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Surah 21. Al-Anbiya

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بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Bismi All a hi a l rra h m a ni a l rra h eem i
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:1
  - Mohammad Asad

According to most of the authorities, this invocation (which occurs at the beginning of every surah with the exception of surah 9) constitutes an integral part of "The Opening" and is, therefore, numbered as verse {1}. In all other instances, the invocation "in the name of God" precedes the surah as such, and is not counted among its verses. - Both the divine epithets rahman and rahim are derived from the noun rahmah, which signifies "mercy", "compassion", "loving tenderness" and, more comprehensively, "grace". From the very earliest times, Islamic scholars have endeavoured to define the exact shades of meaning which differentiate the two terms. The best and simplest of these explanations is undoubtedly the one advanced by Ibn al-Qayyim (as quoted in Manar I,48): the term rahman circumscribes the quality of abounding grace inherent in, and inseparable from, the concept of God's Being, whereas rahim expresses the manifestation of that grace in, and its effect upon, His creation - in other words, an aspect of His activity.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
In the Name of Allah- the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
  - Mustafa Khattab
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful. 19
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Arabic words "Rahman" and "Rahim" translated "Most Gracious" and "Most Merciful" are both intensive forms referring to different aspects of God's attribute of Mercy. The Arabic intensive is more suited to express God's attributes than the superlative degree in English. The latter implies a comparison with other beings, or with other times or places, while there is no being like unto God, and He is independent of Time and Place. Mercy may imply pity, long-suffering, patience, and forgiveness, all of which the sinner needs and God Most Merciful bestows in abundant measure. But there is a Mercy that goes before even the need arises, the Grace which is ever watchful, and flows from God Most Gracious to all His creatures, protecting the, preserving them, guiding them, and leading them to clearer light and higher life. For this reason the attribute Rahman (Most Gracious) is not applied to any but God, but the attribute Rahim (Merciful), is a general term, and may also be applied to Men. To make us contemplate these boundless gifts of God, the formula: "In the name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful": is placed before every Sura of the Qur-an (except the ninth), and repeated at the beginning of every act by the Muslim who dedicates his life to God, and whose hope is in His Mercy.

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21:1
ٱقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍ مُّعْرِضُونَ Iqtaraba li l nn a si h is a buhum wahum fee ghaflatin muAAri d oon a
CLOSER DRAWS unto men their reckoning: and yet they remain stubbornly heedless [of its approach].1
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and yet in [their] heedlessness they are obstinate (mu'ridun)".

The Day of Accountability for mankind is getting closer and closer, yet they are heedless and are turning away from the admonition.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'The time of' people's judgment has drawn near, yet they are heedlessly turning away.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Their reckoning draweth nigh for mankind, while they turn away in heedlessness.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Closer and closer to mankind comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away. 2662
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Every minute sees them nearer to their doom, and yet they are sadly heedless, and even actively turn away from the Message that would save them.

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21:2
مَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن ذِكْرٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِم مُّحْدَثٍ إِلَّا ٱسْتَمَعُوهُ وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ M a yateehim min th ikrin min rabbihim mu h dathin ill a istamaAAoohu wahum yalAAaboon a
Whenever there comes unto them any new reminder from their Sustainer, they but listen to it with playful amusement,2
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "while they are playing".

They listen with ridicule to each fresh warning that comes to them from their Rabb and remain engaged in the sports.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Whatever new reminder comes to them from their Lord, they only listen to it jokingly,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Never cometh there unto them a new reminder from their Lord but they listen to it while they play.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Never comes (aught) to them of a renewed Message from their Lord but they listen to it as in jest 2663
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In each age, when the Message of Allah is renewed, the very people who should have known better and welcomed the renewal and the sweeping away of human cobwebs, either receive it with amused self-superiority, which later tums to active hostility, or with careless indifference.

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21:3
لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّجْوَى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ هَلْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ ۖ أَفَتَأْتُونَ ٱلسِّحْرَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ L a hiyatan quloobuhum waasarroo a l nnajw a alla th eena th alamoo hal h atha ill a basharun mithlukum afatatoona a l ssi h ra waantum tub s iroon a
their hearts set on passing delights; yet they who are [thus] bent on wrongdoing conceal their innermost thoughts3 [when they say to one another], "Is this [Muhammad] anything but a mortal like yourselves? Will you, then, yield to [his] spellbinding eloquence with your eyes open?"4
  - Mohammad Asad

See next note.

As regards my occasional rendering of sihr (lit., "sorcery" or "magic") as "spellbinding eloquence", see 74:24 , where this term occurs for the first time in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation. - By rejecting the message of the Qur'an on the specious plea that Muhammad is but a human being endowed with "spellbinding eloquence", the opponents of the Qur'anic doctrine in reality "conceal their innermost thoughts": for, their rejection is due not so much to any pertinent criticism of this doctrine as, rather, to their instinctive, deep-set unwillingness to submit to the moral and spiritual discipline which an acceptance of the Prophet's call would entail.

Their hearts are preoccupied with worldly affairs; these wrongdoers say to each other in private: "Is this man (Muhammad) not a human being like yourselves? Would you follow witchcraft with your eyes open?"
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
with their hearts 'totally' distracted. The evildoers would converse secretly, 'saying,' 'Is this 'one' not human like yourselves? Would you fall for 'this' witchcraft, even though you can 'clearly' see?'
  - Mustafa Khattab
With hearts preoccupied. And they confer in secret The wrong-doers say: Is this other than a mortal like you? Will ye then succumb to magic when ye see (it)?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Their hearts toying as with trifles. The wrongdoers conceal their private counsels (saying) "Is this (one) more than a man like yourselves? Will ye go to witchcraft with your eyes open?" 2664 2665
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's Message is free and open, in the full light of day. His enemies plot against it in secrecy, lest their own false motives be exposed. Their jealousy prevents them from accepting a "man like themselves" as a teacher or warner or guide.

Literally, "in a state in which you (actually) see (that it is witchcraft)". When Allah's Messenger is proved to be above them in moral worth, in true insight, in earnestness and power of eloquence, they accuse him of witchcraft, a word which may mean nothing, or perhaps some mysterious deceitful arts.

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21:4
قَالَ رَبِّى يَعْلَمُ ٱلْقَوْلَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ Q a la rabbee yaAAlamu alqawla fee a l ssam a i wa a lar d i wahuwa a l ssameeAAu alAAaleem u
Say:5 "My Sustainer knows whatever is spoken in heaven and on earth; and He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing."
  - Mohammad Asad

According to the earliest scholars of Medina and Basrah, as well as some of the scholars of Kufah, this word is spelt qul, as an imperative ("Say"), whereas some of the Meccan scholars and the majority of those of Kufah read it as aala ("He [i.e., the Prophet] said"). In the earliest copies of the Qur'an the spelling was apparently confined, in this instance, to the consonants q-l: hence the possibility of reading it either as qul or as qala. However, as Tabari points out, both these readings have the same meaning and are, therefore, equally valid, "for, when God bade Muhammad to say this, he [undoubtedly] said it....Hence, in whichever way this word is read, the reader is correct (musib as-sawab) in his reading." Among the classical commentators, Baghawi and Baydawi explicitly use the spelling qul, while Zamakhshari's short remark that "it has also been read as qala" seems to indicate his own preference for the imperative qul.

Tell them: "My Rabb has knowledge of every word which is spoken in the heavens and the earth, and He hears all and knows all."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
The Prophet responded, 'My Lord 'fully' knows every word spoken in the heavens and the earth. For He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
He saith: My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and the earth. He is the Hearer, the Knower.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Say: "My Lord knoweth (every) word (spoken) in the heavens and the earth: He is the One that heareth and knoweth (all things)." 2666 2667
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Notice that in the usual Arabic texts (that is, according to the Qiraat of Hafs) the word qala is here and in xxi. 112 below, as well as in xxiii. 112, spelt differently from the usual spelling of the word in other places (e.g. in xx. 125-126). Qul is the reading of the Basra Qiraat, meaning, "Say thou" in the imperative. If we construe "he says", the pronoun refers to "this (one)" in the preceding verse, viz.: the Prophet. But more than one Commentator understands the meaning in the imperative, and I agree with them. The point is merely one of verbal construction. The meaning is the same in either case. See n. 2948 to xxiii. 112.

Every word, whether whispered in secret (as in xxi. 3 above) or spoken openly, is known to Allah. Let not the wrong-doers imagine that their secret plots are secret to the Knower of all things.

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21:5
بَلْ قَالُوٓا۟ أَضْغَـٰثُ أَحْلَـٰمٍۭ بَلِ ٱفْتَرَىٰهُ بَلْ هُوَ شَاعِرٌ فَلْيَأْتِنَا بِـَٔايَةٍ كَمَآ أُرْسِلَ ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ Bal q a loo a d gh a thu a h l a min bali iftar a hu bal huwa sh a AAirun falyatin a bi a yatin kam a orsila alawwaloon a
"Nay," they say, "[Muhammad propounds] the most involved and confusing of dreams!"6 - "Nay, but he has invented [all] this!" - "Nay, but he is [only] a poet!" - [and,] "Let him, then, come unto us with a miracle, just as those [prophets] of old were sent [with miracles]!"
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "confusing medleys (adghath) of dreams".

"Rather," some of them say, "this Qur'an is jumble of dreams!" Others say: "He has made it all up!" And yet others say: "He is a poet!" Let him bring to us a sign as did the former Rasools."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Yet they say, 'This 'Quran' is a set of confused dreams! No, he has fabricated it! No, he must be a poet! So let him bring us a 'tangible' sign like those 'prophets' sent before.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nay, say they, (these are but) muddled dreams; nay, he hath but invented it; nay, he is but a poet. Let him bring us a portent even as those of old (who were God's messengers) were sent (with portents).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Nay" they say "(these are) medleys of dreams! nay he forged it!--nay he is (but) a poet! Let him then bring us a Sign like the ones that were sent to (prophets) of old!" 2668
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The charges against Allah's inspired Messenger are heaped up, "Magic!" says one: that means, "We don't understand it!" Says another, "Oh! but we know! he is a mere dreamer of confused dreams!" If the "dreams" fit in with real things and vital experiences, another will suggest, "Oh yes! why drag in supernatural agencies? he is clever enough to forge it himself!" Or another suggests, "He is a poet! Poets can invent things and say them in beautiful words!" Another interposes, "What we should like to see is miracles, like those we read of in stories of the Prophets of old!"

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