Surah 23. Al-Muminun

They will exclaim: "O our Sustainer! Our bad luck has overwhelmed us, and so we went as ray!⁶²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "we became people who go astray". This allegorical "dialogue" is meant to bring out the futile excuse characteristic of so many sinners who attribute their failings to an abstract "bad luck" (which is the meaning of shiqwah in this context); and thus, indirectly, it stresses the element of free will - and, therefore, of responsibility - in man’s actions and behaviour.

They will say: "O our Rabb! Our misfortune overwhelmed us and we became erring folk.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They will say: Our Lord! Our evil fortune conquered us, and we were erring folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O our Sustainer! Cause us to come out of this [suffering]-and then, if ever We revert [to sinning], may we truly be [deemed] evildoers!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Our Rabb! Get us out of here; if we ever return to sin, then we shall indeed be wrongdoers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Our Lord! Oh, bring us forth from hence! If we return (to evil) then indeed we shall be wrongdoers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But] He will say: "Away with you into this [ignominy]!⁶³ And speak no more unto Me!

  - Mohammad Asad

My interpolation of the word "ignominy" is based on the fact that this concept is inherent in the verb khasa'a (lit., "he drove [someone or something] scornfully away"), and is, therefore, forcefully expressed in the imperative ikhsa'u.

In answer to this Allah will say: "Stay here in shame and do not plead with Me!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He saith: Begone therein, and speak not unto Me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Behold, there were among My servants such as would pray, 'O our Sustainer! We have come to believe [in Thee]; forgive, then, our sins and bestow Thy mercy on us: for Thou art the truest bestower of mercy!'⁶⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the best of those [or "of all"] who show mercy". The same expression is found in the concluding verse of this surah.

For you are the same people, who used to make fun of some of My worshippers who prayed: 'Our Rabb, We believe in You; please forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the Best of those who show mercy!'

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! there was a party of My slaves who said: Our Lord! We believe, therefor forgive us and have mercy on us for Thou art best of all who show mercy;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

- but you made them a target of your derision to the point where it made you forget⁶⁵ all remembrance of Me; and you went on and on laughing at them.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "until they made you forget":i.e.,"your scoffing at them became the cause of your forgetting".

But you ridiculed them so much, that you even forgot My very existence, and went on laughing at them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But ye chose them from a laughingstock until they caused you to forget remembrance of Me, while ye laughed at them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But,] behold, today I have rewarded them for their patience in adversity: verily, it is they, they who have achieved a triumph!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Today I have rewarded them for their fortitude, and they are the ones who have achieved bliss."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! I have rewarded them this day forasmuch as they were steadfast; and they verily are the triumphant.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And] He will ask [the doomed]: "What number of years have you spent on earth?"

  - Mohammad Asad

They will be asked: "How many years did you live on earth?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He will say: How long tarried ye in the earth, counting by years?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They will answer: "We have spent there a day, or part of a day; but ask those who [are able to]count [time] . "⁶⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

This part of the allegorical "dialogue" between God and the doomed sinners touches (as do several other verses of the Qur’an) upon the illusory, problematical character of "time" as conceived by man, and the comparative irrelevancy of the life of this world within the context of the ultimate - perhaps timeless - reality known only to God. The disappearance, upon resurrection, of man’s earth-bound concept of time is indicated by the helpless answer, "ask those who are able to count time".

They will reply: "We lived there a day or part of a day; You may ask those who kept the count."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They will say: We tarried but a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep count!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Whereupon] He will say: "You have spent there but a short while: had you but known [how short it was to be]!

  - Mohammad Asad

It will be said: "Well, now you know that your stay was just a little while - what a pity, you did not believe it then!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He will say: Ye tarried but a little if ye only knew.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Did you, then, think that We created you in mere idle play, and that you would not have to return to Us?"⁶⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "that you would not be brought back to Us", i.e., for judgment.

Did you think that We had created you without any purpose and that you would never return to Us for accountability?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Deemed ye then that We had created you for naught, and that ye would not be returned unto Us?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

KNOW, then. [thatl God is sublimely exalted. the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth:⁶⁸ there is no deity save Him, the Sustainer, in bountiful almightiness enthroned!⁶⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {20}, note [99].

Lit., "the Sustainer (rabb) of the bountiful throne of almightiness (al-'arsh al-karim)". See also surah {7}, note [43], for an explanation of my rendering of al-'arsh as "the throne of [His] almightiness".

Therefore, exalted be Allah, the Real King; there is no god but Him, the Lord of the Honorable Throne.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Now Allah be exalted, the True King! There is no God save Him, the Lord of the Throne of Grace.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, he who invokes, side by side with God, any other deity [ - a deity] for whose existence he has no evidence - shall but find his reckoning with his Sustainer: [and,] verily, such deniers of the truth will never attain to a happy state!

  - Mohammad Asad

Whoever invokes another god besides Allah - about whose divinity he has no proof -he will have to give an account to his Rabb. Surely such unbelievers will never attain salvation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He who crieth unto any other god along with Allah hath no proof thereof. His reckoning is only with his Lord. Lo! disbelievers will not be successful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, [O believer,] say: "O my Sustainer! Grant [me] forgiveness and bestow Thy mercy [upon mel: for Thou art the truest bestower of mercy!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "O Rabb, forgive, have Mercy, You are the Best of those who show mercy!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (O Muhammad) say: My Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for Thou art best of all who show mercy.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall