Surah 83. Al-Mutaffifin

witnessed by all who have [ever] been drawn close unto God.⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by the prophets and saints of all times as well as by the angels.

attested by those who are nearest to Allah (angels).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

witnessed by those nearest 'to Allah'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Attested by those who are brought near (unto their Lord).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

To which bear witness those Nearest (to Allah). ⁶⁰²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See lvi. 11, n. 5227; also n. 5223. Those Nearest to Allah will be witnesses to this Righteous Record; or as it may also be rendered, they will be present at the Record, and watch this Record.

Behold, [in the life to come] the truly virtuous will indeed be in bliss:

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely the righteous will be in bliss,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely the virtuous will be in bliss,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! the righteous verily are in delight,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Truly the Righteous will be in Bliss:

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[resting] on couches, they will look up [to God]:⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 75:23 . As elsewhere in the Qur'an, the "couches" of the virtuous in paradise symbolize complete restfulness and inner fulfilment.

reclining on soft couches, looking all around,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'seated' on 'canopied' couches, gazing around.

  - Mustafa Khattab

On couches, gazing,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

On Thrones (of Dignity) will they command a sight (of all things): ⁶⁰²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxxvi. 56.

upon their faces thou wilt see the brightness of bliss.

  - Mohammad Asad

and you will recognize in their faces the brightness of bliss.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

You will recognize on their faces the glow of delight.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thou wilt know in their faces the radiance of delight

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thou wilt recognize in their Faces the beaming brightness of Bliss. ⁶⁰²³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxxv. 22, and lxxvi. 11.

They will be given a drink of pure wine whereon the seal [of God] will have been set,

  - Mohammad Asad

Their thirst will be quenched with the choicest sealed wine,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They will be given a drink of sealed, pure wine,

  - Mustafa Khattab

They are given to drink of a pure wine, sealed,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Their thirst will be slaked with Pure Wine sealed: ⁶⁰²⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Wine will be of the utmost purity and flavour, so precious that it will be protected with a seal, and the seal itself will be of the costly material of musk, which is most highly esteemed in the East for its perfume. Perhaps a better interpretation of the "seal" is to take it as implying the final effect of the drink: just as a seal close a document, so the seal of the drink will be the final effect of the delicious perfume and flavour of musk, heightening the enjoyment and helping in the digestion.

pouring forth with a fragrance of musk.⁸ To that [wine of paradise], then, let all such aspire as [are willing to] aspire to things of high account:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the end whereof (khitamuhu) will be musk". My rendering of the above phrase reflects the interpretation given to it by several authorities of the second generation of Islam, and by Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Muthanna (all of them quoted by Razi). The "pure wine" (rahiq) of the hereafter - which, contrary to the wine of this world, will carry "the seal" (i.e., the sanction) of God because "no headiness will be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon" ( 37:47 ) - is another symbol of paradise, alluding, by means of comparisons with sensations that can be experienced by man, to the otherworldly sensations of joy which, in a form intensified beyond all human imagination, are in store for the righteous. Some of the great Muslim mystics (e.g., Jalal ad-Din Runi) see in that "pure wine" an allusion to a spiritual vision of God: an interpretation which, I believe, is fully justified by the sequence.

and the seal will be of musk. Those who wish to excel above others, let them endeavor to excel in this.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

whose last sip will smell like musk. So let whoever aspires to this strive 'diligently'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Whose seal is musk. For this let (all) those strive who strive for bliss

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The seal thereof will be Musk: and for this let those aspire who have aspirations: ⁶⁰²⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If you understand true and lasting values, this is the kind of pure Bliss to aspire for, and not the fleeting enjoyments of this world, which always leave a sting behind.

for it is composed of all that is most exalting⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Whereas most of the classical commentators regard the infinitive noun tasnim as the proper name of one of the allegorical "fountains of paradise", or, alternatively, refrain from any definition of it, it seems to me that the derivation of tasnim from the verb sannama - "he raised [something]" or "made [it] lofty" - points, rather, to the effect which the "wine" of divine knowledge will have on those who "drink" of it in paradise. Hence, the tabi'i 'Ikrimah (as quoted by Razi) equates tasnim with tashrif, "that which is ennobling" or "exalting".

That wine shall have a mixture of Tasnim,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And this drink's flavour will come from Tasnîm-

  - Mustafa Khattab

And mixed with water of Tasnim,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

With it will be (given) a mixture of Tasnim: ⁶⁰²⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Tasnim literally indicates height, fulness, opulence. Here it is the name of a heavenly Fountain, whose drink is superior to that of the Purest Wine. It is the nectar drunk by Those Nearest to Allah (n. 5227 to lvi. 11), but a flavour of it will be given to all. See n. 5835 to lxxvi. 5 (Kafur fountain), and n. 5849 to lxxvi. 17-18 (Salsabil).

a source [of bliss] whereof those who are drawn close unto God shall drink.¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {76:5-6} and the corresponding notes.

a spring, at which those nearest to Allah will drink.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

a spring from which those nearest 'to Allah' will drink.

  - Mustafa Khattab

A spring whence those brought near to Allah drink

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A spring from (the waters) whereof drink those Nearest to Allah.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

BEHOLD, those who have abandoned themselves to sin are wont to laugh at such as have attained to faith;¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

In the original, verses {29-33} are in the past tense, as if viewed from the time-level of Judgment Day. However, since the preceding and the following passages (i.e., verses {18-28} and {34-36}) are formulated in the future tense, verses {29-33} (which relate to life in this world) may be adequately rendered in the present tense.

During their life on earth, the culprits used to mock at the believers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, the wicked used to laugh at the believers,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! the guilty used to laugh at those who believed,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those in sin used to laugh at those who believed

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and whenever they pass by them, they wink at one another [derisively];

  - Mohammad Asad

and wink at one another as they passed them by.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

wink to one another whenever they passed by,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And wink one to another when they passed them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And whenever they passed by them used to wink at each other (in mockery);

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and whenever they return to people of their own kind,¹² they return full of jests;

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to their [own] people".

When they returned to their own people they returned jesting.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and muse 'over these exploits' upon returning to their own people.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when they returned to their own folk, they returned jetting;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And when they returned to their own people they would return jesting;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and whenever they see those [who believe,] they say, "Behold, these [people] have indeed gone astray!"

  - Mohammad Asad

And when they saw the believers, they used to say: "These are the people who have surely gone astray,"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they saw the faithful, they would say, 'These 'people' are truly astray,'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when they saw them they said: Lo! these have gone astray.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And whenever they saw them they would say "Behold! these are the people truly astray!" ⁶⁰²⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The wicked laugh at the righteous in this world in many ways: (1) They inwardly laugh at their Faith, because they feel themselves so superior. (2) In public places, when the righteous pass, they wink at each other and insult them. (3) In their own houses they run them down. (4) Whenever and wherever they see them, they reproach them with being fools who have lost their way, when the boot is really on the other leg. In the Hereafter all these tricks and falsehoods will be shown for what they are, and the tables will be reversed.

And, withal, they have no call to watch over [the beliefs of] others....¹³

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "they have not been sent as watchers over them" - implying that none who is devoid of faith has the right to criticize the faith of any of his fellow-men.

although they had not been sent as guardians over them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

even though they were not sent as keepers over the believers.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Yet they were not sent as guardians over them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But they had not been sent as Keepers over them! ⁶⁰²⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But the wicked critics of the Righteous have no call in any case to sit in judgment over them. Who set them as Keepers or guardians over the Righteous? Let them look to their own condition and future first.

But on the Day [of Judgment], they who had attained to faith will [be able to] laugh at the [erstwhile] deniers of the truth:¹⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Speaking of the righteous, the Qur'an repeatedly stresses that on the Day of Judgment God "shall have removed whatever unworthy thoughts or feelings (ghill) may have been [lingering] in their bosoms" ( 7:43 and 15:47 ). Since an expression of vengeful joy on the part of the blest at the calamity which in the hereafter will befall the erstwhile sinners would certainly fall within the category of "unworthy feelings", their "laughing" can only have a metaphorical meaning, denoting no more than a realization of their own good fortune.

On that Day, the believers shall be laughing at the unbelievers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But on that Day the believers will be laughing at the disbelievers,

  - Mustafa Khattab

This day it is those who believe who have the laugh of disbelievers,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But on this Day the Believers will laugh at the Unbelievers. ⁶⁰²⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The tables will then be reversed, and he laughs best who laughs last.

[for, resting in paradise] on couches, they will look on [and say to themselves]:

  - Mohammad Asad

as they recline on couches and gaze at them:

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

as they sit on 'canopied' couches, looking on.

  - Mustafa Khattab

On high couches, gazing.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

On Thrones (of Dignity) They will command (a sight) (of all things). ⁶⁰³⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A repetition of verse 23 above, but with a different shade of meaning. The Righteous on their raised couches will be able to see all the true values restored in their own favour: but they will also see something else: they will also see the arrogant braggarts brought low, who brought about their own downfall by their own actions.