Surah 23. Al-Muminun

AND AFTER those [people of old] We gave rise to new generations;¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "a generation (-qarn) of others". For a wider meaning of the term -qarn, see surah {6}, note [5].

Then We raised after them a new generation (the people of 'Ad),

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then, after them, We brought forth another generation;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and [every time] We sent unto them an apostle from among themselves, [he told them:] "Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, become conscious of Him?"¹⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Most of the classical commentators assume that the apostle referred to in verses {32-41} is Hud, the prophet of the tribe of 'Ad (see surah {7}, note [48]). Since, however, this passage contains elements appearing in the stories of many prophets - including that of the Prophet Muhammad - I am of the opinion that it has a general import: namely, an allusion to all of God's apostles and to the ever-recurring similarity of their experiences.

and sent to them a Rasool (Hud) from among themselves, who said to them: "Worship Allah! You have no other god except Him. Will you not fear Him for committing shirk?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We sent among them a messenger of their own saying: Serve Allah. Ye have no other god save Him. Will ye not ward off (evil)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [every time] the great ones among his people, who refused to acknowledge the truth and gave the lie to the announcement of a life to come-[simply] because We had granted them ease and plenty in [their] worldly life, and they had become corrupted by it¹⁸ - [every time] they would say: "This [man] is nothing but a mortal like yourselves, eating of what you eat, and drinking of what you drink:

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Tabari interprets the concise but meaningful phrase atrafnahum fi'l-,hayati 'd-dunya. For a fuller explanation of the verb tarifa, see note [147] on 11:116 .

But the chiefs of his people - who disbelieved the message and denied the life in the hereafter, - on whom We had bestowed affluence in this worldly life, said: "This person is but a human like you; he eats of what you eat and drinks of what you drink.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved and denied the meeting of the Hereafter, and whom We had made soft in the life of the world, said: This is only a mortal like you, who eateth of that whereof ye eat and drinketh of that ye drink.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and, indeed, if you pay heed to a mortal like your-selves, you will surely be the losers!

  - Mohammad Asad

If you obey a human like yourselves, you shall indeed be lost.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If ye were to obey a mortal like yourselves, ye surely would be losers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Does he promise you that, after you have died and become [mere] dust and bones, you shall be brought forth [to a new life]?

  - Mohammad Asad

What! Does he claim that when you are dead and turned into dust and bones, you will be brought to life out of your graves?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Doth he promise you that you, when ye are dead and have become dust and bones, will (again) be brought forth?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Far-fetched, far-fetched indeed is what you are promised!

  - Mohammad Asad

Impossible! Just impossible is that with which you are being threatened with!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Begone, begone, with that which ye are promised!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

There is no life beyond our life in this world: we die and we live [but once], and we shall never be raised from the dead!

  - Mohammad Asad

There is no other life but our life of this world: we live here and die here, and shall never be raised to life again.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There is naught but our life of the world; we die and we live, and we shall not be raised (again).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He is nothing but a man who attributes his own lying inventions to God, and we are not going to believe him!"

  - Mohammad Asad

This man is but an impostor, forging a lie against Allah, and we are not going to believe him."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He is only a man who hath invented a lie about Allah. We are not going to put faith in him.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Whereupon the prophet] would say: "O my Sustainer! Succour me against their accusation of lying!

  - Mohammad Asad

At this the Rasool prayed: "O my Rabb! Help me against their calling me a liar."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: My Lord! Help me because they deny me,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And God] would say: "After a little while they will surely be smitten with remorse!"¹⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "they will surely become of those who feel remorse".

Allah responded: "After a short time they will surely be sorry."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: In a little while they surely will become repentant.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And then the blast [of Our punishment] over-took them, justly and unavoidably,²⁰ and We caused them to become as the flotsam of dead leaves and the scum borne on the surface of a torrent: and so - away with those evildoing folk!

  - Mohammad Asad

The expression bi'l-haqq (lit., "in accordance with truth" or "with justice") combines in this instance the concepts of justice, wisdom, reality, inescapability, and consonance with the exigencies of the case under consideration (Raghib), and can be only approximately rendered in translation.

So the Blast overtook them in all justice and We swept them away like the rubbish of dead leaves - so gone is the nation of wrongdoers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So the (Awful) Cry overtook them rightfully, and We made them like as wreckage (that a torrent hurleth). A far removal for wrongdoing folk!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND AFTER them We gave rise to new genera-tions:²¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "generations of others", i.e., new civilizations.

After them We raised other generations

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then after them We brought forth other generations.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[for,] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [its coming].²²

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [5] on the identical phrase in 15:5 .

- no people can hasten their term nor can they postpone it

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

No nation can outstrip its term, nor yet postpone it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We sent forth Our apostles, one after another: [and] every time their apostle came to a community, they gave him the lie: and so We caused them to follow one another [into the grave], and let them become [mere] tales: and so - away with the folk who, would not believe!

  - Mohammad Asad

- and sent forth Our Rasools one after another: every time a Rasool came to his people, they disbelieved him, so We punished them one by one and made them a history; so gone is the nation of disbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then We sent our messengers one after another. Whenever its messenger came unto a nation they denied him; so We caused them to follow one another (to disaster) and We made them bywords. A far removal for folk who believe not!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND THEN We sent forth Moses and his brother Aaron with Our messages and a manifest authority [from Us]

  - Mohammad Asad

Then We sent Musa (Moses) and his brother Haroon (Aaron) with Our signs and clear authority,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our tokens and a clear warrant

  - Marmaduke Pickthall