Surah 17. Al-Israa

And if We so willed, We could indeed take away whatever We have revealed unto thee, and in that [state of need] thou wouldst find none to plead in thy behalf before Us.¹⁰²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to be thy guardian against [or "before"] Us" - i.e., "to provide thee with other means of guidance": an allusion to the fact that divine guidance is the only source of ethics in the absolute sense of this word. The "taking away" of revelation denotes its alienation from the hearts and the memory of men, as well as its disappearance in written form.

If We want, We can definitely take away all that which We have revealed to you: then you will find none to help you in getting it back from Us.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If We willed, We could have certainly taken away what We have revealed to you 'O Prophet'- then you would find none to guarantee its return from Us-

  - Mustafa Khattab

And if We willed We could withdraw that which We have revealed unto thee, then wouldst thou find no guardian for thee against Us in respect thereof.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

If it were Our Will We could take away that which We have sent thee by inspiration: then would thou find none to plead thy affair in that matter as against Us ²²⁸⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Even the spiritual knowledge that comes to us comes because of the favour and mercy of Allah. If He were to withhold it, who can call Him in question?

[Thou art spared] only by thy Sustainer's grace: behold, His favour towards thee is great indeed!

  - Mohammad Asad

But your Rabb has blessed you with this knowledge; surely His goodness to you has been great indeed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

had it not been for the mercy of your Lord. Indeed, His favour upon you is immense.

  - Mustafa Khattab

(It is naught) save mercy from thy Lord. Lo! His kindness unto thee was ever great.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Except for Mercy from thy Lord: for His Bounty is to thee (indeed) great. ²²⁸⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In that case the only one who can plead for us is the Mercy of Allah. We can interpret the phrase in its widest abstract sense, as well as in the concrete sense of the title which is applied to the holy Prophet Muhammad, the Mercy of Allah. Thus we come from the abstract question to the concrete question of the Qur-an, which is referred to by name in the verses that follow.

Say: "If all mankind and all invisible beings¹⁰³ would come together with a view to producing the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce its like even though they were exert all their strength in aiding one another!"

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix III.

Declare: "Even if all human beings and Jinns combined their resources to produce the like of this Qur'an, they would never be able to compose the like thereof, even if they backed up each other as best as they could."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'If 'all' humans and jinn were to come together to produce the equivalent of this Quran, they could not produce its equal, no matter how they supported each other.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: Verily, though mankind and the Jinn should assemble to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof though they were helpers one of another.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an they could not produce the like thereof even if they backed up each other with help and support. ^{2288 2289}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For the meaning of "Jinns", see n. 929 to vi. 100.

The proof of the Qur-an is in its own beauty and nature, and the circumstances in which it was promulgated. The world is challenged to produce a Book like it and has not produced one. It is the only revealed Book whose text stands pure and uncorrupted today. Cf., for a similar challenge, ii. 23, x. 38, and xi. 13.

For, indeed, many facets have We given in this Qur'an to every kind of lesson [designed] for [the benefit of] mankind!¹⁰⁴ However, most men are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy¹⁰⁵ -

  - Mohammad Asad

According to Raghib, the noun mathal (lit., "similitude", "parable" or "example") is here more or less synonymous with wasf ("description by means of a comparison", i.e., "definition"). In its broadest sense, this term signifies "a lesson".

I.e., they are unwilling to accept any idea which runs counter to their own, blasphemous inclinations.

In this Qur'an We have used different methods to make the people understand the Message, yet the majority of them persist in unbelief.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We have truly set forth every 'kind of' lesson for humanity in this Quran, yet most people persist in disbelief.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And verily We have displayed for mankind in this Qur'an all kinds of similitudes, but most of mankind refuse aught save disbelief.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We have explained to man in this Qur'an every kind of similitude: yet the grater part of men refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude! ^{2290 2291}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In the Qur-an everything is explained in detail from various points of view, by commands, similitudes, examples, stories, parables, etc. It does not merely narrate stories or lay down vague abstract propositions. It gives every detailed help in outward and inner life.

One form in which it can be received with ingratitude is to pay verbal tributes to it but not study it as it ought to be studied (ii. 121, haqqa tilawatihi), or to disobey its precepts or standards.

and so they say: "[O Muhammad,] we shall not believe thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,¹⁰⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., like Moses (cf. 2:60 ).

They say: "We will not believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They challenge 'the Prophet', 'We will never believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They say: "We shall not believe in thee until thou cause spring to gush forth for us from the earth ²²⁹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. ii. 60.

or thou have a garden of date-palms and vines and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst in a sudden rush,¹⁰⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

This seems to be a derisory allusion to the allegory of paradise so often mentioned in the Qur'an.

or until a garden of date-palms and grapes be created for you and you cause rivers to flow in it;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

or until you have a garden of palm trees and vineyards, and cause rivers to flow abundantly in it,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or thou have a garden of date palms and grapes, and cause rivers to gush forth therein abundantly;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Or (until) thou have a garden of date trees and vines and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst carrying abundant water; ²²⁹³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This ill-assorted and crude jumble of the sort of miracles which the Unbelievers wanted is in very appropriate contrast to the sober and reasoned argument which has begun in the last sentence of verse 93 and continued in sections 11 and 12, which close this Sura. It is throughout reminiscent of the materialistic imagination of Jewish sceptics, which was mainly responsible for the fall of the Jewish nation (see verse 104 below). For a thirsty people sojourning in a dry land, the finding of a spring of water as in the story of Moses or of the well of Zamzam is an appropriate miracle. But miracles are not for faithless crowds to gape at. A beautiful well-watered Garden is a symbol of Felicity: but a sceptic cannot order Allah to produce it for his pleasure. The same may be said about a house adorned with gold, except that its symbolism is even more materialistic. The fall of the sky or producing Allah face to face or climbing to the skies by a ladder, or bringing down a book of parchment which men could handle, are all irreverent suggestions that make no distinction between spiritual and material things.

or thou cause the skies to fall down upon us in smithereens, as thou hast threatened,¹⁰⁸ or [till] thou bring God and the angels face to face before us,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "claimed": possibly a reference to the warning expressed in {34: 9}, which was revealed somewhat earlier than the present surah.

or until you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces as you have threatened us; or you bring Allah and the angels before us face to face,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

or cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed, or bring Allah and the angels before us, face to face,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or thou cause the heaven to fall upon us piecemeal, as thou hast pretended, or bring Allah and the angels as a warrant;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Or thou cause the sky to fall in pieces as thou sayest (will happen) against us; or thou bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face; ^{2294 2295}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Contrast the sublime passages like the beginning with lxxxii. 1 or that in xxv. 25, where the final breaking up of the firmaments as we know them is referred to in the world's catastrophe, with the ridiculous demand that it should be done for the sport of the sceptics!

Cf. ii 55 and iv. 153 about the desire of the Israelites to see Allah face to face; and vi. 8-9, about angels coming down to convince men.

or thou have a house [made] of gold, or thou ascend to heaven - but nay, we would not [even] believe in thy ascension unless thou bring down to us [from heaven] a writing which we [ourselves] could read!"¹⁰⁹ Say thou, [O Prophet:] Limitless in His glory is my Sustainer!¹¹⁰ Am I, then, aught but a mortal man, an apostle?"

  - Mohammad Asad

A reply to this demand of the unbelievers is found in verse {7} of Al-An'am, revealed - according to Suyuti - shortly after the present surah. But the allusion to, this and the preceding "conditions" is not merely historical: it illustrates a widely prevalent, psychologically contradictory attitude of mind - a strange mixture of prima-facie scepticism and primitive credulity which makes belief in a prophetic message dependent on the prophet's "performing miracles" (cf. 6:37 and {109} and 7:203). Since the only miracle granted by God to Muhammad is the Qur'an itself (see the first part of verse {59} of this surah, as well as note [71] above), he is bidden, in the next passage, to declare that these demands are irrelevant and, by implication, frivolous.

I.e., "miracles are in the power of God alone" (cf. 6:109 and the corresponding note [94]).

or a house made with gold comes into being for you; or you ascend to the sky - we shall not even believe in your ascendance until you bring down to us a book that we can read." O Muhammad, tell them: "Glory be to my Rabb! Have I ever claimed to be anything more than a human Rasool?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

or until you have a house of gold, or you ascend into heaven- and even then we will not believe in your ascension until you bring down to us a book that we can read.' Say, 'Glory be to my Lord! Am I not only a human messenger?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into heaven, and even then we will put no faith in thine ascension till thou bring down for us a book that we can read. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord be glorified! Am I naught save a mortal messenger?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Or thou have a house adorned with gold or thou mount a ladder right into the skies. No we shall not even believe in thy mounting until thou send down to us a book that we could read." Say: "Glory to my Lord! am I aught but a man an apostle?" ^{2296 2297 2298}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 35 about a ladder to the skies.

Cf. vi. 7 for the foolish idea of materialistic sceptics that a spiritual revelation could come down from the heavens on a piece of parchment that they can touch.

A prophet or messenger of Allah is a man at the command of Allah, and not to satisfy the disingenuous whims and fancies of Unbelievers. Miracles greater than any that their foolish fancies could devise were before them. The Qur-an was such a miracle, and it is a standing miracle that lasts through the ages. Why did they not believe? The real reason was spite and jealousy like that of Iblis. See next verse.

Yet whenever [God's] guidance came to them [through a prophet,] nothing has ever kept people from believing [in him] save this their objection:¹¹¹ "Would God have sent a [mere] mortal man as His apostle?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "save that they said". The verb qala (as also the noun qawl) is often used tropically in the sense of holding or asserting an opinion or a belief; in the above case it obviously implies a conceptual objection.

Nothing prevented people from belief when guidance came to them except the excuse: "What! Has Allah sent a man like us to be a Rasool?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And nothing has prevented people from believing when guidance comes to them except their protest: 'Has Allah sent a human as a messenger?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And naught prevented mankind from believing when the guidance came unto them save that they said: Hath Allah sent a mortal as (His) messenger?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

What kept men back from Belief when Guidance came to them was nothing but this: they said "Has Allah sent a man like us) to be (His) Apostle?" ²²⁹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When a man is raised to honour and dignity, his sincere brothers rejoice, for it is an honour that reflects its glory on them. But those with evil in their hearts are jealous like their prototype Iblis, (xvii. 61, n. 2251). To such men the mere fact that their own brother receives the grace of Allah is enough to turn them against that brother. Any other reasons they may devise are mere make-believe.

Say: "If angels were walking about on earth as their natural abode, We would indeed have sent down unto them an angel out of heaven as Our apostle."

  - Mohammad Asad

O Muhammad, tell them: "Had there been in the earth angels walking about as settlers, We would certainly have sent down to them an angel from heaven as a Rasool."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Had there been angels walking the earth, well settled, We would have surely sent down for them an angel from heaven as a messenger.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: If there were in the earth angels walking secure, We had sent down for them from heaven an angel as messenger.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say "If there were settled on earth angels walking about in peace and quiet We should certainly have sent them down from the heavens an angel for an apostle." ²³⁰⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The argument is that if angels inhabited this earth, an angel from heaven could be sent down as a messenger to them, as they could mutually understand each other, and the Message of Allah could be explained without difficulty. But the earth is inhabited by men, and the men themselves are divided into races, or groups, or nations. To each Group is sent a prophet from among their brethren: to 'Ad, their brother Hud (xi. 50); to Thamud, their brother Salih (xi. 61): and so on. As a matter of fact, with wicked men, constituted as they are, the appearance of an angel causes disturbance and an unseemly riot, as in the case of the angels that came to Lot (xi. 77-80). In any case they cannot carry out an effective mission among men (vi. 8-9).

Say: "None can bear witness between me and you as God does: verily, fully aware is He of His creatures, and He sees all [that is in their hearts]."

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "Sufficient is Allah as a witness between me and you. He is the One Who is Aware and Observant of His servants."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'Sufficient is Allah as a Witness between me and you. He is certainly All-Knowing, All-Seeing of His servants.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: Allah sufficeth for a witness between me and you Lo! He is Knower, Seer of His slaves.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Enough is Allah for a witness between me and you: for He is well-acquainted with His servants and He sees (all things)." ²³⁰¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

'If you want a real witness, it is not these sorts of fancy miracles, but the witness of the true ever-living God. Purify your hearts, and ask Him in true contrition and repentance, and He will guide you and show you the Way'.

And he whom God guides, he alone has found the right way; whereas for those whom He lets go astray thou canst never find anyone to protect them from Him: and [so, when] We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection, [they will lie] prone upon their faces, blind and dumb and deaf, with hell as their goal; [and] every time [the fire] abates, We shall increase for them [its] blazing flame.¹¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

The phrase "for them" is meant, I believe, to stress the individual character of the suffering allegorized in the Qur'an as a "blazing flame" (sa'ir). For a further discussion of this terminology and its philosophical implications, see Appendix I.

Those whom Allah guides are rightly guided; and those whom He lets go astray, shall find no protector besides Him. On the Day of Judgment We shall gather them all, prone on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Hell shall be their abode: whenever its flames die down, We will rekindle for them the fierceness of the fire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoever Allah guides is truly guided. And whoever He leaves to stray, you will find no guardians for them besides Him. And We will drag them on their faces on the Day of Judgment- deaf, dumb, and blind. Hell will be their home. Whenever it dies down, We will flare it up for them.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And he whom Allah guideth, he is led aright; while, as for him whom He sendeth astray, for them thou wilt find no protecting friends beside Him, and We shall assemble them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their habitation will be hell; whenever it abateth, We increase the flame for them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is he whom Allah guides that is on true guidance; but he whom He leaves astray for such wilt thou find no protector besides Him. On the Day of Judgment We shall gather them together prone on their faces blind dumb and deaf: their abode will be Hell: every time it shows abatement We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire. ^{2302 2303}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

'All your insincere subtleties are of no use. The only real guidance is the guidance of Allah. If you do not seek His grace, you will be lost. Besides Him, there is no true friend or protector'.

'If you still persist in your evil ways, what is to be your evil end? You will become more and more identified with the Company of Evil. You will come to shame and ignominy, like men thrown down prone on their faces. You will lose the use of all the faculties of judgment with which Allah has endowed you. Instead of seeing, you will be blind to Allah's Signs. Instead of having the power of seeking Him in prayer and rejoicing in His grace, you will be dumb. Instead of hearing the harmony and music of the spheres, as typified in the pure and harmonious lives of men, you will hear nothing or only hear dull or confused sounds like deaf men. The scorching fire of your punishment will not grow less, but grow more fierce as you go deeper into Hell'.

Such will be their requital for having rejected Our messages and having said, "After we will have become bones and dust, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead in a new act of creation?"¹¹³

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying that this denial of God's power to resurrect the dead (mentioned in exactly the same phrasing in verse {49} of this surah) is equivalent to a denial of His almightiness and, hence, of His Being - all of which is characterized by the words "blind and deaf and dumb" in the preceding verse.

Thus shall they be rewarded: because they rejected Our revelations and said: "When we are reduced to bones and decayed particles, shall we really be raised to life in a new creation?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

That is their reward for rejecting Our signs and asking 'mockingly', 'When we are reduced to bones and ashes, will we really be raised as a new creation?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

That is their reward because they disbelieved Our revelations and said: When we are bones and fragments shall we, forsooth, be raised up as a new creation?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That is their recompense because they rejected Our Signs and said "When we are reduced to bones and broken dust should we really be raised up (to be) a new Creation?" ²³⁰⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This phrase is repeated from xvii. 49. The reminiscence rounds off the argument. After certain moral precepts to which Faith was linked, we have had a discussion of Unfaith. Its various motives have been analysed, and its penalties have been allegorically shadowed forth. After this, the example of Pharaoh is held as a type of Unfaith in the next section, and the Sura closed with an exhortation to faith and a declaration of the glory of Allah.

Are they, then, not aware that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create them anew in their own likeness,¹¹⁴ having, beyond any doubt, set a term for their resurrection?¹¹⁵ However, all [such] evildoers are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy!¹¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to create the like of them" - i.e., to resurrect them individually, each of them having the same identity (or "likeness") which he or she had before death.

Lit., "a term (ajal) for them". Since ajal denotes, primarily, "a specified term [at which something falls due]", it obviously relates here to the inescapable fact of resurrection.

See notes [98] and [105] above.

Can they not see that Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth has power to create the people like them? He has set a deadline for their lives, there is no doubt about it: yet the wrongdoers refuse to do anything except deny.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have they not realized that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, can 'easily' re-create them? He has 'already' set for them a time, about which there is no doubt. But the wrongdoers persist in denial.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have they not seen that Allah Who created the heavens and the earth is Able to create the like of them, and hath appointed for them an end whereof there is no doubt? But the wrong-doers refuse aught save disbelief.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

See they not that Allah Who created the heavens and the earth has power to create the like of them (anew)? Only He has decreed a term appointed of which there is no doubt. But the unjust refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude. ^{2305 2306}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah, Who created all that is in the heavens and on earth, has surely the power to revive the life of individual souls after their bodies have perished,-and revive them with memories of their past life and for a continuation of their spiritual history. Only He has fixed a term for each stage of our existence, which we can neither prolong nor shorten.

This phrase carries us back to xvii. 89, after we began the argument about the real motives for the rejection of the Qur-an by sceptics. The argument is now closed in a sort of minor circle within the major circle sketched in n. 2304 above.

Say: "If you were to own all the treasure-houses of my Sustainer's bounty,¹¹⁷ lo! you would still try to hold on [to them] tightly for fear of spending [too much]: for man has always been avaricious whereas God is limitless in His bounty]."¹¹⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "grace" (rahmah).

I.e., since man is, by his very nature, dependent on material possessions, he instinctively tries to hold on to them; God, on the other hand, is self-sufficient and, therefore, above all need of placing any limits on His bestowal of bounty (hence my interpolation). This implied reference to God's grace and bounty is necessitated by the emphasis, in the preceding as well as in the subsequent passages, on the fact that He has never ceased to guide man, through His prophets, towards the good life.

Say to them: "Even if you had all the treasures of my Rabb's blessings at your disposal, you would still hold them back for fear of spending. Man is ever so stingy!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say 'to them, O Prophet', 'Even if you were to possess the 'infinite' treasuries of my Lord's mercy, then you would certainly withhold 'them', fearing they would run out- for humankind is ever stingy!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say (unto them): If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, ye would surely hold them back for fear of spending, for man was ever grudging.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "If ye had control of the Treasures of the Mercy of my Lord behold ye would keep them back for fear of spending them: for man is (ever) niggardly!" ²³⁰⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A fresh argument is now addressed to those who would confine Allah's revelations to a limited circle of men, such as they themselves belonged to. The immediate reference was to the Jews, who could not understand how any Gentiles could receive revelations and guidance even superior to what they considered their own birth-right. But the tendency is widespread in the human race. A particular race, or caste, or a particular kind of culture, claims to be the custodian of Allah's Message, whereas it is universal. Allah's Mercy is universal, and He scatters the priceless Treasures of His Mercy broadcast among His creatures. They are not exhausted by spending. It is only the misers who hoard their wealth for fear it should be used up by spending. 'Are you spiritual misers going to keep back Allah's holy Message from the multitude? Is that the reason why you deny the advent of the new Teacher, who comes as a Mercy to all men-to all Creation?'