Surah 17. Al-Israa

LIMITLESS in His glory is He who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship [at Mecca] to the Remote House of Worship [at Jerusalem] - the environs of which We had blessed¹ - so that We might show him some of Our symbols: for, verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-seeing².

  - Mohammad Asad

The above short reference to the Prophet's mystic experience of the "Night Journey" (al-isra') to Jerusalem and the subsequent "Ascension" (mi'raj) to heaven is fully discussed in Appendix IV at the end of this work. - "The Inviolable House of Worship" (al-masjid al-haram) is one of the designations given in the Qur'an to the Temple of the Ka'bah, the prototype of which owed its origin to Abraham (see surah {2}, note [102]) and was "the first Temple set up for mankind" ( 3:96 ), i.e., the first ever built for the worship of the One God. "The Remote [lit., "farthest"] House of Worship", on the other hand, denotes the ancient Temple of Solomon - or, rather, its site - which symbolizes here the long line of Hebrew prophets who preceded the advent of Muhammad and are alluded to by the phrase "the environs of which We had blessed". The juxtaposition of these two sacred temples is meant to show that the Qur'an does not inaugurate a "new" religion but represents a continuation and the ultimate development of the same divine message which was preached by the prophets of old.

Although the term ayah is most frequently used in the Qur'an in the sense of "[divine] message", we must remember that, primarily, it denotes "a sign [or "token"] by which a thing is known" (Qamus). As defined by Raghib, it signifies any perceivable phenomenon (irrespective of whether it is apparent to the senses or only to the intellect) connected with a thing that is not, by itself, similarly perceivable: in brief, a "symbol". Hence, the expression min ayatina may be suitably rendered as "some of Our symbols", i.e., insight, through symbols, into some of the ultimate truths.

Glory be to Him Who took His devotee (Muhammad) one night from Masjid-al-Haram (in Makkah) to Masjid-al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem), whose vicinity We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs: surely He is the One Who is the Hearer, the Observer.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far Distant Place of Worship the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [thus, too,] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses,³ and made it a [source of] guidance for the children of Israel, [commanding them:] "Do not ascribe to any but Me the power to determine your fate,⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

The conjunctive particle "And" which introduces this verse is meant to show that the mystic Night Journey - and, by implication, the subsequent Ascension as well - were experiences of the same high order of divine grace as the revelation bestowed upon Moses. The Qur'an mentions in 4:164 that "God spoke His word unto Moses", i.e., directly (takliman); see also {7:143-144}, and especially verse {144}, in which God says to Moses, "I have raised thee above all people...by virtue of My speaking [unto thee]". A similar directness of experience is alluded to in the opening words of this surah, "Limitless in His Glory is He who transported His servant [Muhammad] by night...so that We might show him some of Our symbols" (see note [2] above; also, Appendix IV). Apart from this, the reference, in this and many other places in the Qur'an, to the religious history of the Hebrews is due to the fact that the revelations granted to their prophets represent the earliest formulation of monotheism, which makes it ideologically important for its later development.

The term wakil denotes "one who is entrusted with the management of [another person’s] affairs", or "is responsible for [another person’s] conduct". When applied to God, it is sometimes used in the sense of "guardian" (e.g., in 3:173 ), or "defender" (e.g., in 4:109 ), or - in combination with the phrase 'ala kulli shay’in (as, e.g., in 6:102 or 11:12 ) - in the sense of "the One who has everything in His care". In the present instance (as well as in 39:62 ) the term evidently alludes to God’s exclusive power to determine the fate of any created being or thing.

We gave Musa (Moses) the Book and made it a guide for the Children of Israel, saying: "Do not take any other protector besides Me.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We gave unto Moses the Scripture, and We appointed it a guidance for the Children of Israel, saying: Choose no guardian beside Me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O you descendants of those whom We caused to be borne [in the ark] with Noah! Behold, he was a most grateful servant [of Ours]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

You are the descendents of those whom We carried in the Ark with Nuh, and he was indeed a grateful devotee."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(They were) the seed of those whom We carried (in the ship) along with Noah. Lo! he was a grateful slave.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And we made [this] known to the children of Israel through revelation:⁵ "Twice, indeed, will you spread corruption on earth and will indeed become grossly overbearing!"⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "in the revelation" - here evidently used in the generic sense of the word, and probably applying to predictions contained in the Torah (Leviticus xxvi, 14-39 and Deuteronomy xxviii, 15-68) as well as the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, John and Jesus.

Since both the Bible and the Qur’an mention that the children of Israel rebelled against the law of God on many occasions, there is every reason to assume that the expression "twice" (marratayn) does not refer to two single instances but, rather, to two distinct, extended periods of their history.

Besides this We forewarned the Children of Israel in their Holy Book that you will do mischief in the land twice through becoming arrogant transgressors and each time you will be punished.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will become great tyrants.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, when the prediction of the first of those two [periods of iniquity] came true, We sent against you some of Our bondmen of terrible prowess in war, and they wrought havoc throughout the land: and so the prediction was fulfilled.⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

The term ibad, rendered by me above as "bondmen", denotes every kind of "created beings" (in this case, obviously human beings) inasmuch as all of them are, willingly or unwillingly, subservient to God’s will (cf. 13:15 and the corresponding note [33]). It is probable that the phrase "Our bondmen of terrible prowess in war" relates to the Assyrians who overran Palestine in the seventh century B.C. and caused the disappearance of the greater part of the Hebrew nation (the ten "lost tribes"), and to the Babylonians who, about one hundred years later, destroyed Solomon’s Temple and carried off the remainder of the children of Israel into captivity, or to both, thus comprising all these events within one "period" (see foregoing note). - God’s "sending" tribulations upon reprobate sinners is here, as elsewhere in the Qur’an, a metonym for the natural law of cause and effect to which, in the long run, the life of man - and particularly the corporate life of nations and communities - is subject.

When the promise for the first of the two fore warnings came to be fulfilled, We sent against you Our servants (the Assyrians) who gave you a terrible warfare: so they rampaged through your homes to carry out the punishment of which you were forewarned.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So when the time for the first of the two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might who ravaged (your) country, and it was a threat performed.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And after a time We allowed you to prevail against them once again,⁸ and aided you with wealth and offspring, and made you more numerous [than ever].

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We gave back to you the turn against them" - apparently a reference to the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity in the last quarter of the sixth century B.C., the partial re-establishment of their state, and the building of a new temple in the place of the one that had been destroyed.

Then after this, We afforded you an opportunity to overpower them and helped you with wealth and sons and granted you more manpower.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then we gave you once again your turn against them, and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And We said:] "If you persevere in doing good, you will but be doing good to yourselves; and if you do evil, it will be [done] to yourselves. "And so, when the prediction of the second [period of your iniquity] came true, [We raised new enemies against you, and allowed them] to disgrace you utterly,⁹ and to enter the Temple as [their forerunners] had entered it once before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that they had conquered.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to bring evil to your faces". Inasmuch as the face is the most prominent and expressive part of the human body, it is often used as a metonym for one’s whole being; hence, the "evil done to one’s face" is synonymous with "utter disgrace". Most probably, this passage relates to the destruction of the Second Temple and of Jewish statehood by Titus in the year 70 of the Christian era.

If you did good, it was to your own benefit; but if you did evil, it proved to be bad for your own selves. Then, when the promise for your second forewarning came to be fulfilled, We sent another army (the Romans) to disfigure your faces and to enter your Temple as the former entered it before, and they utterly destroyed all that they laid their hands on.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Saying): If ye do good, ye do good for your own souls, and if ye do evil, it is for them (in like manner). So, when the time for the second (of the judgments) came (We roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you, and to enter the Temple even as they entered it the first time, and to lay waste all that they conquered with an utter wasting.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Your Sustainer may well show mercy unto you; but if you revert [to sinning], We shall revert [to chastising you]. And [remember this:] We have ordained that [in the hereafter] hell shall close upon all who deny the truth.

  - Mohammad Asad

Now your Rabb may again be merciful to you; but if you repeat the same behavior, We will repeat the punishment, and in the hereafter, We have made hell a prison for such unbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you, but if ye repeat (the crime) We shall repeat (the punishment), and We have appointed hell a dungeon for the disbelievers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

VERILY, this Qur'an shows the way to all that is most upright,¹⁰ and gives the believers who do good deeds the glad tiding that theirs will be a great reward;

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., conformable to ethical rectitude and beneficial to man’s individual and social life. Thus, after showing that sinning is synonymous with denying the truth, the discourse returns to the fundamental theme of the Qur’an, already alluded to in verse {2} of this surah: namely, the statement that God always offers guidance to man through the revelations which He bestows upon His prophets.

Surely this Qur'an guides to the Way which is perfectly straight and gives the good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a magnificent reward;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! this Quran guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that theirs will be a great reward.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and [it announces, too,] that We have readied grievous suffering for those who will not believe in the life to come.

  - Mohammad Asad

and at the same time it gives warnings to those who do not believe in the hereafter, that We have prepared for them a painful punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And that those who believe not in the Hereafter, for them We have prepared a painful doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As it is,¹¹ man [often] prays for things that are bad as if he were praying for something that is good:¹² for man is prone to be hasty [in his judgments].

  - Mohammad Asad

This, to my mind, is the meaning of the conjunctive particle wa in the above context.

Cf. {2: 216} - "it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know": in other words, divine guidance is the only objective criterion as to what is good and what is bad.

Yet man prays for evil as fervently as he ought to pray for good, and mankind is ever hasty.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man was ever hasty.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We have established the night and the day as two symbols;¹³ and thereupon We have effaced the symbol of night and set up [in its place] the light-giving symbol of day,¹⁴ so that you might seek to obtain your Sustainer's bounty and be aware of the passing years¹⁵ and of the reckoning [that is bound to come]. For clearly, have We spelt out everything!¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding the primary meaning of the term ayah, see note [2] above. In the present context, the expression ayatayn ("two symbols") refers - as the subsequent clause shows - to the symbols of spiritual darkness and light.

I.e., the message of the Qur’an, which is meant to lead man out of spiritual ignorance and error into the light of faith and reason.

Lit., "the count ('adad) of years". Since, as the Qamus points out, this phrase denotes also "the years of [a person's] life, which he counts", it obviously implies here a call to spiritual self-criticism in view of the ephemeral nature of one's worldly life.

I.e., everything that man may be in need of in the domain of ethics and religion.

We have made the night and the day as two signs. We enshrouded the night with darkness and gave light to the day, to enable you to seek the bounty of your Rabb, and that you may compute the years and count the numbers. Thus, We have set forth all things in detail.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And we appoint the night and the day two portents. Then We make dark the portent of the night, and We make the portent of the day sight- giving, that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and that ye may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning; and everything have We expounded with a clear expounding.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And every human being's destiny have We tied to his neck;¹⁷ and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring forth for him a record which he will find wide open;

  - Mohammad Asad

The word ta'ir literally signifies a "bird" or, more properly, a "flying creature". Since the pre-Islamic Arabs often endeavoured to establish a good or bad omen and, in general, to foretell the future from the manner and direction in which birds would fly, the term ta'ir came to be tropically used in the sense of "fortune", both good and evil, or "destiny". (See in this connection surah {3}, note [37], and surah {7}, note [95].) It should, however, be borne in mind that the Qur'anic concept of "destiny" relates not so much to the external circumstances of and events in man's life as, rather, to the direction which this life takes in result of one's moral choices: in other words, it relates to man's spiritual fate - and this, in its turn, depends - as the Qur'an so often points out - on a person's inclinations, attitudes and conscious actions (including self-restraint from morally bad actions or, alternatively, a deliberate omission of good actions). Hence, man's spiritual fate depends on himself and is inseparably linked with the whole tenor of his personality; and since it is God who has made man responsible for his behaviour on earth, He speaks of Himself as having "tied every human being's destiny to his neck".

We have fastened the fate of every man to his own neck, and on the Day of Judgment We shall bring out for him a book spread wide open,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And every man's augury have We fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find wide open.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and he will be told:] "Read this thy record! Sufficient is thine own self today to make out thine account!"¹⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

The "record" and the subsequent "account" represent man's total comprehension, on Judgment Day, of all his past life (Razi). This allegory occurs in the Qur'an in many formulations, e.g., in 37:19 or 39:68 , and perhaps most incisively in {50: 22} - "now We have lifted from thee thy veil, and sharp is thy sight today!"

saying: "Here is your book of deeds: read it. Today you yourself are sufficient to take your own account."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(And it will be said unto him): Read thy book. Thy soul sufficeth as reckoner against thee this day.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whoever chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and whoever goes astray, goes but astray to his own hurt; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden.¹⁹ Moreover, We would never chastise [any community for the wrong they may do] ere We have sent an apostle [to them].²⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

See 6:164 , 35:18 and 39:7 , as well as the corresponding notes, also 53:38 , which represents the earliest Qur'anic statement of this fundamental principle of ethics.

Sc., "so that they might fully understand the meaning of right and wrong": cf. {6:131-132} and the corresponding note [117], as well as 28:59 (which, in the chronology of revelation, immediately precedes the present surah).

He that seeks guidance, shall be guided to his own advantage, but he that goes astray does so to his own loss. No bearer shall bear the burden of another on the Day of Judgement. And during your worldly life, We do not inflict punishment until We send forth a Rasool to make truth distinct from falsehood.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whosoever goeth right, it is only for (the good of) his own soul that he goeth right, and whosoever erreth, erreth only to its hurt. No laden soul can bear another's load. We never punish until We have sent a messenger.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall