Surah 51. Az-Zariyat

and, verily, judgment is bound to come!

  - Mohammad Asad

and surely, the Day of Judgment shall come to pass.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the Judgment will certainly come to pass.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And lo! the judgment will indeed befall.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And verily Judgment and Justice must indeed come to pass. ⁴⁹⁹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Din=the giving to each person his precise and just due; this is implied in Judgment and Justice. All the inequalities of this Life are to be redressed.

CONSIDER the firmament full of starry paths!³

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "think of the Creator of this great universe and, hence, of your responsibility to Him".

By the sky full of orbits,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'And' by the heavens in their marvellous design!¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Or “By the heavens with their marvellous orbits.”

By the heaven full of paths,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths ⁴⁹⁹³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The study of the numerous regular orbits of the planets and irregularly regular orbits of comets, and the various motions, visible or invisible, of the fixed stars or revolving stars, form in themselves a network of knowledge or science, of a highly technical nature; the highest astronomy or mathematics can only barely reach its fringe. But these have all a fixed Plan and Purpose under Allah's Dispensation. In them variety leads to Unity. In contrast look at the confused medley of doctrines, views, and dicta put forward by the Sceptics, as described in the next verse.

Verily, [O men,] you are deeply at variance as to what to believe:⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "you are indeed in a discordant opinion (qawl)", i.e., as to whether or not there is life after death, whether God exists, whether there is any truth in divine revelation, and so forth.

surely you contradict one another in what you say,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely you are 'lost' in conflicting views 'regarding the truth'.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 50:5.

Lo! ye, forsooth, are of various opinion (concerning the truth).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Truly ye are in a doctrine discordant ⁴⁹⁹⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Qaul=saying, word, theory, doctrine. Mukhtalif =differing, various, inconsistent with itself, discordant. No theory or doctrine based on a denial of a Hereafter can be consistent with spiritual facts as we know them, or with Allah's Goodness, Justice, and Mercy.

perverted in his views thereon is he who would deceive himself!⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "perversely turned away from this [truth] is he who is made to lie" - or, according to the Taj al-'Arus, "he who is perverted in his reason and opinion", i.e., who is a priori disposed to deceive himself: implying that belief in God and, hence, in life after death is inherent in man's mind and feeling, and that, therefore, a departure from this belief is but an outcome of intellectual perversion.

only the perverse persons turn away from the truth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Only those 'destined to be' deluded are turned away from it.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Other possible translations: 1. “… by which the deluded are turned away.” 2. “Whoever is turned away from it is ˹truly˺ deluded.”

He is made to turn away from it who is (himself) averse.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Through which are deluded (away from the Truth) such as would be deluded. ⁴⁹⁹⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Some Commentators draw from this a rigid doctrine of Calvinistic Predestination or Determinism, which I do not think is fairly deducible from the words. "Ufika" should I think be translated "will be or would be deluded", meaning "have the wish or desire to be", and not "must necessarily be deluded by eternal predestination". The word occurs in many places in the Qur-an: e.g. Cf. v. 78, or ix. 30.

They but destroy themselves,⁶ they who are given to guessing at what they cannot ascertain⁷ -

  - Mohammad Asad

For this rendering of the expression qutila, see note [9] on 74:19 .

Thus the Taj al-'Arus, explaining the deeper meaning of al-kharrasun. "That which they cannot ascertain" is, in this context, synonymous with al-ghayb, "the reality which is beyond the reach of human perception".

Woe to those who judge by conjecture,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Condemned are the liars-

  - Mustafa Khattab

Accursed be the conjecturers

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Woe to the falsehood-mongers

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

they who blunder along, in ignorance lost -

  - Mohammad Asad

those who are engulfed in ignorance and heedlessness.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

those who are 'steeped' in ignorance, totally heedless.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who are careless in an abyss!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those who (flounder) heedless in a flood of confusion: ⁴⁹⁹⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They are in great spiritual danger: yet they care not.

they who [mockingly] ask, "When is that Day of Judgment to be?"

  - Mohammad Asad

They ask: "when will the Day of Judgment be?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They ask 'mockingly', 'When is this Day of Judgment?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They ask: When is the Day of Judgment?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They ask "when will be the Day of Judgment and Justice?"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire,⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

This "trial (fitnah) by the fire" is in tune with several Qur'anic allusions to the effect that the otherworldly suffering described as "hell" is not to be eternal: see in this connection note [114] on 6:128 , note [10] on 40:12 and note [53] on 43:74 .

It will be the Day when they will be punished in the fire,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'It is' the Day they will be tormented over the Fire.

  - Mustafa Khattab

(It is) the day when they will be tormented at the Fire,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(It will be) a Day when they will be tried (and tested) over the Fire!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[and will be told:] "Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking for!"⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

A reference to their one-time sarcastic demand that they should be punished for their rejection of the Qur'anic message: cf. {6:57-58} and 8:32 .

and it will said: "Taste your chastisement! This is what you were seeking to haste."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'They will be told,' 'Taste your torment! This is what you sought to hasten.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

(And it will be said unto them): Taste your torment (which ye inflicted). This is what ye sought to hasten.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Taste ye your trial! this is what ye used to ask to be hastened!" ⁴⁹⁹⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They used to say scoffingly, "if there is to be punishment for our sins, let it come at once!" When it comes, they will know what a terrible thing it is! Cf. xxvi. 204, n. 3230.

[But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs,

  - Mohammad Asad

As to the righteous, they will be in the midst of gardens and springs,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, the righteous will be amid Gardens and springs,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! those who keep from evil will dwell amid gardens and watersprings.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As to the Righteous they will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs ⁴⁹⁹⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Gardens and Springs are the two most frequent examples for the highest satisfaction and bliss.

enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past:¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "before that [Day]".

joyfully receiving what their Rabb shall give them; for they were before that (during their life on earth) righteous people,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'joyfully' receiving what their Lord will grant them. Before this 'reward' they were truly good-doers 'in the world':

  - Mustafa Khattab

Taking that which their Lord giveth them; for lo! aforetime they were doers of good;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Taking joy in the things which their Lord gives them because before then they lived a good life.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night,

  - Mohammad Asad

They used to sleep but little in the night time,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

they used to sleep only little in the night,

  - Mustafa Khattab

They used to sleep but tittle of the night,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night ⁴⁹⁹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were engaged most of the night in worship and in the planning of good deeds. They preferred activity to idleness, the service of Allah and His creatures to the indulgence of Self.

from their innermost hearts;¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [10] on 3:17 .

pray for forgiveness in the early morning,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and pray for forgiveness before dawn.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Optional prayers before dawn are recommended, and are more likely to be accepted.

And ere the dawning of each day would seek forgiveness,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And in the hours of early dawn They (were found) praying for Forgiveness; ⁵⁰⁰⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were up early before dawn, ready for their devotions. The praying for Forgiveness and Mercy does not necessarily imply that they had committed fresh sins. Indeed they began the day with such devotions, showing their great humility before Allah and their anxious care for others, for whom they prayed as much as for themselves. See the last sentence of n. 21 to i. 5.

and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer privation.¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "but could not beg" - and this applies to all living creatures, whether human beings or mute animals (Razi), irrespective of whether the need is of a physical or an emotional nature.

and share their wealth with the needy who asked for it, and those who could not ask.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And in their wealth there was a rightful share 'fulfilled' for the beggar and the poor.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And in their wealth the beggar the outcast had due share.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy) him who asked and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking). ⁵⁰⁰¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

True charity remembers not only those in need who ask, but also those who are prevented by some reason from asking. The man of true charity seeks out the latter. There may be various reasons which prevent a man from asking for help: (1) he may be ashamed to ask, or his sense of honour may prevent him from asking; (2) he may be so engrossed in some great ideal that he may not think of asking; (3) he may even not know that he is in need, (4) he may not know that you possess the things that can supply his needs; and (5) he may be a dumb and helpless creature, whether a human being or a dumb animal, or any creature within your ken or power. Charity in the higher sense includes all help, from one better endowed to one less well endowed. Cf. n. 179 to ii. 177; also ii. 273-274, and notes 322 and 323.

AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God's existence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty,

  - Mohammad Asad

In the earth, there are signs for the firm believers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There are 'countless' signs on earth for those with sure faith,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

On the earth are Signs for those of assured Faith

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali