Surah 23. Al-Muminun

We [but want to] make them vie with one another in doing [what they consider] good works?³² Nay, but they do not perceive [their error]!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "Do they think that by bestowing on them worldly prosperity God but wants them to vie with one another in their race after material goods and comforts, which they mistakenly identify with 'doing good works'?" Another - linguistically permissible - rendering of the above two verses would be: "Do they think that by all the wealth and offspring with which We provide them We [but] hasten on [the coming] to them of all that is good?" Either of these two renderings implies, firstly, that worldly prosperity is not the ultimate good, and, secondly, that the breach of the unity spoken of in the preceding passage was, more often than not, an outcome of mere worldly greed and of factional striving after power.

We are eager for their welfare? By no means! They do not understand the reality of the matter.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We hasten unto them with good things? Nay, but they perceive not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Verily, [only] they who stand in reverent awe of their Sustainer,

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely those who live cautiously for fear of their Rabb,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! those who go in awe for fear of their Lord,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and who believe in their Sustainer's messages,

  - Mohammad Asad

who believe in the revelations of their Rabb;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who believe in the revelations of their Lord,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and who do not ascribe divinity to aught but their Sustainer,

  - Mohammad Asad

who do not commit shirk with their Rabb,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who ascribe not partners unto their Lord,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and who give whatever they [have to] give³³ with their hearts trembling at the

  - Mohammad Asad

This is an allusion to the giving of what one is morally obliged to give, whether it be in charity or in satisfaction of rightful claims on the part of one's fellow-men, including such intangible "gifts" as the dispensing of justice.

who give to charity whatever they can give, and their hearts are full of fear by the very idea that they shall have to return to their Rabb,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who give that which they give with hearts afraid because they are about to return unto their Lord,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

it is they who vie with one another in doing good works, and it is they who outrun [all others] in attaining to them!

  - Mohammad Asad

it is they who rush in doing good deeds and try to be the first in attaining them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

These race for the good things, and they shall win them in the race.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [withal,] We do not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear: for with Us is a record that speaks the truth [about what men do and can dol; and none shall be wronged.

  - Mohammad Asad

We charge no soul with more than it can bear; We have a Book of record which shall clearly tell the truth, and they shall not be treated unjustly.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We task not any soul beyond its scope, and with Us is a Record which speaketh the truth, and they will not be wronged.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NAY, [as for those who have torn asunder the unity of faith-] their hearts are lost in ignorance of all this!³⁴ But apart from that [breach of unity] they have [on their conscience even worse] deeds;³⁵ and they will [continue to] commit them

  - Mohammad Asad

This passage obviously connects with the last sentence of verse {56} - "Nay, but they do not perceive [their error!''-and. hence, refers to the people spoken of in verse {54} as being "lost in their ignorance" (fi ghamratihim ).

Namely, actions and dogmatic assertions which utterly contradict the teachings of the very apostles whom they claim to follow, like ascribing divine qualities to beings other than God, worshipping saints, or rejecting divine revelations which do not accord with their own likes and dislikes or with their customary mode of thinking.

But their hearts are blind to all this; and their deeds are also different from the believers. They will continue doing their misdeeds

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but their hearts are in ignorance of this (Qur'an), and they have other works, besides, which they are doing;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

until - after We shall have taken to task, through suffering, those from among them who [now] are lost in the pursuit of pleasures³⁶ - they cry out in [belated] supplication.

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {17}, note [22]. The particular reference, in this context, to people "who [at present] are lost in the pursuit of pleasures" contains an allusion to verse {55} above (see my explanation in note [32], especially the last sentence). The "taking to task through suffering" spoken of here may refer to the Day of Judgment or - as in 17:16 - to the inevitable social ruin which, in the long run, wrong beliefs and actions bring with themselves in this world.

until when We seize those of them who live in comfort with punishment; lo! Then they start crying for help in supplication.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Till when We grasp their luxurious ones with the punishment, behold! they supplicate.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But they will be told:] "Cry not in supplication today: for, behold, you shall not be succoured by Us!

  - Mohammad Asad

We shall say: "Do not cry for help this Day, for surely from Us you shall receive no help.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Supplicate not this day! Assuredly ye will not be helped by Us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Time and again³⁷ were My messages conveyed unto you, but [every time] you would turn about on your heels

  - Mohammad Asad

This is the meaning implied in the auxiliary verb kanat. preceded by the particle qad.

My revelations were recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

My revelations were recited unto you, but ye used to turn back on your heels,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and,] impelled by your arrogance, you would talk senselessly far into the night."³⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "as one who keeps awake at night" (samiran). In combination with the phrase kuntum...tahjurun, this expression indicates the pursuit of endless, fruitless discussions divorced from all reality, or a mere play with words leading nowhere. (See also 31:6 and the corresponding note [4].)

in arrogance, talking nonsense about The Qur'an like one telling fables by night.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In scorn thereof. Nightly did ye rave together.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Have they, then, never tried to understand this word [of God]? Or has there [now] come to them something that never came to their forefathers of old?³⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying that the message of the Qur'an is but a continuation of all the divine messages ever revealed to man.

Do they not ponder over the Word of Allah or has anything new come to them which did not come to their forefathers?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have they not pondered the Word, or hath that come unto them which came not unto their fathers of old?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or is it, perchance, that they have not recognized their Apostle, and so they disavow him?

  - Mohammad Asad

Or is it because they do not recognize their Rasool, who is a member of their own community, that they deny him?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or know they not their messenger, and so reject him?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or do they say, "There is madness in him"? Nay, he has brought them the truth - and the truth do most of them detest!⁴⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., they hate to admit the truth: the reason being - as the sequence shows - that the world-view propounded by the Qur'an is not in accord with their own likes and dislikes or preconceived notions.

Or are they really convinced that he is a madman? Nay! In fact he has brought them the Truth and most of them dislike the Truth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or say they: There is a madness in him? Nay, but he bringeth them the Truth; and most of them are haters of the Truth.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But if the truth⁴¹ were in accord with their own likes and dislikes, the heavens and the earth would surely have fallen into ruin, and all that lives in them [would long ago have perished]!⁴² Nay, [in this divine writ] We have conveyed unto them all that they ought to bear in mind:⁴³ and from this their reminder they [heedlessly] turn away!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the reality of all creation.

I.e., if the universe - and, especially, human life - had been as devoid of meaning and purpose as they imagine, nothing could have endured, and everything would have long since perished in chaos.

For this rendering of the term dhikr, see note [13] on 21:10 .

- Had the Truth followed their appetites, the heavens, the earth and everything therein would have been disrupted. Nay! We have given them their reminder, but they are heedless to their reminder.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if the Truth had followed their desires, verily the heavens and the earth and whosoever is therein had been corrupted. Nay, We have brought them their Reminder, but from their Reminder they now turn away.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or cost thou [O Muhammad] ask of them any worldly recompense? But [they ought to know that] a recompense from thy Sustainer is best, since He is the best of nroviders!⁴⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

The terms kharj and kharaj which occur in the above verse are more or less synonymous, both of them denoting "recompense". According to Zamakhshari, however, there is a slight difference between these two expressions, kharj being more restricted in its meaning than kharaj: hence, the first has been rendered as "worldly recompense" and the second as "recompense" without any restrictive definition, implying that a recompense from God is unlimited, relating both.

Or is it that you are asking them for some recompense? But the recompense of your Rabb is the best, for He is the best provider of sustenance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or dost thou ask of them (O Muhammad) any tribute? But! the bounty of thy Lord is better, for He is best of all who make provision.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, verily, thou callest them onto a straight way-

  - Mohammad Asad

As a matter of fact, you (O Muhammad) are calling them to the Straight Way;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! thou summonest them indeed unto a right path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

but, behold, those who will not believe in the life to come are bound to deviate from that way.

  - Mohammad Asad

and surely those who do not believe in the hereafter will ever stray from the Straight Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! those who believe not in the Hereafter are indeed astray from the path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And even were We to show them mercy and remove whatever distress might befall them [in this life],⁴⁵ they would still persist in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro.

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "as it inevitably befalls all human beings": an oblique allusion to the fact that human life is never free from distress.

If We show them mercy and relieve them of their affliction, they would obstinately persist in their rebellion, blindly wandering to and fro;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Though We had mercy on them and relieved them of the harm afflicting them, they still would wander blindly on in their contumacy.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall