Surah 83. Al-Mutaffifin

those who give the lie to the [coming of] Judgment Day:

  - Mohammad Asad

who deny the Day of Judgment!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those who deny the Day of Judgment

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, none gives the lie to it but such as are wont to transgress against all that is right [and are] immersed in sin:³

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying that a denial of ultimate responsibility before God - and, hence, of His judgment - is invariably conducive to sinning and to transgression against all moral imperatives. (Although this and the next verse are formulated in the singular, I am rendering them in the plural inasmuch as this plurality is idiomatically indicated by the word kull before the descriptive participles mu'tad and athim, as well as by the use of a straight plural in verses {14} ff.)

None denies it except the sinful transgressor.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Which none denieth save each criminal transgressor,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and so,] whenever Our messages are conveyed to them, they but say, "Fables of ancient times!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Who, when Our revelations are recited to him, says: "These are the tales of the ancient peoples."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Who, when thou readest unto him Our revelations, saith: (Mere) fables of the men of old

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay, but their hearts are corroded by all [the evil] that they were wont to do!⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "that which they were earning has covered their hearts with rust": implying that their persistence in wrongdoing has gradually deprived them of all consciousness of moral responsibility and, hence, of the ability to visualize the fact of God's ultimate judgment.

Of course not! In fact their misdeeds have caused a covering on their hearts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but that which they have earned is rust upon their hearts.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay, verily, from [the grace of] their Sustainer shall they on that Day be debarred;

  - Mohammad Asad

Indeed on that Day, they shall be debarred from the vision of their Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but surely on that day they will be covered from (the mercy of) their Lord.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and then, behold, they shall enter the blazing fire

  - Mohammad Asad

Then they shall be made to enter the hell,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then lo! they verily will burn in hell,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and be told: "This is the [very thing] to which you were wont to give the lie!"

  - Mohammad Asad

and told: "This is what you used to deny."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it will be said (unto them): This is that which ye used to deny.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NAY, VERILY, the record of the truly virtuous is [set down] in a mode most lofty!⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in contrast to the record of the wicked (see verse {7} above). As regards the term 'illiyyun, it is said to be the plural of 'illi or 'illiyyah ("loftiness") or, alternatively, a plural which has no singular (Qamus, Taj al-'Arus); in either case it is derived from the verb 'ala, which signifies "[something] was [or "became"] high" or "lofty" or - tropically - "exalted": thus in the well-known idiomatic phrase, huwa min 'illiyyat qawmihi, "he is among the [most] exalted of his people". In view of this derivation, the plural 'illiyyun has evidently the intensive connotation of "loftiness upon loftiness" (Taj al-'Arus) or "a mode most lofty".

But, surely the record of the righteous is in `Illiyeen (register of exalted ones),

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but the record of the righteous is in Iliyin

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And what could make thee conceive what that mode most lofty will be?

  - Mohammad Asad

and what will explain to you, what the `Illiyeen is?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Ah, what will convey unto thee what Iliyin is!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A record [indelibly] inscribed,

  - Mohammad Asad

This is a written book,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

A written record,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

witnessed by all who have [ever] been drawn close unto God.⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by the prophets and saints of all times as well as by the angels.

attested by those who are nearest to Allah (angels).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Attested by those who are brought near (unto their Lord).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold, [in the life to come] the truly virtuous will indeed be in bliss:

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely the righteous will be in bliss,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! the righteous verily are in delight,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[resting] on couches, they will look up [to God]:⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 75:23 . As elsewhere in the Qur'an, the "couches" of the virtuous in paradise symbolize complete restfulness and inner fulfilment.

reclining on soft couches, looking all around,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On couches, gazing,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

upon their faces thou wilt see the brightness of bliss.

  - Mohammad Asad

and you will recognize in their faces the brightness of bliss.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thou wilt know in their faces the radiance of delight

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They will be given a drink of pure wine whereon the seal [of God] will have been set,

  - Mohammad Asad

Their thirst will be quenched with the choicest sealed wine,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They are given to drink of a pure wine, sealed,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

pouring forth with a fragrance of musk.⁸ To that [wine of paradise], then, let all such aspire as [are willing to] aspire to things of high account:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the end whereof (khitamuhu) will be musk". My rendering of the above phrase reflects the interpretation given to it by several authorities of the second generation of Islam, and by Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Muthanna (all of them quoted by Razi). The "pure wine" (rahiq) of the hereafter - which, contrary to the wine of this world, will carry "the seal" (i.e., the sanction) of God because "no headiness will be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon" ( 37:47 ) - is another symbol of paradise, alluding, by means of comparisons with sensations that can be experienced by man, to the otherworldly sensations of joy which, in a form intensified beyond all human imagination, are in store for the righteous. Some of the great Muslim mystics (e.g., Jalal ad-Din Runi) see in that "pure wine" an allusion to a spiritual vision of God: an interpretation which, I believe, is fully justified by the sequence.

and the seal will be of musk. Those who wish to excel above others, let them endeavor to excel in this.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whose seal is musk. For this let (all) those strive who strive for bliss

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for it is composed of all that is most exalting⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Whereas most of the classical commentators regard the infinitive noun tasnim as the proper name of one of the allegorical "fountains of paradise", or, alternatively, refrain from any definition of it, it seems to me that the derivation of tasnim from the verb sannama - "he raised [something]" or "made [it] lofty" - points, rather, to the effect which the "wine" of divine knowledge will have on those who "drink" of it in paradise. Hence, the tabi'i 'Ikrimah (as quoted by Razi) equates tasnim with tashrif, "that which is ennobling" or "exalting".

That wine shall have a mixture of Tasnim,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And mixed with water of Tasnim,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

a source [of bliss] whereof those who are drawn close unto God shall drink.¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {76:5-6} and the corresponding notes.

a spring, at which those nearest to Allah will drink.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

A spring whence those brought near to Allah drink

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

BEHOLD, those who have abandoned themselves to sin are wont to laugh at such as have attained to faith;¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

In the original, verses {29-33} are in the past tense, as if viewed from the time-level of Judgment Day. However, since the preceding and the following passages (i.e., verses {18-28} and {34-36}) are formulated in the future tense, verses {29-33} (which relate to life in this world) may be adequately rendered in the present tense.

During their life on earth, the culprits used to mock at the believers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! the guilty used to laugh at those who believed,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and whenever they pass by them, they wink at one another [derisively];

  - Mohammad Asad

and wink at one another as they passed them by.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And wink one to another when they passed them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall