Surah 17. Al-Israa

SAY:⁶⁵ "Call upon those [beings] whom you imagine [to be endowed with divine powers] beside Him⁶⁶ - and [you will find that] they have it not in their power to remove any affliction from you, or to shift it [elsewhere].⁶⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "to those who believe in the existence of any divine power apart from God".

As the sequence shows, this relates to the worship of saints or angels.

I.e., to transfer it unto themselves: obviously an allusion to the Christian doctrine of "vicarious atonement".

Say: "Pray if you will to those whom you assert besides Him; they have neither the power to relieve you from any distress nor to change it."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Cry unto those (saints and angels) whom ye assume (to be gods) beside Him, yet they have no power to rid you of misfortune nor to change.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those [saintly beings] whom they invoke are themselves striving to obtain their Sustainer's favour - [even] those among them who are closest [to Him]⁶⁸ - hoping for His grace and dreading His chastisement: for, verily, thy Sustainer's chastisement is something to beware of!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the greatest of the prophets, as well as the angels.

Those to whom they pray, themselves seek the means of access to their Rabb - trying as to who can be more near - they hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment, for the punishment of your Rabb is terrible indeed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them shall be the nearest; they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [bear in mind:] there is no community which We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection,⁶⁹ or chastise [even earlier, if it proves sinful,] with suffering severe: all this is laid down in Our decree.⁷⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., since everything in this world is ephemeral and bound to perish, man ought to be conscious of the life to come.

Lit., "in the decree" - i.e., in accordance with the immutable laws which God has laid down for His creation.

There is not a town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it with a severe punishment; this fact has been recorded in the Eternal Record.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There is not a township but We shall destroy it ere the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with dire punishment. That is set forth in the Book (of Our decrees).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that the people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them:⁷¹ thus, We provided for [the tribe of] Thamud the she-camel as a light-giving portent, and they sinned against it.⁷² And never did We send those signs for any other purpose than to convey a warning.

  - Mohammad Asad

This highly elliptic sentence has a fundamental bearing on the purport of the Qur'an as a whole. In many places the Qur'an stresses the fact that the Prophet Muhammad, despite his being the last and greatest of God's apostles, was not empowered to perform miracles similar to those with which the earlier prophets are said to have reinforced their verbal messages. His only miracle was and is the Qur'an itself - a message perfect in its lucidity and ethical comprehensiveness, destined for all times and all stages of human development, addressed not merely to the feelings but also to the minds of men, open to everyone, whatever his race or social environment, and bound to remain unchanged forever. Since the earlier prophets invariably appealed to their own community and their own time alone, their teachings were, of necessity, circumscribed by the social and intellectual conditions of that particular community and time; and since the people to whom they addressed themselves had not yet reached the stage of independent thinking, those prophets stood in need of symbolic portents or miracles (see surah {6}, note [94]) in order to make the people concerned realize the inner truth of their mission. The message of the Qur'an, on the other hand, was revealed at a time when mankind (and, in particular, that part of it which inhabited the regions marked by the earlier, Judaeo-Christian religious development) had reached a degree of maturity which henceforth enabled it to grasp an idealogy as such without the aid of those persuasive portents and miraculous demonstrations which in the past, as the above verse points out, only too often gave rise to new, grave misconceptions.

See the second paragraph of 7:73 and the corresponding note [57]. Although there is absolutely no indication in the Qur'an that the she-camel referred to was of miraculous origin, it was meant to be a test for the people of Thamud (cf. 54:27 ), and thus a "light-giving portent" (mubsirah).

We refrain from sending signs (miracles) only because the men of former generations treated them as false. For example, We sent the she-camel to the people of Thamud - a manifest sign - but they laid violent hands on her. We send the signs only by way of warning, and if people reject the sign after receiving it, they are doomed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Naught hindereth Us from sending portents save that the folk of old denied them. And We gave Thamud the she-camel--a clear portent--but they did wrong in respect of her. We send not portents save to warn.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And lo! We said unto thee, [O Prophet:] "Behold, thy Sustainer encompasses all mankind [within His knowledge and might]: and so We have ordained that the vision which We have shown thee⁷³ - as also the tree [of hell,] cursed in this Qur'an - shall be but a trial for men.⁷⁴ Now [by Our mentioning hell] We convey a warning to them: but [if they are bent on denying the truth,] this [warning] only increases their gross, overweening arrogance."

  - Mohammad Asad

The vision (ru'ya) mentioned here is the Prophet's experience of the Ascension, preceded by the Night Journey (see Appendix IV). In as much as this experience was and is open to most conflicting interpretations and, hence, may give rise to doubts regarding its objective reality, it becomes - as stated in the sequence - "a trial for men": the weak of faith and the superficial are shaken in their belief in Muhammad's veracity and, thus, in his prophethood; whereas those who firmly believe in God see in it an extraordinary evidence of the spiritual grace which He bestows on His chosen ones, and are, therefore, strengthened in their faith in the message of the Qur'an.

As regards "the tree cursed in this Qur'an", there is no doubt that it is the "tree of deadly fruit" (shajarat az-zaqquim) spoken of in 37:62 ff. and 44:43 ff. as one of the manifestations of hell (see {37:62-63} and the corresponding notes [22] and [23], the latter of which explains why this "tree" has become "a trial for men"). In the above context it is described as "cursed" because it obviously symbolizes hell itself. The reason why only "hell" - and no other manifestation of the hereafter - is specifically alluded to here becomes evident in the subsequent statement that it is meant to convey a warning.

Remember, O Muhammad! We told you that your Rabb encompasses mankind. We have made the Vision which We showed you, and the cursed tree of Zaqqum which is mentioned in the Qur'an, a test for these people of Makkah. We are giving them warning to be fearful but it only increases their inordinate transgression.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (it was a warning) when We told thee: Lo! thy Lord encompasseth mankind, and We appointed the vision which We showed thee as an ordeal for mankind, and (likewise) the Accursed Tree in the Qur'an. We warn them, but it increaseth them in naught save gross impiety.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND LO! We said unto the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam" - whereupon they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis.⁷⁵ Said he: "Shall I prostrate myself before one whom Thou hast created out of clay?"

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of the allegory of Adam and the angels, see {2:30-34}, {7:11-18} and {15:26-41}, as well as the corresponding notes. In the present instance, as in Al-A'raf and Al-Hijr, the accent is on the contempt of Iblls for Adam (which is obviously a metonym for the whole human race): hence, this passage apparently connects with the end of verse {53} above - "verily, Satan is man's open foe!" The stress on man's dignity - expressed in God's commandment to the angels to "prostrate themselves before Adam" - links this allegory with verses {70-72}.

Recall the occasion when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam." They all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan), who replied: "Should I prostrate to the one whom You have created from clay?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis, he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And] he added: "Tell me, is this [foolish being] the one whom Thou hast exalted above me? Indeed, if Thou wilt but allow me a respite till the Day of Resurrection, I shall most certainly cause his descendants - all but a few - to obey me blindly!"⁷⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {7:16-17}. The verb hanaka denotes, literally, "he put a rope around the lower jaw (hanak) [of a horse]", i.e., in order to lead it; hence, the form ihtanaka means "he made [another being] follow him submissively" or "obey him blindly".

Then he asked: "Tell me, is this the one whom You have honored above me? If You give me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will certainly uproot all but a few of his descendants."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Seest Thou this (creature) whom Thou hast honored above me, if Thou give me grace until the Day of Resurrection I verily will seize his seed, save but a few.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[God] answered: "Go [the way thou hast chosen]! But as for such of them as shall follow thee - behold, hell will be the recompense of you [all], a recompense most ample!

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "Go away! Hell is your reward, and the reward of those who follow you, an ample reward it shall be.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Go, and whosoever of them followeth thee--lo! Hell will be your payment, ample payment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Entice, then, with thy voice such of them as thou canst, and bear upon them with all thy horses and all thy men,⁷⁷ and be their partner in [all sins relating to] worldly goods and children,⁷⁸ and hold out [all manner of] promises to them: and [they will not know that] whatever Satan promises them is but meant to delude the mind.⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

This is an idiomatically established metaphor, signifying "with all thy might".

An allusion to possessions acquired by sinful means or spent on sinful purposes, and to the begetting of children through fornication or adultery. (It must, however, be pointed out that in the ethics and the canon law of Islam no moral stigma and no legal disability whatever attaches to the child thus begotten.)

Cf. 4:120 and the corresponding note [142].

You may try to allure whomsoever you can with your seductive voice, muster against them all your cavalry and infantry, be their partner in their riches and their children, and promise them what you will - the promises of shaitan are nothing but deception

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And excite any of them whom thou canst with thy voice, and urge thy horse and foot against them, and be a partner in their wealth and children, and promise them. Satan promiseth them only to deceive.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"[And yet,] behold, thou shalt have no power over [such of] My servants [as place their trust in Me]:⁸⁰ for none is as worthy of trust as thy Sustainer."

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "thou shalt have no real power over them", as brought out in 14:22 and 15:42 .

- as for My servants, you shall have no authority over them. Your Rabb is sufficient as their Guardian."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! My (faithful) bondmen--over them thou hast no power,--and thy Lord sufficeth as (their) guardian.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

YOUR SUSTAINER is He who causes ships to move onward for you through the sea, so that you might go about in quest of some of His bounty: verily, a dispenser of grace is He unto you.

  - Mohammad Asad

Your Rabb is the One Who drives your ships across the ocean, so that you may seek His bounty; indeed He is ever Merciful to you.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(O mankind), your Lord is He Who driveth for you the ship upon the sea that ye may seek of His bounty. Lo! He was ever Merciful toward you.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And whenever danger befalls you at sea, all those [powers] that you are wont to invoke forsake you, [and nothing remains for you] save Him: but as soon as He has brought you safe ashore, you turn aside [and forget Him] - for, indeed, bereft of all gratitude is man!

  - Mohammad Asad

Whenever any adversity strikes you at sea, all those to whom you pray besides Him forsake you except He; yet when He brings you safe to the land, you turn your backs upon Him. Indeed, man is ever ungrateful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when harm toucheth you upon the sea, all unto whom ye cry (for succour) fail save Him (alone), but when He bringeth you safe to land, ye turn away, for man was ever thankless.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Can you, then, ever feel sure that He will not cause a tract of dry land to swallow you up, or let loose upon you a deadly stormwind,⁸¹ whereupon you would find none to be your protector?

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "a stormwind that raises stones" (Taj al-'Arus, art. hasaba).

Are you confident that He will not cave in the land beneath you, or let loose a deadly tornado upon you? Then you may not find anyone to protect you.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Feel ye then secure that He will not cause a slope of the land to engulf you, or send a sandstorm, upon you, and then ye will find that ye have no protector?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or can you, perchance, feel sure that He will not make you put back to sea⁸² once again, and then let loose upon you a raging tempest and cause you to drown in requital of your ingratitude - whereupon you would find none to uphold you against Us?

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "therein".

Or, are you confident that when again you go back to sea He will not smite you with a violent tempest and drown you for your thanklessness? If that happens, then you will not find anyone who can question Us regarding this end of yours.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or feel ye secure that He will not return you to that (plight) a second time, and send against you a hurricane of wind and drown you for your thanklessness, and then ye will not find therein that ye have any avenger against Us?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NOW, INDEED, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam,⁸³ and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favoured them far above most of Our creation:

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by bestowing upon them the faculty of conceptual thinking (cf. 2:31 and the corresponding note [23]), which makes them superior in this respect to all other animate beings, and even to the angels. By stressing here this unique distinction of man, the present passage connects with, and continues the theme of, verse {61} above.

It is Our favor that We have honored the children of Adam, blessed them with conveyances on land and sea, provided them with good and pure things and exalted them above many of Our creatures.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Verily We have honored the children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[but] one Day We shall summon all human beings [and judge them] according to the conscious disposition which governed their deeds [in life]:⁸⁴ whereupon they whose record shall be placed in their right hand⁸⁵ - it is they who will read their record [with happiness]. Yet none shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth:⁸⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Razi interprets the phrase nad'u kulla unasin bi-imamihim (lit., "We shall summon all human beings by [mentioning] their leaders" or "guides"). In his opinion, the expression imam (lit., "leader" or "guide") has in this context an abstract connotation, signifying the conscious disposition, good or bad, which governs a person's behaviour and provides the motives for his deeds. This interpretation is most convincing, and particularly so in view of the fundamental hadith quoted in my note [32] on 53:39 .

A symbolic image, often used in the Qur'an, denoting an acknowledgement of righteousness in the spiritual sense, just as the "left hand" indicates its opposite (cf. 69:19 and {25}, as well as 84:7 ).

This last clause obviously applies to both the righteous and the unrighteous. (For my above rendering of fatil, see surah {4}, note [67].)

Just imagine the scene of that Day when We shall call every community with their respective Imams (leaders): then those who will be given their 'book of deeds' in their right hand will read it with pleasure and they will not be wronged in the least.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On the day when We shall summon ill men with their record, whoso is given his book in his right hand such will read their book and they will not be wronged a shred.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for whoever is blind [of heart] in this [world] will be blind in the life to come [as well], and still farther astray from the path [of truth].⁸⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {20:124-125}. This passage shows that man's life in the hereafter is not merely conditioned by the manner of his life on earth, but is also an organic extension of the latter, manifested in a natural development and intensification of previously-existing tendencies.

But those who have played blind in this world will be blind in the hereafter, rather worse than blind in finding the Way to Salvation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso is blind here wilt be blind in the Hereafter, and yet further from the road.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND, behold, they [who have gone astray] endeavour to tempt thee away from all [the truth] with which We have inspired thee, [O Prophet,] with a view to making thee invent something else in Our name - in which case they would surely have made thee their friend!⁸⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

This relates to an offer of "compromise" made by the pagan Quraysh: they demanded of the Prophet that he give some sort of recognition to their tribal deities and attribute this recognition to God; in return, they promised to recognize him as a prophet and to make him their leader. Naturally, the Prophet rejected this offer.

O Muhammad! These people have tried to entice you from Our revelations, hoping that you might fabricate something in Our name. Had you done that, they would have made you their friend.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they indeed strove hard to beguile thee (Muhammad) away from that wherewith We have inspired thee, that thou shouldst invent other than it against Us; and then would they have accepted thee as a friend.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And had We not made thee firm [in faith], thou might have inclined to them a little⁸⁹ -

  - Mohammad Asad

The implication is that the Prophet's deep faith made it impossible for him to consider anything of this kind.

Had We not strengthened your faith, you might have made some compromise with them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if We had not made thee wholly firm thou mightest almost have inclined unto them a little.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

in which case We would indeed have made thee taste double [chastisement] in life and double [chastisement] after death,⁹⁰ and thou wouldst have found none to succour thee against Us!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "for having gone astray despite the revelation bestowed on thee by God, and for having, by thy example, led thy followers astray as well". The purport of the above passage goes, however, beyond the historical event or events to which it relates: it expresses the idea that any conscious offence against a fundamental truth is an unforgivable sin.

In such a case We would have given you double punishment in this life and in the life hereafter. Then you would have found no helper against Our wrath.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then had We made thee taste a double (punishment) of living and a double (punishment) of dying, then hadst thou found no helper against Us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall