Surah 96. Al-Alaq, Ayah 1
| اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ |
| Transliteration | : | iqra' bi- ism rabb -ka 'alladhe khalaqa |
| Pickthall | : | Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth, |
| Asad | : | READ1 in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created - |
| Malik | : | Read! In the name of your Rabb Who created |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher Who created 6203 6204 |
Note - 1Sc., "this divine writ". The imperative iqra' may be
rendered as "read" or "recite". The former rendering is,
to my mind, by far the preferable in this context
inasmuch as the concept of "reciting" implies no more
than the oral delivery - with or without understanding -
of something already laid down in writing or committed to
memory, whereas "reading" primarily signifies a conscious
taking-in, with or without an audible utterance but with
a view to understanding them, of words and ideas received
from an outside source: in this case, the message of the
Qur'an.
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Note - 6203Iqraa may mean "read", or "recite or rehearse", or
"proclaim aloud", the object understood being Allah's
Message. In worldly letters he was unversed, but with
spiritual knowledge his mind and soul were filled, and
now had come the time when he must stand forth to the
world and declare his mission.
|
Note - 6204The declaration or proclamation was to be in the name of
Allah the Creator. It was not for any personal benefit to
the Prophet: to him there was to come bitter persecution,
sorrow, and suffering. It was the call of Allah for the
benefit of erring humanity. Allah is mentioned by his
title of "thy Lord and Cherisher", to establish a direct
nexus between the source of the Message and the one
addressed. The Message was not merely an abstract
proposition of philosophy, but the direct concrete
message of a personal Allah to the creatures whom He
loves and cherishes. "Thy" addressed to the Prophet is
appropriate in two ways: (1) he was in direct contact
with the divine Messenger (Gabriel) and Him Who sent the
Messenger; (2) he represented the whole of humanity, in a
fuller sense than that in which Christ Jesus is the "Son
of Man".
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Sc., "this divine writ". The imperative iqra' may be rendered as "read" or "recite". The former rendering is, to my mind, by far the preferable in this context inasmuch as the concept of "reciting" implies no more than the oral delivery - with or without understanding - of something already laid down in writing or committed to memory, whereas "reading" primarily signifies a conscious taking-in, with or without an audible utterance but with a view to understanding them, of words and ideas received from an outside source: in this case, the message of the Qur'an. |
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Iqraa may mean "read", or "recite or rehearse", or "proclaim aloud", the object understood being Allah's Message. In worldly letters he was unversed, but with spiritual knowledge his mind and soul were filled, and now had come the time when he must stand forth to the world and declare his mission. |
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The declaration or proclamation was to be in the name of Allah the Creator. It was not for any personal benefit to the Prophet: to him there was to come bitter persecution, sorrow, and suffering. It was the call of Allah for the benefit of erring humanity. Allah is mentioned by his title of "thy Lord and Cherisher", to establish a direct nexus between the source of the Message and the one addressed. The Message was not merely an abstract proposition of philosophy, but the direct concrete message of a personal Allah to the creatures whom He loves and cherishes. "Thy" addressed to the Prophet is appropriate in two ways: (1) he was in direct contact with the divine Messenger (Gabriel) and Him Who sent the Messenger; (2) he represented the whole of humanity, in a fuller sense than that in which Christ Jesus is the "Son of Man". |
