Surah 50. Qaf

Do they not look at the sky above them - now We have built it and made it beautiful and free of all faults?⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and it has no gaps [or "breaks"] whatever".

Have they never looked at the sky above them, and marked how We have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have they not then looked at the sky above them: how We built it and adorned it 'with stars', leaving it flawless?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have they not then observed the sky above them, how We have constructed it and beautified it, and how there are no rifts therein?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and adorned it and there are no flaws in it? ⁴⁹⁴⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The greatest philosophers have found a difficulty in understanding the sceptical position when they contemplate the wonder and mystery of the skies with all the countless beautiful stars and planets and light in them, and laws of order, motion, and symmetry, that respond to the highest mathematical abstractions without a flaw. Can blind Chance give rise to such conditions?

And the earth - We have spread it wide, and set upon it mountains firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of all beauteous kinds,

  - Mohammad Asad

And the earth, how We have spread it out and set upon it mountains and caused to grow in it every kind of beautiful vegetation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

As for the earth, We spread it out and placed upon it firm mountains, and produced in it every type of pleasant plant-

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the earth have We spread out, and have flung firm hills therein, and have caused of every lovely kind to grow thereon,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the earth--We have spread it out and set thereon mountains standing firm and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs) ^{4946 4947}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xiii. 3; and xv. 19 and n. 1955. The earth is round, and yet it appears stretched out as a vast expanse, like a carpet kept steady with the weight of the mountains.

Cf. xxii. 5, and n. 2777. Sex in plants may be hinted at: see n. 1804 to xiii. 3.

thus offering an insight and a reminder unto every human being who willingly turns unto God.

  - Mohammad Asad

All these things are eye-openers and a reminder for every servant returning to Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'all as' an insight and a reminder to every servant who turns 'to Allah'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

A vision and a reminder for every penitent slave.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

To be observed and commemorated by every devotee turning (to Allah). ⁴⁹⁴⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For all these things go into his very heart and soul. He loves to contemplate them, to remember them for himself as evidence of Allah's goodness and glory, and to mention and proclaim them.

And We send down from the skies water rich in blessings, and cause thereby gardens to grow, and fields of grain,

  - Mohammad Asad

We send down blessed water from the sky with which We bring forth gardens and the harvest grain,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We send down blessed rain from the sky, bringing forth gardens and grains for harvest,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We send down from the sky blessed water whereby We give growth unto gardens and the grain of crops,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We send down from the sky Rain charged with blessing and We produce therewith Gardens and Grain for harvests;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and tall palm-trees with their thickly-clustered dates,

  - Mohammad Asad

and tall palm trees laden with clusters of dates, piled one over another,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and towering palm trees 'loaded' with clustered fruit,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And lofty date palms with ranged clusters,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And tall (and stately) palm-trees with shoots of fruit-stalks piled one over another ⁴⁹⁴⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A beautiful nature passage. How graphic and unforgettable to any one who has seen a spring and summer in an Arabian oasis!

as sustenance apportioned to men; and by [all] this We bring dead land to life: [and] even so will be [man's] coming-forth from death.

  - Mohammad Asad

a sustenance for the servants; thereby giving new life to dead land. That is how the resurrection will be of the dead from the earth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'as' a provision for 'Our' servants. And with this 'rain' We revive a lifeless land. Similar is the emergence 'from the graves'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Provision (made) for men; and therewith We quicken a dead land. Even so will be the resurrection of the dead.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As sustenance for (Allah's) Servants; and We give (new) life therewith to land that is dead: Thus will be the Resurrection.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[Long] before those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah's people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass,⁶ and [the tribes of] Thamud

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [33] on 25:38 .

Before, the people of Nuh and the dwellers of Ar-Rass denied this truth and so did Thamud,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Before them, the people of Noah denied 'the truth,' as did the people of the Water-pit,¹ Thamûd,

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Ar-Rass means “well” or “water-pit”. This refers to a pagan people, along with Midian, to whom Allah sent Prophet Shu’aib (ﷺ).

The folk of Noah denied (the truth) before them, and (so did) the dwellers at Ar Rass and (the tribe of) Thamud,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Before them was denied (the Hereafter) by the people of Noah the Companions of the Rass the Thamud ⁴⁹⁵⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Just the names of the peoples of Arabian tradition who were punished for their sins are mentioned; their stories will be found elsewhere. For the People of Noah, see xi. 25-48 and other passages. For the Companions of the Rass, see xxv. 38 and n. 3094; for the 'Ad and the Thamud, see xxvi. 123-158, and other passages; for Pharaoh and his People, see ii. 49-50 and other passages; for the Brethren of Lut, see vii. 80-84, and other passages; for the Companions of the Wood, see xv. 78-79, and n. 2000; and for the People of Tubba', see xliv. 37 and n. 4715.

and 'Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot's brethren,⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

The term "brethren" (ikhwan) is used here metonymically, denoting a group of people who share the same views or, alternatively, the same environment. Since the people referred to formed Lot's social environment (cf. 7:83 or {11:77-83}), they are described as his "brethren" although his moral concepts and inclinations were entirely different from theirs.

`Ad, Fir'on (Pharaoh) and the brethren of Lut,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Ȃd, Pharaoh, the kinfolk of Lot,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And (the tribe of) Aad, and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The `Ad Pharaoh the Brethren of Lut

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba':⁸ they all gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true.

  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding "the people of Tubba'", see 44:37 and the corresponding note. The "dwellers of the wooded dales" are the people of Madyan (the Biblical Midian), as is evident from 26:176 ff. Their story is found in the Qur'an in several places; for the most detailed version, see {11:84-95}.

the dwellers of the Al-Aiykah and the people of Tubba; all of them disbelieved their Rasools and thus brought down upon them My threatened scourge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

the residents of the Forest,¹ and the people of Tubba'.² Each rejected 'their' messenger, so My warning was fulfilled.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The people of Shu’aib (ﷺ).

 Tubba’ Al-Ḥimiari was an ancient righteous Yemeni king whose people persisted in disbelief and were destroyed, although they were superior to the Meccans in strength and manpower.

And the dwellers in the wood, and the folk of Tubb'a: every one denied their messengers, therefor My threat took effect.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The companions of the Wood and the people of Tubba; each one (of them) rejected the apostles and My warning was duly fulfilled (in them).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Could We, then, be [thought of as being] worn out by the first creation?⁹ Nay - but some people¹⁰ are [still] lost in doubt about [the possibility of] a new creation!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by the creation of the universe or, more specifically, of man.

Lit., "they".

Were We fatigued with the first creation that they are in doubt about a new creation?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Were We incapable of creating 'them' the first time? In fact, they are in doubt about 'their' re-creation.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Were We then worn out by the first creation? Yet they are in doubt about a new creation.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Were We then weary with the first Creation that they should be in confused doubt about a new Creation? ⁴⁹⁵¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xlvi. 33, and n. 4912.

NOW, VERILY, it is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his neck-vein.

  - Mohammad Asad

We created man, We know the prompting of his soul, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, 'it is' We 'Who' created humankind and 'fully' know what their souls whisper to them, and We are closer to them than 'their' jugular vein.

  - Mustafa Khattab

We verily created a man and We know what his soul whispereth to him, and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It was We who created man and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein. ⁴⁹⁵²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah created man, and gave him his limited free-will. Allah knows the inmost desires and motives of man even better than man does himself. He is nearer to a man than the man's own jugular vein. The jugular vein is the big trunk vein, one on each side of the neck, which brings the blood back from the head to the heart. The two jugular veins correspond to the two carotid arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the head. As the blood-stream is the vehicle of life and consciousness, the phrase "nearer than the jugular vein" implies that Allah knows more truly the innermost state of our feeling and consciousness than does our own ego.

[And so,] whenever the two demands [of his nature] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left,¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

The first part of the above sentence - i.e., the phrase yatalaqqa al-mutalaqqiyan - may be understood in either of two senses: "the two that are meant to receive do receive", or "the two that aim at meeting each other do meet". The classical commentators adopt, as a rule, the first sense and, consequently, interpret the passage thus: "...the two angels that are charged with recording man's doings do record them, sitting on his right and on his left". In my opinion, however, the second of the two possible meanings ("the two that aim at meeting each other") corresponds better with the preceding verse, which speaks of what man's innermost self (nafs) "whispers within him", i.e., voices his subconscious desires. Thus, "the two that aim at meeting" are, I believe, the two demands of, or, more properly, the two fundamental motive forces within man's nature: his primal, instinctive urges and desires, both sensual and non-sensual (all of them comprised in the modern psychological term "libido"), on the one side, and his reason, both intuitive and reflective, on the other. The "sitting (qa'id) on the right and on the left" is, to my mind, a metaphor for the conflicting nature of these dual forces which strive for predominance within every human being: hence, my rendering of qa'id as "contending". This interpretation is, moreover, strongly supported by the reference, in verse {21}, to man's appearing on Judgment Day with "that which drives and that which bears witness" - a phrase which undoubtedly alludes to man's instinctive urges as well as his conscious reason (see note [14] below).

Besides this direct knowledge ,We have assigned to every one two scribes (guardian angels), the one seated on his right and the other on his left,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

As the two recording-angels- 'one' sitting to the right, and 'the other to' the left- note 'everything',

  - Mustafa Khattab

When the two Receivers receive (him), seated on the right hand and on the left,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (his doings) learn (and note them) one sitting on the right and one on the left. ⁴⁹⁵³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Two angels are constantly by him to note his thoughts, words, and actions. One sits on the right side and notes his good deeds and the other on the left, to note his bad deeds; corresponding to the Companions of the Right and the Companions of the Left mentioned in lvi. 27 and 41.

not even a word can he utter but there is a watcher with him, ever-present.¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., his conscience. The "uttering of a word" is conceptually connected with the "whispering" within man's psyche spoken of in the preceding verse.

not a single word does he utter but there is a vigilant guardian ready to note it down.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

not a word does a person utter without having a 'vigilant' observer ready 'to write it down'.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The angel to the right records the good deeds of each person, while the one to the left records every evil deed. They always accompany the person at all times, except when one uses the toilet or is intimate with their spouse.

He uttereth no word but there is with him an observer ready.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him ready (to note it). ⁴⁹⁵⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Then each "word" spoken is taken down by a guardian (raqib). This has been construed to mean that the guardian only records words, not thoughts which are not uttered. Thoughts may be forgiven if not uttered, and still more if they do not issue in action. At the stage at which we clothe a thought in words, we have already done an action. The Recorders mentioned in the last verse make a complete Record, in order to supply motives and springs of action, which will affect the degrees or status in the Hereafter. The three together, individuals or kinds, make the honourable Recorders, Kiraman Katibin, (plural, not dual number) mentioned in lxxii. 11.

And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the [full] truth¹³ - that [very thing, O man,] from which thou wouldst always look away! -

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., full insight into one's own self.

When the agony of death will bring the truth before his eyes, they will say: "This is what you were trying to escape!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Ultimately,' with the throes of death will come the truth.¹ This is what you were trying to escape!

  - Mustafa Khattab

 When a denier dies, they will realize that resurrection, judgment, Paradise, and Hell are all true.

And the agony of death cometh in truth. (And it is said unto him): This is that which thou wast wont to shun.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the stupor of death will bring truth (before his eyes): "This was the thing which thou wast trying to escape!" ⁴⁹⁵⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

What is stupor or unconsciousness to this probationary life will be the opening of the eyes to the next world: for Death is the Gateway between the two. Once through that Gateway man will realise how the things which he neglected or looked upon as remote are the intimate Realities, and the things which seemed to loom large in his eyes in this world were shadows that have fled. The things he wanted to avoid are the things that have really come to pass. Both Good and Evil will realise the Truth now in its intensity.

and [in the end] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown: that will be the Day of a warning fulfilled.

  - Mohammad Asad

And the Trumpet shall be blown; that will be the Day of which you were threatened!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the Trumpet will be blown.¹ This is the Day 'you were' warned of.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This is the second blow which will cause all to come back to life for judgment.

And the trumpet is blown. This is the threatened Day.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the Trumpet shall be blown: that will be the Day whereof warning (had been given). ⁴⁹⁵⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The next stage will be the Judgment, heralded with the blowing of the Trumpet. Every soul will then come forth.