Surah 38. Sad

AND CALL to mind Our servant Job,³⁷ [how it was] when he cried out to his Sustainer, "Behold, Satan has afflicted me with [utter] weariness and suffering!"³⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [78] on 21:83 .

I.e., with life-weariness in consequence of suffering. As soon as he realizes that God has been testing him, Job perceives that his utter despondency and weariness of life - eloquently described in the Old Testament (The Book of Job iii) - was but due to what is described as "Satan's whisperings": this is the moral to be drawn from the above evocation of Job's story.

Mention Our devotee Ayub (Job), when he called upon his Rabb saying: "Shaitan has afflicted me with distress and suffering,"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And make mention (O Muhammad) of Our bondman Job, when he cried unto his Lord (saying): Lo! the devil doth afflict me with distress and torment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and thereupon was told:] "Strike [the ground] with thy foot: here is cool water to wash with and to drink!"³⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

According to the classical commentators, the miraculous appearance of a healing spring heralded the end of Job's suffering, both physical and mental.

and We asked him: "Strike your foot on the ground. A cool spring will gush forth. Wash and drink to refresh yourself."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(And it was said unto him): Strike the ground with thy foot. This (spring) is a cool bath and a refreshing drink.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We bestowed upon him new offsprin ,⁴⁰ doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder unto all who are endowed with insight.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "his family" (cf. 21:84 and the corresponding note [79]).

And We restored to him his family and many more with them as a grace from Ourselves and a reminder for the people of understanding.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We bestowed on him (again) his household and therewith the like thereof, a mercy from Us, and a memorial for men of understanding.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And finally We told him:] "Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break shine oath!"⁴¹ - for, verily, We found him full of patience in adversity: how excellent a servant [of Ours], who, behold, would always turn unto us

  - Mohammad Asad

In the words of the Bible (The Book of Job ii, 9), at the time of his seemingly hopeless suffering Job's wife reproached her husband for persevering in his faith: "Doss thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die." According to the classical Qur'an-commentators, Job swore that, if God would restore him to health, he would punish her blasphemy with a hundred stripes. But when he did recover, he bitterly regretted his hasty oath, for he realized that his wife's "blasphemy" had been an outcome of her love and pity for him; and thereupon he was told in a revelation that he could fulfil his vow in a symbolic manner by striking her once with "a bunch of grass containing a hundred blades or more". (Cf. 5:89 - 'God will not take you to task for oaths which you may have uttered without thought.")

Then, to fulfill his oath of giving his wife one hundred strikes which he made during his sickness, We said: "Take a bunch of twigs and strike with it and do not break your oath." Certainly We found him full of patience. He was an excellent devotee, who turned to Us over and over again.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (it was said unto him): Take in thine hand a branch and smite therewith, and break not twine oath. Lo! We found him steadfast, how excellent a slave! Lo! he was ever turning in repentance (to his Lord).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND CALL to mind Our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, [all of them] endowed with inner strength and vision:

  - Mohammad Asad

And mention Our devotees Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya'qoob (Jacob): men of power and vision.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And me mention of our bondmen, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men of parts and vision.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, verily, We purified them by means of a thought most pure: the remembrance of the life to come.⁴²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "of the [final] abode".

Surely We chose them for their special quality of keeping in mind the abode of hereafter.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! We purified them with a pure thought, remembrance of the Home (of the Hereafter).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, behold, in Our sight they were indeed among the elect, the truly good!

  - Mohammad Asad

Certainly they are with Us; among the best chosen.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! in Our sight they are verily of the elect, the excellent.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And call to mind Ishmael and Elisha,⁴³ and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto Us]:⁴⁴ for, each of them was of the truly good!

  - Mohammad Asad

Al-Yasa' in Arabic - the Biblical prophet who succeeded Elijah (see surah {37}, note [48]).

For an explanation of this rendering of dhu 'l-kifl, see surah {21}, note [81].

Also mention Isma'il, Al-Yas'a (Elisha) and Zul-Kifl; all of them were among the best.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And make mention of Ishmael and Elisha and Dhul Kifl. All are of the chosen.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

LET [all] this be a reminder [to those who believe in God] - for, verily, the most beauteous of all goals awaits the God-conscious:

  - Mohammad Asad

This Qur'an is but a reminder. Surely the righteous shall return to an excellent resort.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This is a reminder. And lo! for those who ward off (evil) is a happy journey's end,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

gardens of perpetual bliss,⁴⁵ with gates wide-open to them,

  - Mohammad Asad

In all the eleven instances in which the noun 'adn occurs in the Qur'an - and of which the present is the oldest - it is used as a qualifying term for the "gardens" (jannat) of paradise. This noun is derived from the verb 'adana, which primarily denotes "he remained [somewhere]" or "he kept [to something]", i.e., permanently: cf. the phrase adantu l-balad ("I remained for good [or "settled"] in the country"). In Biblical Hebrew - which, after all, is but a very ancient Arabian dialect - the closely related noun 'eden has also the additional connotation of "delight", "pleasure" or "bliss". Hence the combination of the two concepts in my rendering of 'adn as "perpetual bliss". As in many other places in the Qur'an, this bliss is here allegorized - and thus brought closer to man's imagination - by means of descriptions recallinc earthly iovs.

The Gardens of Eden, whose gates shall be wide open to receive them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Gardens of Eden, whereof the gates are opened for them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

wherein they will recline, [and] wherein they may [freely] call for many a fruit and drink,

  - Mohammad Asad

They shall recline there, calling for abundant fruit and delicious drinks;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Wherein, reclining, they call for plenteous fruit and cool drink (that is) therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

having beside them well-matched mates of modest gaze.⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "such as restrain their gaze", i.e., are of modest bearing and have eyes only for their mates (Razi). This allegorical reference to the delights of paradise occurs in the Qur'an three times (apart from the above instance, which is chronologically the earliest, in 37:48 and 55:56 as well). As an allegory, this phrase evidently applies to the righteous of both sexes, who in the life to come will be rejoined with those whom they loved and by whom they were loved in this world: for, "God has promised the believers, both men and women, gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual bliss" ( 9:72 ); and, "anyone - be it man or woman - who does [whatever he can] of good deeds and is a believer withal, shall enter paradise" ( 4:124 , with similar statements in 16:97 and 40:40 ). Finally, we are told in 36:56 that in this paradise "will they and their spouses on couches recline" - i.e., will find peace and inner fulfilment with and in one another. (For an explanation of the term atrab rendered by me as "well-matched", see note [15] on 56:38 .)

and beside them there shall be bashful virgin companions of equal age.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And with them are those of modest gaze, companions.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

This is what you are promised for the Day of Reckoning:

  - Mohammad Asad

These are the things which you are being promised on the Day of Reckoning;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This it is that ye are promised for the Day of Reckoning.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

this, verily, shall be Our provision [for you], with no end to it!

  - Mohammad Asad

this will be Our provision which will never finish.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! this in truth is Our provision, which will never waste away.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

All this [for the righteous]: but, verily, the most evil of all goals awaits those who are wont to transgress the bounds of what is right:

  - Mohammad Asad

Such will it be the reward for the righteous. But for the rebellious there will be an evil resort

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This (is for the righteous). And lo! for the transgressors there will be an evil journey's end,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

hell will they have to endure - and how vile a resting-place!

  - Mohammad Asad

- hell, that is! In which they will burn - the worst abode.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Hell, where they will burn, an evil resting place.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

This, [then, for them-] so let them taste it: burning despair and ice-cold darkness

  - Mohammad Asad

Such will it be the reward for the wrongdoers. So they will taste scalding water, festering blood (pus)

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Here is a boiling and an ice cold draught, so let them taste it,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and coupled with it, further [suffering] of a similar nature.⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "of its kind": i.e., corresponding in intensity to what the Qur'an describes as hamim and ghassaq. For my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see surah {6}, note [62]. The term ghassaq, on the other hand, is derived from the verb ghasaqa, "it became dark" or "intensely dark" (Taj al-'Arus); thus, al-ghasiq denotes "black darkness" and, tropically, "the night" or, rather, "the black night". According to some authorities, the form ghassaq signifies "intense [or "icy"] cold". A combination of these two meanings gives us the concept of the "ice-cold darkness" of the spirit which, together with "burning despair" (hamim), will characterize the suffering of inveterate sinners in the life to come. All other interpretations of the term ghasseq are purely speculative and, therefore, irrelevant.

and other things of the same sort.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And other (torment) of the kind in pairs (the two extremes)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And they will say to one another: "Do you see] this crowd of people who rushed headlong [into sin] with you?⁴⁸ No welcome to them! Verily, they [too] shall have to endure the fire!⁴⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "people whom you had seduced, and who thereupon blindly followed you": an apostrophe stressing the double responsibility of the seducers.

In Arabic usage, the phrase "no welcome to them" or "to you" (la marhaban bihim, resp. bikum) is equivalent to a curse. In this context - carried on into the next verse - it expresses a mutual disavowal of the seducers and the seduced.

It will be said to the ringleaders; "Here are your troops being thrown headlong with you. They are not welcomed here; for they are going to burn in the hellfire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Here is an army rushing blindly with you. (Those who are already in the fire say): No word of welcome for them. Lo! they will roast at the Fire.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And] they [who had been seduced] will exclaim: "Nay, but it is you! No welcome to you! It is you who have prepared this for us: and how vile a state to abide in!"

  - Mohammad Asad

The followers shall say to their miss guided leaders: "But you! There is no welcome for you either! It was you who have brought us to this end. Such an evil abode."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They say: Nay, but you (misleaders), for you there is no word of welcome. Ye prepared this for us (by your misleading). Now hapless is the plight.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall