Surah 27. An-Naml

Behold, then, what all their scheming came to in the end: We utterly destroyed them and their people, all of them;

  - Mohammad Asad

Just see what was the outcome of their plot! We annihilated them completely, together with all their people.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

See then what the consequences of their plan were: We 'utterly' destroyed them and their people all together.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then see the nature of the consequence of their plotting, for lo! We destroyed them and their people, every one.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then see what was the end of their plot! this, that we destroyed them and their people all (of them).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and [now] those dwellings of theirs are empty, [ruined] as an outcome of their evil deeds. In this, behold, there is a message indeed for peo-ple of [innate] knowledge -

  - Mohammad Asad

There lies their houses in desolate ruins as a result of their wrongdoings. Verily in this story there is a lesson for those people who use their common sense.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So their homes are there, 'but completely' ruined because of their wrongdoing. Surely in this is a lesson for people of knowledge.

  - Mustafa Khattab

See, yonder are their dwellings empty and in ruins because they did wrong. Lo! herein is indeed a portent for a people who have knowledge.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now such were their houses in utter ruin because they practiced wrongdoing Verily in this is a Sign for people of knowledge.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

seeing that We saved those who had attained to faith and were conscious of Us.

  - Mohammad Asad

Yet We delivered the true believers who were righteous.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We delivered those who were faithful and were mindful 'of Allah'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And we saved those who believed and used to ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We saved those who believed and practiced righteousness.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

AND [thus, too, did We save] Lot, when he said unto his people:⁴⁹ "Would you commit this abomination with your eyes open [to its being against all nature⁵⁰ ]?

  - Mohammad Asad

The story of Lot and the perverted people of Sodom is mentioned in several places, particularly in {7:80-84}, {11:69-83} and {26:160-173}.

Thus Zamakhshari and Razi, stressing the principle that a revolt against the God-willed nature of heterosexuality is a revolt against God Himself.

Also mention to them of Lut (Lot), when he said to his people: "Do you commit indecency though you see its iniquity?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And 'remember' Lot, when he rebuked 'the men of' his people, 'Do you commit that shameful deed while you can see 'one another'?

  - Mustafa Khattab

And Lot! when he said unto his folk: will ye commit abomination knowingly?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We also sent Lut (as an apostle): behold he said to his people "Do ye do what is shameful though ye see (its iniquity)? ³²⁸⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The story of Lut is referred to elsewhere. The passages to which reference may be made here are: xxvi. 160-175, and vii. 80-84. But the point emphasised here is that the crime of the Cities of the Plain was against their own nature, and they saw its enormity, and yet they indulged in it. Can degradation go further? His wife was not apparently a Believer. Her previous sympathy with the sinful people "destined her" (verse 57 below) to a miserable end, as she lagged behind and shared in the destruction of her kinsfolk.

Must you really approach men with lust instead of women? Nay, but you are people without any awareness [of right and wrong]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Do you approach men for your sexual desires instead women? The fact is that you are a people steeped in ignorance."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Do you really lust after men instead of women? In fact, you are 'only' a people acting ignorantly.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Must ye needs lust after men instead of women? Nay, but ye are folk who act senselessly.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Would ye really approach men in your lusts rather than women? Nay ye are a people (grossly) ignorant!" ³²⁹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The ignorance referred to here is the spiritual Ignorance, the Ignorance of how grossness and sins that bring shame on their own physical and moral nature are doomed to destroy them: it is their own loss. That they knew the iniquity of their sins has already been stated in the last verse. That knowledge makes their spiritual Ignorance all the more culpable, just as a man consciously deceiving people by half-truths is a greater liar than a man who tells lies inadvertently.

But his people's only answer was this: "Expel [Lot and] Lot's followers from your township! Verily, they are folk who make themselves out to be pure!"⁵¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [65] on 7:82 .

But his people gave no answer except that they said: "Drive out the family of Lut from your city: they pose to be very pious."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But his people's only response was to say, 'Expel Lot's followers from your land! They are a people who wish to remain chaste!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

But the answer of his folk was naught save that they said: Expel the household of Lot from your township, for they (forsooth) are folk who would keep clean!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But his people gave no other answer but this: they said "Drive out the followers of Lut from your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!" ³²⁹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vii. 82-84. Instead of being ashamed on account of the consciousness of their own guilt, they attack the pure ones with their sarcasms, as if not they but the pure ones were in the wrong in trying to set them on the right way.

Thereupon We saved him and his household - all but his wife, whom We willed to be among those that stayed behind⁵² -

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [66] on 7:83 ; also 11:81 and 66:10 , and the corresponding notes.

So, We delivered him and his family except his wife - about whom We had decreed that she shall be of those who will remain behind

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So We delivered him and his family, except his wife. We had destined her to be one of the doomed.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then we saved him and his household save his wife; We destined her to be of those who stayed behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But We saved him and his family except his wife: her We destined to be of those who lagged behind.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

the while We rained a rain [of destruction] upon the others: and dire is such rain unon all who let themselves be warned [to no avail]!⁵³

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 26:173 and the corresponding note [73].

- and We rained down on them a shower of brimstones, and evil was the rain which fell on those who were forewarned.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We poured upon them a rain 'of brimstone'. How evil was the rain of those who had been warned!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We rained a rain upon them. Dreadful is the rain of those who have been warned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

SAY: "All praise is due to God, and peace be upon those servants of His whom He chose [to be His message-bearers]!" Is not God far better than anything to which men [falsely] ascribe a share in His divinity?⁵⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "Is God better, or that to which they ascribe. . .", etc.: thus including, by implication, not only deified beings or forces of nature, but also false social and moral values to which custom and ancestral tradition have lent an almost "religious" sanction.

Say: "Praise be to Allah and peace be on His servants whom He has chosen to deliver His message. Ask them: " Who is better? Allah or the deities they associate with Him?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Praise be to Allah, and peace be upon the servants He has chosen.' 'Ask the disbelievers,' 'Which is better: Allah or whatever 'gods' they associate 'with Him'?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say (O Muhammad): Praise be to Allah, and peace be on His slaves whom He hath chosen! Is Allah best, or (all) that ye ascribe as partners (unto Him)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: Praise be to Allah and Peace on His servants whom He has chosen (for his Message). (Who) is better? Allah or the false gods they associate with Him? ³²⁹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's revelation having been described as Light, Guidance, and Mercy, we ought all to be grateful to Allah for vouchsafing His revelation. We ought also to appreciate the services of Allah's Messengers, who are chosen to deliver Ms Message: we ought to send salutations of Peace on them, instead of plotting, as the wicked do, for their removal or persecution, or banishment or death. For these Prophets of Allah undergo every kind of hardship and forego every kind of advantage or pleasure in life for serving mankind. And Allah is truth and goodness, and all our fancies of false worship are falsehoods and evils. Shall we prefer falsehood and evil to truth and goodness?

Nay-who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you [life-giving] water from the skies? For it is by this means that We cause gardens of shining beauty to grow - [whereas] it is not in your power to cause [even one single of] its trees to grow! Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, they [who think so] are people who swerve [from the path of reason]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Is not He (Allah), Who has created the heavens and the earth, sends down rain from the sky and with it brings forth the beautiful gardens not better than the false gods that they worship? It is not in your ability to cause the growth of trees for those gardens. Is there another god besides Allah who could do that? No doubt they are a people who have swerved from justice in ascribing equals to Him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'ask them,' 'Who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down rain for you from the sky, by which We cause delightful gardens to grow? You could never cause their trees to grow. Was it another god besides Allah?' Absolutely not! But they are a people who set up equals 'to Allah'!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Is not He (best) who created the heavens and the earth, and sendeth down for you water from the sky wherewith We cause to spring forth joyous orchards, whose trees it never hath been yours to cause to grow. Is there any God beside Allah? Nay, but they are folk who ascribe equals (unto Him)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who has created the heaven and the earth and who sends you down rain from the sky? Yea with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty and delight: it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them. (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Nay they are a people who swerve from justice. ^{3293 3294}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The order, beauty, and grandeur of the Universe are appealed to. They show unity of design and purpose. How can unjust, ignorant, foolish, heedless, false men think of a multiplicity of gods, or of any god, besides the One True God?

To make a single seed germinate and grow into a tree is beyond man's power. When it comes to a great well-laid-out garden of beauty and delight, no one would think it grew up of itself without a Gardener's consummate art. And the orchard is more than the trees in it: there is design and beauty in their arrangement: proper spaces have to be left between them for the growth of their roots, for the aeration of the soil beneath them, and for the penetration of air and sunlight between their branches. How can any one then think of the wonderful Universe as a whole, without thinking of the far higher Unity of Design, the evidence of the One True Allah?

Nay - who is it that has made the earth a fitting abode⁵⁵ [for living things], and has caused running waters [to flow] in its midst, and has set upon it mountains firm, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water?⁵⁶ Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, most of those [who think so] do not know [what they are saying]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "place of rest" (qarar). But see also {77:25-26} and the corresponding note [9].

See 25:53 and the corresponding notes [41] and [42].

Just think who has made the earth a place for your residence, caused in it the rivers to flow, set mountains upon it and placed a barrier between the two seas? Is there another god besides Allah? Nay, most of them have no knowledge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'ask them,' 'Who made the earth a place of settlement, caused rivers to flow through it, placed firm mountains upon it, and set a barrier between 'fresh and salt' bodies of water?¹ Was it another god besides Allah?' Absolutely not! But most of them do not know.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 25:53.

Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any God beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable; and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Nay most of them know not. ^{3295 3296}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xvi. 15 and notes 2038 and 2039. The terra firma, the flowing water, and the cycle of water circulation-sea, vapour, clouds, rain, rivers, and sea again,-all one and yet all distinct, with a sort of wonderful barrier between salt water and fresh water: can man see all this and yet be ignorant of Allah?

Cf. xxv. 53 and notes 3111 and 3112.

Nay - who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth?⁵⁷ Could there be any divine power besides God? How seldom do you keep this in mind!

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 2:30 and the corresponding note [22]. In the present instance the accent is on God's having caused man to "inherit the earth" by endowing him with specific faculties and abilities - an implicit denial of man's claim that he is independent and "master of his fate".

Just think who answers the oppressed person when he cries out to Him and relieves his affliction, and makes you, O mankind, inheritors of the earth? Is there another god besides Allah? How little do you reflect!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'ask them,' 'Who responds to the distressed when they cry to Him, relieving 'their' affliction, and 'Who' makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god besides Allah? Yet you are hardly mindful!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Is not He (best) who answereth the wronged one when he crieth unto Him and removeth the evil, and hath made you viceroys of the earth? Is there any God beside Allah? Little do they reflect!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him and who relieves its suffering and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Little it is that ye heed! ^{3297 3298}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Besides the evidence of external nature, there is the still more intimate evidence in man's inner conscience and heart. Allah listens to man's cry of agony and relieves his suffering, and He has given him superiority over other creation on this earth, through his mind and soul. Is man then going to run after inferior beings and forget Allah?

Cf. vi. 165, n. 988.

Nay - who is it that guides you in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea,⁵⁸ and sends forth the winds as a glad tiding of His coming grace?⁵⁹ Could there be any divine power besides God? Sublimely exalted is God above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., metonymically, through all the seemingly insoluble complexities of human life.

See 7:57 and the corresponding note [44].

Just think who guides you in darkness on the land and the sea, and who sends the winds as heralds of good news of His mercy? Is there another god besides Allah? Exalted be Allah above what they associate with Him!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'ask them,' 'Who guides you in the darkness of the land and sea,¹ and sends the winds ushering in His mercy?² Is it another god besides Allah? Exalted is Allah above what they associate 'with Him'!

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Via the stars and constellations.

 In the form of rain.

Is not He (best) Who guideth you in the darkness of the land and the sea, He Who sendeth the winds as heralds of His mercy? Is there any God beside Allah? High exalted be Allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea and who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings going before His mercy? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? high is Allah above what they associate with Him! ³²⁹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxv. 48, n. 3104. After external nature, our attention was drawn to our inner consciousness; after that, it is drawn here to our social and collective life, in which we use the forces of nature for international intercourse, trade, agriculture, production, and economic well-being generally. In the next verse, we are asked to contemplate creation from its primeval stages, through its intermediate processes, to the final Destiny in a new Creation-a new heaven and a new earth.

Nay - who is it that creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew?⁶⁰ And who is it that provides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth?⁶¹ Could there be any divine power besides God? Say: "[If you think so,] produce your evidence - if you truly believe in your claim!"⁶²

  - Mohammad Asad

This relates to man's life on earth and his resurrection after bodily death as well as to the this - worldly cycle of birth, death and regeneration manifested in all organic nature.

As in 10:31 , the term "sustenance" (rizq) has here both a physical and a spiritual connotation; hence the phrase, "out of heaven and earth".

Lit., "if you are truthful" - the implication being that most people who profess a belief in a multiplicity of divine powers, or even in the possibility of the One God's "incarnation" in a created being, do so blindly, sometimes only under the influence of inherited cultural traditions and habits of thought, and not out of a reasoned conviction.

Just think who originates creation and then repeats its production, and who gives you sustenance from the heavens and the earth? Is there another god besides Allah? Say: "Show us your proof if you are telling the truth!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or 'ask them,' 'Who originates the creation then resurrects it, and gives you provisions from the heavens and the earth? Is it another god besides Allah?' Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Show 'me' your proof, if what you say is true.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Is not He (best), Who produceth creation, then reproduceth it, and Who provideth for you from the heaven and the earth? Is there any God beside Allah? Say: Bring your proof, if ye are truthful!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Or who originates Creation then repeats it and who gives you sustenance from heaven and earth? (Can there be another) god besides Allah? Say "Bring forth your argument if ye are telling the truth!" ^{3300 3301 3302}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. x. 34, and n. 1428.

Sustenance: of course in the spiritual as well as the material sense.

All the arguments point to the Unity of Allah: there is none whatever against it.

Say: "None in the heavens or on earth knows the hidden reality [of anything that exists: none knows it] save God."⁶³ And neither can they [who are living] perceive when they shall be raised from the dead:

  - Mohammad Asad

In this context, the term al-ghayb - rendered by me here as "the hidden reality" - apparently relates to the "how" of God's Being, the ultimate reality underlying the observable aspects of the universe, and the meaning and purpose inherent in its creation. My repetition, within brackets, of the words "none knows it", i.e., save God, is necessitated by the fact that He is infinite, unlimited as to space, and cannot, therefore, be included among the beings "in the heavens or on earth" who have all been created by Him.

Say: No one in the heavens or in the earth has the knowledge of the unseen except Allah and their gods do not know when they shall be raised to life again.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'None in the heavens and the earth has knowledge of the unseen except Allah. Nor do they know when they will be resurrected.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say (O Muhammad): None in the heavens and the earth knoweth the Unseen save Allah; and they know not when they will be raised (again).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: None in the heavens or on earth except Allah knows what is hidden: nor can they perceive when they shall be raised up (for Judgment). ³³⁰³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The existence of Allah is certain. But nothing else can be known with certainty to our knowledge. He has told us of the Hereafter, and therefore we know it is true. But those who do not believe in Allah,-what knowledge or certainty can they have? Even when it is actually coming, they will not have the sense to perceive it.