-->
Evil is our enemy and should be treated as such. It is really foreign to our nature, however much it may disguise itself to deceive us as our friend, or a part of our own nature. Personifying the Spirit of Evil, we may say that he wants us to share in his own damnation. Shall we allow ourselves to fall into his snare?
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
To reject Allah is to reject all the good which He has implanted in our nature. Are we going to be false to the true Pattern according to which He created us, and suffer the consequences? Or are we going to be true to that Pattern and achieve the high and noble Destiny intended for us?
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
See surah {14}, note [4], which explains my rendering of this sentence.
Cf. n. 3877 above. When a stage is reached at which a man accepts Evil as his Good, his case is hopeless. Can such a man profit by preaching or guidance? He has himself deliberately rejected all guidance. Such a man is best left to stray. Perhaps, even in the paths in which he is straying, some sudden flash of light may come to him! That may be as Allah wills in His holy and wise Purpose and Plan. But the prophet of Allah is not to worry or feel disheartened by such men's attitude. He must go on tilling the soil that is open to him. For Allah's Plan may work in all sorts of unexpected ways, as in the allegory in the next verse.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The allegory here is double. (1) Dry, unpromising soil may seem to all intents and purposes dead; there is no source of water near; moisture is sucked up by the sun's heat in a far-off ocean, and clouds are formed; winds arise; it seems as if the wind "bloweth as it listeth", but it is really Allah's Providence that drives it to the dead land; the rain falls, and behold! there is life and motion and beauty everywhere! So in the spiritual world, Allah's Revelation is His Mercy and His Rain; there may be the individual resurrection (Nushur) or unfolding of a soul. (2) So again, may be the general Resurrection (Nushur), the unfolding of a new World in the Hereafter, out of an old World that is folded up and dead (Takwir, S. lxxxi).
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
It appears that in this context - as in the first paragraph of 10:21 or in 34:33 - both the noun makr (lit., "a scheme", or "scheming" or "plotting") and the verb yamkurun (lit., "they scheme" or "plot") have the connotation of "devising false [or "fallacious"] arguments" against something that is true. Since the preceding passages refer to God's creativeness and, in particular, to His power to create life and resurrect the dead (verse {9}), the "evil deeds" spoken of above are, presumably, specious arguments meant to "disprove" the announcement of resurrection.
Good and Evil are to be distinguished sharply. No good is ever lost: it goes up to Allah. The humblest Good, in word or deed, is exalted to high rank. If man seeks for mere glory and power, there is no such thing apart from Allah. But seeking Allah, we attain to the highest glory and power.
It is the nature of Evil to work underground, to hide from the Light, to plot against Righteousness; but Evil inevitably carries its own punishment. Its plots must fail miserably. And eventually Evil itself is to be blotted out.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
See second half of note [47] on 3:59 , and note [4] on 23:12 .
Lit., "makes you pairs" or "mates" [of one another].
Created your father, Adam, from dust.
Males and females.
See footnote for 33:6.
Cf. xviii. 37 and n. 2379; xxii. 5 and n. 2773; and xxx. 20, and n. 3524. Here the argument is that man's physical origin is lowly: his physical body is but dust; his life-sperm issues from a part of his body which he hides and considers as a place of shame; and the mystery of sex shows that no one individual among mankind is sufficient in himself. Glory and power and knowledge are not in him, but in Allah, from Whom alone he derives any glory, or power, or knowledge that he possesses.
"Then" in this and the following clause refers, not to stages of time, but to stages in the argument. It is almost equivalent to "further", "also", and "in addition".
Things that appear most secret and mysterious to man are all known and ordained by Allah. They are all subject to Allah's Laws and Decrees. The mystery of human birth (see n. 3625 to xxxi. 34), the mystery of sex, the mystery of Life and Death and many other things, seem to man inexplicable. But they are all ordained by Allah, and their reasons are fully known to Him.
Man's knowledge may be acquired laboriously and may be a burden to him. Allah's knowledge is different; it is not task or burden to Him. Cf. xxxiii. 19 and 30.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
This interpolated sentence reflects Razi's convincing explanation of the passage that follows here, and its connection with the preceding one.
For this rendering of al-bahran, see note [41] on 25:53 .
See xxv. 53 and notes 3111 and 3112. The great salt Ocean with its seas and gulfs is all one: and the great masses of sweet water in rivers, lakes, ponds, and underground springs are also one: and each is connected with the other by the constant circulation going on, which sucks up vapours, carries them about in clouds or atmospheric moisture, and again brings them condensed into water or snow or hail to mingle with rivers and streams and get back into the Ocean.
For this whole passage see xvi. 14 and notes 2034 and 2035. Both from the sea and from rivers and lakes we get fish, of which some kinds have a flesh particularly fresh and tender, and of a most delicate flavour.
Such as pearls and coral from the sea, and such delicately tinted stones as the Aqiq (carnelian), the agate, the goldstone, or other varieties of quartz pebbles found in river-beds, and considered as gems. Many such are found in the Ken river in Banda District (in India). Some river sands also yield minute quantities of gold. In large navigable rivers and big Lakes like those of North America, as well as in the sea, there are highways for shipping and commerce.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
See surah {13}, note [5].
Cf. xxii. 61. The phases of Light in nature may have other uses. But for man they mark periods of rest and activity, and have great influence on his physical, moral, and spiritual life.
Cf. xiii. 2. The sun and the moon mark phases of light, and serve man during the periods of the day and the night. The sun marks the seasons, and is the source of heat and energy and physical life for the whole solar system. The sun and the moon run according to fixed laws, and they will continue to do so, not for ever, but for the period appointed for their duration by Allah.
Allah's might and majesty, and Allah's goodness and wisdom, having been shown by a few examples, it follows that it is folly to seek or worship any other power but Allah. It only throws off man into false paths, and takes him farther and farther away from the Truth.
Qitmir: the thin, white skin that covers the date-stone. It has neither strength nor texture, and has no value whatever. Any one relying on any power other than that of Allah relies on nothing whatever. The Qitmir is worse than the proverbial "broken reed". Cf. iv. 53 and iv. 124, where the word naqir, 'the groove in a date-stone', is used similarly for a thing of no value or significance.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The Qur'an states in many places that all false objects of worship - whether saints, angels, relics, fetishes, or deified forces of nature - will bear witness against their one-time worshippers on Resurrection Day, and will "disown" them: a symbolic allusion to man's perception, at the end of time, of the ultimate reality.
False or imaginary objects of worship serve no purpose whatever. They cannot hear; if they could hear, they could not grant prayers or petitions. In fact, if they are real creatures, such as angels or deified human beings, they will very rightly repudiate any such worship as brings them into competition or "partnership" with Allah. See next note.
Cf. x. 28 and n. 1418; also xxxiv. 40-41. No false ideas or false impressions will remain when true values are restored. Why not then accept the Truth now in this life, and get on to the true path of Grace?
None can tell you the Truth better than He Who is All-Wise and All-knowing. Why not accept His Message and receive His guidance?
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
What is man that Allah should care for him, instruct him, and send him special messengers to warn him of danger and harm? It is man that depends on Allah and has need of Him every moment of his life. Allah has no need of him, but He bestows His Grace on him as on all His creatures, out of His unbounded Mercy and loving-kindness. If it were Allah's Will, He could blot out man for his rebellion and create an entirely new world.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
See note [27] on 14:19 .
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
There is no limit to Allah's creative power, nor is His creative energy anything rare or unusual. This is the force of the word 'aziz here. Allah's creative energy is exercised every moment, and it is the normal condition in the universe.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
I.e., on Judgment Day - for "whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon him alone" ( 6:164 , which is followed by a sentence identical with the one above).
Thus, any transfer of moral responsibility from one person to another is shown to be impossible. Whereas the first part of the above statement implies a negation of the Christian doctrine of "original sin" with which mankind is supposedly burdened, the second part categorically refutes the doctrine of the "vicarious atonement" of that sin by Jesus. (See also 53:38 and the corresponding note [31].)
For an explanation of this rendering of bi'l-ghayb, see surah {2}, note [3]. The meaning is that only those "who believe in the existence of that which is beyond the reach of human perception" can really benefit by the "warning" inherent in the preceding statement. (See also {27:8-81} and {30:52-53}.)
This can also mean that they are in awe of their Lord as much in private as they are in public.
Bearer: hamilatun: feminine in Arabic, as referring to the soul (nafs), as in vi. 164.
Natural relationship may be considered as a reasonable cause or opportunity for bearing each other's burdens. For example, a mother or a father might offer to die for her or his child, and vice versa. But this does not apply to spiritual matters. There the responsibility is strictly personal and cannot be transferred to another. In xxix. 13 we are told that the misleaders "will bear other burdens along with their own"; but the context shows that the "other" burdens are the burdens of deluding others with their falsehoods. Both sins are their own, viz., their original sin, and the sin of deluding the others. But the responsibility will be doubled.
Bil-gaibi: unseen in the adverbial sense. The man, who, though he does not see Allah, so realises Allah's Presence in himself as if he saw Him, is the man of genuine Faith, and for him Allah's Revelation comes through many channels and is always fruitful.
Prayer is one of the means of purifying ourselves of lower motives in life, for in prayer we seek the Presence of Allah. But the purity which we seek is for our own souls: we confer no favour on Allah or on any Power in the spiritual world, as some imagine who make "gifts" to Allah. In any case the destination of all is to Allah.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
Now we are offered some contrasts between those who obey Allah's Law and are thus citizens of Allah's Kingdom and those who are rebels against Allah's Kingdom and are thus outlaws. How can they be considered alike? The godly are like those who see, as contrasted with those who are blind; and their motives and actions are like the purest and highest Light, contrasted with the depths of darkness; or, to take another metaphor, their lives are like the genial and warmth-giving heat of the sun, which benefits all who come within its influence, contrasted with the chilly shadows of gloom in which no vegetation flourishes.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
This implies Hell and Paradise.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The final contrast is between the Living and the Dead; those whose future has in it the promise of growth and fulfilment, and those who are inert and on the road to perish. With Allah everything is possible: He can give Life to the Dead. But the human Teacher should not expect that people who are (spiritually) dead and buried will by any chance hear his call.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The function of a Prophet is to preach Allah's Truth, to point out the right Way, to show men the need of repentance, and to warn them against the dangers which they incur by living a life of evil. He cannot compel them to accept the Truth or listen to the Message.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
One of the meanings of the term ummah (preferred by Zamakhshari in his commentary on the above verse) is "people of one time" or "age"; another, "people of one kind", i.e., "a nation" or "a community" (which is adopted by me in this context). Taking into consideration a third, well-established meaning, namely, "a [particular] way of life" or "of behaviour" (Jawhari), the term "community" comes, in this instance, close to the modern concept of "civilization" in its historical sense. - The stress on the warners' (i.e., prophets) having "passed away" is meant to emnhasize the humanness and mortality of each and all of them.
According to a Prophetic narration collected by Ibn Ḥibbân, the total number of prophets sent around the world, from Adam (ﷺ) to Muḥammad (ﷺ), is 124 000—of which only twenty-five are mentioned in the Quran.
It is Allah Who sends the Revelation. While there is warning in it for the heedless, there is good news for those who listen and repent. The warning always came to all peoples before punishment.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
i.e., the Torah, the Gospel, and Psalms.
The three things here mentioned are also mentioned in iii. 184, where I have explained the meaning in n. 490. All spiritual teaching centres round the evidences of Allah in our lives, the sublime teaching of Prophets of Allah, and the rules and laws which guide holy living.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.