Surah 5. Al-Maida, Ayah 82
| ۞ لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَدَاوَةً لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا ۖ وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقْرَبَهُمْ مَوَدَّةً لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَىٰ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنْهُمْ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهْبَانًا وَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | kaano laa yatanaahawn can munkar facalo -hu la- bi's maa kaano yafcalon |
| Pickthall | : | Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the idolaters. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians. That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud. |
| Asad | : | Thou wilt surely find that, of all people, the most hostile to those who believe [in this divine writ] are the Jews as well as those who are bent on ascribing divinity to aught beside God; and thou wilt surely find that, of all people,96 they who say, "Behold, we are Christians," come closest to feeling affection for those who believe [in this divine writ]: this is so because there are priests and monks among them, and because these are not given to arrogance.97 |
| Malik | : | You will find the most violent in enmity to the believers are the Jews and the mushrikin (pagan Arabs); and nearest in affection to the believers are those who say: "We are Christians." That is because among them there are men that are priests and monks, who do not behave arrogantly. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say: "We are Christians:" because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world and they are not arrogant. 789 790 |
Note - 96Lit., "of them".
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Note - 97I.e., they do not believe, as do the Jews, that
revelation is God's exclusive gift to the children of
Israel, and their "priests and monks" teach them that
humility is the essence of all true faith. - It is
noteworthy that the Qur'an does not in this context
include the Christians among "those who are bent on
ascribing divinity to aught beside God" (alladhina
ashraku - the element of intent being expressed in the
use of the past tense, similar to alladhina kafaru,
alladhina zalamu, etc.): for although, by their
deification of Jesus, they are guilty of the sin of shirk
("the ascribing of divinity to anyone or anything beside
God"), the Christians do not consciously worship a
plurality of deities inasmuch as, theoretically, their
theology postulates belief in the One God, who is
conceived as manifesting Himself in a trinity of aspects,
or "persons", of whom Jesus is supposed to be one.
However repugnant this doctrine may be to the teachings
of the Qur'an their shirk is not based on conscious
intent, but rather flows from their "overstepping the
bounds of truth" in their veneration of Jesus (see
4:171, 5:77). Cf. in this context Razi's remarks
mentioned in note [16] on 6:23.
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Note - 789The meaning is not that they merely call themselves
Christians, but that they were such sincere Christians
that they appreciated Muslim virtues, as did the
Abyssinians to whom Muslim refugees went during the
persecution in Makkah.
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Note - 790Qissis: I have translated as "devoted to learning,"
following the Commentators. it seems to be a foreign
word, possibly Abyssinian rather than Syriac, as the
reference seems to be to the Abyssinian Christians. Their
real devotion to learning and the renunciation of the
world by the Monastic Orders are contrasted with the
hypocrisy and arrogance of the Pharisees and Scribes.
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I.e., they do not believe, as do the Jews, that revelation is God's exclusive gift to the children of Israel, and their "priests and monks" teach them that humility is the essence of all true faith. - It is noteworthy that the Qur'an does not in this context include the Christians among "those who are bent on ascribing divinity to aught beside God" (alladhina ashraku - the element of intent being expressed in the use of the past tense, similar to alladhina kafaru, alladhina zalamu, etc.): for although, by their deification of Jesus, they are guilty of the sin of shirk ("the ascribing of divinity to anyone or anything beside God"), the Christians do not consciously worship a plurality of deities inasmuch as, theoretically, their theology postulates belief in the One God, who is conceived as manifesting Himself in a trinity of aspects, or "persons", of whom Jesus is supposed to be one. However repugnant this doctrine may be to the teachings of the Qur'an their shirk is not based on conscious intent, but rather flows from their "overstepping the bounds of truth" in their veneration of Jesus (see 4:171, 5:77). Cf. in this context Razi's remarks mentioned in note [16] on 6:23. |
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The meaning is not that they merely call themselves Christians, but that they were such sincere Christians that they appreciated Muslim virtues, as did the Abyssinians to whom Muslim refugees went during the persecution in Makkah. |
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Qissis: I have translated as "devoted to learning," following the Commentators. it seems to be a foreign word, possibly Abyssinian rather than Syriac, as the reference seems to be to the Abyssinian Christians. Their real devotion to learning and the renunciation of the world by the Monastic Orders are contrasted with the hypocrisy and arrogance of the Pharisees and Scribes. |
