Surah 68. Al-Qalam, Ayah 4
| وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ |
| Asad | : | for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life;4 |
| Malik | : | You are of the highest noble character. |
| Pickthall | : | And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. |
| Transliteration | : | Wainnaka laAAala khuluqin AAatheemin |
Note - 4The term khuluq, rendered by me as "way of life",
describes a person's "character", "innate disposition" or
"nature" in the widest sense of these concepts, as well
as "habitual behaviour" which becomes, as it were, one's
"second nature" (Taj al-'Arus). My identification of
khuluq with "way of life" is based on the explanation of
the above verse by 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by
Tabari), stating that this term is here synonymous with
din: and we must remember that one of the primary
significances of the latter term is "a way [or "manner"]
of behaviour" or "of acting" (Qamus). Moreover, we have
several well-authenticated Traditions according to which
Muhammad's widow 'A'ishah, speaking of the Prophet many
years after his death, repeatedly stressed that "his way
of life (khuluq) was the Qur'an" (Muslim, Tabari and
Hakim, on the authority of Sa'id ibn Hisham; Ibn Hanbal,
Abu Da'ud and Nasa'i, on the authority of Al-Hasan
al-Basri; Tabari, on the authority of Qatadah and Jubayr
ibn Nufayl; and several other compilations).
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The term khuluq, rendered by me as "way of life", describes a person's "character", "innate disposition" or "nature" in the widest sense of these concepts, as well as "habitual behaviour" which becomes, as it were, one's "second nature" (Taj al-'Arus). My identification of khuluq with "way of life" is based on the explanation of the above verse by 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by Tabari), stating that this term is here synonymous with din: and we must remember that one of the primary significances of the latter term is "a way [or "manner"] of behaviour" or "of acting" (Qamus). Moreover, we have several well-authenticated Traditions according to which Muhammad's widow 'A'ishah, speaking of the Prophet many years after his death, repeatedly stressed that "his way of life (khuluq) was the Qur'an" (Muslim, Tabari and Hakim, on the authority of Sa'id ibn Hisham; Ibn Hanbal, Abu Da'ud and Nasa'i, on the authority of Al-Hasan al-Basri; Tabari, on the authority of Qatadah and Jubayr ibn Nufayl; and several other compilations). |
