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See Appendix II.
Abbreviated Letters: see Introduction to S. xi.
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Regarding this rendering of the term mubin, see note [2] on 12:1 .
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See note [3] on 12:3 .
Cf. xlii. 7, n. 4533.
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Cf. last clause of 13:39 - "with Him ('indahu) is the source (umm) of all revelation". The term umm (lit., "mother") has often the idiomatic connotation of "origin" or "source" (asl), and sometimes - as in 3:7 - of "essence". In the present context, only the former meaning is applicable. See also note [11] on the last verse of surah {85}.
This refers to the Preserved Tablet, Al-Lawḥ Al-Maḥfûẓ, in which Allah has written the destiny of His entire creation.
Cf. iii. 7, n. 347: and xiii. 39, n. 1864. The Mother of the Book, the Foundation of Revelation, the Preserved Tablet (Lauh Mahfuz. lxxxv. 22), is the core or essence of revelation, the original principle or fountain-head of Allah's Eternal and Universal Law. From this fountain-head are derived all streams of knowledge and wisdom, that flow through Time and feed the intelligence of created minds. The Mother of the Book is in Allah's own Presence, and its dignity and wisdom are more than all we can think of.
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For this rendering of the term musrif, see note [21] on the last sentence of 10:12 . The above rhetorical question answers itself, of course, in the negative - implying that God never ceases to "remind" the sinner through His revelations, and always accepts repentance.
In vouchsafing Revelation, what an inestimable Mercy has Allah conferred on mankind! Yet so many deluded souls are ungrateful, and ignore or oppose its teaching. If it were not for His attributes of Forgiveness and Forbearing He would be justified in withdrawing that Light, but He continues to shed it, that all who will may come and be blessed by it.
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In spite of, or because of, man's obstinate and rebellious nature, Allah sent prophet after prophet to the peoples of old, but there was among them always a party that ridiculed them and treated Allah's Signs as naught.
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I.e., than the people addressed in verse {5} above.
For example, in the stories of the people of Noah, Lot, Shu’aib and other nations that were destroyed, found throughout the Quran.
The result of rebellion was destruction. And the pagan Makkan generation contemporary with the Prophet are reminded that the peoples of old who were destroyed were, many of them, more powerful than they, and that they, in disobeying Allah's Law, were inviting the same fate for themselves. The events of the past have become examples for the present and the future.
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See surah {30}, note [45].
Cf. xxix. 61 and n. 3493; and xxxi. 25 and n. 3613. This class of men acknowledge Allah's Power and Allah's Knowledge or Wisdom, but do not realise Allah's infinite Mercy and care for His creatures.
Note the beautiful rhetorical figure of speech here. The reply of the inconsistent men who do not follow Allah's Law is turned against themselves. When they acknowledge Allah's Power and Knowledge, their speech is interrupted, and the concomitant qualities of Allah's Mercy and care of His creatures, with pointed reference to the inconsistent ones themselves, is set out in eloquent terms, as completing what they themselves had said, and the right course of conduct is pointed out to them (verses 10-14).
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Cf. 20:53 .
See last note.
Cf. xx. 53 and n. 2576. Mihad, a carpet or bed spread out, implies not only freedom of movement but rest also. The 'roads and channels' carry out the idea of communications and include land routes, sea routes, and airways.
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The grammatical form nazzala implies here recurrence: hence, "again and again".
In due measure: i.e., according to needs, as measured by local as well as universal considerations. This applies to normal rainfall: floods and droughts are abnormal conditions, and may be called unusual manifestations of His power, fulfilling some special purpose that we may or may not understand.
The clause 'And We raise...(from the dead)' is parenthetical. Cf. xxxv. 9, n. 3881. Note the transition from the third to the first person, to mark the Resurrection as a special act of Allah as distinguished from the ordinary processes of nature ordained by Allah.
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Lit., "all pairs". Some commentators regard the term azwaj as synonymous in this context with "kinds" (Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir): i.e., they take the above phrase to mean no more than that God created all kinds of things, beings and phenomena. Others (e.g., Tabari) see in it a reference to the polarity evident in all creation. Ibn'Abbas (as quoted by Razi) says that it denotes the concept of opposites in general, like "sweet and sour, or white and black, or male and female"; to which Razi adds that everything in creation has its complement, "like high and low, right and left, front and back, past and future, being and attribute", etc., whereas God - and He alone - is unique, without anything that could be termed "opposite" or "similar" or "complementary". Hence, the above sentence is an echo of the statement that "there is nothing that could be compared with Him" ( 112:4 ).
For example, male and female, sweet and bitter, day and night, plains and mountains, heat and cold, light and darkness.
Cf. n. 2578 to xx. 53. Also see xxxvi. 36, n. 3981.
By analogy all means of transport, including horses, camels, ships, steamers, railways, aeroplanes, airships, etc. The domestication of animals as well as the invention of mechanical means of transport require a skill and ingenuity in man, which are referred to Allah as His gifts or endowments to man.
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Lit., "over its backs" - i.e., according to all classical commentators, the "backs" of the above-mentioned animals and ships alike, the singular form of the pronoun ("its") relating to the collective entity comprised in the concept of "all whereon you ride" (ma tarkabun): in other words, "all that you use or may use by way of transport". As regards my rendering of li-tasta'u as "so that you might gain mastery", I should like to point out that the verb istawa (lit., "he established himself") has often the connotation adopted by me: see Jawhari, Raghib and Lisan al-'Arab, art. sawa; also Lane IV, 1478.
See last note. People of understanding attribute all good to its true and original source viz.: Allah.
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Men of understanding, every time they take a journey on earth, are reminded of that more momentous journey which they are taking on the back of Time to Eternity. Have they tamed Time to their lawful use, or do they allow Time to run away with them wildly to where they know not? Their goal is Allah, and their thoughts are ever with Allah.
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I.e., despite the fact that most people readily admit that God has created all that exists (verse {9} above), some of them tend to forget His uniqueness.
Lit., "attribute to Him a part out of [some of] His creatures ('ibad)": cf. 6:100 and the corresponding notes. The noun juz' (lit., "part") evidently denotes here "a part of Himself", as implied in the concept of "offspring"; hence my rendering. If, on the other hand, juz' is understood in its literal sense, the above sentence could have (as Razi assumes) a more general meaning, namely, "they attribute a part of His divinity to some of the beings created by Him". However, in view of the sequence, which clearly refers to the blasphemous attribution of "offspring" to God, my rendering seems to be preferable.
See footnote for 37:149.
As a contrast to the men of true understanding are the ungrateful blasphemous creatures, who offer a share to others besides Allah! They imagine sons and daughters to Allah, and forget the true lesson of the whole of Creation, which points to the Unity of Allah. This theme is further developed in the following Section.
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