Surah 16. An-Nahl

all that is with you is bound to come to an end, whereas that which is with God is everlasting. And most certainly shall We grant unto those who are patient in adversity their reward in accordance with the best that they ever did.

  - Mohammad Asad

Whatever is with you is transitory and what is with Allah is everlasting. We will certainly reward those who are patient according to the noblest of their deeds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whatever you have will end, but whatever Allah has is everlasting. And We will certainly reward the steadfast according to the best of their deeds.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That which ye have wasteth away, and that which Allah hath remaineth. And verily We shall pay those who are steadfast a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

What is with you must vanish: what is with Allah will endure. And We will certainly bestow on those who patiently persevere their reward according to the best of their actions. ²¹³⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

What comparison can there possibly be between spiritual Good, which will endure forever, and any temporal advantage which you may snatch in this world, which will fade and vanish in no time? And then, Allah's generosity is unbounded. He rewards you, not acording to your merits, but according to the very best of your actions.

As for anyone - be it man or woman - who does righteous deeds, and is a believer withal - him shall We most certainly cause to live a good life;¹²¹ and most certainly shall We grant unto such as these their reward in accordance with the best that they ever did.

  - Mohammad Asad

This may relate either to life in this world - inasmuch as a true believer invariably finds happiness in his God-consciousness - or to the happiness which awaits him in the hereafter, or to both.

Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, provided he is a believer, We shall surely grant him a new life, a life that is good, and We will certainly reward such people according to the noblest of their deeds in the hereafter.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will surely bless them with a good life, and We will certainly reward them according to the best of their deeds.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life, and We shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whoever works righteousness man or woman and has faith verily to him will We give a new life a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions. ^{2137 2138}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Faith, if sincere, means right conduct. When these two confirm each other, Allah's grace transforms our life. Instead of being troubled and worried, we have peace and contentment; instead of being assailed at every turn by false alarms and the assaults of evil, we enjoy calm and attain purity. The transformation is visible in this life itself, but the "reward" in terms of the Hereafter will be far beyond our deserts.

The same ending as in the previous verse deepens the overall effect bringing home the message forcefully and beautifully. The argument is completed and rounded off.

NOW whenever thou happen to read this Qur'an, seek refuge with God from Satan, the accursed.¹²²

  - Mohammad Asad

The present passage (verses {98-105}) evidently connects with the broad ethical exhortation given in verse {90} above and, thus, with the statement (in verse {89}) that the Qur'an is meant "to make everything clear and to provide guidance and grace and a glad tiding unto all who have surrendered themselves to God" - which, in its turn, implies that the Qur'an is the ultimate source of all God-willed ethical and moral values, and thus an unchanging criterion of good and evil. But since man is always, by virtue of his nature, prone to question the very validity of the moral standards established through revelation, the believer is now called upon to seek, whenever he reads or meditates on this divine writ, God's spiritual aid against the whisperings of what the Qur'an describes as "Satan, the accursed" - that is, all the evil forces, both within man's own soul and within his social environment, which tend to undermine his moral convictions and to lead him away from God.

When you recite The Qur'an, seek Allah's protection from the accursed Shaitan,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when thou recitest the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When thou dost read the Qur'an seek Allah's protection from Satan the rejected one. ²¹³⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Evil has no authority or influence on those who put their trust in Allah. It is good to express that trust in outward actions, and a formal expression of it-as in the formula, "I seek Allah's protection from Evil"-helps us. Man is weak at best, and he should seek strength for his will in Allah's help and protection.

Behold, he has no power over those who have attained to faith and in their Sustainer place their trust:

  - Mohammad Asad

surely he has no authority over those who believe and put their trust in their Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He certainly has no authority over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! he hath no power over those who believe and put trust in their Lord.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

No authority has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

he has power only over those who are willing to follow him,¹²³ and who [thus] ascribe to him a share in God's divinity.¹²⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "who make him their master". Cf. in this connection {14: 22} and the corresponding note [31].

I.e., inasmuch as they pay an almost worshipful reverence to such blandishments as wealth, power, social position, etc.

His authority is only over those who befriend him and commit shirk by his temptation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

His authority is only over those who take him as a patron and who- under his influence- associate 'others' with Allah 'in worship'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

His power is only over those who make a friend of him, and those who ascribe partners unto Him (Allah).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

His authority is over those only who take him as patron and who join partners with Allah.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And now that We replace one message by another¹²⁵ - since God is fully aware of what He bestows from on high, step by step¹²⁶ - they [who deny the truth] are wont to say, "Thou but inventest it!" Nay, but most of them do not understand it!¹²⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by substituting the message of the Qur'an for the earlier dispensations - and not, as some Muslim scholars maintain, "abrogating" one Qur'anic verse and replacing it by another. (Regarding the untenable "doctrine of abrogation", in the latter sense, see {2: 106} and the corresponding note [87]; see also note [35] on {41: 42}.)

I.e., the gradualness of revelation (implied in the verbal form yunazzil) corresponds to God's plan, according to which He has gradually unfolded His will to man, substituting one dispensation for another in the measure of mankind's intellectual and social development, bringing it to its culmination in the message of the Qur'an.

I.e., they do not understand the necessity of a new dispensation and, therefore, do not really understand the Qur'an.

When We substitute one verse in favor of another to elaborate with different examples - and Allah knows best what He reveals in stages - they say: "You are but a forger." The fact is that most of them do not understand.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When We replace a verse with another¹- and Allah knows best what He reveals- they say, 'You 'Muḥammad' are just a fabricator.' In fact, most of them do not know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 2:106.

And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation,--and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth--they say: Lo! thou art but inventing. Most of them know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When We substitute one revelation for another and Allah knows best what He reveals (in stages) they say "Thou art but a forger": but most of them understand not. ²¹⁴⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See ii. 106, and n. 107. The doctrine of progressive revelation from age to age and time to time does not mean that Allah's fundamental Law changes. It is not fair to charge a Prophet of Allah with forgery because the Message as revealed to him is in a different form from that revealed before, when the core of the Truth is the same, for it comes from Allah.

Say: "Holy inspiration¹²⁸ has brought it down from thy Sustainer by stages, setting forth the truth, so that it might give firmness unto those who have attained to faith, and provide guidance and a glad tiding unto all who have surrendered themselves to God."

  - Mohammad Asad

As in the three other places in which the expression ruh aI-qudus occurs ({2 :87} and {253} and {5: 110}), I am rendering it here, too, as "holy inspiration" (see surah {2}, note [71]), a term which, to my mind, is a Qur'anic synonym for "divine revelation". However, a literal rendering - "spirit of holiness" - is also possible if one applies this term to the angel who communicates God's revelations to the prophets. (See also verse {2} of this surah and the corresponding note [2].)

Say, "The Holy Spirit (Gabriel) has brought it down piecemeal intact from your Rabb to strengthen the faith of the believers, and to give guidance and good news to the Muslims."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'The holy spirit¹ has brought it down from your Lord with the truth to reassure the believers, and as a guide and good news for those who submit 'to Allah'.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The angel Gabriel.

Say: The holy Spirit hath revealed it from thy Lord with truth, that it may confirm (the faith of) those who believe, and as guidance and good tidings for those who have surrendered (to Allah).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say the Holy Spirit has brought the revelation from thy Lord in truth in order to strengthen those who believe and as a guide and Glad Tidings to Muslims. ^{2141 2142}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The title of the Angel Gabriel, through whom the revelations came down.

The People of the Book, if they had true faith, were themselves strengthened in their faith and cleared of their doubts and difficulties by the revelations brought by Al-Mustafa; and all whether People of the Book or not-who came within the fold of Islam, found the Qur-an a Guide and a Gospel, i.e., a substitute for the Mosaic Law and for the Christian Gospel, which had both been corrupted.

And, indeed, full well do We know that they say, "It is but a human being that imparts [all] this to him!"¹²⁹ - [notwithstanding that] the tongue of him to whom they so maliciously point is wholly outlandish,¹³⁰ whereas this is Arabic speech, clear [in itself] and clearly showing the truth [of its source].¹³¹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., to Muhammad - thus insinuating that his claim to divine revelation was false.

Whereas some of the pagan Quraysh regarded the ideas expressed in the Qur'an as "invented" by Muhammad, others thought that they must have been imparted to him by a foreigner - perhaps a Christian - who lived in Mecca at that time, or whom the Prophet was supposed to have encountered at an earlier period of his life. Various conjectures have been advanced - both by early Muslim commentators and by modern orientalists - as to the "identity" of the person or persons whom the suspicious Meccans might have had in mind in this connection but all these conjectures are purely speculative and, therefore, of no historical value whatever. The suspicion of the pagan Meccans implies no more than the historical fact that those of the Prophet's opponents who were unwilling to pay him the compliment of having "invented" the Qur'an (the profundity of which they were unable to deny) conveniently attributed its authorship - or at least its inspiration - to a mythical non-Arab "teacher" of the Prophet.

For an explanation of this composite rendering of the descriptive term mubin, see surah {12}, note [2]. The term is used here to stress the fact that no human being - and certainly no non-Arab - could ever have produced the flawless, exalted Arabic diction in which the Qur'an is expressed.

We know very well what they say about you, O Muhammad: "A certain man teaches him." But the man they allude to speaks a foreign language while this (The Qur'an) is in eloquent Arabic.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We surely know that they say, 'No one is teaching him except a human.' But the man they refer to speaks a foreign tongue, whereas this 'Quran' is 'in' eloquent Arabic.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some Meccan pagans claimed that the Prophet (ﷺ) received the Quran from a non-Arab slave owned by an Arab pagan.

And We know well that they say: Only a man teacheth him. The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish, and this is clear Arabic speech.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We know indeed that they say "It is a man that teaches him." The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notable foreign while this is Arabic pure and clear. ²¹⁴³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The wicked attribute to Prophets of Allah just such motives and springs of action as they themselves would be guilty of in such circumstances. The Pagans and those who were hostile to the revelation of Allah in Islam could not and cannot understand how such wonderful words could flow from the tongue of the Holy Prophet. They must need to postulate some human teacher. Unfortunately for their postulate, any possible human teacher they could think of would be poor in Arabic speech if he had all the knowledge that the Qur-an reveals of previous revelations. Apart from that, even the most eloquent Arab could not, and cannot, produce anything of the eloquence, width, and depth of Quranic teaching, as is evident from every verse of the Book.

Verily, as for those who will not believe in God's messages, God does not guide them aright; and grievous suffering will be their lot [in the life to come].

  - Mohammad Asad

In fact, Allah does not show guidance to those who do not believe in His revelations and they will have a painful punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely those who do not believe in Allah's revelations will never be guided by Allah, and they will suffer a painful punishment.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, Allah guideth them not and theirs will be a painful doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those who believe not in the Signs of Allah Allah will not guide them and theirs will be a grievous Penalty.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is but they who will not believe in God's messages that invent this falsehood;¹³² and it is they, they who are lying!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the scurrilous allegation referred to in verse {103}. Although this statement alludes,in the first instance, to the hostile contemporaries of the Prophet, it extends, by obvious implication, to people of all times who refuse to believe in the reality of Muhammad's revelations, and try to explain them away as obsessive illusions or even as deliberate fabrications.

Surely those who do not believe in the revelations of Allah, are the ones who forge the falsehood and they are the ones who are liars!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

No one fabricates lies except those who disbelieve in Allah's revelations, and it is they who are the 'true' liars.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Only they invent falsehood who believe not Allah's revelations, and (only) they are the liars.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is those who believe not in the Signs of Allah that forge falsehood: it is they who lie! ²¹⁴⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is clearly those who raise the cry of forgery that are guilty of falsehood, as there is not the least basis or even plausibility in their suggestion.

As for anyone who denies God after having once attained to faith - and this, to be sure, does not apply to¹³³ one who does it under duress, the while his heart remains true to his faith,¹³⁴ but [only to] him who willingly opens up his heart to a denial of the truth -: upon all such [falls] God's condemnation, and tremendous suffering awaits them:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "except" - but the Arabic construction of the sentence that follows makes it necessary to render the simple particle illa in the manner adopted by me ("and this, to be sure, does not apply to...", etc.).

Lit., "one who is coerced, the while his heart is at rest in [his] faith". This relates to believers who, under torture or threat of death, ostensibly "recant" in order to save themselves. Although the Qur'an makes it clear in several places that martyrdom in the cause of faith is highly meritorious, "God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear" (cf. 2:233 and {286}, 6:152 , 7:42 , 23:62 , and many other Qur'anic statements to the same effect).

Anyone who is forced to deny faith after its acceptance, while his heart remains loyal to the faith shall be absolved; but any who denies faith willingly after its acceptance and open his breast to unbelief, shall incur the wrath of Allah and shall be sternly punished.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoever disbelieves in Allah after their belief- not those who are forced while their hearts are firm in faith,¹ but those who embrace disbelief wholeheartedly- they will be condemned by Allah and suffer a tremendous punishment.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This refers to ’Ammâr ibn Yâsser, an early revert to Islam, who was tortured to leave Islam. To save his life, ’Ammâr pretended to denounce Islam, but his heart was full of faith. When he told the Prophet (ﷺ) about what happened, this verse was revealed, reassuring him that his faith was intact.

Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief save him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content with Faith but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Anyone who after accepting faith in Allah utters unbelief except under compulsion his heart remaining firm in faith but such as open their breast to unbelief on them is Wrath from Allah and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty. ²¹⁴⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The exception refers to a case like that of 'Ammar, whose father Yasir and mother Sumayya, were subjected to unspeakable tortures for their belief in Islam, but never recanted. 'Ammar, suffering under tortures himself and his mind acted on by the sufferings of his parents, uttered a word construed as recantation, though his heart never wavered and he came back at once to the Prophet, who consoled him for his pain and confirmed his faith.

all this, because they hold this world's life in greater esteem than the life to come, and because God does not bestow His guidance upon people who deny the truth.

  - Mohammad Asad

This is because such people love the life of this world more than the hereafter, and that Allah does not guide those who knowingly reject faith.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This is because they prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter. Surely Allah never guides those who 'choose to' disbelieve.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That is because they have chosen the life of the world rather than the Hereafter, and because Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter: and Allah will not guide those who reject faith.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They whose hearts and whose hearing and whose sight God has sealed - it is they, they who are heedless!¹³⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "of what is good and what is bad for them". - For an explanation of God's "sealing" the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth, see 2:7 and the corresponding note.

Such are those whose hearts, ears and eyes are sealed by Allah; and they are the ones who are heedless.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They are the ones whose hearts, ears, and eyes are sealed by Allah, and it is they who are 'truly' heedless.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Such are they whose hearts and ears and eyes Allah hath sealed. And such are the heedless.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those are they whose hearts ears and eyes Allah has sealed up and they take no heed. ²¹⁴⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. ii. 7. On account of their iniquities and their want of Faith their hearts and their senses become impervious to Allah's grace, and they run headlong to perdition.

Truly it is they, they who in the life to come shall be the losers!

  - Mohammad Asad

There is no doubt that in the hereafter they will be the losers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Without a doubt, they will be the losers in the Hereafter.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Assuredly in the Hereafter they are the losers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Without doubt in the hereafter they will perish.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And yet, behold, thy Sustainer [grants His forgiveness] unto those who forsake the domain of evil after having succumbed to its temptation,¹³⁶ and who thenceforth strive hard [in God's cause] and are patient in adversity: behold, after such [repentance] thy Sustainer is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of the concept of fitnah (appearing here in the verbal form futinu) and of my rendering it as "temptation to evil", see surah {8}, note [25]. As regards the expression alladhlna hajaru in its spiritual connotation, see surah {2}, note [203] and surah {4}, note [124].

On the other hand, Allah is most surely forgiving and compassionate towards those who had to leave their homes after being persecuted because of their faith, struggled hard and remained steadfastly patient.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

As for those who emigrated after being compelled 'to renounce Islam', then struggled 'in Allah's cause', and persevered, your Lord 'O Prophet' is truly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful after all.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then lo! thy Lord--for those who become fugitives after they had been persecuted, and then fought and were steadfast--lo! thy Lord afterward is (for them) indeed Forgiving, Merciful,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But verily thy Lord to those who leave their homes after trials and persecutions and who thereafter strive and fight for the faith and patiently persevere thy Lord after all this is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. ²¹⁴⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

I take this verse to refer to such men as were originally with the Pagans but afterwards joined Islam, suffered hardships and exile, and fought and struggled in the Cause, with patience and constance. Their past would be blotted out and forgiven. Men like Khalid ibn Walid were numbered with the foremost heroes of Islam. In that case this verse would be a Madinah verse, though the Sura as a whole is Makkan. Perhaps it would be better to read, with some Commentators, fatanu in the active voice rather than futinu in the passive voice, and translate "after inflicting trials and persecutions (on Muslim)." Notice the parallelism in construction between this verse and verse 119 below.