Surah 42. Ash-Shura

Ha. Mim.

  - Mohammad Asad

Ha M'im.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Ha. Mim.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

'Ayn. Sin. Qaf.¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

'Ain Sin Qaf.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Ain. Sin. Qaf.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

THUS has God, the Almighty, the Wise, revealed [the truth] unto thee, [O Muhammad,] and unto those who preceded thee:²

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the basic truth propounded in the Qur'anic revelation - some of which are summarized in the sequence - are the same as those revealed to all the earlier prophets.

Thus, Allah All-Mighty, the All-Wise sends His revelation to you, O Muhammad, as He sent to other Rasools before you.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thus Allah the Mighty, the Knower inspireth thee (Muhammad) as (He inspired) those before thee.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and most exalted, tremendous is He.

  - Mohammad Asad

To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. He is the Supreme, the Great.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Unto Him belongeth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and He is the Sublime, the Tremendous.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The uppermost heavens are well-nigh rent asunder [for awe of Him]; and the angels extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise, and ask forgiveness for all who are on earth.³ Oh, verily, God alone is truly-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., all human beings (as indicated by the relative pronoun man, which always refers to beings endowed with conscious intelligence). The implication is that whereas all humans - whether believers or unbelievers - are liable to err and to sin, God "is full of forgiveness unto men despite all their evildoing" ( 13:6 ). See also the first sentence of 10:11 and the corresponding note [17].

The heavens might have almost broken apart from above those who are elevating Allah's creatures to His rank, if the angels would have not been glorifying their Rabb with His praise and begging forgiveness for those on earth. Behold! Surely it is Allah Who is the oft-Forgiving, most Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Almost might the heavens above be rent asunder while the angels hymn the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth. Lo! Allah is the Forgiver, the Merciful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NOW AS FOR those who take aught beside Him for their protectors - God watches them, and thou art not responsible for their conduct.1

  - Mohammad Asad

Those who take others as their guardians besides Him, Allah Himself is watching them; and O Prophet, you are not the disposer of their affairs.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And as for those who choose protecting friends beside Him, Allah is Warden over them, and thou art in no wise a guardian over them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Thou art but entrusted with Our message:] and so We have revealed unto thee a discourse in the Arabic tongue⁴ in order that thou mayest warn the foremost of all cities and all who dwell around it⁵ - to wit, warn [them] of the Day of the Gathering, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt: [the Day when] some shall find themselves in paradise, and some in the blazing flame.

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 14:4 - "never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue"; see also note [72] on the first sentence of 13:37 .

I.e., all mankind (Tabari, Baghawi, Razi). As regards the designation of Mecca as "the foremost of all cities", see note [75] on the identical phrase in 6:92 .

Thus have We revealed to you this Qur'an in Arabic, so that you may warn the residents of the Mother City (Makkah) and its suburbs, and forewarn them of the Day of assembly about which there is no doubt: when some will go to paradise and others to the blazing fire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And thus we have inspired in thee a Lecture in Arabic, that thou mayest warn the mother town and those around it, and mayest warn of a day of assembling whereof there is no doubt. A host will be in the Garden, and a host of them in the Flame.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now had God so willed, He could surely have made them all one single community:⁶ none the less, He admits unto His grace him that wills [to be admitted]⁷ - whereas the evildoers shall have none to protect them and none to succour them [on Judgment Day].

  - Mohammad Asad

The implication being, "but He has not willed it": see second paragraph of 5:48 and the corresponding notes [66] and [67]; 16:93 and note [116]; also note [29] on 10:19 .

Or: "He admits whomever He wills unto His grace" - similar to the double meaning inherent in the oft-recurring phrase, Allahu yahdi man yasha'u wa-yudillu man yasha'u, which can be understood either as "God guides whomever He wills and lets go astray whomever He wills", or, alternatively, as "God guides him that wills [to be guided] and let go astray him that wills [to go astray]". See, in particular, Zamakhshari's elaborate comment on this problem quoted in note [4] on the second half of 14:4 .

If Allah wanted, He could have made all of them a single nation; but He admits to His mercy whom He pleases; as for the wrongdoers, they will have no protector nor helper.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Had Allah willed, He could have made them one community, but Allah bringeth whom He will into His mercy. And the wrong-doers have no friend nor helper.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Did they, perchance, [think that they could] choose protectors other than Him? But God alone is the Protector [of all that exists], since it is He alone who brings the dead to life, and He alone who has the power to will anything.

  - Mohammad Asad

Have they set up other guardians beside Him, while Allah Alone is the Guardian? It is He Who gives life to the dead and it is He Who has power over all things.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or have they chosen protecting friends besides Him? But Allah, He (alone) is the Protecting Friend. He quickeneth the dead, and He is Able to do all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND ON WHATEVER you may differ, [O believers,] the verdict thereon rests with God.⁸ [Say, therefore:] "Such is God, my Sustainer: in Him have I placed my trust, and unto Him do I always turn!"

  - Mohammad Asad

This, connecting with the first sentence of verse 8 above, evidently relates to problems of faith and religious law (Baghawi, Zamakhshari). The above verse has provided some of the great exponents of Islamic Law - Ibn Hazm among them - with one of the main arguments against the acceptance of deductions by analogy (qiyas) as a means to "establish" points of religious law not formulated as such in the nass - i.e., the self-evident (zahir) wording of the Qur'an and, by obvious implication, of the Prophet's commandments. This, as Razi points out, is the meaning of the phrase "on whatever you may differ, the verdict (hukm) thereon rests with God". (See in this connection note [120] on 5:101 ; also the section on "The Scope of Islamic Law" in my State and Government, pp. 11-15.)

O Prophet tell them: Whatever the subject of your dispute is, its judgement belongs to Allah: Such is Allah my Rabb, in Him I have put my trust, and to Him I turn in repentance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And in whatsoever ye differ, the verdict therein belongeth to Allah. Such is my Lord, in Whom I put my trust, and unto Whom I turn.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall