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Surah 70. Al-Ma'arij

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70:36
فَمَالِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ Fam a li alla th eena kafaroo qibalaka muh t iAAeen a
WHAT, THEN, is amiss with such as are bent on denying the truth, that they run about confusedly to and fro before thee,
  - Mohammad Asad
What is the matter with the disbelievers that they are rushing towards you,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So what is the matter with the disbelievers that they rush 'head-long' towards you 'O Prophet',
  - Mustafa Khattab
What aileth those who disbelieve, that they keep staring toward thee (O Muhammad), open-eyed,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Now what is the matter with the Unbelievers that they rush madly before thee 5698
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Before thee. The Unbelievers did not believe in a Hereafter. When the Bliss of the Hereafter was described, as in the last verse, they ridiculed it and pretended to be running in for it as in a race. They are here rebuked in the same tone of sarcasm.

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70:37
عَنِ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ ٱلشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ AAani alyameeni waAAani a l shshim a li AAizeen a
[coming upon thee] from the right and from the left, in crowds?14
  - Mohammad Asad

This, again, connects with the statement in verse {19}, "man is born with a restless disposition" (see note [7] above). People who do not want to see the truth of God's existence and have, therefore, no solid basis on which to build their world-view, are, by the same token, unable to conceive any definite standards of personal and social ethics. Hence, whenever they are confronted with anyone's positive assertion of faith, they "run about to and fro" in spiritual confusion, trying, in order to justify themselves intellectually, to demolish the premises of that faith by means of many-sided, contradictory arguments - an endeavour depicted in the metaphor "coming upon thee from the right and from the left"; and since they derive all their strength from a conformity with shallow mass-opinions, they can do this only "in crowds".

from the right and from the left, in groups?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
from the right and the left, in groups 'to mock you'?1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Some Meccan pagans used to gather around the Prophet (ﷺ) to mock him and the believers, saying that if there is in fact a Hereafter, they are better entitled to Paradise than the poor believers.

On the right and on the left, in groups?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
From the right and from the left in crowds?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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70:38
أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍ Aya t maAAu kullu imriin minhum an yudkhala jannata naAAeem in
Does every one of them hope to enter [by this means] a garden of bliss?15
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "Do they hope to achieve inner peace and fulfilment by 'disproving' another person's faith?"

Are they each seeking to enter the garden of bliss?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Does every one of them expect to be admitted into a Garden of Bliss?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Doth every man among them hope to enter the Garden of Delight?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Does every man of them long to enter the Garden of Bliss?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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70:39
كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰهُم مِّمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ Kall a inn a khalaqn a hum mimm a yaAAlamoon a
Never! For, behold, We have created them out of something that they know [only too well]!16
  - Mohammad Asad

Namely, out of "dust", - i.e., out of the same primitive organic and inorganic substances as are found in and on the earth: the implication being that only spiritual consciousness and endeavour can raise man above the mere material form of his existence, and thus enable him to achieve the inner fulfilment metaphorically described here as "a garden of bliss".

By no means! Surely, We have created them out of that what they (unbelievers) know.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But no! Indeed, they 'already' know what We created them from.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., from a humble fluid. See 32:8.

Nay, verily. Lo! We created them from what they know.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
By no means! For We have created them out of the (base matter) they know! 5699
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The animal part of man is nothing to be proud of, and they know it. It is by spiritual effort, and long preparation through a good life that a man can rise above the mere animal part of him to his high dignity as a spiritual being, and his noble destiny in the Hereafter.

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70:40
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْمَشَـٰرِقِ وَٱلْمَغَـٰرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَـٰدِرُونَ Fal a oqsimu birabbi almash a riqi wa a lmagh a ribi inn a laq a diroon a
But nay! I call to witness [Our being] the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise and sunset:17 verily, well able are We
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., of all the variation, throughout the solar year, of the points at which the sun "rises" and "sets": thus stressing the fact that He is the Ultimate Cause of all orbital movement in the universe and, hence, its Creator (cf. 37:5 and 55:17 ).

But nay! I swear by the Rabb of the easts and the wests, that We have the power
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So, I do swear by the Lord of 'all' the points of sunrise and sunset1 that We are truly capable
  - Mustafa Khattab

 The daily points of sunrise and sunset, caused by the earth’s rotation around its own axis.

But nay! I swear by the Lord of the rising places and the setting places of the planets that We are Able
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Now I do call to witness the Lord of all points in the East and the West that We can certainly 5700 5701 5702
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For the form of adjuration, cf. lxix. 38, n. 5665; also lvi. 75. Here the witness placed before us by Allah is His own power and glory manifested in the splendour of sunrise and sunset at different points through the solar year.

See n. 4034 to xxxvii. 5. If Allah has such power in the wonderful phenomena of the rising of the sun at varying points, repeated year after year, can you not see that He can easily substitute better men than you Unbelievers and blasphemers?

The transition from the singular "I" to the plural "We" may be noted. See n. 56 to ii. 38.

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70:41
عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّبَدِّلَ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ AAal a an nubaddila khayran minhum wam a na h nu bimasbooqeen a
to replace them with [people] better than they are; for there is nothing to prevent Us [from doing what We will].18
  - Mohammad Asad

The implication is that it is not His will to replace "those who are bent on denying the truth" in this world, by believers, inasmuch as such a "replacement" would not be in accord with His design of multiform human existence, in which faith is always challenged and tested by unbelief, and vice versa.

to destroy them and replace them with others better than them, and nothing can hinder Us from doing so.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
of replacing them with 'others' better than them, and We cannot be prevented 'from doing so'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
To replace them by (others) better than them. And We are not to be outrun.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Substitute for them better (men) than they; and We are not to be defeated (in Our Plan).
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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70:42
فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا۟ وَيَلْعَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يُلَـٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى يُوعَدُونَ Fa th arhum yakhoo d oo wayalAAaboo h att a yul a qoo yawmahumu alla th ee yooAAadoon a
Hence, leave them to indulge in idle talk and play [with words]19 until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs which they have been promised -
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., their philosophising about a supposedly "uncreated" world and a hypothetical "self-generation" of life, as well as their blatant "denial", unsupported by any factual evidence, of a life after death or even of the existence of God.

Therefore, leave them to plunge in vain talk and blunder about until they face that Day of theirs which they are being promised.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So let them indulge 'in falsehood' and amuse 'themselves' until they face their Day, which they have been threatened with-
  - Mustafa Khattab
So let them chat and play until they meet their Day which they are promised--
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So leave them to plunge in vain talk and play about until they encounter that Day of theirs which they have been promised! 5703
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Their talk, their scepticism, is vain, because all spiritual evidence is against it; it is like the foolish play of people who do not think seriously. But the tremendous Day of Judgment and Reality will come, as described in the next two verses.

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70:43
يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ Yawma yakhrujoona mina alajd a thi sir a AAan kaannahum il a nu s ubin yoofi d oon a
the Day when they shall come forth in haste from their graves, as if racing towards a goal-post,
  - Mohammad Asad
The Day when they shall rush forward from their graves, as if they were racing towards a goal,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
the Day they will come forth from the graves swiftly, as if racing to an idol 'for a blessing',1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Or “… as if rushing towards a target.”

The day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as racing to a goal,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
The Day whereon they will issue from their sepulchers in sudden haste as if they were rushing to a goal-post (fixed for them) 5704
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Now there will be a definite Goal-post or Banner or Standard of Truth fixed, which all must acknowledge. But they will acknowledge it in shame and dejection. For the time for their repentance and amendment will then have passed.

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70:44
خَـٰشِعَةً أَبْصَـٰرُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يُوعَدُونَ Kh a shiAAatan ab sa ruhum tarhaquhum th illatun tha lika alyawmu alla th ee k a noo yooAAadoon a
with downcast eyes, with ignominy overwhelming them: that Day which they were promised again and again....20
  - Mohammad Asad

The concept of "again and again" - i.e., by a succession, through the ages, of prophetic revelations - is implied in the auxiliary verb kanu, which usually connotes repetition and/or duration.

with downcast eyes and countenances distorted with shame. Such will be the Day, which they are being promised.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
with eyes downcast, utterly covered with disgrace. That is the Day they have 'always' been warned of.
  - Mustafa Khattab
With eyes aghast, abasement stupefying them: Such is the Day which they are promised.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Their eyes lowered in dejection ignominy covering them (all over)! Such is the Day the which they are promised!
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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