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Surah 74. Al-Muddaththir

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74:16
كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ لِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا عَنِيدًا Kall a innahu k a na li a y a tin a AAaneed a n
Nay, verily, it is against Our messages that he knowingly, stubbornly sets himself7 -
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "he is wont (kana) to set himself". The noun 'anid, derived from the verb 'anada, denotes "one who opposes or rejects something that is true, knowing it to be true" (Lisan al-'Arab). The element of human contrariness and stubbornness is implied in the use of the auxiliary verb kana, which indicates here a permanently recurring phenomenon despite its past-tense formulation. I am, therefore, of the opinion that verses {18-25}, although ostensibly formulated in the past tense, must also be rendered in the present tense.

By no means! Because he has stubbornly denied Our revelations.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But no! 'For' he has been truly stubborn with Our revelations.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nay! For lo! he hath been stubborn to Our revelations.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
By no means! For to Our Signs he has been refractory!
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:17
سَأُرْهِقُهُۥ صَعُودًا Saorhiquhu s aAAood a n
[and so] I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb!8
  - Mohammad Asad

In combination with the verb urhiquhu ("I shall constrain him to endure") the term sa'ud (lit., "ascent" or "climb") has the tropical connotation of something extremely difficult, painful or distressing. In the above context, it is an allusion to the loss of all instinctive innocence - and, hence, to the individual and social suffering - which unavoidably follows upon man's wilful neglect of moral and spiritual truths ("God's messages") in this world and bars his spiritual development in the life to come.

Soon I shall make him suffer mounting calamities,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
I will make his fate unbearable,
  - Mustafa Khattab
On him I shall impose a fearful doom.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Soon will I visit him with a mount of calamities! 5788
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"A mount of calamities" or disasters: may be understood as a phrase for cumulative disasters.

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74:18
إِنَّهُۥ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ Innahu fakkara waqaddar a
Behold, [when Our messages are conveyed to one who is bent on denying the truth,] he reflects and meditates [as to how to disprove them] -
  - Mohammad Asad
surely he pondered and devised a plot.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
for he contemplated and determined 'a degrading label for the Quran'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
For lo! he did consider; then he planned
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
For he thought and he plotted
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:19
فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ Faqutila kayfa qaddar a
and thus he destroys himself,9 the way he meditates:
  - Mohammad Asad

The expression qutila reads, literally, "he has been killed" or, as an imprecation, "may he be killed". Since a literal rendering of this expression - whether conceived as a statement of fact or an imprecation - would be meaningless here, many commentators (Tabari among them) understand it as signifying "he is rejected from Gods grace" (lu'ina) i.e., "killed" spiritually by his own action or attitude; hence my rendering, "he destroys himself".

May he perish, how he plotted!
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
May he be condemned! How evil was what he determined!
  - Mustafa Khattab
(Self) destroyed is he, how he planned!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And woe to him! how he plotted! 5789
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. li. 10: "Woe to the falsehood-mongers!"

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74:20
ثُمَّ قُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ Thumma qutila kayfa qaddar a
yea, he destroys himself, the way he meditates!
  - Mohammad Asad
Again, may he perish, how he plotted!
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
May he be condemned even more! How evil was what he determined!
  - Mustafa Khattab
Again (self) destroyed is he, how he planned!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Yea woe to him! how he plotted!
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:21
ثُمَّ نَظَرَ Thumma na th ar a
and then he looks [around for new arguments],
  - Mohammad Asad
He looked around,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Then he re-contemplated 'in frustration',
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then looked he,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then he looked round;
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:22
ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ Thumma AAabasa wabasar a
and then he frowns and glares,10
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., he becomes emotionally involved because he suspects in his heart that his arguments are weak (Razi).

frowned and scowled,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
then frowned and scowled,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then frowned he and showed displeasure.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then he frowned and he scowled;
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:23
ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَٱسْتَكْبَرَ Thumma adbara wa i stakbar a
and in the end he turns his back [on Our message], and glories in his arrogance,
  - Mohammad Asad
then he turned his back in scornful pride
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
then turned his back 'on the truth' and acted arrogantly,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then turned he away in pride
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then he turned back and was haughty;
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:24
فَقَالَ إِنْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا سِحْرٌ يُؤْثَرُ Faq a la in h atha ill a si h run yuthar u
and says, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence handed down [from olden times]!12
  - Mohammad Asad

The term sihr, which usually denotes "sorcery" or "magic", primarily signifies "the turning of something from its proper [or "natural"] state of being into another state"; hence, it is often applied to the fascination or enchantment caused by exceptional, "spellbinding" eloquence (Taj al-'Arus). In its pejorative sense - as used by deniers of the truth to describe a divine message - it has also the connotation of "wilful deception" or "delusion".

and said: "This is nothing but counterfeited magic,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
saying, 'This 'Quran' is nothing but magic from the ancients.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And said: This is naught else than magic from of old;
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then said he: "This is nothing but magic derived from of old;" 5790
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Commentators understand the reference to be to Walid ibn Mugaira, who was a wealthy Sybarite, Pagan to the core, and an inveterate enemy to the holy Prophet. He and Abu Jahl did all they could, from the beginning of the preaching of Islam, to abuse and persecute the Preacher, to run down his doctrine, and to injure those who believed in it. But the meaning for us is much wider. There are Walids in all ages. They cannot understand divine inspiration, and seek to explain its wonderful influence over the lives of men by some such unmeaning formula as "magic". The eternal Hope is to them mere human delusion!

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74:25
إِنْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا قَوْلُ ٱلْبَشَرِ In h atha ill a qawlu albashar i
This is nothing but the word of mortal man!"
  - Mohammad Asad
this is nothing but the word of a human being."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
This is no more than the word of a man.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
This naught else than speech of mortal man.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"This is nothing but the word of a mortal!"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:26
سَأُصْلِيهِ سَقَرَ Sao s leehi saqar a
[Hence,] I shall cause him to endure hell-fire [in the life to come]!13
  - Mohammad Asad

This is unquestionably the earliest instance of the term saqar ("hell-fire"), one of the seven metaphorical names given in the Qur'an to the concept of the suffering in the hereafter which man brings upon himself by sinning and deliberately remaining blind and deaf, in this world, to spiritual truths (cf. surah {15}, note [33]). The allegorical character of this and all other Qur'anic descriptions of man's condition and destiny in the hereafter is clearly alluded to in the subsequent verse as well as in verse {28} ff.

Soon I shall cast him into Saqar.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Soon I will burn him in Hell!
  - Mustafa Khattab
Him shall I fling unto the burning.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Soon will cast him into Hell-Fire! 5791
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Sinner's perversity can only end in the Fire of Punishment. It enters his very being. See next note.

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74:27
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا سَقَرُ Wam a adr a ka m a saqar u
And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is?
  - Mohammad Asad
What will make you understand, what Saqar is?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And what will make you realize what Hell is?
  - Mustafa Khattab
--Ah, what will convey unto thee what that burning is!--
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And what will explain to thee what Hell-Fire is?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:28
لَا تُبْقِى وَلَا تَذَرُ L a tubqee wal a ta th ar u
It does not allow to live, and neither leaves [to die],
  - Mohammad Asad
It is burning fire which leaves nothing and spares none.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
It does not let anyone live or die,1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Another possible translation: “It spares none and leaves nothing.”

I leaveth naught; it spareth naught
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Naught doth it permit to endure and naught doth it leave alone! 5792
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

He is in a state in which he neither lives nor dies (lxxxvii. 13). Looked at in another way, the things that in a good man are meant to last and grow, are for the sinner destroyed, and no part of his nature is left untouched. The brightness of his very manhood is darkened and extinguished by sin.

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74:29
لَوَّاحَةٌ لِّلْبَشَرِ Laww ah atun lilbashar i
making [all truth] visible to mortal man.14
  - Mohammad Asad

Most of the commentators interpret the above elliptic phrase in the sense of "changing the appearance of man" or "scorching the skin of man". The rendering adopted by me, on the other hand, is based on the primary significance of the verb laha - "it appeared", "it shone forth" or "it became visible". Hence, the primary meaning of the intensive participial noun lawwah is "that which makes [something] visible". In the above context, it relates to the sinner's belated cognition of the truth, as well as to his distressing insight into his own nature, his past failings and deliberate wrongdoings, and the realisation of his own responsibility for the suffering that is now in store for him: a state neither of life nor of death (cf.{87:12-13}).

It shrivels human flesh.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
scorching the skin.
  - Mustafa Khattab
It shrivelleth the man.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Darkening and changing the color of man!
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:30
عَلَيْهَا تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ AAalayh a tisAAata AAashar a
Over it are nineteen [powers].15
  - Mohammad Asad

Whereas most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that the "nineteen" are the angels that act as keepers or guardians of hell, Razi advances the view that we may have here a reference to the physical, intellectual and emotional powers within man himself: powers which raise man potentially far above any other creature, but which, if used wrongly, bring about a deterioration of his whole personality and, hence, intense suffering in the life to come. According to Razi, the philosophers (arbab al-hikmah) identify these powers or faculties with, firstly, the seven organic functions of the animal - and therefore also human-body (gravitation, cohesion, repulsion of noxious foreign matter, absorption of beneficent external matter, assimilation of nutrients, growth, and reproduction); secondly, the five "external" or physical senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste); thirdly, the five "internal" or intellectual senses, defined by Ibn Sina - on whom Razi apparently relies - as (1)perception of isolated sence-images, (2)conscious apperceptions of ideas, (3)memory of sense-images, (4)memory of conscious apperceptions; and, lastly, the emotions of desire or aversion (resp. fear or anger), which have their roots in both the "external" and "internal" sense-categories - thus bringing the total of the powers and faculties which preside over man's spiritual fate to nineteen. In their aggregate, it is these powers that confer upon man the ability to think conceptually, and place him, in this respect, even above the angels (cf. 2:30 ff. and the corresponding notes; see also the following note).

It is guarded by nineteen guards.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
It is overseen by nineteen 'keepers'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Above it are nineteen.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Over it are Nineteen. 5793
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The figure nineteen refers to angels appointed to guard Hell. See verse 31 below and the corresponding note.

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