Surah 16. An-Nahl

Those who lived before them did, too, devise many a blasphemy¹⁹ - whereupon God visited with destruction all that they had ever built,²⁰ [striking] at its very foundations, so that the roof fell in upon them from above,²¹ and suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "schemed" (makara): i.e., they blasphemed by describing the divine revelations as "fables of ancient times" and by refusing to admit the truth of God's existence or of His oneness and uniqueness.

Lit., "their building" (see next note).

This is obviously a metaphor (Razi) describing the utter collapse of all endeavours - both individual and social - rooted in godlessness and false pride.

Those before them also plotted against the Truth, but Allah shook their edifice through its foundation, and its roof caved in on them; and the torment came at them from where they did not even suspect.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those before them plotted, so Allah struck at the foundations of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them from above them, and the doom came on them whence they knew not;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And then, on Resurrection Day, He will cover them [all] with ignominy,²² and will say: "Where, now, are those beings to whom you ascribed a share in My divinity,²³ [and] for whose sake you cut yourselves off [from My guidance]?"²⁴ [Whereupon] those who [in their lifetime] were endowed with knowledge²⁵ will say: "Verily, ignominy and misery [have fallen] this day upon those who have been denying the truth -

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., finally and utterly - for, "only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full for whatever you have done" ( 3:185 ). Since the pronoun "them" refers not only to the earlier sinners mentioned parenthetically in the preceding verse but also to those spoken of in verses {22-25}, I have interpolated the word "all".

Lit., "those [alleged] partners of Mine". Regarding the Qur'anic use of the term sharik (pl. shuraka') in connection with religious beliefs, see surah {6}, note [15].

Or: "you were wont to contend [against My guidance]". See in this connection surah {8}, note [16].

I.e., those who had availed themselves of the knowledge of good and evil which God offers to mankind through His prophets.

Then on the Day of Judgment He will humiliate them and say: "Where are those deities you associated with Me concerning whom you used to dispute with the true believers?" Those who have been given knowledge will say: "Today there will be shame and sorrow for the unbelievers,"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and will say: Where are My partners, for whose sake ye opposed (My Guidance)? Those who have been given knowledge will say: Disgrace this day and evil are upon the disbelievers,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

those whom the angels have gathered in death while they were still sinning against themselves!" Then will they [who are thus arraigned] proffer their submission, [saying:] "We did not [mean to] do any evil!"²⁶ [But they will be answered:] "Yea, verily, God has full knowledge of all that you were doing!²⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 6:23 and the corresponding note, as well as 2:11 .

Sc., "and He will judge you on the basis of your motivation" - implying that their plea of ignorance is rejected in view of the fact that they were offered God's guidance through His revealed messages, which they deliberately scorned in their false pride and dismissed out of hand as "fables of ancient times" (see verses {22-24} above).

- those whom the angels cause to die while they were still engaged in doing injustice to their own souls. At the time of death they offer submission, saying: "We were not doing anything wrong." The angels will reply: "O Yea! How dare you deny! Certainly Allah is aware of what you were doing.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whom the angels cause to die while they are wronging themselves. Then will they make full submission (saying): We used not to do any wrong. Nay! Surely Allah is Knower of what ye used to do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, enter the gates of hell, therein to abide!" And evil, indeed, shall be the state of all who are given to false pride!

  - Mohammad Asad

Now go ahead and enter the gates of Hell, there you will abide forever." In fact, very awful will be the abode of the arrogant.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So enter the gates of hell, to dwell therein forever. Woeful indeed will be the lodging of the arrogant.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But [when] those who are conscious of God are asked, "What is it that your Sustainer has bestowed from on high?" - they answer, "Goodness supreme!" Good fortune awaits, in this world, all who persevere in doing good;²⁸ but their ultimate state will be far better still: for, how excellent indeed will be the state of the God-conscious [in the life to come]!

  - Mohammad Asad

This "good fortune" (hasanah) does not necessarily signify, in this context, material benefits but refers, rather, to the spiritual satisfaction and the feeling of inner security resulting from genuine God-consciousness.

On the other hand when the righteous people are asked: " What is it that your Rabb has revealed?" They say: "That which is the best." Good is the reward for such righteous people in this world and the home of the hereafter will be even better. How splendid will be the home for the righteous

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it is said unto those who ward off (evil): What hath your Lord revealed? They say Good: For those who do good in this world there is a good (reward) and the home of the Hereafter will be better. Pleasant indeed will be the home of those who ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Gardens of perpetual bliss will they enter - [gardens] through which running waters flow - having therein all that they might desire. Thus will God reward those who are conscious of Him -

  - Mohammad Asad

- Gardens of Eden will they enter, beneath which rivers flow, having therein all that they wish to have. Thus shall Allah reward the righteous,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Gardens of Eden which they enter, underneath which rivers flow, wherein they have what they will. Thus Allah repayeth those who ward off (evil),

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

those whom the angels gather in death while they are in a state of inner purity, greeting them thus: "Peace be upon you! Enter paradise by virtue of what you were doing [in life]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

- such pious people the angels cause to die, saying: "Peace be upon you! Enter the paradise because of the good deeds you have done."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those whom the angels cause to die (when they are) good. They say: Peace be unto you! Enter the Garden because of what ye used to do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

ARE THEY [who deny the truth] but waiting for the angels to appear unto them, or for God's judgment to become manifest?²⁹ Even thus did behave those [stubborn sinners] who lived before their time; and [when they were destroyed,] it was not God who wronged them, but it was they who had wronged themselves:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "for the angels to come to them, or for God's judgment (amr) to come" - i.e., for the Day of Resurrection. The full meaning of this passage is forthcoming from 6:158 , revealed at the same period as the present surah.

Are these unbelievers waiting for the angels to come down to take their lives or the commandment of your Rabb to come to pass for their doom? So did those who went before them. It was not Allah who was unjust to them, but they were unjust to themselves.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Await they aught save that the angels should come unto them or thy Lord's command should come to pass? Even so did those before them. Allah wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for all the evil that they had done fell [back] upon them, and they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.³⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

See 6:10 and the corresponding note. Similar phrases occur in many places in the Qur'an, always with reference to a derision of divine messages and, particularly, of predictions relating to God's chastisement of reprobate sinners. As so often, the Qur'an points out here that this "chastisement" or "suffering" ('adhab) is but a natural, unavoidable consequence of deliberate wrongdoing: hence, he who becomes guilty of it is, in reality, "doing wrong to himself" or "sinning against himself" inasmuch as he destroys his own spiritual integrity and must subsequently suffer for it.

At the end, the evil results of their deeds overtook them, and the very scourge at which they mocked, hemmed them in.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So that the evil of what they did smote them, and that which they used to mock surrounded them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now they who ascribe divinity to aught beside God say, "Had God so willed, we would not have worshipped aught but Him - neither we nor our forefathers; nor would we have declared aught as forbidden without a commandment from Him."³¹ Even thus did speak those [sinners] who lived before their time; but, then, are the apostles bound to do more than clearly deliver the message [entrusted to them]?³²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "apart from Him". See in this connection 6:148 and the corresponding note [141]. (The arbitrary, unwarranted prohibitions and taboos alluded to in that verse as well as in the present one are discussed in {6:136-153} and explained in my notes.) The derision of God's messages by the deniers of the truth is implied in their questioning His grant of free will to man - that is to say, the ability to choose between right and wrong, which is the basis of all morality.

I.e., the apostles could not force anyone to make the right choice.

The mushrikin say: "If Allah wanted, neither we nor our forefathers would have worshipped any one else but Him, nor made anything unlawful without His will." Such excuses were put forward also by those who went before them. Yet Rasools have no more responsibility than to convey the Message clearly.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the idolaters say: Had Allah willed, we had not worshipped aught beside Him, we and our fathers, nor had we forbidden aught without (command from) Him. Even so did those before them. Are the messengers charged with aught save plain conveyance (of the message)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And indeed, within every community³³ have We raised up an apostle [entrusted with this message]: "Worship God, and shun the powers of evil!"³⁴ And among those [past generations] were people whom God graced with His guidance,³⁵ just as there was among them [many a one] who inevitably fell prey to grievous error:³⁶ go, then, about the earth and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

Or "at every period", since the term ummah has this significance as well. In its wider sense, it may also be taken here to denote "civilization", thus comprising a human groupment as well as a period of time.

For this rendering of the term at-taghut, see surah {2}, note [250]. It is to be borne in mind that, in Qur'anic terminology, "worship of God" invariably implies the concept of man's sense of responsibility before Him: hence, the above commandment comprises, in the most concise formulation imaginable, the sum-total of all ethical injunctions and prohibitions, and is the basis and source of all morality as well as the one unchanging message inherent in every true religion.

I.e., who availed themselves of the guidance offered by Him to all human beings.

Lit., "upon whom error came to be inevitably established (haqqa 'alayhi)" or "against whom [a verdict of] error became inevitable": i.e., one whose heart "God has sealed" in consequence of his persistent, conscious refusal to submit to His guidance (see surah {2}, note [7], as well as surah {14}, note [4]).

No doubt We raised in every nation a Rasool, saying: "Serve Allah and keep away from Taghut (Satanic forces)." After that, Allah guided some of them while deviation proved true against the others. So travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who denied Our Message.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and shun false gods. Then some of them (there were) whom Allah guided, and some of them (there were) upon whom error had just hold. Do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequence for the deniers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[As for those who are bent on denying the truth -] though thou be ever so eager to show them the right way, [know that,] verily, God does not bestow His guidance upon any whom He judges to have gone astray;³⁷ and such shall have none to succour them [on Resurrection Day].

  - Mohammad Asad

See preceding note; also 8:55 and the corresponding note [58].

No matter how eager you may be for their guidance, you should know that Allah does not guide those whom He let go astray and such people will have no helpers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Even if thou (O Muhammad) desirest their right guidance, still Allah assuredly will not guide him who misleadeth. Such have no helpers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As it is,³⁸ they swear by God with their most solemn oaths, "Never will God raise from the dead anyone who has died!"³⁹ Yea indeed! [This very thing has God promised] by a promise which He has willed upon Himself; but most people know it not.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "And" - but since this conjunction is obviously meant to elaborate the preceding statement, it is best rendered as above.

This categorical denial of resurrection - implying as it does a denial of God's ultimate judgment of good and evil - is characteristic of a mental attitude which refuses to admit the reality, or even possibility, of anything that lies beyond the range of man's actual or potential observation. Since such an attitude is an outcome of an intrinsically materialistic outlook on life and the "false pride" referred to in verses {22-23} above, it is anti-religious in the deepest sense of this word even if it is accompanied by a vague - because non-consequential - belief in the existence of God.

They solemnly swear their strongest oaths by Allah: "Allah will never raise the dead to life." Why not? It is a promise which He has made binding on Himself, though most among mankind may not know it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they swear by Allah their most binding oaths (that) Allah will not raise up him who dieth. Nay, but it is a promise (binding) upon Him in truth, but most of mankind know not,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[He will resurrect them] to the end that He might make clear unto them all whereon they [now] hold divergent views,⁴⁰ and that they who are bent on denying the truth [of resurrection] might come to know that they were liars.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in the first instance, the truth of resurrection and judgment as such, and, in general, the final answers to all the metaphysical problems which perplex man during his life on earth.

It will be fulfilled so that He may manifest to them the Truth about which they differ, and so that the rejecters of Truth may know that they were indeed liars.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

That he may explain unto them that wherein they differ, and that those who disbelieved may know that they were liars.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whenever We will anything to be, We but say unto it Our word "Be" - and it is.

  - Mohammad Asad

As for its possibility, when We intend to do anything which We want, We need only say, "Be," and it is.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Our word unto a thing, when We intend it, is only that We say unto it: Be! and it is.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall