Surah 26. Ash-Shuara

"And forgive my father - for, verily, he is among those who have gone astray⁴⁰ -

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {19:47-48}.

forgive my father, for he is from among those who have gone astray,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Forgive my father, for he is certainly one of the misguided.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And forgive my father. Lo! he is of those who err.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Forgive my father for that he is among those astray;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and do not put me to shame on the Day when all shall be raised from the dead:⁴¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "by letting me see my father among the damned" (Zamakhshari).

do not hold me up in shame on the Day when everybody will be raised back to life

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And do not disgrace me on the Day all will be resurrected-

  - Mustafa Khattab

And abase me not on the day when they are raised,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And let me not be in disgrace on the Day when (men) will be raised up

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

the Day on which neither wealth will be of any use, nor children,

  - Mohammad Asad

- the Day when neither wealth nor sons will avail anyone,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

the Day when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit.

  - Mustafa Khattab

The day when wealth and sons avail not (any man)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail ³¹⁸⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Now we have a vision of the Day of Judgment. Nothing will then avail except a pure heart; all sorts of the so-called "good deeds" of this world, without the motive of purity, will be useless. The contrast of the Garden of Bliss with the Fire of Misery will be plainly visible. Evil will be shown in its true colours,-isolated, helpless, cursing and despairing; and all chances will then have been lost.

[and when] only he [will be happy] who comes before God with a heart free of evil!"

  - Mohammad Asad

and when none shall be saved except him who will come before Allah with a pure heart,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Only those who come before Allah with a pure heart 'will be saved'.'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 A pure and sound heart is that of the believer, compared to that of the disbeliever and the hypocrite.

Save him who bringeth unto Allah a whole heart.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"But only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For, [on that Day,] paradise will be brought within sight of the God-conscious,

  - Mohammad Asad

when paradise shall be brought in the sight of the righteous;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'On that Day' Paradise will be brought near to the God-fearing,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the Garden will be brought nigh for those who ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"To the righteous the Garden will be brought near ³¹⁸¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Good will only see good (the Garden of Bliss), and the Evil will only see evil (the Fire of Hell). The type of this contrast is shown to us in the world of our spiritual sense even in this life.

whereas the blazing fire witl be laid open before those who had been lost in grievous error;

  - Mohammad Asad

while hell shall be spread open to the straying

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and the Hellfire will be displayed to the deviant.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And hell will appear plainly to the erring.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And to those straying in Evil the Fire will be placed in full view;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and they will be asked: "Where now is all that you were wont to worship

  - Mohammad Asad

and they will be asked: "Now, where are those whom you worshipped

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it will be said to them, 'Where are those you used to worship

  - Mustafa Khattab

And it will be said unto them: Where is (all) that ye used to worship

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And it shall be said to them: `Where are the (gods) ye worshipped

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

instead of God?⁴² Can these [things and beings] be of any help to you or to themselves?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "beside God". Whenever the relative pronoun ma ("that which" or "all that which") is used in the Qur'an with reference to false objects of worship, it indicates not merely inanimate things (like idols, fetishes, supposedly "holy" relics, etc.) or falsely deified saints, dead or alive, but also forces of nature, real or imaginary, as well as man's "worship" of wealth, power, social position, etc. (See also {10:28-29} and the corresponding notes.)

besides Allah? Can they help you or even help themselves?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

besides Allah? Can they help you or even help themselves?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Instead of Allah? Can they help you or help themselves?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

" `Besides Allah? Can they help you or help themselves?'

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Thereupon they will be hurled into hell⁴³ - they, as well as all [others] who had been lost in grievous error,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "into it".

Then they will be toppled into it, both they and those who misled them,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then the idols will be hurled headlong into Hell, along with the deviant

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then they will be hurled therein, they and the seducers

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Then they will be thrown headlong into the (Fire) they and those straying in Evil ³¹⁸²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The false gods, being devils or personified false fancies, will be all involved in the punishment of Hell, together with their worshippers, and the ultimate sources of evil, the hosts of Iblis or Satan.

and the hosts of Iblis - all together.⁴⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {2: 24}- "the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones" - and the corresponding note [16]. The "hosts of Iblis" are the forces of evil ("satan ") frequently mentioned in the Qur'an in connection with man's sinning (see note [10] on 2:14 , the first half of note [16] on {15: 17}, as well as note [52] on 19:68 ; also cf. 19:83 and the corresponding note [72]).

together with all the armies of Iblees.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and the soldiers of Iblîs,¹ all together.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Iblîs was the name of Satan before his fall from grace. See footnote for 2:34.

And the hosts of Iblis, together.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And the whole hosts of Iblis together.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And there and then, blaming one another,⁴⁵ they [who had grievously sinned in life] will exclaim:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "while they quarrel with one another".

Wherein they will argue with one another

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There the deviant will cry while disputing with their idols,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And they will say, when they are quarrelling therein:

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"They will say there in their mutual bickerings:

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"By God, we were most obviously astray

  - Mohammad Asad

saying: " By Allah, we were indeed in manifest error,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'By Allah! We were clearly mistaken,

  - Mustafa Khattab

By Allah, of a truth we were in error manifest

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

" `By Allah we were truly in an error manifest ³¹⁸³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Error-manifest.- 'our error is now plainly manifest, but it should have been manifest to us before it was too late, because the Signs of Allah were always around us'. This will be said by the ungodly, whose eyes will then be fully opened.

when we deemed you [false deities] equal to the Sustainer of all the worlds-

  - Mohammad Asad

when we made you equals with the Rabb of the Worlds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

when we made you equal to the Lord of all worlds.

  - Mustafa Khattab

When we made you equal with the Lord of the Worlds.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

" `When we held you as equals with the Lord of the Worlds;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

yet they who have seduced us [into believing in you] are the truly guilty ones!⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "yet none but those guilty ones (al-mujrimun) have led us astray": cf. 7:38 , {33:67-68}, {38:60-61} and the corresponding notes.

It was the criminals who led us astray.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And none led us astray other than the wicked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It was but the guilty who misled us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

" `And our seducers were only those who were steeped in guilt. ³¹⁸⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They now see that the people who seduced them were themselves evil and subject to the penalities of evil, and their seductions were frauds. They feel that they ought to have seen it before. For who would deliberately follow the paths of those condemned to misery and punishment? How simple they were not to see the true character of their seducers, though they had been warned again and again against them! It was their own folly that made them accept such obviously false guidance!

And now we have none to intercede for us,

  - Mohammad Asad

Now we have no intercessors,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Now we have none to intercede for us,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Now we have no intercessors

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

" `Now then we have none to intercede (for us)

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali