Surah 41. Fussilat

Verily, they who are bent on denying the truth of this reminder as soon as it comes to them - [they are the losers]: for, behold, it is a sublime divine writ:

  - Mohammad Asad

Those who reject this reminder when it comes to them should know that in fact it is a mighty Book.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! those who disbelieve in the Reminder when it cometh unto them (are guilty), for lo! it is an unassailable Scripture.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

no falsehood can ever attain to it openly, and neither in a stealthy manner,³⁵ [since it is] bestowed from on high by One who is truly wise, ever to be praised.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "neither from between its hands, nor from behind it", i.e., it cannot be openly changed by means of additions or omissions (Razi), and neither surreptitiously, by hostile or deliberately confusing interpretations. The above is one of the Qur'anic passages on which the great commentator Abu Muslim al-Isfahani (as quoted by Razi) bases his absolute rejection of the theory of "abrogation" (for which see note [87] on 2:106 ). Since the "abrogation" of any Qur'an verse would have amounted to its ibtal - that is, to an open or implied declaration that it was henceforth to be regarded as null and void - the verse in question would have to be considered "false" (batil) in the context of the Qur'an as it is before us: and this, as Abu Muslim points out, would clearly contradict the above statement that "no falsehood (batil) can ever attain to it".

No falsehood can approach it from before or from behind. It is a revelation from the One Who is Wise and Praiseworthy.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the Owner of Praise.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And as for thee, O Prophet,] nothing is being said to thee but what was said to all [of God's] apostles before thy time.³⁶ Behold, thy Sustainer is indeed full of forgiveness - but He has also the power to requite most grievously!

  - Mohammad Asad

This is an allusion to the allegation of the Prophet's opponents that he himself was the "author" of what he claimed to be a divine revelation, as well as to their demand that he should "prove" the truth of his prophetic mission by producing a miracle: a scornful attitude with which all the earlier prophets had been confronted at one time or another, and which is epitomized in the "saying" of the unbelievers mentioned in verse {5} of this surah.

Nothing is said to you (O Muhammad) that was not said to the Rasools before you: that surely your Rabb is the Lord of forgiveness, and at the same time the Lord of painful retribution.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Naught is said unto thee (Muhammad) save what was said unto the messengers before thee. Lo! thy Lord is owner of forgiveness, and owner (also) of dire punishment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now if We had willed this [divine writ] to be a discourse in a non-Arabic tongue, they [who now reject it] would surely have said, "Why is it that its messages have not been spelled out clearly?³⁷ Why [a message in] a non-Arabic tongue, and [its bearer] an Arab?" Say: "Unto all who have attained to faith, this [divine writ] is a guidance and a source of health; but as for those who will not believe - in their ears is deafness, and so it remains obscure to them: they are [like people who are] being called from too far away.³⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "in a tongue which we can understand". Since the Prophet was an Arab and lived in an Arabian environment, his message had to be expressed in the Arabic language, which the people to whom it was addressed in the first instance could understand: see in this connection note [72] on the first sentence of 13:37 , as well as the first half of 14:4 - "never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them". Had the message of the Qur'an been formulated in a language other than Arabic, the opponents of the Prophet would have been justified in saying, "between us and thee is a barrier" (verse {5} of this surnh

Lit, "from a far-off place": i.e., they only hear the sound of the words, but cannot understand their meaning.

Had We revealed this Qur'an in a foreign language, they (same people) would have said: "Why have not its verses been made clear? Why in a foreign language, while the audience are Arabs?" Say O Prophet: "To the believers, it is a guide and a healing; and the ones who do not believe, it is merely their deafness and their blindness; because they act as if they are being called from a far-off place."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if We had appointed it a Lecture in a foreign tongue they would assuredly have said: If only its verses were expounded (so that we might understand)? What! A foreign tongue and an Arab? Say unto them (O Muhammad): For those who believe it is a guidance and a healing; and as for those who disbelieve, there is a deafness in their ears, and it is blindness for them. Such are called to from afar.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thus, too, have We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses aforetime, and thereupon disputes arose about it.³⁹ And [then, as now,] had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, all would indeed have been decided between them [from the outset].⁴⁰ As it is, behold, they [who will not believe in this divine writ] are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about what it portends.⁴¹

  - Mohammad Asad

As was and is the case with the Qur'an, some people accepted the divine message revealed to Moses, and some rejected it (Zamakhshari, Razii), while others disagreed about the import and application of its tenets (Tabari).

For an explanation of this passage, as well as of the above parallel between men's attitudes towards the earlier scriptures and the Qur'an, see the second sentence of 10:19 and the corresponding note [29].

Lit., "about it", i.e., doubts as to whether the Qur'anic approach to problems of man's spirit and body - and, in particular, its stress on the essential unity of these twin aspects of human life (cf. note [118] on the first sentence of 2:143 ) - is justified or not. In a wider sense, these doubts of the deniers of the truth relate to the question of whether religion as such is "beneficial" or "injurious" to human society - a question which is posed and answered by them with a strong bias against all religious faith.

Before this Qur'an, We had given the Book to Musa and it was similarly disputed. If your Rabb had not already given a word, the judgement would have been passed between the disputants; grave though their suspicions were about it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We verily gave Moses the Scripture, but there hath been dispute concerning it; and but for a Word that had already gone forth from thy Lord, it would ere now have been judged between them; but lo! they are in hopeless doubt concerning it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

WHOEVER does what is just and right, does so for his own good; and whoever does evil, does so to his own hurt: and never does God do the least wrong to His creatures.

  - Mohammad Asad

He who does good deeds, does it for his own soul; and he who commits evil does so at his own peril: Your Rabb is never unjust to His servants.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso doeth right it is for his soul, and whoso doeth wrong it is against it. And thy Lord is not at all a tyrant to His slaves.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In Him alone is vested the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come. And no fruit bursts forth from its calyx, and no female ever conceives, nor ever gives birth, save with His knowledge. And so, on the Day when He shall call out to them, "Where, now, are those [alleged] partners of Mine?" - they will [surely] answer, "We confess unto Thee that none of us can bear witness [to anyone's having a share in Thy divinity]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

He Alone has the knowledge of the Hour of Doom. No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive, nor she gives birth but with His knowledge. On the Day of Judgement when Allah will ask the unbelievers: "Where are those partners that you associated with Me?" They will answer: "We confess that none of us can vouch for them."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Unto Him is referred (all) knowledge of the Hour. And no fruits burst forth from their sheaths, and no female carrieth or bringeth forth but with His knowledge. And on the day when He calleth unto them: Where are now My partners? they will say: We confess unto Thee, not one of us is a witness (for them).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And so, all that they were wont to invoke aforetime will have forsaken them; and they shall know for certain that there is no escape for them.

  - Mohammad Asad

Those deities whom they used to invoke will vanish from them and they shall realize that there is no escape.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those to whom they used to cry of old have failed them, and they perceive they have no place of refuge.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

MAN NEVER TIRES of asking for the good [things of life]; and if evil fortune touches him, he abandons all hope,⁴² giving himself up to despair.

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [17] on 11:9 .

Man is never tired of praying for good, but when any evil befalls him, he loses hope and is in despair.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Man tireth not of praying for good, and if all toucheth him, then he is disheartened, desperate.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet whenever We let him taste some of Our grace after hardship has visited him, he is sure to say, "This is but my due!" - and, "I do not think that the Last Hour will ever come:⁴³ but if [it should come, and] I should indeed be brought back unto my Sustainer, then, behold, the ultimate good awaits me with Him!⁴⁴ But [on the Day of Judgment] We shall most certainly give those who were bent on denying the truth⁴⁵ full understanding of all that they ever did, and shall most certainly give them [thereby] a taste of suffering severe.⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., man is, as a rule, so blinded by his love of this world that he cannot imagine its ever coming to an end. Implied in this statement is a doubt as to whether there will really be an afterlife, and whether man will really be judged by God on resurrection.

Being fully convinced of his own merit (as expressed in the words, "This is but my due"), he is confident that - in case there should really be a life after death - his own flattering view of himself will be confirmed by God.

I.e., the truth of resurrection and of God's judgment.

I.e., the realization of the spiritual blindness in which they spent their life will in if self be a source of their suffering in the hereafter: cf. 17:72 - "whoever is blind [of heart] in this [worldl will be blind in the life to come [as well]".

And if after affliction We vouchsafe him a favor from Ourself, he is sure to say: "I deserve this, I do not think that the Hour will ever come; and even if I am brought back to my Rabb, I would still get good treatment from Him." The fact, however, is that We shall tell the disbelievers the truth of all that they had done and We shall make them taste a severe punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily, if We cause him to taste mercy after some hurt that hath touched him, he will say: This is my own; and I deem not that the Hour will ever rise, and if I am brought back to my Lord, I surely shall be better off with Him--But We verily shall tell those who disbelieve (all) that they did, and We verily shall make them taste hard punishment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, too, when We bestow Our blessings upon man, he tends to turn aside and keep aloof [from remembering Us]; but as soon as evil fortune touches him he is full of wordy prayers!⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "wide [i.e., prolonged or diffuse] prayers".

When We bestow favors on man, he turns away and drifts off to another side; and when an evil befalls him, he comes with lengthy supplications.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When We show favor unto man, he withdraweth and turneth aside, but when ill toucheth him then he aboundeth in prayer.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

HAVE YOU given thought [to how you will fare] if this be truly [a revelation] from God, the while you deny its truth? Who could be more astray than one who places himself [so] deeply in the wrong?⁴⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

According to Razii, this is an implied allusion to the attitude of people who - as mentioned in verses {4} and {5} of this surah - "turn away" from the message of the Qur'an, saying, as it were: "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier."

O Prophet, ask them: "Have you ever considered: if this Qur'an is really from Allah and you deny it, who can be more astray than you who has gone too far in defying Him?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Bethink you: If it is from Allah and ye reject it--Who is further astray than one who is at open feud (with Allah)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In time We shall make them fully understand⁴⁹ Our messages [through what they perceive] in the utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves,⁵⁰ so that it will become clear unto them that this [revelation] is indeed the truth. [Still,] is it not enough [for them to know] that thy Sustainer is witness unto everything?⁵¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We will show them" or "make them see".

I.e., through a progressive deepening and widening of their insight into the wonders of the universe as well as through a deeper understanding of man's own psyche - all of which points to the existence of a conscious Creator.

I.e., that He is almighty and all-seeing: a fundamental truth which, by itself, should be enough to remind man of his responsibility before Him.

Soon shall We show them Our signs in the universe and in their own souls, until it becomes clear to them that this Qur'an is indeed the truth. Is it not enough that your Rabb is a witness over everything?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We shall show them Our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth. Doth not thy Lord suffice, since He is Witness over all things?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Oh, verily, they are in doubt as to whether they will meet their Sustainer [on Judgment Day]! Oh, verily, He encompasses everything!

  - Mohammad Asad

Still they are in doubt about meeting their Rabb! Yet it is He Who encompasses everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How! Are they still in doubt about the meeting with their Lord? Lo! Is not He surrounding all things?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall