Surah 2. Al-Baqara

And when they are told, "Do not spread corruption on earth," they answer, "We are but improving things!"

  - Mohammad Asad

When it is said to them: "Do not make mischief on earth," they say: "We make peace."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When they are told, 'Do not spread corruption in the land,' they reply, 'We are only peace-makers!'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 When they were criticized for their close association with the pagans who were hostile to Muslims, they would argue that they only wanted to make peace between Muslims and their enemies.

And when it is said unto them: Make not mischief in the earth, they say: We are peacemakers only.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth" they say: "Why we only want to make peace!"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Oh, verily, it is they, they who are spreading corruption - but they perceive it not!⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

It would seem that this is an allusion to people who oppose any "intrusion" of religious considerations into the realm of practical affairs, and thus - often unwittingly, thinking that they are "but improving things" - contribute to the moral and social confusion referred to in the subsequent verse.

Be aware! They are the ones who make mischief but they do not realize it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, it is they who are the corruptors, but they fail to perceive it.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Are not they indeed the mischief makers? But they perceive not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Of a surety they are the ones who make mischief but they realize (it) not. ³⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Much mischief is caused (sometimes unwittingly) by people who think that they have a mission of peace, when they have not even a true perception of right and wrong. By their blind arrogance they depress the good and encourage the evil.

And when they are told, "Believe as other people believe," they answer, "Shall we believe as the weak-minded believe?" Oh, verily, it is they, they who are weak-minded - but they know it not!

  - Mohammad Asad

When it is said to them: "Believe as the others believe" they sarcastically ask: "Should we believe like fools?" Be aware! They themselves are the fools, if only they could understand.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they are told, 'Believe as others believe,' they reply, 'Will we believe as the fools believe?' Indeed, it is they who are fools, but they do not know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when it is said unto them: Believe as the people believe, they say: Shall we believe as the foolish believe? Are not they indeed the foolish? But they know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When it is said to them: "Believe as the others believe" they say: "Shall we believe as the fools believe?" nay of a surety they are the fools buy they do not know. ³⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is another phase of the hypocrite and the cynic. "Faith" he says, "is good enough to fools." But his cynicism may be the greatest folly in the eyes of God.

And when they meet those who have attained to faith, they assert, "We believe [as you believe]"; but when they find themselves alone with their evil impulses,¹⁰ they say, "Verily, we are with you; we were only mocking!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "their satans" (shayatin, pl. of shaytan). In accordance with ancient Arabic usage, this term often denotes people "who, through their insolent persistence in evildoing (tamarrud), have become like satans" (Zamakhshari): an interpretation of the above verse accepted by most of the commentators. However, the term shaytan - which is derived from the verb shatana, "he was [or "became"] remote [from all that is good and true]" (Lisan al-'Arab, Taj al-'Arus) - is often used in the Qur'an to describe the "satanic" (i.e., exceedingly evil) propensities in man's own soul, and especially all impulses which run counter to truth and morality (Raghib).

When they meet the believers they say: "We are believers," but when they are alone with their shaitans, they say: "We are really with you, we were only mocking the believers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When they meet the believers they say, 'We believe.' But when alone with their evil associates they say, 'We are definitely with you; we were only mocking.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: Lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When they meet those who believe they say: "We believe" but when they are alone with their evil ones they say: "We are really with you we (were) only jesting." ³⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A deeper phase of insincerity is actual duplicity. But it never pays in the end. If we compare such a man to a trader, he loses in the bargain.

God will requite them for their mockery,¹¹ and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "God will mock at them". My rendering is in conformity with the generally accepted interpretation of this phrase.

Allah will throw back their mockery on them and leave them alone in their trespasses; so they wander to and fro like blind.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah will throw their mockery back at them, leaving them to continue wandering blindly in their defiance.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Allah (Himself) doth mock them, leaving them to wander blindly on in their contumacy.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Allah will throw back their mockery on them and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (to and fro).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[for] it is they who have taken error in exchange for guidance; and neither has their bargain brought them gain, nor have they found guidance [elsewhere].

  - Mohammad Asad

These are the people who barter guidance for error: but their bargain is profitless and they are not going to be guided.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They are the ones who trade guidance for misguidance. But this trade is profitless, and they are not 'rightly' guided.

  - Mustafa Khattab

These are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, so their commerce doth not prosper, neither are they guided.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

These are they who have bartered guidance for error: but their traffic is profitless and they have lost true direction.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Their parable is that of people who kindle a fire: but as soon as it has illumined all around them, God takes away their light and leaves them in utter darkness, wherein they cannot see:

  - Mohammad Asad

Their example is that of a man who kindled a fire; when it illuminated all around him Allah took away the light (their eyesight) and left them in utter darkness: they could see nothing.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Their example is that of someone who kindles a fire, but when it lights up all around them, Allah takes away their light, leaving them in complete darkness- unable to see.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindleth fire, and when it sheddeth its light around him Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Their similitude is that of a man who kindled a fire; when it lighted all around him Allah took away their light and left them in utter darkness so they could not see. ³⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The man wanted light; he only kindled a fire. It produced a blaze, and won the applause of all around. But it did not last long. When the flame when out as was inevitable, the darkness was worse than before. And they all lost their way. So hypocrisy, deception, arrogant compromise with evil, cynicism, or duplicity may win temporary applause. But the true light of faith and sincerity is wanting, and therefore it must mislead and ruin all concerned. In the consternation they cannot speak or hear each other, and of course they cannot see; so they end like the deliberate rejecters of Faith (ii. 7), wildly groping about, dumb, deaf and blind.

deaf, dumb, blind - and they cannot turn back.

  - Mohammad Asad

Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will never return to the Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They are 'wilfully' deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return 'to the Right Path'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Deaf, dumb and blind; and they return not

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Deaf dumb and blind they will not return (to the path).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Or [the parable] of a violent cloudburst in the sky, with utter darkness, thunder and lightning: they put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death; but God encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth.

  - Mohammad Asad

Or another example is that of a dark storm-cloud in the sky charged with thunder and lightning. They press their fingers into their ears at the sound of each stunning thunderclap for fear of death: Allah is encircling the unbelievers from all sides.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'those caught in' a rainstorm from the sky with darkness, thunder, and lightning. They press their fingers into their ears at the sound of every thunder-clap for fear of death. And Allah encompasses the disbelievers 'by His might'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the flash of lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of the thunder-claps, for fear of death. Allah encompasseth the disbelievers (in His guidance).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or (another similitude) is that of a rain-laden cloud from the sky; in it are zones of darkness and thunder and lightning they press their fingers in their ears to keep out the stunning thunder-clap the while they are in terror of death. But Allah is ever round the rejecters of Faith! ³⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A wonderfully graphic and powerful simile applying to those who reject Faith. In their self-sufficiency they are undisturbed normally. But what happens when a great storm breaks over them? They cover their ears against thunder-claps and the lightning nearly blinds them. They are in mortal fear, but God encompasses them around - even them, for He at all times encompasses all. He gives them rope. In the intervals of deafening noise and blinding flashes, there are moments of steady light and these creatures take advantage of them, but again they are plunged into darkness. Perhaps they curse; perhaps they think that the few moments of effective light are due to their own intelligence! How much wiser would they be if they humbled themselves and sought the light of God!

The lightning well-nigh takes away their sight; whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and whenever darkness falls around them, they stand still. And if God so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and their sight:¹² for, verily, God has the power to will anything.

  - Mohammad Asad

The obvious implication is: "but He does not will this" - that is, He does not preclude the possibility that "those who have taken error in exchange for guidance" may one day perceive the truth and mend their ways. The expression "their hearing and their sight" is obviously a metonym for man's instinctive ability to discern between good and evil and, hence, for his moral responsibility. - In the parable of the "people who kindle a fire" we have, I believe, an allusion to some people's exclusive reliance on what is termed the "scientific approach" as a means to illumine and explain all the imponderables of life and faith, and the resulting arrogant refusal to admit that anything could be beyond the reach of man's intellect. This "overweening arrogance", as the Qur'an terms it, unavoidably exposes its devotees - and the society dominated by them - to the lightning of disillusion which "well-nigh takes away their sight", i.e., still further weakens their moral perception and deepens their "terror of death".

The lightning terrifies them as if it was going to snatch away their eyesight; whenever it flashes they walk on; when it becomes dark, they stand still. And if Allah wanted He could have totally taken away their hearing and their sight; for Allah has power over everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It is as if the lightning were about to snatch away their sight. Whenever lightning strikes, they walk in its light, but when darkness covers them, they stand still. Had Allah willed, He could have taken away their hearing and sight. Surely Allah is Most Capable of everything.

  - Mustafa Khattab

The lightning almost snatcheth away their sight from them. As often as it flasheth forth for them they walk therein, and when it darkeneth against them they stand still. If Allah willed, He could destroy their hearing and their sight. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The lightning all but snatches away their sight; every time the light (helps) them they walk therein and when the darkness grows on them they stand still. And if Allah willed He could take away their faculty of hearing and seeing; for Allah hath power over all things.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

O MANKIND! Worship your Sustainer, who has created you and those who lived before you, so that you might remain conscious of Him

  - Mohammad Asad

O Mankind! Worship your Rabb Who created you and created those who came before you; by doing this you may expect to guard yourself against evil.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O humanity! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you, so that you may become mindful 'of Him'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O ye people! adore your Guardian-Lord who created you and those who came before you that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness. ⁴⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For Taqwa see ii. 2 n. 26. I connect this dependent clause with "adore, etc." above, though it could be connected with "created". According to my construction the argument will be as follows. Adoration is the act of the highest and humblest reverence and worship. When you get into that relationship with God, Who is your Creator and Guardian, your faith produces works of righteousness. It is a chance given you: will you exercise your free will and take it? If you do, your whole nature will be transformed.

who has made the earth a resting-place for you and the sky a canopy, and has sent down water from the sky and thereby brought forth fruits for your sustenance: do not, then, claim that there is any power that could rival God,¹³ when you know [that He is One].

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "do not give God any compeers" (andad, pl. of nidd). There is full agreement among all commentators that this term implies any object of adoration to which some or all of God's qualities are ascribed, whether it be conceived as a deity "in its own right" or a saint supposedly possessing certain divine or semi-divine powers. This meaning can be brought out only by a free rendering of the above phrase.

It is He Who has made the earth a floor for you and the sky a canopy; and it is He Who sends down rain from the sky for the growth of fruits for your sustenance. Therefore, do not knowingly set up rivals to Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'He is the One' Who has made the earth a place of settlement for you and the sky a canopy; and sends down rain from the sky, causing fruits to grow as a provision for you. So do not knowingly set up equals to Allah 'in worship'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you. And do not set up rivals to Allah when ye know (better).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Who has made the earth your couch and the heaven your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth). ⁴¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Further proofs of God's goodness to you are given in this verse. Your whole life, physical and spiritual, depends upon Him. The spiritual is figured by the Canopy of Heaven. The truth has been brought plainly before you. Will you still resist it and go after false gods, the creation of your own fancy? The false gods may be idols, supersititions, Self, or even great or glorious things like Poetry, Art, or Science, when set up as rivals to God. They may be pride of race, pride of birth, pride of wealth or position, pride of power, pride of learning, or even spiritual pride.

And if you doubt any part of what We have bestowed from on high, step by step, upon Our servant [Muhammad],¹⁴ then produce a surah of similar merit, and call upon any other than God to bear witness for you¹⁵ - if what you say is true!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the message of which the doctrine of God's oneness and uniqueness is the focal point. By the use of the word "doubt" (rayb), this passage is meant to recall the opening sentence of this surah: "This divine writ - let there be no doubt about it...", etc. The gradualness of revelation is implied in the grammatical form nazzalna - which is important in this context inasmuch as the opponents of the Prophet argued that the Qur'an could not be of divine origin because it was being revealed gradually, and not in one piece (Zamakhshari).

Lit., "come forward with a surah like it, and call upon your witnesses other than God" - namely, "to attest that your hypothetical literary effort could be deemed equal to any part of the Qur'an." This challenge occurs in two other places as well ( 10:38 and 11:13 , in which latter case the unbelievers are called upon to produce ten chapters of comparable merit); see also 17:88 .

If you are in doubt as to whether the revelations which We have sent to Our servant (Muhammad) are from Us or not, then produce one Surah like this; and call your witnesses (gods that you call upon) besides Allah to assist you, if you are right in your claim.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant,¹ then produce a sûrah like it and call your helpers other than Allah, if what you say is true.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Muḥammad (ﷺ).

And if ye are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave (Muhammad), then produce a sura or the like thereof, and call your witnesses beside Allah if ye are truthful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant then produce a Surah like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (if there are any) besides Allah if your (doubts) are true. ⁴²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

How do we know that there is revelation, and that is from God? Here is a concrete test. The Teacher of God's Truth has placed before you many Suras. Can you produce one like it? If there is any one besides God, who can inspire spiritual truth in such noble language, produce your evidence. Or is it that your doubts are merely argumentative, refractory, against your own inner light, or conscience? All true revelation is itself a miracle, and stands on its own merits.

And if you cannot do it - and most certainly you cannot do it - then be conscious of the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones¹⁶ which awaits all who deny the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

This evidently denotes all objects of worship to which men turn instead of God - their powerlessness and inefficacy being symbolized by the lifelessness of stones - while the expression "human beings" stands here for human actions deviating from the way of truth (cf. Manar I, 197): the remembrance of all of which is bound to increase the sinner's suffering in the hereafter, referred to in the Qur'an as "hell".

But if you are unable to do so, and you can never do so, then fear the Hell fire, whose fuel is men and stones which is prepared for the unbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But if you are unable to do so- and you will never be able to do so- then fear the Fire fuelled with people and stones, which is prepared for the disbelievers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And if ye do it not and ye can never do it--then guard yourselves against the fire prepared for disbelievers, whose fuel is of men and stones.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But if ye cannot and of a surety ye cannot then fear the fire whose fuel is Men and Stones which is prepared for those who reject Faith. ⁴³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If by your own efforts you cannot match the spiritual light, and yet contumaciously reject spiritual Faith, then there will be a fire in your souls, the Punishment that burns up all your cherished idols. Perhaps you will at least fear this penalty, which your self-loving souls can understand. This fire consumes both the worshippers of the False and the Idols which they falsely worship. Can this bring them to their senses? Its power is not only over the feeling, palpitating heart of man (heart in a spiritual sense, as it persists long after the physical heart), but he cannot escape from it even if he imagines himself reduced to inertness like sticks or stones; for it is all-devouring.

But unto those who have attained to faith and do good works give the glad tiding that theirs shall be gardens through which running waters flow. Whenever they are granted fruits therefrom as their appointed sustenance, they will say, "It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance!" - for they shall be given something that will recall that [past].¹⁷ And there shall they have spouses pure, and there shall they abide.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "something resembling it". Various interpretations, some of them of an esoteric and highly speculative nature, have been given to this passage. For the manner in which I have translated it I am indebted to Muhammad 'Abduh (in Manar I, 232 f.), who interprets the phrase, "It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance" as meaning: "It is this that we have been promised during our life on earth as a requital for faith and righteous deeds." In other words, man's actions and attitudes in this world will be mirrored in their "fruits", or consequences, in the life to come - as has been expressed elsewhere in the Qur'an in the verses, "And he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it" ({99:7-8}). As regards the reference to "spouses" in the next sentence, it is to be noted that the term zawj (of which azwaj is the plural) signifies either of the two components of a couple - that is, the male as well as the female.

Give glad tidings to those who believe in this Book and do good deeds in accordance with its teachings for them there will be Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they will be given fruits to eat they will say: "This is similar to the one we used to eat before on earth," for the fruits will resemble the fruits on the earth for their easy identification and enjoyment; and for them there will be chaste virgin spouses, and they shall live therein for ever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Give good news 'O Prophet' to those who believe and do good that they will have Gardens under which rivers flow. Whenever provided with fruit, they will say, 'This is what we were given before,' for they will be served fruit that looks similar 'but tastes different'. They will have pure spouses,¹ and they will be there forever.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Residents of Paradise will be in a perfect condition. There will be neither physical impurities such as illness, urination, defecation, or menstruation; nor spiritual blemishes such as jealousy, envy, or hatred.

And give glad tidings (O Muhammad) unto those who believe and do good works; that theirs are Gardens underneath which rivers flow; as often as they are regaled with food of the fruit thereof, they say: This is what was given us aforetime; and it is given to them in resemblance. There for them are pure companions; there for ever they abide.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness that their portion is Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom they say: "Why this is what we were fed with before" for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions (pure and holy); and they abide therein (for ever). ⁴⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is the antithesis to the last verse. If fire is the symbol of Punishment, the Garden is the symbol of felicity. And what can be more delightful than a Garden where you observe from a picturesque height a beautiful landscape round you, - rivers flowing with cyrstal water, and fruit trees of which the choicest fruit is before you. The fruit of goodness is goodness, similar, but choicer in every degree of ascent. You think it is the same, but it is because of your past experiences and associations of memory. Then there is companionship. If sex is suggested, its physical associations are at once negatived by the addition of the word Mutahharatun "pure and holy." The Arabic epithet is in the intensive form, and must be translated by two adjectives denoting purity in the highest degree. The Companionship is that of souls and applies to both sexes in the physical world of men and women. And this felicity is not a mere passing phase but will abide beyond the realms of Time.