Surah 8. Al-Anfal

and be not like those who say, "We have heard", the while they do not hearken.²²

  - Mohammad Asad

See 2:93 and 4:46 , and the corresponding notes. While in the above-mentioned two instances the Jews are alluded to, the present allusion is more general, and relates to all people who have come to know and understand the message of the Qur'an, but pay no heed to it.

Do not be like those who say: "We hear," but give no heed to what they hear.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Be not as those who say, We hear, and they hear not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Verily, the vilest of all creatures²³ in the sight of God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "animals that walk or crawl" (dawab, sing. dabbah), including man as well.

For the worst animals in the sight of Allah are those deaf and dumb people who do not use common sense.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! the worst of beasts in Allah's sight are the deaf, the dumb, who have no sense.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, if God had seen any good in them, He would certainly have made them hear: but [as it is,] even if He had made them hear, they would surely have turned away in their obstinacy.

  - Mohammad Asad

Had Allah perceived any virtue in them He would have indeed endowed them with hearing. Had he made them (those without virtue) hear, they would have turned away and refused to listen.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Had Allah Known of any good in them He would have made them hear, but had He made them hear they would have turned away, averse.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

0 you who have attained to faith! Respond to the call of God and the Apostle whenever he calls you unto that which will give you life; and know that God intervenes between man and [the desires of] his heart,²⁴ and that unto Him you shall be gathered.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., between a man's desires and the outward action that may result from those desires: indicating that God can turn man away from what his heart urges him to do (Raghib). In other words, it is God-consciousness alone that can prevent man from being misled by wrong desires and, thus, from becoming like "those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason" (verse {22} above); and it is God-consciousness alone that can enable man to follow the call "unto that which gives life" - that is, spiritual awareness of right and wrong and the will to act accordingly.

O believers! Respond to the call of Allah and His Rasool, when He calls you to that which gives you life; and know that Allah stands between man and his heart, and that it is He in Whose presence you shall all be assembled.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe; Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calleth you to that which quickeneth you, and know that Allah cometh in between the man and his own heart, and that He it is unto Whom ye will be gathered.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And beware of that temptation to evil which does not befall only those among you who are bent on denying the truth, to the exclusion of others;²⁵ and know that God is severe in retribution.

  - Mohammad Asad

The term fitnah - here rendered as "temptation to evil" - comprises a wide range of concepts, e.g., "seduction" or "trial" or "test" or "an affliction whereby one is tried"; hence also "confusion" (as in 3:7 and 6:23 ), "discord" or "dissension" (because it constitutes a "trial" of human groupments), as well as "persecution" and "oppression" (because it is an affliction which may cause man to go astray and to lose his faith in spiritual values - a meaning in which the word fitnah is used in 2:191 and {193}); and, finally, "sedition" and "civil war" (because it leads whole communities astray). Since the expression "temptation to evil" is applicable to all these meanings, it appears to be the most suitable in the above context: the idea being that it is not merely the deliberate deniers of spiritual truths who are exposed to such a temptation, but that also people who are otherwise righteous may fall prey to it unless they remain always, and consciously, on their guard against anything that might lead them astray from the right course.

Guard yourselves against temptation. The wrongdoers among you are not the only ones who will be tempted; and know that Allah is strict in retribution.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers, and know that Allah is severe in punishment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And remember the time when you were few [and] helpless on earth, fearful lest people do away with you²⁶ - whereupon He sheltered you, and strengthened you with His succour, and provided for you sustenance out of the good things of life, so that you might have cause to be grateful.

  - Mohammad Asad

A reference to the weakness of the believers in the early days of Islam, before their exodus from Mecca to Medina. In its wider meaning, it is a reminder to every community of true believers, at all times, of their initial weakness and numerical insignificance and their subsequent growth in numbers and influence.

Call to mind how He gave you shelter when you were a few in number and were oppressed in the land, ever fearing lest the enemy would kidnap you. He made you strong with His help and provided you a safe asylum and gave you pure things for sustenance so that you may give thanks.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And remember, when ye were few and reckoned feeble in the land, and were in fear lest men should extirpate you, how He gave you refuge, and strengthened you with His help, and made provision of good things for you, that haply ye might be thankful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Hence,] O you who have attained to faith, do not be false to God and the Apostle, and do not knowingly be false to the trust that has been reposed in you;²⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "do not be false to your trusts, the while you know". Regarding the deeper meaning of amanah ("trust"), see note [87] on 33:72 .

O believers! Do not betray the trust of Allah and His Rasool, nor violate your trusts knowingly.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! Betray not Allah and His messenger, nor knowingly betray your trusts.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and know that your worldly goods and your children are but a trial and a temptation, and that with God there is a tremendous reward.²⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Inasmuch as love of worldly goods and a desire to protect one's family may lead a person to transgression (and, thus, to a betrayal of the moral values postulated in God's message), they are described as fitnah - which, in this context, is best rendered by the two words "trial and temptation". This reminder connects with verse {25} above, "beware of that temptation to evil which does not befall only those who are bent on denying the truth," since it is acquisitiveness and a desire to confer benefits on one's own family which often tempt an otherwise good person to offend against the rights of his fellow-men. It is to be borne in mind that, contrary to the New Testament, the Our'an does not postulate a contempt for worldly attachments as a pre-requisite of righteousness: it only demands of man that he should not allow these attachments to deflect him from the pursuit of moral verities.

You should know that your wealth and your children are, in fact, a test for you, and that Allah is He with Whom is your mighty reward.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And know that your possessions and your children are a test, and that with Allah is immense reward.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O you who have attained to faith! If you remain conscious of God, He will endow you with a standard by which to discern the true from the false,²⁹ and will efface your bad deeds, and will forgive you your sins: for God is limitless in His great bounty.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the faculty of moral valuation (Manar IX, 648). See also surah {2}, note [38].

O believers! If you fear Allah He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong), do away with your sins and forgive you. Allah is the Lord of Mighty Grace.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! If ye keep your duty to Allah, He will give you discrimination (between right and wrong) and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. Allah is of infinite bounty.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [remember, O Prophet,] how those who were bent on denying the truth were scheming against thee, in order to restrain thee [from preaching], or to slay thee, or to drive thee away: thus have they [always] schemed:³⁰ but God brought their scheming to nought - for God is above all schemers.

  - Mohammad Asad

While the first sentence of this verse is a reference to the persecution to which the Prophet and his followers had been exposed in Mecca before their exodus to Medina, this concluding passage points to the ever-recurring fact of man's religious history that those who deny the truth of divine revelation are always intent on rendering its preachers powerless or destroying them, either physically or, figuratively, through ridicule.

Remember how the unbelievers plotted against you. They sought to take you captive or kill you or exile you. They planned - and Allah also planned - Allah is the best planner of all.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when those who disbelieve plot against thee (O Muhammad) to wound thee fatally, or to kill thee or to drive thee forth; they plot, but Allah (also) plotteth; and Allah is the best of plotters.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, "We have heard [all this] before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these [ourselves]: they are nothing but fables of ancient times!"³¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 6:25 . As regards the expression la-qulna - here rendered as "we could certainly [ourselves] compose" - it is to be remembered that the verb qala does not always signify only "he said", but also "he asserted" or "expressed an opinion", as well as - in connection with a literary production - "he composed": thus, qala shi'r means "he composed a poem". In the above context, this expression alludes to the oft-repeated (but never fulfilled) boast of the pagan Quraysh that they could produce a poetic message comparable in merit to that of the Qur'an; in its wider sense, it is an allusion to the attitude of many unbelievers towards revealed scriptures in general.

Whenever Our revelations are recited to them they say: "Well, we have heard this. If we wanted we could fabricate the like. These are nothing but the tales of the ancients."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when Our revelations are recited unto them they say: We have heard. If we wish we can speak the like of this. Lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, lo, they would say, "O God! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones from the skies, or inflict [some other] grievous suffering on us!"³²

  - Mohammad Asad

This sarcastic appeal of the unbelievers - referred to several times in the Qur'an - is meant to stress their conviction that the Qur'an is not a divine revelation. According to Anas ibn Malik, these words were first uttered by Abu Jahl, the Prophet's chief opponent at Mecca, who was killed in the battle of Badr (Bukhari).

Also remember how they said: "O Allah! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or inflict some dreadful scourge to punish us."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But God did not choose thus to chastise them while thou [O Prophet] wert still among them,³³ nor would God chastise them when they [might yet] ask for forgiveness.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in Mecca, before the exodus to Medina.

But Allah would not punish them while you were present in their midst. Nor does Allah punish people while they are asking His forgiveness.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But what have they [now] in their favour that God should not chastise them - seeing that they bar [the believers] from the Inviolable House of Worship, although they are not its [rightful] guardians?³⁴ None but the God-conscious can be its guardians: but of this most of these [evildoers] are unaware;

  - Mohammad Asad

At the time of the revelation of this surah (the year 2 H.) Mecca was still in the possession of the hostile Quraysh, and no Muslim was allowed to enter it. Owing to their descent from Abraham, the Quraysh considered themselves entitled to the guardianship of the Ka'bah ("the Inviolable House of Worship"), which had been built by Abraham as the first temple ever dedicated to the One God (see surah {2}, note [102]). The Qur'an refutes this contention, just as it refutes the claim of the children of Israel to being "the chosen people" by virtue of their descent from Abraham. (Cf. in this connection 2:124 , and especially the last sentence, "My covenant does not embrace the wrongdoers.") Although they still retained a modicum of belief in God, the Quraysh had entirely forsaken the unitarian faith of Abraham, thus forfeiting any moral claim to the guardianship of the Temple (al-bayt) built by him.

But now there is no reason why Allah should not punish them when they are blocking others from the Masjid-al-Haram (Ka'bah), whereas they are not its lawful guardians. In fact, its only guardians are those who fear Allah, even though most of them do not understand.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

What (plea) have they that Allah should not punish them, when they debar (His servants) from the Inviolable Place of Worship, though they are not its fitting guardians. Its fitting guardians are those only who keep their duty to Allah. But most of them know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and their prayers before the Temple are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands.³⁵ Taste then, [O unbelievers,] this chastisement as an outcome of your persistent denial of the truth³⁶!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., devoid of all spiritual contents. Some of the early authorities maintain that dancing around the Ka'bah, accompanied by whistling and hand-clapping, was actually a ritual practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Although this explanation is quite plausible, it would appear from the context that the expression "whistling and clapping of hands" is used here metaphorically, to denote the spiritual emptiness of the religious rituals of people who are wont to attribute a quasi-divine efficacy to all manner of circumstantial "forces" - like wealth, power, social status, "luck", etc.

The chastisement or suffering referred to here was their crushing defeat at Badr.

Their prayer at the House of Allah is nothing but whistling and clapping of hands: whose only answer can be, "Taste the punishment because of your denying the truth."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand clapping. Therefore (it is said unto them): Taste of the doom because ye disbelieve.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall