Surah 17. Al-Israa, Ayah 104
| وَقُلْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اسْكُنُوا الْأَرْضَ فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ الْآخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفًا |
| Transliteration | : | wa- qulnaa min bacdi -hi li- bane 'israa'el uskuno al- 'ard. fa- 'idhaa jaa'a wacd al- 'aakhirah ji'naa bi- -kum lafef(an) |
| Pickthall | : | And We said unto the Children of Israel after him: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter cometh to pass we shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations. |
| Asad | : | And after that We said unto the children of Israel: "Dwell now securely on earth - but [remember that] when the promise of the Last Day shall come to pass, We will bring you forth as [parts of] a motley crowd!"125 |
| Malik | : | Thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: "Settle down in the land and when the promise of the hereafter comes to be fulfilled, We shall assemble you all together." |
| Yusuf Ali | : | And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel "Dwell securely in the land (of promise)": but when the second of the warnings came to pass We gathered you together in a mingled crowd. 2313 2314 |
Note - 125According to Razi, the expression lafif denotes a human
crowd composed of innumerable heterogeneous elements,
good and bad, strong and weak, fortunate and unfortunate:
in short, it characterizes mankind in all its aspects. It
is obviously used here to refute, once again, the idea
that the children of Israel are a "chosen people" by
virtue of their Abrahamic descent and, therefore, a
priori and invariably destined for God's grace. The
Qur'an rejects this claim by stating that on Resurrection
Day all mankind will be judged, and none will have a
privileged position.
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Note - 2313The Israelites were taken to the Promised Land in
Palestine, and they established their own kingdom there,
but they forfeited Allah's favour by their sins and
backslidings and will have to answer like all souls by
the law of personal responsibility at the Day of
Judgment.
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Note - 2314The second of the warnings: the first was probably that
mentioned above, in xvii. 5 and the second that mentioned
in xvii. 7 (middle). When this second warning due to the
rejection of Jesus came to pass, the Jews were gathered
together in a mingled crowd. Some Commentators understand
the second warning to be the Day of Judgment, the Promise
of the Hereafter.
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According to Razi, the expression lafif denotes a human crowd composed of innumerable heterogeneous elements, good and bad, strong and weak, fortunate and unfortunate: in short, it characterizes mankind in all its aspects. It is obviously used here to refute, once again, the idea that the children of Israel are a "chosen people" by virtue of their Abrahamic descent and, therefore, a priori and invariably destined for God's grace. The Qur'an rejects this claim by stating that on Resurrection Day all mankind will be judged, and none will have a privileged position. |
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The Israelites were taken to the Promised Land in Palestine, and they established their own kingdom there, but they forfeited Allah's favour by their sins and backslidings and will have to answer like all souls by the law of personal responsibility at the Day of Judgment. |
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The second of the warnings: the first was probably that mentioned above, in xvii. 5 and the second that mentioned in xvii. 7 (middle). When this second warning due to the rejection of Jesus came to pass, the Jews were gathered together in a mingled crowd. Some Commentators understand the second warning to be the Day of Judgment, the Promise of the Hereafter. |
