Surah 67. Al-Mulk

Can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven¹⁵ will not cause the earth to swallow you up when, lo and behold, it begins to quake?

  - Mohammad Asad

This expression is, of course, purely metaphorical since God is limitless in space as well as in time. Its use here is apparently meant to stress the unfathomable quality of His existence and power, which penetrates, and reveals itself in, every aspect of His cosmic creativeness, symbolized in the term "heaven".

Do you feel secure that He Who is in heaven, will not cause the earth to cave in beneath you and start shaking suddenly?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Do you feel secure that the One Who is in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you up as it quakes violently?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not cause the earth to swallow you when lo! it is convulsed?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Do ye feel secure that He Who is in heaven will not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an earthquake)? ⁵⁵⁷³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xvii. 68. and n. 2263. Also cf. the story of Qarun in xxviii. 76-82. If we feel safe on land, it is because Allah has made this earth amenable, manageable and serviceable to us (verse 15 above). But if we defy Allah and break His Law, have we any security, that even this comparatively unimportant safety in a fleeting world will last? Looking at it from a purely physical point of view, have there not been dreadful earthquakes, typhoons, and tornadoes?

Or can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven will not let loose against you a deadly stormwind,¹⁶ whereupon you would come to know how [true] My warning was?

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "a stormwind that raises stones".

Or do you feel secure that He Who is in heaven will not send against you a violent tornado, then you shall know how was My warning!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or do you feel secure that the One Who is in heaven will not unleash upon you a storm of stones. Only then would you know how 'serious' My warning was!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not let loose on you a hurricane? But ye shall know the manner of My warning.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or do ye feel secure that He Who is in Heaven will not send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones) so that ye shall know how (terrible) was My warning? ⁵⁵⁷⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xvii. 68; and xxix. 40, n. 3462. Such a violent wind destroyed the wicked Cities which defied Lut's warning.

And, indeed, [many of] those who lived aforetime¹⁷ did give the lie [to My warnings]: and how awesome was My rejection [of them]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "before them" (min qablihim). This personal pronoun relates - as does the whole of the passage beginning with verse {13} - to people of all times, who are herewith reminded of what happened to deniers of the truth in earlier times; hence my rendering of min qablihim as "aforetime".

Those who have gone before them likewise disbelieved, then see how terrible was the way I rejected them?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And certainly those before them denied 'as well', then how severe was My response!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And verily those before them denied, then (see) the manner of My wrath (with them)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But indeed men before them rejected (My warning): then how (terrible) was My rejection (of them)? ⁵⁵⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxii. 42-44, and n. 2822.

Have they, then, never beheld the birds above them, spreading their wings and drawing them in? None but the Most Gracious upholds them: for, verily, He keeps all things in His sight.

  - Mohammad Asad

Do they not observe the birds above them spreading their wings and folding them? None could hold them except the Compassionate (Allah), surely it is He Who watches over all things.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have they not seen the birds above them, spreading and folding their wings? None holds them up except the Most Compassionate. Indeed, He is All-Seeing of everything.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have they not seen the birds above them spreading out their wings and closing them? Naught upholdeth them save the Beneficent. Lo! He is Seer of all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Do they not observe the birds above them spreading their wings and folding them in? None can uphold them except (Allah) Most Gracious: truly it is He that watches over all things. ^{5576 5577}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The flight of birds is one of the most beautiful and wonderful things in nature. The make and arrangement of their feathers and bones, and their stream-line shapes, from beak to tail, are instances of purposive adaptation. They soar with outstretched wings; they dart about with folded wings; their motions upwards and downwards, as well as their stabilisation in the air, and when they rest on their feet, have given many ideas to man in the science and art of aeronautics. But who taught or gave to birds this wonderful adaptation? None but Allah, Whose infinite Mercy provides for every creature just those conditions which are best adapted for its life.

In the Arabic, there is an artistic touch which it is not possible to reproduce in the translation. Saffat (spreading their wings) is in the form of the active participle, suggesting the continuous soaring on outspread wings; while yaqbidhna (folding them in) is in the Aorist form, suggesting the spasmodic flapping of wings.

[And] is there any, beside the Most Gracious, that could be a shield¹⁸ for you, and succour you [against danger]? They who deny this truth are but lost in self-delusion!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "an army".

What force is there that can help you besides the Compassionate? In fact, the unbelievers are suffering from delusion.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Also, which 'powerless' force will come to your help instead of the Most Compassionate? Indeed, the disbelievers are only 'lost' in delusion.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the Beneficent? The disbelievers are in naught but illusion.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay who is there that can help you (even as) an army besides (Allah) Most Merciful? In nothing but delusion are the Unbelievers. ⁵⁵⁷⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Not the greatest army that man can muster is of any use against the Wrath of Allah; while the constant watchful care of Allah is all-in-all to us, and we can never do without it. If the godless wander about in search for blessings otherwise than in the Mercy and Grace of Allah, they are wandering in vain delusions.

Or is there any that could provide you with sustenance if He should withhold His provision [from you]? Nay, but they [who are bent on denying the truth] stubbornly persist in their disdain [of God's messages] and in their headlong flight [from Him]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Or who is there that can provide you if He withholds His provision? Yet, they persist in rebellion and aversion from the truth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or who is it that will provide for you if He withholds His provision? In fact, they persist in arrogance and aversion 'to the truth'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or who is he that will provide for you if He should withhold His providence? Nay, but they are set in pride and frowardness.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who is there that can provide you with Sustenance if He were to withhold His provision? Nay they obstinately persist in insolent impiety and flight (from the Truth). ⁵⁵⁷⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Sustenance" here, as elsewhere, (e.g., in xvi. 73, n. 2105), refers to all that is necessary to sustain and develop life in all its phases. Allah Most Gracious is the Source of all our Sustenance, and if we persist in looking to Vanities for our Sustenance, we are pursuing a mirage, and, if we examine the matter, we are only following obstinate unpulses of rebellion and impiety.

But then, is he that goes along with his face close to the ground¹⁹ better guided than he that walks upright on a straight way?

  - Mohammad Asad

Just think, who is rightly guided: he who walks with his face bent down, or he who walks properly on an even path?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Who is 'rightly' guided: the one who crawls facedown or the one who walks upright on the Straight Path?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Is he who goeth groping on his face more rightly guided, or he who walketh upright on a beaten road?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Is then one who walks headlong with his face grovelling better guided or one who walks evenly on a Straight Way? ^{5580 5581}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxvii. 90, and n. 3320. The man of probity is the man who walks evenly on a Straight Way, his feet guided by Allah's Light and his heart sustained by Allah's Mercy. The man who chooses evil grovels, with his face down, in paths of Darkness, stumbling on the way, and in constant distrust and fear, the fear of Evil. The two kinds of men are poles apart, although they five on the same earth, see the same Signs, and are fed with the same Mercies from Allah.

Like Abraham trying to guide his unbelieving father: Cf. xix. 43.

SAY: "[God is] He who has brought you [all] into being, and has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and hearts:²⁰ [yet] how seldom are you grateful!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., with the faculty of feeling as well as of rational thinking.

Say: "It is He Who has brought you into being, gave you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeling and understanding: yet you are seldom thankful."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'He is the One Who brought you into being and gave you hearing, sight, and intellect. 'Yet' you hardly give any thanks.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say (unto them, O Muhammad): He it is Who gave you being, and hath assigned unto you ears and eyes and hearts. Small thanks give ye!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "It is He Who has created you (and made you grow) and made for you the faculties of hearing seeing feeling and understanding: little thanks it is ye give." ^{5582 5583}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Prophet is asked to draw constant attention to Allah, the source of all growth and development, the Giver of the faculties by which we can judge and attain to higher and higher spiritual dignity. And yet, such is our self-will, we use our faculties for wrong purposes and thus show our ingratitude to Allah.

For anshaa see n. 923 to vi. 98.

Say: "It is He who has multiplied you on earth; and it is unto Him that you shall be gathered [on resurrection]."

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "It is He Who has multiplied you in the earth, and before Him you shall all be assembled."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Also' say, 'He is the One Who has dispersed you 'all' over the earth, and to Him you will 'all' be gathered.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say, He it is Who multiplieth you in the earth, and unto Whom ye will be gathered.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "It is He Who has multiplied you through the earth and to Him shall ye be gathered together." ⁵⁵⁸⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Mankind, from one set of parents, has been multiplied and scattered through the earth. Men have not only multiplied in numbers but they have developed different languages and characteristics, inner and outer. But they will all be gathered together at the End of Things, when the mischief created by the wrong exercise of man's will be cancelled, and the Truth of Allah will reign universally.

But they [only] ask, "When is this promise to be fulfilled? [Answer this, O you who believe in it,] if you are men of truth!"

  - Mohammad Asad

They ask: "When will this promise be fulfilled, if what you say is true?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Still' they ask 'the believers', 'When will this threat come to pass, if what you say is true?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And they say: When (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They ask: When will this promise be (fulfilled)? If ye are telling the truth. ⁵⁵⁸⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Unbelievers are sceptical, but they are answered in the next two verses.

Say thou, [O Prophet:] "Knowledge thereof rests with God alone; and I am only a plain warner."

  - Mohammad Asad

Tell them: "Allah Alone has the knowledge of that; my mission is only to warn you plainly."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'That knowledge is with Allah alone, and I am only sent with a clear warning.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: The knowledge is with Allah only, and I am but a plain warner;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "As to the knowledge of the time it is with Allah alone: I am (sent) only to warn plainly in public." ⁵⁵⁸⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Judgment is certain to come. But when it will exactly come, is known to Allah alone. The Prophet's duty is to proclaim that fact openly and clearly. It is not for him to punish or to hasten the punishment of evil. Cf. xxii. 47-49.

Yet in the end, when they shall see that [fulfilment] close at hand, the faces of those who were bent on denying the truth will be stricken with grief; and they will be told, "This it is that you were [so derisively] calling for!"

  - Mohammad Asad

But, when they shall see it close at hand, the faces of the disbelievers will turn black with gloom, and it will be said to them: "This is which you were calling for."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then when they see the torment drawing near, the faces of the disbelievers will become gloomy, and it will be said 'to them', 'This is what you claimed would never come.'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Another possible translation: “This is what you were calling for.”

But when they see it nigh, the faces of those who disbelieve will be awry, and it will be said (unto them): This is that for which ye used to call.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

At length when they see it close at hand grieved will be the faces of the Unbelievers and it will be said (to them): "This is (the promise fulfilled) which ye were calling for!" ^{5587 5588}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"It", i.e., the fulfilment of the promise, the Day of Judgment. When it is actually in sight, then the Unbelievers realise that those whom they used to laugh at for their Faith were in the right, and that they themselves, the sceptics, were terribly in the wrong.

They had defiantly asked for it. Now that it has come near, and it is too late for repentance, there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth".

SAY [O Prophet]: "What do you think? Whether God destroys me and those who follow me, or graces us with His mercy²¹ - is there anyone that could protect [you] deniers of the truth from grievous suffering [in the life to come]?"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "Whether we succeed in spreading God's message or not, what have you unbelievers to gain?"

Further say: "Have you ever considered that even if Allah destroys me as well as those with me or bestows His mercy on us; who will save the disbelievers from a painful punishment?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Consider this: whether Allah causes me and those with me to die or shows us mercy, who will save the disbelievers from a painful punishment?'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Meaning, whether Allah takes our lives (as you wish) or grants us a long life, it is all good for us. But who will protect you from Allah if you disbelieve in Him.

Say (O Muhammad): Have ye thought: Whether Allah causeth me (Muhammad) and those with me to perish or hath mercy on us, still, who will protect the disbelievers from a painful doom?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "See ye? If Allah were to destroy me and those with me or if He bestows His Mercy on us yet who can deliver the Unbelievers from a grievous Penalty?" ⁵⁵⁸⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The sceptics might say and do say to the righteous: "Ah well! if calamities come, they involve the good with the bed, just as you say that Allah showers His mercies on both good and evil!" The answer is: "Don't you worry about us: even supposing we are destroyed, with all who believe with us, is that any consolation to you? Your sins must bring on you suffering, and nothing can ward it off. If we get any sorrows or sufferings, we take them as a mere trial to make us better, for we believe in Allah's goodness and we put our trust in Him." See next verse.

Say: "He is the Most Gracious: we have attained to faith in Him, and in Him have we placed our trust; and in time you will come to know which of us was lost in manifest error."

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "He is the Compassionate: in Him we have believed, and in Him we have put our trust. Soon you will find out, which one of us is in the manifest error."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'He is the Most Compassionate- in Him 'alone' we believe, and in Him 'alone' we trust. You will soon know who is clearly astray.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: He is the Beneficent. In Him we believe and in Him we put our trust. And ye will soon know who it is that is in error manifest.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "He is (Allah) Most Gracious: we have believed in Him and on Him have we put our trust: so soon will ye know which (of us) it is that is in manifest error." ⁵⁵⁹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See the end of the last note. "Our Faith tells us that Allah will deliver us from all harm if we sincerely repent and lead righteous lives. You, Unbelievers, have no such hope. When the real adjustment of values is established, you will soon see whether we were in the wrong or you!"

Say [unto those who deny the truth]: "What do you think? If of a sudden all your water were to vanish underground, who [but God] could provide you with water from [new] unsullied springs?"²²

  - Mohammad Asad

Apart from a further reminder of God's providential power (thus continuing the argument touched upon in verses {19-21}), the above verse has a parabolic significance as well. Just as water is an indispensable element of all organic life, so is a constant flow of moral consciousness an indispensable prerequisite of all spiritual life and stability: and who but God could enable man to regain that consciousness after all the older ethical stimuli have dried up and "vanished underground"?

Say: "Have you ever considered that if all the water you have, sink down in the ground, who is it, that will bring you the clear-flowing water?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'Consider this: if your water were to sink 'into the earth', then who 'else' could bring you flowing water?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say: Have ye thought: If (all) your water were to disappear into the earth, who then could bring you gushing water?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "See ye? If your stream be some morning lost (in the underground earth) who then can supply you with clear-flowing water?" ⁵⁵⁹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Sura is closed with a parable, taken from a vital fact of our physical life, and leading up to the understanding of our spiritual life. In our daily life, what would happen if we woke up some fine morning to find that the sources and springs of our water-supply had disappeared and gone down into the hollows of the earth? Nothing could save our life. Without water we cannot live, and water cannot rise above its level, but always seeks a lower-level. So in spiritual life. Its sources and springs are in the divine wisdom that flows from on high. Allah is the real source of that life, as He is of all forms of life. We must seek His Grace and Mercy. We cannot find grace or mercy or blessing from anything lower. His Wisdom and Mercy are like, fresh clear-flowing spring-water, not like the muddy murky wisdom and goodness of this lower world which is only relative, and which often hampers life rather than advances it.