Surah 77. Al-Mursalat

which We then let remain in [the womb's] firm keeping

  - Mohammad Asad

which We placed in a secure resting-place (womb),

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

placing it in a secure place

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which We laid up in a safe abode

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The which We placed in a place of rest firmly fixed. ⁵⁸⁷²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See n. 2873 to xxiii. 13. The silent growth in the mother's womb, and the protection and sustenance which the growing life receives from the life of the mother, are themselves wonders of creation.

for a term pre-ordained?

  - Mohammad Asad

for an appointed term?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

until an appointed time?¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See 23:12-14 and 22:5.

For a known term?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For a period (of gestation) determined (according to need)? ⁵⁸⁷³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The period roughly of nine months and ten days is subject to many adjustments. In fact throughout our prenatal as well as post-natal life there are wonderful and nicely-balanced adjustments of which we are ourselves unconscious. Should we not turn in love and gratitude to Allah our Creator?

Thus have We determined [the nature of man's creation]: and excellent indeed is Our power to determine [what is to be]!⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

The process of man's coming into being (illustrated, for instance, in {23:12-14}) clearly points to God's creative activity and, hence, to His existence. Consequently, lack of gratitude on man's part amounts to what the Qur'an describes as "giving the lie to the truth".

We have estimated its term - how excellent an estimator We are!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We 'perfectly' ordained 'its development'. How excellent are We in doing so!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thus We arranged. How excellent is Our arranging!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For We do determine (according to need); for We are the Best to determine (things)! ⁵⁸⁷⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Perhaps the life in the womb, in relation to the life after birth, is an allegory for our probationary life on earth in relation to the eternal Life to come. Perhaps, also, our state when we are buried in the tomb suggests an allegory to the life in the womb, in relation to the life in the Hereafter.

Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

Woe on that Day to the disbelievers!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Woe on that Day to the deniers!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Woe unto the repudiators on that day!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Ah woe that Day to the Rejecters of Truth!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Have We not caused the earth to hold within itself

  - Mohammad Asad

Have We not made the earth a home for both

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have We not made the earth a lodging

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have We not made the earth a receptacle

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Have We not made the earth (as a place) to draw together

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

the living and the dead?⁹ -

  - Mohammad Asad

This refers not merely to the fact that the earth is an abode for living and dead human beings and animals, but is also an allusion to the God-willed, cyclic recurrence of birth, growth, decay and death in all organic creation - and thus an evidence of the existence of the Creator who "brings forth the living out of that which is dead, and brings forth the dead out of that which is alive" ( 3:27 , 6:95 , 10:31 and 30:19 ).

the living and the dead,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

for the living and the dead,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Both for the living and the dead,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The living and the dead ⁵⁸⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

What a wonderful parable! The earth is a place where death and life, decay and growth and decay, green grass, stubble, and fuel, corruption and purification jostle together,-one often leading to the other. The drama which we see with our own eyes in this world should enable us to appreciate the wonders in the Kingdom of Allah where the despised and rejected receive the highest honour, Lazarus rests in Abraham's bosom, and the Pharaoh is led in chains for his arrogance and his sin.

and have We not set on it proud, firm mountains, and given you sweet water to drink?¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Parallel with the preceding, this verse refers to God's creation of inanimate matter, and thus rounds off the statement that He is the Maker of the universe in all its manifestations, both organic and inorganic.

set on it lofty mountains, and given you sweet water to drink?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and placed upon it towering, firm mountains, and given you fresh water to drink?

  - Mustafa Khattab

And placed therein high mountains and given you to drink sweet water therein?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And made therein mountains standing firm lofty (in stature); and provided for you water sweet (and wholesome)? ⁵⁸⁷⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See n. 2038 to xvi. 15. The solid mountains are frequently referred to: cf. xiii. 3. The parable here is that the mountains are hard, solid rock, and yet they act as sponges to collect, store up, and filter sweet and wholesome water, which on account of their altitude they are able to distribute by gravity to the lower, dry land by means of rivers or springs. Any one who has seen the parched Makkan valleys and the delicious springs in the mountains around, or the Zubaida Canal, which used to be the main source of Makkah's water-supply, will appreciate the aptness of the metaphor, but it applies to any country, though not to so striking a degree. If the wisdom and power of Allah can do such things before your eyes, how can you reject His teaching of a still more wonderful future Life?

Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

Woe on that Day to the disbelievers!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Woe on that Day to the deniers!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Woe unto the repudiators on that day!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Ah woe that Day to the Rejecters of Truth!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

GO ON towards that [resurrection] which you were wont to call a lie!

  - Mohammad Asad

On the Day of Judgement it will be said to the disbelievers: "Walk on to hell which you used deny!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'The disbelievers will be told,' 'Proceed into that 'Fire' which you used to deny!

  - Mustafa Khattab

(It will be said unto them:) Depart unto that (doom) which ye used to deny;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(It will be said:) "Depart ye to that which ye used to reject as false!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Go on towards the threefold shadows¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., of death, resurrection and God's judgment, all three of which cast dark shadows, as it were, over the sinners' hearts.

Walk on to the shadow of smoke ascending in three columns,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Proceed into the shade 'of smoke' which rises in three columns,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Depart unto the shadow falling threefold.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Depart ye to a Shadow (of smoke ascending) in three columns ⁵⁸⁷⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Sinners, instead of reposing in cool shades, will only see the blazing Fire. The only shadow they will see will be that of Smoke, ascending in three columns, right, left, and above, i.e., completely enveloping them. But it will give no comfort or coolness. On the contrary, it will contain huge sparks.

that will offer no [cooling] shade and will be of no avail against the flame

  - Mohammad Asad

giving neither coolness nor shelter from the flames,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

providing neither coolness nor shelter from the flames.

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Which yet is) no relief nor shelter from the flame.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"(Which yields) no shade of coolness and is of no use against the fierce Blaze.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

which - behold! - will throw up sparks like [burning] logs,

  - Mohammad Asad

throwing up sparks as huge as castles,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, it hurls sparks 'as big' as huge castles,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! it throweth up sparks like the castles,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Indeed it throws about sparks (huge) as Forts ⁵⁸⁷⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Qasr: Fort, big building, palace. An alternative reading is Qasar, plural of Qasarat (-un), meaning bundies of wood used for fuel: Ibn Abbas apud Bukhari. I almost prefer this latter reading.

like giant fiery ropes!¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "like yellow twisted ropes", yellow being "the colour of fire" (Baghawi). The conventional rendering of jimalat (also spelt jimalat and jimalah) as "camels", adopted by many commentators and, until now, by all translators of the Qur'an, must be rejected as grossly anomalous; see in this connection note [32] on the second part of 7:40 - "they shall not enter paradise any more than a twisted rope can pass through a needle's eye". In the above verse, too, the plural noun jimalah (or jimalat) signifies "twisted ropes" or "giant ropes" - a connotation that has been forcefully stressed by Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr and others (cf. Tabari, Baghawi, Razi, Ibn Kathir; also Bukhari, Kitab at-Tafsir). Moreover, our observation of the trajectory of shooting stars fully justifies the rendering "giant fiery ropes". Similarly, my rendering of qasr, in this context, as "[burning] logs" - instead of the conventional (and utterly meaningless) "castles", "palaces", etc. - goes back to all of the above-mentioned authorities.

as if they were yellow camels."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and 'as dark' as black camels.'¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 lit., yellow camels. Black camels’ hair glistens yellow in sunlight.

(Or) as it might be camels of bright yellow hue.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"As if there were (a string of) yellow camels (marching swiftly)." ⁵⁸⁷⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The yellow sparks flying swiftly one after another suggest a string of camels marching swiftly, such as the Arabs of Nejd and central Arabia are so proud of. There is a double allegory. It refers not only to the colour and the rapid succession of sparks, but to the vanity of worldly pride, as much as to say: "your fine yellow camels in which you took such pride in the world are but sparks that fly away and even sting you in the Hereafter!" Smoke with sparks may also assume fantastic shapes like long-necked camels.

Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth -

  - Mohammad Asad

Woe on that Day to the disbelievers!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Woe on that Day to the deniers!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Woe unto the repudiators on that day!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Ah woe that Day to the Rejecters of Truth!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

that Day on which they will not [be able to] utter a word,

  - Mohammad Asad

On that Day, they shall not be able to speak,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On that Day they will not 'be in a position to' speak,

  - Mustafa Khattab

This is a day wherein they speak not,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That will be a Day when they shall not be able to speak ⁵⁸⁸⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They will be dumbfounded; i.e., (when read with the next verse), they will not be in a position to put forward any valid defence or plea. Facts will speak too plainly against them. They might perversely try to deny false worship: vi. 23: but their own tongues and limbs will bear witness against them: xxiv. 24. Nor does the fighting out or settling of doctrinal disputes in the Hereafter (xxxix. 31) amount to putting forward pleas in defence.