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DonateMuharram 2025

Surah 74. Al-Muddaththir

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74:36
نَذِيرًا لِّلْبَشَرِ Na th eeran lilbashar i
a warning to mortal man -
  - Mohammad Asad
a warning to mankind;
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
a warning to humankind,
  - Mustafa Khattab
As a warning unto men,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
A warning to mankind
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:37
لِمَن شَآءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ Liman sh a a minkum an yataqaddama aw yataakhkhar a
to every one of you, whether he chooses to come forward or to hang back!24
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "any of you who chooses...", etc. - i.e., irrespective of whether one has chosen to follow or to disregard the divine call: implying that even true believers may stumble into sinning, and hence need to be warned.

to any of you who chooses to go forward or to lag behind.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
to whichever of you chooses to take the lead or lag behind.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Unto him of you who will advance or hang back.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
To any of you that chooses to press forward or to follow behind 5801
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Three interpretations are possible. (1) Those pressing forward may be the Righteous, and those following behind may be the laggards, the Unbelievers, who reject Allah's love, care, and mercy. (2) Men of two kinds of temperament may be referred to: those who are always in the van and those who are always in the rear. Allah's Message is open to both. But there may be a danger to both: in the one case, over-confindence, or hope in wrong things: in the other case missing great opportunities so that their spiritual lives may be "bound in shallows and in miseries". Extremes should be avoided. (3) Or it may mean that the warning is effective only for those willing to move forwards or backwards, as the case may be, but is lost on the inert or the lethargic. For our moral and spiritual progress, we have in some cases to go forwards, but in some cases we have to retreat from false positions. The hopeless case is that of the obstinate man, whose heart is so dead that he dares not advance to the right or withdraw from the wrong.

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74:38
كُلُّ نَفْسٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ Kullu nafsin bim a kasabat raheena tun
[On the Day of Judgment,] every human being will be held in pledge for whatever [evil] he has wrought -
  - Mohammad Asad
Every soul is held in pledge for its deeds,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Every soul will be detained for what it has done,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Every soul is a pledge for its own deeds;
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds. 5802
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lii. 21. Man cannot shift his responsibility to vicarious saviours or saints. His redemption depends upon the grace of Allah, for which he should constantly and whole-heartedly strive by means of right conduct. If he does so he will be redeemed and he will join the Companions of the Right Hand.

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74:39
إِلَّآ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْيَمِينِ Ill a a s ha ba alyameen i
save only those who shall have attained to righteousness:25
  - Mohammad Asad
except the people of the right hand,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
except the people of the right,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Save these who will stand on the right hand.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Except the Companions of the Right Hand. 5803
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. n. 5223 to lvi. 3, and see lvi. 27-38. The Companions of the Right Hand will be the Righteous or the Blessed in the Hereafter. Their grounds of merit will be Prayer, Charity, Earnestness, and Faith in Allah's just Judgment: all of which are within the reach of the humblest Seeker. They are not separate acts or virtues, but are all inter-connected. At Judgment, the pledge of their soul will be redeemed by Allah's Grace at the Taking of the Account.

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74:40
فِى جَنَّـٰتٍ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ Fee jann a tin yatas a aloon a
[dwelling] in gardens [of paradise], they will inquire
  - Mohammad Asad
who shall be in paradise. They will ask
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
who will be in Gardens, asking one another
  - Mustafa Khattab
In gardens they will ask one another
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
(They will be) in Gardens (of Delight); they will question each other
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:41
عَنِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ AAani almujrimeen a
of those who were lost in sin:
  - Mohammad Asad
from the culprits:
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
about the wicked 'who will then be asked':
  - Mustafa Khattab
Concerning the guilty:
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And (ask) of the Sinners:
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:42
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِى سَقَرَ M a salakakum fee saqar a
"What has brought you into hell-fire?"
  - Mohammad Asad
"What brought you into hell?".
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'What has landed you in Hell?'
  - Mustafa Khattab
What hath brought you to this burning?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"What led you into Hell-Fire?"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:43
قَالُوا۟ لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ Q a loo lam naku mina almu s alleen a
They will answer: "We were not among those who prayed,26
  - Mohammad Asad

In view of the fact that at the time of the revelation of this very early surah the canonical prayer (salah) had not yet been made obligatory on the followers of the Qur'an, it is reasonable to assume that in the above context this term is used in its widest sense, namely, conscious belief in God.

They will answer: "We did not use to offer the Salah (prayers),
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
They will reply, 'We were not of those who prayed,
  - Mustafa Khattab
They will answer: We were not of those who prayed
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
They will say: "We were not of those who prayed;"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:44
وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ ٱلْمِسْكِينَ Walam naku nu t AAimu almiskeen a
and neither did we feed the needy;
  - Mohammad Asad
we did not use to feed the poor,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
nor did we feed the poor.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nor did we feed the wretched.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Nor were we of those who fed the indigent;"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:45
وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ ٱلْخَآئِضِينَ Wakunn a nakhoo d u maAAa alkh a i d een a
and we were wont to indulge in sinning together with all [the others] who indulged in it;
  - Mohammad Asad
we used to join those who wasted their time in vain talk,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
We used to indulge 'in falsehood' along with others,
  - Mustafa Khattab
We used to wade (in vain dispute) with (all) waders,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"But we used to talk vanities with vain talkers;"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:46
وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ Wakunn a nuka thth ibu biyawmi a l ddeen i
and the Day of Judgment we were wont to call a lie -
  - Mohammad Asad
and we used to deny the Day of Judgment,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
and deny the Day of Judgment,
  - Mustafa Khattab
And we used to deny the Day of Judgment,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"And we used to deny the Day of Judgment"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:47
حَتَّىٰٓ أَتَىٰنَا ٱلْيَقِينُ H att a at a n a alyaqeen u
until certainty came upon us [in death]."
  - Mohammad Asad
until death overtook us."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
until the inevitable came to us.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
Till the inevitable came unto us.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Until there came to us (the Hour) that is certain." 5804
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xv. 99, and n. 2018. The Hour that is Certain is usually taken to the Death.

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74:48
فَمَا تَنفَعُهُمْ شَفَـٰعَةُ ٱلشَّـٰفِعِينَ Fam a tanfaAAuhum shaf a AAatu a l shsh a fiAAeen a
And so, of no benefit to them could be the intercession of any that would intercede for them.27
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the intercession of intercessors" - implying that there would be none to intercede for them with God. As regards the much-misunderstood Islamic concept of "intercession", see 10:3 - "there is none that could intercede with Him unless He grants His leave therefor" - and the corresponding note [7].

On that Day, no intercession of any intercessors shall profit them.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So the pleas of intercessors will be of no benefit to them.
  - Mustafa Khattab
The mediation of no mediators will avail them then.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then will no intercession of (any) intercessors profit them.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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74:49
فَمَا لَهُمْ عَنِ ٱلتَّذْكِرَةِ مُعْرِضِينَ Fam a lahum AAani a l tta th kirati muAAri d een a
WHAT, THEN, is amiss with them28 that they turn away from all admonition
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., with so many people who refuse to listen to the truth.

Then what is the matter with them that they turn away from this admonition?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Now, what is the matter with them that they are turning away from the reminder,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Why now turn they away from the Admonishment
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then what is the matter with them that they turn away from admonition? 5805
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If the Day of Judgment is inevitable, it is strange that men should not heed a plain warning, but go on as if they were thoughtless and obstinate asses stampeding from a lion. Instead of heeding the warning, they try to avoid it. They are frightened at Allah's Word.

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74:50
كَأَنَّهُمْ حُمُرٌ مُّسْتَنفِرَةٌ Kaannahum h umurun mustanfira tun
as though they were terrified asses
  - Mohammad Asad
Like frightened donkeys
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
as if they were spooked zebras
  - Mustafa Khattab
As they were frightened asses
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
As if they were affrighted asses
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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