Al-Quran Surah 22. Al-Hajj - Asad Translation

See first half of note [16] on 15:17.

See note [79] on 16:70.

Since many unrighteous people apparently "prosper" in this world, it is clear that the disgrace of which the above verse speaks is of a moral nature - namely, a gradual coarsening of all moral perceptions and. thus. a degradation of the spirit.

Lit., "he turns about on his face" - the "face" (wajh) of man signifying metonymically his whole being.

By failing to commit himself unreservedly to the faith which he professes, man is often inclined to attribute to all manner of extraneous forces, be they real or imaginary, a decisive "influence" on his own destiny, and thus invests them, as it were, with divine qualities.

The interpolation of "another human being" in the opening clause of this verse is necessitated by the relative pronoun man ("one that" or "who"), which almost always relates to an animate person - in this case, a human being who, by allowing himself to be idolized by those who "worship God on the border-line of faith", causes infinite spiritual harm to himself and to his followers.

The rendering of la-yaqta' as "let him [try to] make headway" is based on the accepted, tropical use of the verb qata'a (lit., "he cut") in the sense of "traversing a distance": and this is the interpretation of yaqtac by Abu Muslim (as quoted by Razi). The expression "by any [other] means" (bi-sabab) relates to what has been said in verses {12-13} above.

Or: "God guides aright whomever He wills". For an explanation of the rendering adopted by me, see note [4] on 14:4.

Al-majus: the followers of Zoroaster or Zarathustra (Zardusht), the Iranian prophet who lived about the middle of the last millenium B.C. and whose teachings are laid down in the Zend-Avesta. They are represented today by the Gabrs of Iran and, more prominently, by the Parsis of India and Pakistan. Their religion. though dualistic in philosophy, is based on belief in God as the Creator of the universe.

For the meaning of this "prostration", see 13:15 and {16:48-49}, and the corresponding notes. My rendering of the relative pronoun man, in this context, as "all [things and beingsl that..." is explained in note [33] on 13:15.

Lit., "whereas upon many a one the suffering [in the li75 This is apparently an allusion to the fleets of sailing ships which brought untold riches to Palestine ("the land which We had blessed") and made Solomon's wealth proverbial.

I.e., in distinction from those who err out of ignorance.

I.e., causing their inner and outer personality utterly to disintegrate.

See 18:31 and the corresponding note [41].

This connects with the allusion, in the preceding verse, to "the way that leads to the One unto whom all praise is due".

According to Ibn 'Abbas as quoted by Ibn Hisham, this verse was revealed towards the end of the year 6 H., when the pagan Quraysh refused the Prophet and his followers, who had come on pilgrimage from Medina, the right of entry into Mecca, and thus into the sanctuary of the Ka'bah (the "Inviolable House of Worship"). But whether or not this claim is correct - and we have no definite historical evidence in either sense - the purport of the above verse is not restricted to any historical situation but relates to every attempt at preventing believers, be it physically or through intellectual seduction, from going on pilgrimage to this symbolic centre of their faith, or at destroying its sanctity in their eyes.

In view of the oft-repeated Qur'anic statement that Abraham was beyond all temptation to ascribe divinity to anything but God, it seems to me that the above injunction has a specific import, namely, "Do not allow this Temple to become an object of worship, but make it clear that it is holy only by virtue of its being the first temple ever dedicated to the worship of the One God" (cf. 3:96). Apart from that, it refers to "those who are bent on denying the truth" spoken of at the beginning of the preceding verse.

Lit., "proclaim thou the pilgrimage among the people", i.e., the believers (Tabari). Most of the commentators assume that this passage is a continuation of God's command to Abraham; but some of them - in particular, Al-Hasan al-Basri - consider it to have been addressed to the Prophet Muhammad. (Regarding the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as instituted in Islam, see {2:196-203} and the corresponding notes.)

Lit., "that they might witness benefits [accruing] to them" - i.e., increased consciousness of God through facing the first temple ever dedicated to Him, as well as the consciousness of being part of a brotherhood embracing all believers. Apart from these spiritual benefits, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca provides an opportunity for believers from all parts of the world to become acquainted with the many social and political problems that confront various geographically separated sectors of the community.

Whereas the pilgrims are merely permitted to eat some of the flesh of the animals which they have sacrificed, the feeding of the poor is mandatory (Tabari and Zamakhshari) and constitutes, thus, the primary objective of these sacrifices. Apart from this, they are meant to commemorate Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his first-born son after he dreamt that God demanded of him this supreme sacrifice (see {37:102-107} and the corresponding notes); furthermore, they are a reminder that God is the Provider of all sustenance and the One who gives life and deals death, and that all must return to Him; and, lastly (as stressed by Razi), they are to be symbols of each believer’s readiness to sacrifice himself in the cause of truth.

I.e., around the Kaabah (see surah {2}, notes [102] and [104]), thus completing the pilgrimage.

The term awthan (lit., "idols") denotes not merely actual, concrete images of false deities but also, in its widest sense, everything that is associated with false beliefs and practices or with a tendency to "worship" false values: hence the subsequent injunction to shun "every word that is untrue".

Lit., "God’s symbols (sha'a'ir)~~ - an expression which in this context refers to the rites of pilgrimage (see the second half of note [4] on 5:2). This stress on the symbolic character of all the rites connected with the pilgrimage is meant to draw the believer’s attention to the spiritual meaning of those rites, and thus to warn him against making, unthinkingly, a sort of fetish of them. - The assumption of some of the commentators that the "symbols" referred to here relate specifically to the sacrificial animals, resp. their sacrifice as such, is not warranted by the text. As Tabari explains in his commentary on this and the next verse, the term sha'a’ir comprises all the rites, actions and places connected with the pilgrimage (all of which have a symbolic meaning), and cannot be restricted to any one of them.

The noun mahill, derived from the verb halla (lit., "he untied" or "undid" [e.g., a knot]", or "he loosened [a load]", or "he alighted"), denotes primarily a "destination", as well as "the time or place at which an obligation [e.g., a debt] falls due" (Taj al-'Arus ). In the above context, in which this term obviously relates to the "God-consciousness" (taqwa) unequivocally mentioned in the preceding verse, it has the tropical meaning of "goal and end", implying that the realization of God's oneness and uniqueness - symbolized by the Ka'bah (the "Most Ancient Temple") - is the goal and end of all true God-consciousness.

See surah {2}, note [4].

Lit., "of them".

I.e., the sacrificial animals.

Lit., "inasmuch as they have been wronged". Connecting with the promise, in the preceding verse, that "God will ward off [all evil] from those who attain to faith", the present verse enunciates the permission to fight physically in self-defence. All relevant Traditions (quoted, in particular, by Tabari and Ibn Kathir) show that this is the earliest Qur'anic reference to the problem of war as such. According to Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, it was revealed immediately after the Prophet left Mecca for Medina, i.e., at the beginning of the year 1 H. The principle of war in self-defence - and only in self-defence - has been further elaborated in Al-Baqarah, which was revealed about a year later (see {2: 190-193} and the corresponding notes).

The implication is that the defence of religious freedom is the foremost cause for which arms may - and, indeed, must - be taken up (see 2:193 and the corresponding note [170]), or else, as stressed in the concluding clause of 2:251, "corruption would surely overwhelm the earth".

Lit., "whereupon they would have hearts wherewith they might understand, or ears whereby they might hear".

I.e., what men conceive of as "time" has no meaning with regard to God, because He is timeless, without beginning and without end, so that "in relation to Him, one day and a thousand years are alike" (Razi). Cf. 70:4, where in the same sense, a "day" is said to be equal to "fifty thousand years", or the well-authenticated saying of the Prophet' "God says, 'I am Time Absolute (ad-dahr)'."

Lit., "We never sent any apostle or prophet before thee without that, when he was hoping (tamanna)...", etc. According to most of the commentators, the designation "apostle" (rasul) is applied to bearers of divine revelations which comprise a new doctrinal system or dispensation; a "prophet" (nabi), on the other hand, is said to be one whom God has entrusted with the enunciation of ethical principles on the basis of an already-existing dispensation, or of principles common to all divine dispensations. Hence, every apostle is a prophet as well, but not every prophet is an apostle.

Lit., "and God makes His messages clear in and by themselves". This is the meaning of the phrase yuhkimu ayatahu (cf. the expression uhkimat ayatuhu in 11:1): i.e., God causes His messages to speak for themselves, so that any insinuation as to the prophet's "hidden motives" is automatically disproved. The conjunction thumma at the beginning of this clause does not connote a sequence in time but a coordination of activities, and is best rendered by the simple conjunction "and".

Lit., "all [such] evildoers".

For this rendering of the phrase alladhina hajaru, see note [203] on 2:218. The subsequent mention of "those who strive in God's cause, and then are slain or die" connects with the reference, in verses {39-40}, to God's permission to the believers to fight in defence of their faith and liberty. The extreme merit of the self-sacrifice involved is stressed in several Qur'anic passages, and particularly in {4:95-96}; hence, it has also a bearing on the Day of Judgement spoken of in the preceding passage.

Lit., "who has retaliated with the like of what he had been afflicted with" - i.e., has acted only in self-defence and done to his enemy no more than the enemy had done to him. (A similar phrase, relating to retaliation in argument, is found in 16:126 and explained in the corresponding note [150].)

Sc., "and therefore has the power to succour the believers who have been wronged".

See surah {20}, note [99].

I.e., "has enabled you to benefit from all. . .", etc. (cf. surah {14}, note [46]).

I.e., at the Last Hour, which - as the Qur'an so often states - will manifest itself in universal cosmic catastrophe.

I.e., do not allow thyself to be drawn into disputes" (Zamakhshari and Baghawi).

See surah {2}, note [94].

See surah {3}, note [106].

Lit., "worse than this" - i.e., "more painful than the repugnance which you feel with regard to God's messages".

For an explanation of this rendering of the phrase ma bayna aydihim wa-ma khalfahum, see surah {2}, note [247].

Abraham is designated here as "your forefather" not only because he was, in fact, an ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad - to whose followers this passage is addressed - but also because he is the prototype (and thus, the spiritual "forefather") of all who consciously "surrender themselves to God" (see next note).