Surah 15. Al-Hijr

but no messenger ever came to them without being mocked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

But never came an apostle to them but they mocked him.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is how We allow disbelief 'to steep' into the hearts of the wicked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Even so do We let it creep into the hearts of the sinners ¹⁹⁴⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If evil and disbelief exist in the world, we must not be impatient or lose our faith. We must recognise that if such things are permitted, they are part of the Universal Plan and purpose of Allah, Who is All-Wise and All-Good, but Whose wisdom and goodness we cannot fully fathom. One consolation we have, and that is stated in the next verse and the next note.

They would not believe in this 'Quran' despite the 'many' examples of those 'destroyed' before.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That they should not believe in the (Message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. ¹⁹⁴⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Sects, divisions, and systems invented by men tend to pass away, but Allah's pure Truth of Unity endures for ever. This we see in history when we study it on a large scale. Cf. the parable in xiv. 24-26 Khalat: I have translated it here in the same sense as in xiii. 30 x. 102, and other places. Some Commentators give it a slightly different shade of meaning. The other meaning is seen in xlviii. 23.

And even if We opened for them a gate to heaven, through which they continued to ascend,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Even if We opened out to them a gate from heaven and they were to continue (all day) ascending therein ¹⁹⁴⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 35. The spiritual kingdom is open to all to enter. But the entrance is not a mere matter of physical movement. It is a question of a total change of heart. Evil must cease to be evil, before it can see or enjoy Good. If we could suppose Evil, like Bottom the weaver, to be "translated" or in some way carried up to heaven, it would only think that the Truth was an illusion, and the reality was mere witchery. The taint is in its very nature, which must first be purified and rendered fit for the reception of light, truth, and bliss.

still they would say, 'Our eyes have truly been dazzled! In fact, we must have been bewitched.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: nay we have been bewitched by sorcery."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Indeed, We have placed constellations in the sky, and adorned it for all to see.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It is We who have set out the Zodiacal Signs in the heavens and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders; ^{1949 1950}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Evil having been described, not as an external thing, but as a taint of the soul, we have in this section a glorious account of the purity and beauty of Allah's Creation. Evil is a blot on it, not a normal feature of it. Indeed, the normal feature is the guard which Allah has put on it, to protect it from evil.

In the countless millions of stars in the universe which we see, the first step in our astronomical knowledge is to find marvellous order, beauty, and harmony, on a scale of grandeur which we appreciate more and more as our knowledge increases. The first broad belt that we distinguish is the Zodiac, which marks the sun's path through the heavens year after year and the limit of the wanderings of the moon and the planets. We make twelve divisions of it and call them Signs of the Zodiac. Each marks the solar path through the heavens as we see it, month after month. We can thus mark off the seasons in our solar year, and express in definite laws the most important facts in meteorology, agriculture, seasonal winds, and tides. Then there are the mansions of the moon, the mapping out of the Constellations, and the other marvellous facts of the heavens, some of which affect our physical life on this earth. But the highest lessons we can draw from them are spiritual. The author of this wonderful Order and Beauty is One, and He alone is entitled to our worship.

And We protected it from every accursed devil,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And (moreover) we have guarded them from every evil spirit accursed: ^{1951 1952}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Taking the physical heavens, we can imagine the supreme melody of harmony- guarded from every disturbing force.

Rajim: driven away with stones, rejected, accursed. Cf. iii. 36.

except the one eavesdropping, who is then pursued by a visible flare.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some jinn used to eavesdrop on the angels in heaven so they could disclose this information to their human associates. But this practice came to an end when the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent with the message of Islam. See 72:8-10.

But any that gains a hearing by stealth is pursued by a flaming fire bright (to see). ^{1953 1954}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxxii. 8-9.

A shooting star. Cf. xxxvii. 10.

As for the earth, We spread it out and placed upon it firm mountains, and caused everything to grow there in perfect balance.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. ^{1955 1956}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Majesty, order, beauty and harmony are shown in all Allah's Creation, but especially in the heavens. Coming nearer to man, Allah's care for man and His goodness are shown (besides His other qualities) in His creation of the earth. In highly poetical language, the earth is described as spread out like a carpet, on which the hills act as weights to keep it steady.

And every kind of thing is produced on the earth in due balance and measure. The mineral kingdom supports the vegetable and they in their turn support the animal, and there is a link of mutual dependence between them. Excess is eliminated. The waste of one is made the food of another, and vice versa. And this is a chain of gradation and inter-dependence.

And We made in it means of sustenance for you and others, who you do not provide for.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We have provided therein means of subsistence for you and for those for whose sustenance ye are not responsible. ¹⁹⁵⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See last note. 'We provide sustenance of every kind, physical, mental, spiritual, etc., for you (i.e. for mankind). But We do more. We provide for everyone of Our creatures. And there are those of which mankind is not even cognisant. We provide for them also. There are those who may at first sight appear hostile to man, or whom man may consider hostile, such as wild and noxious animals. They are Our creatures, and We provide for them also, as they are Our creatures. But there is due order and balance in the economy of Our universal Plan.'

There is not any means 'of sustenance' whose reserves We do not hold, only bringing it forth in precise measure.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And there is not a thing but its (sources and) treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us; but We only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures. ^{1958 1959}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Khaza'in: treasures; store-houses; places where valuable things are accumulated, from which supplies are distributed from time to time as need arises.

All the wonderful gifts and forces and energies which we see in the world around us have their sources and fountain-heads with Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. And what we see, or perceive or imagine is just a small portion of what exists. That portion is sent out to us and to our world according to our needs or its needs from time to time as the occasion arises. It is strictly limited according to rule and plan. Its source is unlimited and inexhaustible. In the same way the forces which we see operating around us, in nature or in the spiritual world, according to laws which we can grasp and, ascertain, are mere derived forces, in the 2nd, 3rd, or nth degree. Their source and ultimate fountain head is with Allah.

We send fertilizing winds, and bring down rain from the sky for you to drink. It is not you who hold its reserves.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We send the fecundating winds then cause the rain to descend from the sky therewith providing you with water (in abundance) though ye are not the guardians of its stores. ^{1960 1961 1962}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lawaqih, plural of laqih, from laqaha, to impregnate or fecundate the female date-palm by putting the pollen of the male tree on to the ovaries of the female tree. The date palm is uni-sexual. The wind performs this office for many flowers. Here, by a bold metaphor, its fecundating quality is transferred to the clouds, which by means of rain produce all kinds of fruit, grain, and vegetation. The clouds as vapour are manipulated by the winds, which set up atmospheric currents resulting in condensation and the descent of rain. Note the appropriateness of the little article "then", showing the connection of winds with rain.

Cf. the previous verse, and n. 1958. Man may store water in cisterns, tanks, lakes, and head-waters of canals. But he has no control over its original sources, which are the clouds, which by the help of the winds, act as the grand distributors of water over wide spaces of the world's surface.

This verse must be understood as furnishing an example of illustration of what is said in the last verse.

Surely it is We Who give life and cause death. And We are the 'Eternal' Successor.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Allah will remain eternally after all pass away.

And verily it is We Who give life and who give death: it is We Who remain Inheritors (after all else passes away). ^{1963 1964}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Note how the argument has mounted up from xv. 16 onwards to xv. 23-from things most remote from man to things touching his inmost being, and each of them in its own way is a wonderful instance of Allah's glory and goodness, and the beauty, order and harmony of His creation. First, the heavens, the zodiacal Signs, the stars , and the mysterious phenomena that we see above us; then the earth, and the perfect balance of life and forces therein, with man as an important factor, but not the only factor; then, the inexhaustible sources of energy, of which Allah alone is the Provider, but which come to us in measured proportions, as needed; and lastly, Life and Death itself, which will pass away but Allah will remain. A noble passage, and a fine vindication of Allah's wisdom and providence in dealing with His creatures.

Literally, "We are the Heirs, or Inheritors," Cf. iii. 180; "To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth." See also the latter part of n. 988 to vi. 165.

We certainly know those who have gone before you and those who will come after 'you'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

To Us are known those of you who hasten forward and those who lag behind. ¹⁹⁶⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Meaning may be: "those who preceded you in point of time and those who come after you in point of time; they are all known to Allah, and He will gather them all together on the Day of Judgment."

Surely your Lord 'alone' will gather them together 'for judgment'. He is truly All-Wise, All-Knowing.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Assuredly it is thy Lord who will gather them together: for He is Perfect in Wisdom and Knowledge.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali