026 - Sūrat al-Shu’arā’

In the name of Allah (who is) Rahmān (and) Rahīm.

[For explanation, see Sūrat al-Fātiha: 1]

1

Tā sīn mīm: Allahu ta’ālā knows best what He means by these [letters].

2

Those, namely, these āyāt/verses, are the verses of the Manifest Book, the Qur'ān (the genitive annexation [āyātu'l-kitābi] conveys the [partitive] meaning of min),¹ [the Manifest meaning] the one that manifests what is truth from what is falsehood.

3

Perhaps, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", you might kill yourself, out of distress for the reason, that they, namely, the people of Mecca, will not become believers (la'alla here expresses sympathy, in other words [what is meant is] 'have pity on it [your self] by alleviating [the burden of] this distress').

If We wish We will send down to them a sign from the heaven before which their necks will remain (fa-zallat, [although grammatically in the past tense] is being used in the sense of the imperfect tense) bowed in humility, and they will believe (since 'necks' are described as 'bowed in humility', [a status] which in fact refers to those who possess them, the adjectival form [khādi'ūn, 'bowed in humility'] used therein is the one [normally] used for rational beings).

And there would never come to them from the Compassionate One any remembrance, any [revelation from the] Qur'ān, that is new (muhdathin, is an explicative adjective) but that they used to disregard it.

Verily then they have denied, it; but soon there will come to them the news, the consequences, of that which they used to deride.

Have they not contemplated, observed, the earth, how many We have caused to grow therein, in other words, [We have caused to grow therein] many, of every splendid kind [of vegetation], [of every] fair species.

Surely in that there is a sign, an indication of the perfection of His power, exalted be He; but most of them, in Allah’s knowledge, are not believers (kāna here according to Sībawayhiis extra).

And surely your Rabb, He is the Mighty One, Who will exact vengeance from the disbelievers, the Merciful, Who shows mercy to believers.

And, mention, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", to your people, when your Rabb called to Moses, on the night he saw the fire and the bush, [saying]: 'Go to the wrongdoing folk, as a Messenger (rasūl),

Pharaoh's folk, to them as well as him - they wronged their souls by disbelieving in Allahu ta’ālā and [wronged] the Children of Israel by enslaving them - Will they not (a-lā: the hamza indicates a negation meant as a rebuke) show fear?', of Allahu ta’ālā by being obedient to Him and affirm His Oneness?

He, Moses, said, 'My Rabb, I fear they will deny me,

and that anguish will constrain my breast, because of their denial of me, and that my tongue will not utter clearly, to deliver the Message, because of the knot in it. So give the Mission to, my brother, Aaron, alongside me.

And I have sinned against them, by my slaying of the Egyptian man, and I fear they will slay me', for this.

Said He, exalted be He: 'Certainly not!, they shall not slay you. Go both of you, you and your brother - this address [although in the dual form] is predominantly for the person present as opposed to the absent one - with Our verses. We will indeed be with you, hearing, what you say and what is said to you (ma'akum: the two [Moses and Aaron] are referred to here with the plural pronoun).

So the two of you approach Pharaoh and say, “Indeed We are - [indeed] each of the two of us is, the Messenger (rasūl) of the Rabb of the Worlds, to you,

that you should let go forth with us, to Syria, the Children of Israel” '. So they approached him and said to him that which has been mentioned.

He, Pharaoh, said, to Moses, 'Did we not rear you among us, in our homes, as a child?, as an infant, only recently born but weaned, and did you not stay with us for years of your life? for thirty years - he would dress from Pharaoh's clothes and ride chariots of his, and was referred to as Pharaoh's son.

And you committed that deed of yours - namely, his slaying of the Egyptian - being an ingrate', a denier of my favours to you in having reared you [among us] and not enslaved you.

He said, 'I did that then, when I was astray, from the knowledge and the Message which Allahu ta’ālā would later give me.

So I fled from you, as I was afraid of you. Then my Rabb gave me judgement, knowledge, and made me one of the messengers (rusul).

That is a favour with which you now reproach me that you have enslaved the Children of Israel' (an 'abbadta banī Isrā'īl, is explicative of tilka, 'that') in other words, you have enslaved them but not me: there is no favour in that, for your enslavement of them is wrong (some [scholars] have reckoned there to be an interrogative hamza of denial at the beginning of this verse [a-tilka ni'matun, 'is that a favour?']).

Pharaoh said, to Moses, 'And what is “the Rabb of the worlds " ', the One Whose Messenger (rasūl) you say you indeed are? In other words: what exactly is He? And since there is no way for creation to know the true nature of Allahu ta’ālā, but only to know Him through [an articulation of] His attributes, Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, responds to him with [mention of] some of these [attributes]:

He said, 'The Rabb of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, in other words, the Creator of [all] that - should you have conviction', that He, exalted be He, is their Creator, then believe in Him alone.

He, Pharaoh, said to those, noblemen among his folk, who were around him, 'Did you not hear?!', his response, how it does not correspond to the question [I asked]?

He, Moses, said, 'Your Rabb and the Rabb of your forefathers'. Now, even though this [fact] is comprised by what was [said] before it enrages Pharaoh, and therefore:

He said, 'Verily this Messenger (rasūl) of yours sent to you is a madman!'

He, Moses, said, 'The Rabb of the east and the west and all that is between them - should you comprehend,', that He is such [a Rabb] then believe in Him alone.

He, Pharaoh, said, to Moses: 'If you choose any Allahu ta’ālā other than me, I will surely make you a prisoner!'. His [Pharaoh's] prison was very harsh, for a person would be shut up [in a dungeon] underground alone, where he could neither see nor hear anyone else.

He, Moses, said, to him: 'What, would you do this even, if I bring you something manifest?', patent proof of my Mission?

He, Pharaoh, said, to him: 'Then bring it, if you are truthful', in this.

So he threw down his staff, and lo! it was a manifest serpent, a great snake.

Then he drew out his hand, he brought it out of his pocket, and lo! it was white, glowing, before the onlookers, and not its usual skin colour.

He, Pharaoh, said to the council around him, 'Surely this man is a cunning sorcerer, an expert in the art of magic,

who seeks to expel you from your land by his sorcery. So what do you advise?'

They said, 'Put him and his brother off for a while, postpone [judgement of] their affair, and send musterers into the cities.

to bring you every cunning sorcerer', to surpass Moses in the art of magic.

So the sorcerers were assembled at a fixed time of a known day, which was the morning of the Festival Day.

And it was said to the people, 'Will you assemble!'

Maybe we will follow the sorcerers, should they be the victors' (the interrogative [of the previous verse] is an incitement to assemble and the optative sense [implicit in la'alla] is due to their anticipation of victory, and hence their continued adherence to their religion and rejection of Moses.

So when the sorcerers came, they said to Pharaoh, 'Shall we indeed (read a-inna either by pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second, but in both cases inserting an alif) have a reward if we were to be the victors?'

He said, 'Yes [of course]! And you shall then be among those closest [to me]'.

Moses said to them, after they had said to him, Either you cast, or we shall be the casters [Q. 7:115]: 'Cast what you have to cast' - the command to do this signifies an authorisation for them to cast and a means whereby the truth will be made to prevail.

So they cast their ropes and their staffs, and said, 'By the power of Pharaoh we shall surely be the victors!'

Thereat Moses cast his staff and lo! it was swallowing (talqafu: one of the original two tā' letters [of taltaqifu] has been assimilated) what they had faked, [what they had] transformed through illusion, making their ropes and staffs appear to be moving serpents.

So the sorcerers fell down prostrating.

They said, 'We believe in the Rabb of the Worlds,

the Rabb of Moses and Aaron', for they realised that what they had witnessed in the case of the staff could not have been the result of [mere] sorcery.

Pharaoh said, 'Do you believe (a-āmantum, read pronouncing both hamzas or replacing the second one with an alif) him, Moses, though I have not given you leave? He is indeed your chief, the one who has taught you sorcery - so that he only taught you some [tricks] and then surpassed you with others. Soon you will know, what I will do with you! I will assuredly cut off your hands and legs on opposite sides - in other words, the right hand of each one together with his left leg - then I shall surely crucify you all.'

They said, 'There is no harm [in that], no damage will be done to us thereby. Surely to our Rabb, after we die, whichever way that may be, we shall return, in the Hereafter.

Indeed We hope our Rabb will forgive us our iniquities, for being the first to believe', in our time.

And We revealed to Moses, after many years which he spent among them calling them to the truth with Allah’s āyāt/verses but all of which only increased them in insolence, [saying], 'Journey with My servants, the Children of Israel, by night (a variant reading [for an asri] is an isr, from the verb sarā, one form of asrā) go with them by night in the direction of the sea, for indeed you will be pursued'. Pharaoh and his armies will pursue you, but when they enter the sea in pursuit of you, I will deliver you and drown them.

Then Pharaoh, having been informed of their night departure, sent to the cities - it is said that he ruled a thousand cities and twelve thousand villages - musterers, to assemble the army, saying:

'Lo! these are but a small gang. It is said that they [the Children of Israel] numbered 670,000, while his [Pharaoh's] vanguard alone numbered 700,000 and so he deemed their number insignificant in comparison to his huge army.

And indeed they have enraged us, their actions infuriate us,

and indeed we are all on our guard', ready (a variant reading [for hadhirūna] has hādhirūn, meaning 'alert').

Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: So We made them, Pharaoh and his folk, go forth, out of Egypt, in order to pursue Moses and his people, from gardens, orchards on either side of the Nile, and springs, streams running from the Nile through their dwellings,

and treasures, visible riches of gold and silver - these [riches] are called kunūz [as opposed to amwāl, 'riches'] because that [portion] which is [always] due to Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, from them had not been paid - and splendid places, exquisite residences for princes and ministers surrounded by their retinues.

So [it was], that is, Our expulsion [of them] was as We have described, and We made the Children of Israel to inherit these, after drowning Pharaoh and his folk.

Then they pursued them, they caught them up, at sunrise.

And when the two hosts sighted each other, the companions of Moses said, 'We have been caught!', Pharaoh's hosts have caught us up and we have no power against them.

He, Moses, said, 'Certainly not!, they shall not catch us up; indeed I have my Rabb with me, to provide assistance. He will guide me', to the route of deliverance.

Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: Thereupon We revealed to Moses: 'Strike the sea with your staff', and he struck it, whereupon it parted, it split into twelve parts, and each part was as a mighty mountain, between each of these parts were paths which they followed, such that not even the saddles or the felts of the riders were touched by water.

And there We brought near the others, Pharaoh and his folk, until they followed them across the same paths.

And We delivered Moses and all those who were with him, by bringing them out of the sea while it was in the state mentioned [above].

Then We drowned the others, Pharaoh and his folk by closing the sea on them after they had entered the sea and the Children of Israel had exited therefrom.

Surely in that, drowning of Pharaoh and his folk, there is a sign, a lesson for those [generations] who would come after them; but most of them are not believers, in Allahu ta’ālā. The only ones to believe were āsiya - Pharaoh's wife - Hizqīl, the believing man of Pharaoh's family, and Maryam daughter of Nāmūsī, she who pointed out the bone remains of [the prophet] Joseph, peace be upon him.

And surely your Rabb, He is the Mighty, for He wrought vengeance upon the disbelievers by drowning them, the Merciful, to believers, delivering them from drowning.

And recite to them, the disbelievers of Mecca, the tiding, the tale, of Abraham (Ibrāhīma is substituted by [the following, idh qāla, 'when he said'])

when he said to his father and his people, 'What do you worship?'

They said, 'We worship idols - they reiterate the verb [in the response] in order to supplement it with [the following remark] - and remain cleaving to them', we remain worshipping them all day; they give a longer response to indicate their [misplaced] pride in such [an act].

He said, 'Do they hear you when you supplicate?

Or do they bring you benefit, when you worship them, or harm?, to you, if you do not?

They said, 'Rather, we found our fathers so doing', that is, doing the same as we do.

He said, 'Have you considered what you have been worshipping,

you and your ancestors?

They are indeed hateful to me, I do not worship them; but the Rabb of the Worlds, I do worship Him,

[He] Who created me, it is He Who guides me, to [the proper] religion,

and provides me with food and drink,

and when I am sick, it is He Who cures me;

and Who will make me die, then give me life,

and Who, I hope, will forgive me my iniquity on the Day of Judgement, [the Day] of Requital.

My Rabb! Grant me [unerring] judgement, knowledge, and unite me with the righteous, the prophets.

And confer on me a worthy repute, excellent praise, among posterity, those who will come after me up to the Day of Resurrection.

And make me among the inheritors of the Garden of Bliss, among those who will be given it.

And forgive my father, for indeed he is one of those who are astray, by Your relenting to him and forgiving him: this was before it became clear to him [Abraham] that he [his father] was an enemy of Allahu ta’ālā, as mentioned in sūrat Barā'a [Q. 9:114].

And do no disgrace me, do not expose me, on the day when they, mankind, are resurrected;

of which [day] Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says [the following]: the day when neither wealth nor children will avail, anyone,

except him who comes to Allahu ta’ālā with a heart that is sound, [free] from idolatry and hypocrisy - and this is the heart of the believer, whom such [things] will avail.

And Paradise will be brought near for the Allahu ta’ālā-fearing, and they will [be able to] see it,

and Hell will be revealed [plainly] for the perverse, the disbelievers.

And it will be said to them, 'Where is that which you used to worship

besides Allahu ta’ālā?, that is, other than Him, in the way of idols. Do they help you, by averting from you the chastisement, or do they help one another?', by averting it from themselves? No [neither]!

Then they will be hurled, cast, into it, they and the perverse,

and the hosts of Iblīs, his followers and those jinn and humans who were obedient to him, all together.

They, the perverse, shall say, as they wrangle therein, with those whom they used to worship:

'By Allahu ta’ālā, we had indeed (in, softened in place of the hardened form, with its subject omitted, in other words [it would usually be] innahu) been in manifest error,

when we equated you, in worship, with the Rabb of the Worlds.

And it was none other than the sinners, the devils or our predecessors, whose example we were following, that led us astray, from guidance.

100

So [now] we have no intercessors, as the believers have, in the way of angels, prophets and [other] believers,

101

nor any sympathetic friend, who might be concerned for us.

102

If only we had another turn, [another] return to this world, we would have been among those who believe!' (law, 'if only', here is for [the conditional] optative, to which nakūna, 'we would have been', constitutes the response).

103

Surely in that, which is mentioned of the tale of Abraham and his people, there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

104

And truly your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

105

The people of Noah denied the messengers (rusul), by denying him, for they all brought the same message affirming Allah’s Oneness; or [it is] because he stayed among them for so long that it was as though he was many messengers (rusul) (the feminine [person of the verb kadhdhabat, 'denied', governed by] qawm, 'the people', is on account of the import, but it is masculine on account of its [morphological] form);

106

when Noah, their brother - [their brother only] in terms of lineage - said to them, 'Will you not fear?, Allahu ta’ālā?

107

Truly I am a trusted Messenger (rasūl) [sent] to you, to deliver the Message with which I have been sent.

108

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me, in what I enjoin you to of Allah’s Oneness and obedience to Him.

109

I do not ask of you any reward for it, for delivering it; for my reward lies only with the Rabb of the Worlds.

110

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me' - he repeats this [statement] for emphasis.

111

They said, 'Shall we believe in you, in your words, when it is the lowliest people who follow you?' (wa'ttaba'aka: a variant reading has wa-atbā'uka, '[when] your followers', plural of tābi', 'follower', as a subject) the riffraff, such as the weavers and the shoemakers.

112

He said, 'And what do I know of what they may have been doing?

113

Their reckoning is only my Rabb's concern, and He will requite them, if only you were aware - had you known this, you would not have reviled them.

114

And I am not about to drive away the believers.

115

I am just a plain warner'.

116

They said, 'Lo! if you do not desist, O Noah, from what you say to us, you will assuredly be among those assailed', with stones or curses.

117

He, Noah, said, 'My Rabb, my people have denied me,

118

so judge conclusively between me and them, and deliver me and the believers who are with me'.

119

He, exalted be He, says: So We delivered him and those who were with him in the laden ark, [the ship] filled with humans, animals and birds.

120

Then afterwards, after We delivered them, We drowned the rest, of his people.

121

Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

122

Truly your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

123

'ād denied the messengers (rusul),

124

when Hūd, their brother, said to them, 'Will you not fear Allahu ta’ālā?

125

Truly I am a trusted Messenger (rasūl) [sent] to you.

126

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me.

127

I do not ask of you any reward for this; for my reward lies only with the Rabb of the Worlds.

128

Do you build on every prominence, every high place, a monument, an edifice as a signpost for passers-by, so that you may hurl abuse?, at those who pass by you and deride them (ta'bathūna, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of [the verb] tabnūna, 'you build').

129

And you set up structures, for [extracting] water underground, that perhaps you might, as though you will, last forever, therein and not die.

130

And when you assault, to smite or slay, you assault like tyrants, mercilessly!

131

So fear Allahu ta’ālā, in this, and obey me, in what I have commanded you.

132

And fear Him Who has provided you, Who has been gracious to you, in a way that you know,

133

provided you with cattle and sons,

134

and gardens, orchards, and springs, rivers.

135

Indeed I fear for you the chastisement of a tremendous day', in this world and in the Hereafter should you disobey me.

136

They said, 'It is the same to us whether you admonish [us] or are not one of those who admonish, anyway. In other words, we will not heed your admonition.

137

This, that you threaten us with, is merely the fabrication of the ancients, that is, their inventions and lies (a variant reading [for khalq, 'fabrication'] is khuluq, 'ethos', in other words, this denial of resurrection to which we adhere is merely 'the ethos of the ancients', in other words, their nature and wont);

138

and we will not be chastised'.

139

So they denied him, concerning the chastisement, whereupon We destroyed them, in this world with the [barren] wind [cf. Q. 51:41]. Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

140

Truly your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

141

Thamūd denied the messengers (rusul),

142

when Sālih, their brother, said to them, 'Will you fear Allahu ta’ālā?

143

Truly I am a trusted Messenger (rasūl) [sent] to you.

144

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me.

145

I do not ask of you any reward for this; for my reward lies only with the Rabb of the Worlds.

146

Will you be left secure in that which is here, of good things –

147

amid gardens and springs,

148

and farms and date palms with slender, delicate and tender, spathes?

149

And you hew dwellings out of the mountains arrogantly (a variant reading [of farihīna, 'arrogant'] has fārihīn, 'skilfully').

150

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me, in what I have commanded you,

151

and do not obey the command of the prodigal,

152

who cause corruption in the earth, through acts of disobedience, and act righteously', by being obedient to Allahu ta’ālā.

153

They said, 'You are indeed one of the bewitched, those who have succumbed so many times to sorcery that their minds have been overcome.

154

And, moreover, you are just a human being like us. So bring [us] a sign, if you are sincere', in your Mission.

155

He said, 'This is a she-camel; she shall drink, a share of the water, and you shall drink [each] on a known day.

156

And do not cause her any harm, for then you shall be seized by the chastisement of an awful day', [awful] because of the awfulness of the chastisement.

157

But they hamstrung her - a group of them hamstrung her with the approval of others; and then became remorseful, for having hamstrung it.

158

So they were seized by the chastisement, which had been promised and were destroyed. Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

159

Truly your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

160

The people of Lot denied the messengers (rusul),

161

when Lot, their brother, said to them, 'Will you not fear Allahu ta’ālā?

162

Truly I am a trusted Messenger (rasūl) [sent] to you.

163

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me.

164

I do not ask of you any reward for this; my reward lies only with the Rabb of the Worlds.

165

What! Of all people you come unto males [to fornicate],

166

and forsake the wives your Rabb has created for you?, in other words, [you forsake intimacy with] their front parts? Nay, but you are a transgressing folk', overstepping [the bounds of] what is lawful into what is unlawful.

167

They said, 'If you do not desist, O Lot, from reproaching us, you will assuredly be of those expelled', from our land.

168

He, Lot, said, 'Truly I abhor, I detest, what you do.

169

My Rabb, deliver me and my family from what they do', that is, from the punishment for it.

170

So We delivered him and all his family,

171

except an old woman - his wife - among those who stayed behind, whom We destroyed.

172

Then We destroyed [all] the others,

173

and We rained on them a rain, [We rained on them] stones - this [detail] pertains to [the previous] statement concerning their destruction - and evil was, their rain, the rain of those who were warned!

174

Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

175

Surely your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

176

The dwellers in the wood (a variant reading [for ashābu'l-aykati] has ashābu laykata), a thicket of trees near Midian, denied the messengers (rusul),

177

when Shu'ayb - He [Allahu ta’ālā] does not say 'their brother' [in this instance] because he [Shu'ayb] was not [in terms of lineage] one of them - said to them, 'Will you not fear Allahu ta’ālā?

178

Truly I am a trusted Messenger (rasūl) [sent] to you.

179

So fear Allahu ta’ālā and obey me.

180

I do not ask of you any reward for this; indeed my reward lies only with the Rabb of the Worlds.

181

Give full measure and do not be of those who give short measure,

182

and weigh with an even balance,

183

and do not defraud people in their goods, do not diminish anything of what is due to them, and do not be degenerate in the earth, seeking corruption, by killing or otherwise ([ta'thaw, 'degenerate'] derives from 'athiya, meaning afsada, 'to corrupt'; mufsidīna, 'seeking corruption', is a circumstantial qualifier emphasising the import of its operator [ta'thaw]).

184

And fear Him Who created you and the former generations', [all] creation [before you].

185

They said, 'You are indeed one of the bewitched.

186

You are just a human being like us. And we indeed (in, softened in place of the hardened form, its subject omitted, in other words [it would be] innahu) think that you are one of the liars.

187

Then make fragments (read kisfan or kisafan) of the heaven fall upon us, if you are of the truthful', in your Mission.

188

He said, 'My Rabb knows best what you are doing', and will requite you for it.

189

But they denied him, so they were seized by the chastisement of the day of the shade (al-zulla) - a cloud which gave them shade when they suffered a bout of extreme heat but which then rained down fire on them and they were incinerated. Assuredly it was the chastisement of a tremendous day.

190

Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

191

Surely your Rabb, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

192

Truly it, the Qur'ān, is the revelation of the Rabb of the Worlds,

193

brought down by the Trustworthy Spirit, Gabriel,

194

upon your heart, that you may be [one] of the warners,

195

in a clear Arabic tongue (a variant reading [for nazala, 'he brought down', verse 193] has nuzzila, 'was sent down', and al-rūha, 'the Spirit', in the accusative, the subject of the verb being Allahu ta’ālā).

196

And truly it, the allusion to the Qur'ān [that would be] revealed to Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", is in the Scriptures, the Books, of the ancients, such as the Torah and the Gospel.

197

Is it not a sign, of this fact, for them, for the disbelievers of Mecca, that the learned of the Children of Israel recognise it?, [those] such as 'Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, from among those who became [Muslim] believers: they are able inform [you] of this (read yakun with āyatan in the accusative, or takun with āyatun in the nominative).

198

For had We revealed it to some non-Arabs (a'jamūn is the plural of a'jam),

199

and had he recited it to them, that is, [to] the disbelievers of Mecca, they would not have believed in it, disdaining to follow it.

200

So, in the same way in which We would have caused denial of it to penetrate [the hearts of disbelievers] had it been recited by a non-Arab, We have caused, denial of, it to penetrate the hearts of the criminals, the Meccan disbelievers, when Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" recites it.

201

They will not believe in it until they behold the painful chastisement,

202

so that it will come upon them suddenly while they are not aware.

203

Thereupon they will say, 'Shall we be granted any respite?', that we might become believers?; and it shall be said to them, 'No!', and they will say, 'When will this chastisement be?' Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says:

204

So do they [seek to] hasten Our chastisement?

205

Consider [this] then - inform Me: If We were to let them enjoy [life] for [many] years,

206

then there were to come on them that which they have been promised, of chastisement,

207

in what way (mā here is interrogative) would that enjoyment which they were given avail them?, in averting the chastisement or mitigating it? It would be of no avail!

208

And We have not destroyed any town but it had warners, messengers (rusul) to warn its inhabitants;

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as a reminder, an admonition for them; for We were never unjust, for We destroy them [only] after they have been warned. The following was revealed to refute what the idolaters were saying:

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It, the Qur'ān, has not been brought down by the devils.

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Neither would it behove, befit, them, to bring it down, nor are they capable, [of doing] that.

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Truly they are barred, restrained with blazing stars, from the hearing, of the sayings of the angels.

213

So do not invoke any other god with Allahu ta’ālā, lest you be among the chastised - if you were to do what they call you to.

214

And warn the nearest of your kinsfolk, namely, the Banū Hāshim and the Banū al-Muttalib: 'He [the Prophet] warned them publicly …', as reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

215

And lower your wing, show your gentle side, to the believers, the affirmers of Allah’s Oneness, who follow you.

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But if they, your kinsfolk, disobey you, say, to them: 'I am absolved of what you do', in worshipping [gods] other than Allahu ta’ālā.

217

And put your trust (wa-tawakkal, or read fa-tawakkal, 'then put your trust') in the Mighty, the Merciful, Allahu ta’ālā, in other words, entrust Him with all your affairs,

218

Who sees you when you stand, for prayer,

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and your movements - in [performing] the [various] parts of prayer: standing, sitting, bowing and prostrating - among those who prostrate, those who perform the prayers.

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Truly He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

221

Shall I inform you, O disbelievers of Mecca, upon whom the devils descend? (tanazzalu: one of the tā' letters in the original [tatanazzalu] has been omitted).

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They descend upon every sinful, profligate, liar, such as Musaylama and other soothsayers.

223

They, the devils, report the heard [sayings], what they hear from the angels [they report] to the soothsayers, but most of them are liars, adding much that is false to what they hear - this was [revealed] before the devils were barred from the heaven.

224

As for the poets, [only] the perverse follow them, in their poetry, propounding it and reciting it on their behalf to others; they are thus reprehensible.

225

Have you not noticed that - are you not aware that - in every valley, of the valleys of rhetoric and the art thereof, they rove, overstepping the bounds [of decency] in [their] eulogies and diatribes,

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and that they say, we do, what they do not do?, in other words, that they lie.

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Save those, poets, who believe and perform righteous deeds and remember Allahu ta’ālā frequently, in other words, [those whom] poetry does not distract from the remembrance [of Allahu ta’ālā], and vindicate themselves, by lampooning the disbelievers, after they have been wronged, by the disbelievers' reviling of them [as belonging] together with all believers - such [individuals] are not reprehensible. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: Allah does not like the utterance of evil words out loud, unless a person has been wronged [Q. 4:148]; He, exalted be He, also says: so whoever commits aggression against you, commit aggression against him in the manner that he committed against you [Q. 2:194]; and those, poets and others, who are wrongdoers will soon know the reversal, the return, with which they will meet, [by which] they will return, after death.

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