Surah 21. Al-Anbiya

CLOSER DRAWS unto men their reckoning: and yet they remain stubbornly heedless [of its approach].¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and yet in [their] heedlessness they are obstinate (mu'ridun)".

The Day of Accountability for mankind is getting closer and closer, yet they are heedless and are turning away from the admonition.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Their reckoning draweth nigh for mankind, while they turn away in heedlessness.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whenever there comes unto them any new reminder from their Sustainer, they but listen to it with playful amusement,²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "while they are playing".

They listen with ridicule to each fresh warning that comes to them from their Rabb and remain engaged in the sports.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Never cometh there unto them a new reminder from their Lord but they listen to it while they play.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

their hearts set on passing delights; yet they who are [thus] bent on wrongdoing conceal their innermost thoughts³ [when they say to one another], "Is this [Muhammad] anything but a mortal like yourselves? Will you, then, yield to [his] spellbinding eloquence with your eyes open?"⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

See next note.

As regards my occasional rendering of sihr (lit., "sorcery" or "magic") as "spellbinding eloquence", see 74:24 , where this term occurs for the first time in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation. - By rejecting the message of the Qur'an on the specious plea that Muhammad is but a human being endowed with "spellbinding eloquence", the opponents of the Qur'anic doctrine in reality "conceal their innermost thoughts": for, their rejection is due not so much to any pertinent criticism of this doctrine as, rather, to their instinctive, deep-set unwillingness to submit to the moral and spiritual discipline which an acceptance of the Prophet's call would entail.

Their hearts are preoccupied with worldly affairs; these wrongdoers say to each other in private: "Is this man (Muhammad) not a human being like yourselves? Would you follow witchcraft with your eyes open?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

With hearts preoccupied. And they confer in secret The wrong-doers say: Is this other than a mortal like you? Will ye then succumb to magic when ye see (it)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say:⁵ "My Sustainer knows whatever is spoken in heaven and on earth; and He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing."

  - Mohammad Asad

According to the earliest scholars of Medina and Basrah, as well as some of the scholars of Kufah, this word is spelt qul, as an imperative ("Say"), whereas some of the Meccan scholars and the majority of those of Kufah read it as aala ("He [i.e., the Prophet] said"). In the earliest copies of the Qur'an the spelling was apparently confined, in this instance, to the consonants q-l: hence the possibility of reading it either as qul or as qala. However, as Tabari points out, both these readings have the same meaning and are, therefore, equally valid, "for, when God bade Muhammad to say this, he [undoubtedly] said it....Hence, in whichever way this word is read, the reader is correct (musib as-sawab) in his reading." Among the classical commentators, Baghawi and Baydawi explicitly use the spelling qul, while Zamakhshari's short remark that "it has also been read as qala" seems to indicate his own preference for the imperative qul.

Tell them: "My Rabb has knowledge of every word which is spoken in the heavens and the earth, and He hears all and knows all."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He saith: My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and the earth. He is the Hearer, the Knower.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Nay," they say, "[Muhammad propounds] the most involved and confusing of dreams!"⁶ - "Nay, but he has invented [all] this!" - "Nay, but he is [only] a poet!" - [and,] "Let him, then, come unto us with a miracle, just as those [prophets] of old were sent [with miracles]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "confusing medleys (adghath) of dreams".

"Rather," some of them say, "this Qur'an is jumble of dreams!" Others say: "He has made it all up!" And yet others say: "He is a poet!" Let him bring to us a sign as did the former Rasools."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, say they, (these are but) muddled dreams; nay, he hath but invented it; nay, he is but a poet. Let him bring us a portent even as those of old (who were God's messengers) were sent (with portents).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Not one of the communities that We destroyed in bygone times⁷ would ever believe [their prophets]: will these, then, [be more willing to] believe?⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "before them".

The downfall of those communities of old - frequently referred to in the Qur'an - was invariably due to the fact that they had been resolved to ignore all spiritual truths which militated against their own, materialistic concept of life: is it, then (so the Qur'anic argument goes), reasonable to expect that the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad, who are similarly motivated, would be more willing to consider his message on its merits?

The fact, however, is that even though We showed Signs to the prior people, not a single nation before them, which We destroyed, ever believed. Will they believe?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Not a township believed of those which We destroyed before them (though We sent them portents): would they then believe?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For [even] before thy time, [O Muhammad,] We never sent [as Our apostles] any but [mortal] men, whom We inspired-hence, [tell the deniers of the truth,] "If you do not know this, ask the followers of earlier revelation"⁹ -

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "followers of the reminder"-i.e., of the Bible, which in its original, uncorrupted form represented one of God's "reminders" to man.

The Rasools which We sent before you, O Muhammad, were also human to whom We sent revelation. If you, O objectors, do not know this, then ask the people of the reminder (Jews and Christians).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men whom We inspired. Ask the followers of the Reminder if ye know not?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and neither did We endow them with bodies that could dispense with food,¹⁰ nor were they immortal.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "neither did We fashion them [i.e., those apostles] as bodies that ate no food", implying a denial of any supernatural quality in the prophets entrusted with God's message (cf. 5:75 , 13:38 and 25:20 , as well as the corresponding notes). The above is an answer to the unbelievers' objection to Muhammad's prophethood expressed in verse {3} of this surah.

We did not give them bodies which could survive without food, nor were they immortal.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We gave them not bodies that would not eat food, nor were they immortals.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In the end, We made good unto them Our promise, and We saved them and all whom We willed [to save],¹¹ and We destroyed those who had wasted their own selves.¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., their believing followers.

As regards my rendering of al-musrifun as "those who had wasted their own selves", see note [21] on the last sentence of {10: 12}.

Then We fulfilled Our promise with them: We saved them and those whom We pleased, and destroyed the transgressors.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then We fulfilled the promise unto them. So We delivered them and whom We would, and We destroyed the prodigals.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[O MEN!] We have now bestowed upon you from on high a divine writ containing all that you ought to bear in mind:¹³ will you not, then, use your reason?

  - Mohammad Asad

The term dhikr, which primarily denotes a "reminder" or a "remembrance", or, as Raghib defines it, the "presence [of something] in the mind", has also the meaning of "that by which one is remembered", i.e., with praise - in other words, "renown" or "fame" - and, tropically, "honour", "eminence" or "dignity". Hence, the above phrase contains, apart from the concept of a "reminder", an indirect allusion to the dignity and happiness to which man may attain by following the spiritual and social precepts laid down in the Qur'an. By rendering the expression dhikrukum as "all that you ought to bear in mind", I have tried to bring out all these meanings.

Now, O People, We have sent down to you a Book (The Qur'an) which deals with matters concerning yourselves; why don't you understand?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Now We have revealed unto you a Scripture wherein is your Reminder. Have ye then no sense?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, how many a community that persisted in evildoing have We dashed into fragments, and raised another people in its stead!¹⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "after it".

How many nations We have destroyed because of their iniquities and replaced them by other nations!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How many a community that dealt unjustly have We shattered, and raised up after them another folk!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [every time,] as soon as they began to feel Our punishing might, lo! they tried to flee from it-

  - Mohammad Asad

When they felt that Our punishment was coming, they took to their heels and fled.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And, when they felt Our might, behold them fleeing from it!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and at the same time they seemed to hear a scornful voice]: "Do not try to flee, but return to all that [once] gave you pleasure and corrupted your whole being.¹⁵ and [return] to your homes, so that you might be called to account [for what you have done]!"¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of the phrase ma utriftum fihi, see surah {11}, note [147].

The Qur'an does not say whose words these are, but the tenor of this passage indicates, I believe, that it is the scornful, self-accusing voice of the sinnirs' own conscience: hence my interpolation, between brackets, at the beginning of this verse.

They were told: "Do not run away. Return to your luxuries of life and to your homes, so that you may be asked questions."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(But it was said unto them): Flee not, but return to that (existence) which emasculated you and to your dwellings, that ye may be questioned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they could only cry:¹⁷ "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we were wrongdoers!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "They said".

They replied: "Woe to us! Indeed we were wrongdoers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They cried: Alas for us! Lo! we were wrongdoers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And that cry of theirs did not cease until We caused them to become [like] a field mown down, still and silent as ashes.

  - Mohammad Asad

They kept on repeating that statement till We mowed them down, leaving no spark of life in them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And this their crying ceased not till We made them as reaped corn, extinct.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall