Surah 25. Al-Furqan

But nay! It is [the very coming of] the Last Hour to which they give the lie! However, for such as give the lie to [the announcement of] the Last Hour We have readied a blazing flame:

  - Mohammad Asad

But in fact they deny the Hour - and for the one who denies the coming of the Hour, We have prepared a blazing fire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but they deny (the coming of) the Hour, and for those who deny (the coming of) the Hour We have prepared a flame.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

when it shall face them from afar,⁹ they will hear its angry roar and its hiss;

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "When it shall see them from a far-off place": a metaphorical allusion, it would seem, to the moment of their death on earth. As in many other instances, we are given here a subtle verbal hint of the allegorical nature of the Qur'anic descriptions of conditions in the life to come by a rhetorical "transfer" of man's faculty of seeing to the object of his seeing: a usage which Zamakhshari explicitly characterizes as metaphorical ('ala sabil al-majaz).

When it shall come into their sight, from a long distance, they will hear its raging and roaring.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When it seeth them from afar, they bear the cracking and the roar thereof.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and when they are flung, linked [all] together, into a tight space within, they will pray for extinction there and then!¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

For a tentative explanation of the allegory of the sinners' being "linked together" in hell, see my note [64] on 14:49 . As regards the "tight space" into which they will be flung, Zamakhshari remarks: "Distress is accompanied by [a feeling of] constriction, just as happiness is accompanied by [a feeling of] spaciousness; and because of this, God has described paradise as being 'as vast as the heavens and the earth' [ 3:133 ]."

And when, chained together, they are flung into some narrow space, they will fervently plead for death.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they are flung into a narrow place thereof, chained together, they pray for destruction there.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But they will be told:] "Pray not today for one single extinction, but pray for many extinctions!"¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Although the concept of "extinction" (thubur) implies finality and is, therefore, unrepeatable, the sinners' praying for "many extinctions" is used here as a metonym for their indescribable suffering and a corresponding, indescribable desire for a final escape.

But they will be told: "Do not plead for one death today, but plead for many deaths."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Pray not that day for one destruction, but pray for many destructions!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Which is better-that, or the paradise of life abiding which has been promised to the God-conscious as their reward and their journey's end-

  - Mohammad Asad

Ask them: "Which is better, this hell or the eternal paradise which the righteous are being promised, which will be the reward of their good deeds and also their final destination;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Is that (doom) better or the Garden of Immortality which is promised unto those who ward off (evil)? It will be their reward and journey's end.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

a promise given by thy Sustainer, [always] to be prayed for?"

  - Mohammad Asad

wherein they will live forever and get everything that they wish for: and this is the promise worth praying for, which your Rabb is going to fulfill."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Therein abiding, they have all that they desire. It is for thy Lord a promise that must be fulfilled.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

BUT [as for people who are oblivious of thy Sus-tainer's oneness¹² -] one Day He will gather them together with all that they [now] worship instead of God, and will ask [those to whom divinity was falsely ascribed¹³ ]: "Was it you who led these My creatures astray, or did they by themselves stray from the right path?"

  - Mohammad Asad

This passage connects elliptically with verse {3} above.

The rhetorical "question" which follows is obviously addressed to wrongfully deified rational beings - i.e., prophets or saints - and not, as some commentators assume, to lifeless idols which, as it were, "will be made to speak".

On that Day, He will gather all these people together along with the deities whom they worshiped besides Allah, and ask: "Was it you who misled these servants of Mine, or did they choose to go astray themselves?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And on the day when He will assemble them and that which they worship instead of Allah and will say: Was it ye who misled these my slaves or did they (themselves) wander from the way?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They will answer: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! It was inconceivable for us to take for our masters anyone but Thyself!¹⁴ But [as for them -] Thou didst allow them and their forefathers to enjoy [the pleasures of] life to such an extent that¹⁵ they forgt all remembrance [of thee]: for they were people devoid of all good,"

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and so it would have been morally impossible for us to ask others to worship us". On the other hand, Ibn Kathir understands the expression "for us" (lana) as denoting "us human beings" in general, and not merely the speakers - in which case the sentence could be rendered thus: "It is not right for us [human beings] to take...", etc. In either case, the above allegorical "question-and-answer" - repeated in many variations throughout the Qur'an - is meant to stress, in a dramatic manner, the moral odiousness and intellectual futility of attributing divine qualities to any being other than God.

This is the meaning of hatta (lit., "till" or "until") in the present context.

Those deities will answer: "Glory be to You! It was not befitting for us that we could take any guardian besides You, but You let them and their forefathers enjoy the comforts of worldly life until they forgot the Reminder, and thereby became worthless people."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They will say: Be Thou glorified! It was not for us to choose any protecting friends beside Thee; but Thou didst give them and their fathers ease till they forgot the warning and became lost folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Thereupon God will say:] "And now, they [whom you regarded as divine] have given the lie to all your [past] assertions, and you can neither ward off [your punishment] nor obtain any succour! For, whoever of you has committed [such] evil, him shall We cause to taste areas suffering!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus your gods will deny all that you profess today. Then you shall neither be able to avert your punishment nor shall you get any help from anywhere; and every one among you who is guilty of wrongdoing, We shall make him taste the mighty punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thus they will give you the lie regarding what ye say, then ye can neither avert (the doom) nor obtain help. And whoso among you doeth wrong, We shall make him taste great torment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [even] before thee, Lo Muhammad,] We never sent as Our message-bearers any but [mortal men,] who indeed ate food [like other human beings] and went about in the market-places: for [it is thus that] We cause you [human beings] to be a means of testing one another.'¹⁶ Are you¹⁷ able to endure [this test] with patience? For [remember, O man,] thy Sustainer is truly all-seeing!

  - Mohammad Asad

This elliptic passage undoubtedly alludes to the fact that the appearance of each new prophet had, as a rule, a twofold purpose: firstly, to convey a divinely-inspired ethical message to man, and thus to establish a criterion of right and wrong or a standard by which to discern the true from the false (al-furqan, as stated in the first verse of this surah); and, secondly, to be a means of testing men's moral perceptions and dispositions as manifested in their reactions to the prophet's message - that is, their willingness or unwillingness to accept it on the basis of its intrinsic merit without demanding or even expecting any "supernatural" proof of its divine origin. Indirectly, in its deepest sense, this passage implies that not only a prophet but every human being is, by virtue of his social existence, a means whereby the moral qualities of his fellow-men are put to a test: hence, some of the earliest commentators (among them Tabari) give to the above phrase the connotation of "We caused you human beings to be a means of testing one another".

I.e., "you men" or, more specifically, "you whom the message of the Qur'an has reached".

We have sent no Rasool before you, who did not eat or walk through the streets. In fact, We test you by means of one another. Now, will you show patience, for your Rabb is Ever Observant.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We never sent before thee any messengers but lo! they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have appointed some of you a test for others: Will ye be steadfast? And thy Lord is ever Seer.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But those who do not believe that they are destined to meet Us¹⁸ are wont to say, "Why have no angels been sent down to us?" - or, "Why do we not see our Sustainer?" Indeed, they are far too proud of themselves, hav-ing rebelled [against God's truth] with utter disdain!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "who do not hope for [i.e., expect] a meeting with Us": the implication being that they do not believe in resurrection and, consequently, do not expect to be judged by God in after-life.

Those who do not expect to meet Us on the Day of Judgement say: "Why are not the angels sent down to us or why do we not see our Rabb?" Certainly they are too proud of themselves, and have revolted in a great revolt.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who look not for a meeting with Us say: Why are angels not sent down unto us and (why) do we not see our Lord? Assuredly they think too highly of themselves and are scornful with great pride.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Yet] on that Day - the Day on which they shall see the angels¹⁹ - there will be no glad tiding for those who were lost in sin; and they will exclaim, "By a forbidding ban [are we from God's grace debarred]!"-

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., on Judgment Day, when "all will have been decided" (cf. 6:8 ).

On the Day when they see the angels, it will not be a Day of rejoicing for the criminal; rather they will cry: "May there be a stone barrier between us and the angels of punishment."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On the day when they behold the angels, on that day there will be no good tidings for the guilty; and they will cry: A forbidding ban!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for We shall have turned towards all the [supposedly good] deeds they ever wrought, and shall have transformed them into scattered dust-

  - Mohammad Asad

Then We shall turn to the deeds which they did, based on their wrong opinions, and render them vain like blown dust.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We shall turn unto the work they did and make it scattered motes.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[whereas] on that same Day those who are destined for paradise will be graced with the best of abodes and the fairest place of repose.²⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit.. "will be happiest as regards their abode, and best as regards their place of repose".

In contrast, the heirs of paradise shall have the best residence and finest lodging on that Day.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those who have earned the Garden on that day will be better in their home and happier in their place of noonday rest;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And on the Day on which the skies, together with the clouds, shall burst asunder, and the angels are made to descend in a mighty descent-

  - Mohammad Asad

On that Day when the heavens shall burst asunder with clouds and the angels will be sent down ranks after ranks,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

A day when the heaven with the clouds will be rent asunder and the angels will be sent down, a grand descent.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall