to enter. But the entrance is not a mere matter of physical movement. It is a question of a total change of heart. Evil must cease to be evil, before it can see or enjoy Good. If we could suppose Evil, like Bottom the weaver, to be "translated" or in some way carried up to heaven, it would only think that the Truth was an illusion, and the reality was mere witchery. The taint is in its very nature, which must first be purified and rendered fit for the reception of light, truth, and bliss.

they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!"¹⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "we are people bewitched". Cf. 6:7 , as well as the last paragraph of 10:2 and the corresponding note [5]. The confusing of revealed truths with illusory "enchantment" or "sorcery" is often pointed out in the Qur'an as characteristic of the attitude of people who a priori refuse to accept the idea of revelation and, thus, of prophethood. The above two verses, implying that not even a direct insight into the wonders of heaven could convince "those who are bent on denying the truth", are a prelude to the subsequent passage, which once again draws our attention to the wonders of nature as an evidence of God's creative activity.

still they would have said, 'Our eyes have been dazzled; rather we have been bewitched.'"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

still they would say, 'Our eyes have truly been dazzled! In fact, we must have been bewitched.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They would say: Our sight is wrong--nay, but we are folk bewitched.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: nay we have been bewitched by sorcery."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali