046 - Sūrat al-Ahqāf

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

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

1

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

2

The revelation of the Book, the Qur'ān (tanzīlu'l-kitābi, the subject) is from Allahu ta’ālā (mina'llāhi, the predicate thereof), the Mighty, in His Sovereignty, the Wise, in His actions.

3

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them except, as a creation, in truth, so that it may be an indication of Our power and Our Oneness, and for an appointed term, until [the point of] their annihilation on the Day of Resurrection. Yet those who disbelieve are disregardful of what they are warned, [of what] they are threatened with in the way of [impending] chastisement.

4

Say: 'Have you considered - [say] Inform me [about] - what you invoke, [what] you worship, besides Allahu ta’ālā?, namely, the idols (min dūni'llāhi, constitutes the first object [of the verb]). Show me - inform me - (arūnī, [repeated] for emphasis), what they have created (mādhā khalaqū, the second object) of the earth (mina'l-ardi, the explication of mā, 'what [part]'). Or do they have any share, any partnership, in, the creation of, the heavens?, with Allahu ta’ālā? (am, 'or', has the significance of the [rhetorical interrogative] hamza of denial). Bring me a scripture, [that has been] revealed, before this, Qur'ān, or some vestige, some remnant, of knowledge, transmitted from the ancients confirming the soundness of your claim that your worship of the idols brings you closer to Allahu ta’ālā, if you are truthful', in your claim.

5

And who is (man here is interrogative but meant [rhetorically] as a negation: in other words, 'no one is') further astray than him who invokes, [him who] worships, besides Allahu ta’ālā, that is to say, other than Him, such as would not respond to him [even] until the Day of Resurrection - these are the idols, who never answer those who worship them in anything that they ask for - and who are heedless of their supplication?, their worship, because they are inanimates that possess no [faculty of] comprehension

6

And when mankind are gathered, they, the idols, will be enemies to them, to those who had worshipped them, and they will deny, they will disavow, their worship, the worship of those who had worshipped them.

7

And when Our verses - the Qur'ān - are recited to them, namely, [to] the people of Mecca, being clear verses, manifest [signs] (bayyinātin is a circumstantial qualifier), those who disbelieve, from among them, say of the truth, that is, the Qur'ān, when it comes to them, 'This is plain sorcery!', clear and evident [sorcery].

8

Or (am has the significance of bal, 'nay, but …' and the [rhetorical interrogative] hamza of denial) do they say, 'He has invented it?', that is, the Qur'ān. Say: 'If I have invented it - hypothetically [speaking] - still you would have no power to avail me against Allahu ta’ālā, that is to say, against His chastisement, in any way, in other words, you would not be able to ward it off from me if Allahu ta’ālā chooses to chastise me. He knows best what you delve into [of gossip] concerning it, what you say about the Qur'ān. He, exalted be He, suffices as a witness between me and you. And He is the Forgiving, to the one who repents, the Merciful', to him, and so He does not hasten to punish you.

9

Say: 'I am not a novelty, unprecedented, among the messengers (rusul), that is to say, [I am not] the first to be sent [by Allahu ta’ālā as His Messenger (rasūl)]. Already many of them have come before me, so how can you deny me? Nor do I know what will be done with me or with you, in this world: will I be made to leave my [native] land, or will I be slain as was done with [some] prophets before me, or will you stone me to death, or will the earth be made to swallow you as [it did] deniers before you? I only follow what is revealed to me, that is, the Qur'ān, and I do not invent anything myself. And I am only a plain warner', one whose warning is plain.

10

Say: 'Have you considered? - [say:] inform me, what will be your predicament - if it, the Qur'ān, is from Allahu ta’ālā and you disbelieve in it (wa-kafartum bihi, the sentence is a circumstantial qualifier), and a witness from the Children of Israel has [already] testified - this was 'Abd Allāh b. Salām - to the like of it, that is to say, to it [the Qur'ān], that it is from Allahu ta’ālā, and he, the witness, has believed [in it], while you act with arrogance …', you are disdainful of faith (the response to the conditional ['if …'] is given [by implication] in what has been supplemented to it, in other words: 'Would you not then be [considered] wrongdoers?'; this [understanding of the response] is indicated by [what follows]). Truly Allahu ta’ālā does not guide wrongdoing folk.'

11

And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, that is, [they say] with regards to them: 'Had it, faith, been [anything] good, they would not have attained it before us.' And since they, the ones [now] speaking, will not be guided by it, that is, [by] the Qur'ān, they say, 'This, that is, the Qur'ān, is an ancient lie!'

12

Yet before it, that is, [before] the Qur'ān, [there was] the Book of Moses, that is, the Torah, as a guidepost and a mercy, for those who believed in it (imāman wa-rahmatan are two circumstantial qualifiers) and this, Qur'ān, is a Book that confirms, scriptures before it, in the Arabic tongue (lisānan 'arabiyyan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of musaddiqun, 'that confirms') to warn those who do wrong, the idolaters of Mecca, and, it is, good tidings for the virtuous, the believers.

13

Assuredly those who say, 'Our Rabb is Allahu ta’ālā' and then remain upright, in [their adherence to] obedience, no fear will befall them, nor will they grieve.

14

Those will be the inhabitants of Paradise, abiding therein (khālidīna fīhā is a circumstantial qualifier) as a reward (jazā'an is in the accusative as a verbal noun, because of the implied verbal action, that is to say, yujzawna, 'they will be rewarded') for what they used to do.

15

And We have enjoined man to be kind (husnan: a variant reading has ihsānan), that is to say, We have commanded him to act kindly towards both of them (thus ihsānan is in the accusative as a verbal noun, because of the implied verbal action; the same applies to husnan) to his parents. His mother carries him in travail, and gives birth to him in travail, that is to say, with suffering; and his gestation and his weaning, from suckling, take thirty months, six months being the minimum period for gestation, the remainder being the maximum period of suckling; it is also said that, regardless of whether she bore him for six or nine months, she should suckle him for the remainder. So that (hattā is a [particle of] purpose for an implied sentence, that is to say, wa-'āsha hattā, 'and he lived on so that …') when he is mature - namely, at his prime in terms of his strength, intellect and reasoning, the minimum [age] for which is thirty or thirty three years - and reaches forty years - that is, exactly [forty years], which is the maximum for [attaining] maturity - he says, 'My Rabb! - [this] to the end [of this verse] was revealed regarding Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, when he had reached forty years of age, two years after the [beginning of the] Prophet's Mission "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam". He [Abū Bakr] believed in him, whereafter his parents believed [in the Prophet], followed by his son 'Abd al-Rahmān, then 'Abd al-Rahmān's son Abū 'Atīq [Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Rahmān]. Inspire me to give thanks for Your favour with which You have favoured me and my parents - namely, [the grace of] affirming [Allah’s] Oneness - and that I may act righteously in a way that will please You - thus he [Abū Bakr] emancipated nine believers who had been enduring torture [at the hands of the idolaters] for [their belief in] Allahu ta’ālā - and invest my seed with righteousness - all of them were believers. Indeed I repent to You and I am truly of those who submit [to You]'.

16

Those, that is, those who say such words - Abū Bakr and others - are they from whom We accept the best of what they do, and overlook their misdeeds, [as they stand] among the inhabitants of Paradise (fī ashābi'll-jannati, a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, 'being among them') - [this is] the true promise which they were promised, by His words, Allahu ta’ālā has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens … [Q. 9:72].

17

As for him who says to his parents (li-wālidayhi: a variant reading has li-wālidihi, 'his parent', denoting the generic noun): 'Fie (read uffin or uffan, as a verbal noun, meaning: '[something] putrid and disgusting') on you both: I am exasperated at both of you. Do you threaten me (a-ta'idāninī: a variant reading has a-ta'idānnī) that I shall be raised, from the grave, when already generations, communities, have passed away before me?', and they have not been raised from their graves. And they call on Allahu ta’ālā for succour, that he [their child] repent, saying [to him]: if you do not repent, 'Woe to you (waylaka, that is to say, halākaka, 'you are ruined!'). Believe!, in resurrection. Surely Allah’s promise is true'. But he says, 'This, belief in resurrection, is nothing but the fables of the ancients', lies of theirs.

18

Such are the ones against whom the Word, of chastisement, is due, is necessary, concerning communities of jinn and humans that have passed away before them. Truly they are losers.

19

And for each one, of both categories, believer and disbeliever, there will be degrees [of status] - thus the degrees of the believers in Paradise are high, while the degrees of disbelievers in the Fire are despicable - according to what they have done, that is to say, [according to what] believers [have done] in the way of acts of obedience, and disbelievers, in the way of acts of disobedience, and that He may recompense them fully, namely, Allahu ta’ālā (li-yuwaffiyahum: a variant reading has li-nuwaffiyahum, 'that We may recompense them fully') for their deeds, that is, [pay them] their deserts, and they will not be wronged, [not even] in a single thing that may be diminished for believers or increased for disbelievers.

20

And on the day when those who disbelieve are exposed to the Fire, by its being revealed for them, it will be said to them: 'You squandered (read with one hamza, adhhabtum, or with two hamzas [as an interrogative], a-adhhabtum, 'have you sqaundered …?'; or with one hamza, adhhabtum, or with an initial long 'a', ādhhabtum, with both of these [pronounced fully] or without pronouncing the second [hamza]) your good things during your life of the world, by preoccupying yourselves with sensual delights, and enjoyed them. So today you will be requited with the chastisement of humiliation in return for acting arrogantly in the earth without right and in return for that regarding which you used to act immorally', and [for] the torture you used to inflict [upon others] therein.

21

And mention the brother of 'ād, namely, Hūd, peace be upon him, when (idh … [from here] to the end [of the verse] constitutes an inclusive substitution) he warned his people, he threatened them, at Ahqāf - ['the Sand dunes' is the name of] a valley in Yemen, where their dwellings were located - and already warners, messengers (rusul), had passed away before him and after him, that is to say, before Hūd [came to them] and after him, to their peoples - saying, 'Do not worship anyone but Allahu ta’ālā (the statement [beginning with] wa-qad khalat, 'and already [warners] had passed away', is a parenthetical one). Truly I fear for you - should you worship other than Allahu ta’ālā - the chastisement of a dreadful day'.

22

They said, 'Have you come to divert us from our gods?, to turn us away from worship of them. Then bring us what you threaten us with, of chastisement for worshipping them, if you are of the truthful', in [saying] that it will befall us.

23

He, Hūd, said, 'The knowledge is with Allahu ta’ālā only, He is the One Who knows when chastisement will befall you, and I am [merely] conveying to you what I have been sent with, to you. But I see that you are an ignorant lot', given your hastening on of the chastisement.

24

Then, when they saw it, that is, [when they saw] what chastisement [really] was, as a sudden cloud, a cloud that appeared [out of nowhere] on the horizon, heading towards their valleys, they said, 'This is a cloud that will bring us rain!'. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: Nay, but it is what you sought to hasten, of the chastisement - a hurricane (rīhun substitutes for mā, 'what') containing a painful chastisement,

25

destroying, ruining, everything, it passes through, by the command of its Rabb, by His will, that is to say, [destroying] everything that He wants to destroy with it. And so it destroyed their men, women, children and properties by flinging them up into the air high above the ground and tearing them to pieces. Only Hūd and those who believed with him remained [unscathed]. So they became such that nothing could be seen except their dwellings. Thus - in the way that We requited them - do We requite guilty folk, besides them.

26

And verily We had empowered them in ways in which We have not (in is either for negation or extra) empowered you, O people of Mecca, in the way of strength and means, and We had vested them with ears and eyes and hearts. But their ears and their eyes and their hearts did not avail them in any way (min shay'in: min is extra) since (idh, is operated by aghnā, 'avail', and imbued with the sense of [a particle introducing a] reason) they used to deny the verses of Allahu ta’ālā, His clear proofs, and they were besieged by, there befell them, what they used to deride, of chastisement.

27

And We certainly destroyed the towns [that were] around you, that is, [We destroyed] their inhabitants, the likes of Thamūd, 'ād and the people of Lot, and We dispensed the signs, We repeated the clear proofs, so that perhaps they might return.

28

So why did they not help them, by averting from them the chastisement, those whom they had chosen besides Allahu ta’ālā, that is to say, other than Him, as [a means of] nearness, through whom they may secure nearness to Allahu ta’ālā, to be gods?, alongside Him, and these are the idols (the first object of ittakhadhū, 'they had chosen', is the omitted pronoun referred to by the relative clause [alladhīna, 'those who …'], and it is hum, 'they'; qurbānan, 'nearness', is the second [object], with ālihatan, 'gods', as its substitution). Nay, but they forsook them, when the chastisement came down [on them], and that, that is to say, [that] choosing of theirs of idols as gods as a means of nearness [to Allahu ta’ālā], was their lie and what they used to invent - the lies they used to speak (mā, 'what', either relates to the verbal action ['their lying'], or it indicates a relative clause with the referential pronoun omitted, this being fīhi, 'about').

29

And, mention, when We sent a company of jinn your way - the jinn of Nasībīn in Yemen, or the jinn of Nineveh, who were seven or nine, [and this was] while the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" was leading the dawn prayer with some of his companions at Batn Nakhla, as reported by the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim] - to listen to the Qur'ān and, when they were in its presence, they said, that is, they said to one another: 'Listen carefully!', concentrate in order to hear it [carefully]. Then, when it was finished, [when] he was finished reciting it, they went back to their people to warn [them], to threaten their people with the chastisement [from Allahu ta’ālā] if they do not believe - they had been Jews, but then become Muslims.

30

They said, 'O our people! Indeed we have heard a Book - namely, the Qur'ān - which has been revealed after Moses, confirming what was before it, what preceded it, such as the Torah. It guides to the truth, submission [to Allahu ta’ālā] (islām), and to a straight way, that is, the way thereto [to Islam].

31

O our people! Respond to Allah’s summoner, Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", by embracing faith, and believe in him, and He, Allahu ta’ālā, will forgive you some of your sins, because some of these [sins] are wrongs [done to others] and which [therefore] can only be forgiven after those wronged are reconciled - and shelter you from a painful chastisement.

32

And whoever does not respond to Allah’s summoner cannot thwart Allahu ta’ālā on earth, that is to say, he will not be able to thwart Allahu ta’ālā by escaping from Him and eluding Him, and he, the one who does not respond, will not have, besides Him, that is, [besides] Allahu ta’ālā, any protectors, any helpers to ward off the chastisement from him - those, who do not respond, are in manifest error', plain and evident [error].

33

Have they not seen, [have they not] realised, that is, the deniers of resurrection, that Allahu ta’ālā, Who created the heavens and the earth and [Who] was not wearied by their creation, [Who] did not fail therein, is able to give life to the dead? (bi-qādirin is the predicate of anna, 'that', the bi- having been added to it because the statement has the same force as [the construction]: a-laysa'llāhu bi-qādirin, 'Is Allahu ta’ālā not able …?'). Yes, indeed, He is able to give life to the dead. Indeed He has is able to do all things.

34

And on the day when those who disbelieve are exposed to the Fire, when they are being chastised in it, it will be said to them: 'Is not this, chastisement, the truth?' They will say, 'Yes, by our Rabb!' He will say, 'Then taste the chastisement for what you used to disbelieve [in]'.

35

So endure [with patience], the harm done [to you] by your people, just as the resolute, those of constancy and [power of] endurance during hardships, from among the messengers (rusul) endured [with patience], before you, so that you may be one of resolve [like them] (min [of mina'l-rusuli] is explicative, as all of them were men of resolve; but some say that this [particle min] is [actually] meant to be partitive, since excluded from their number are: Adam, on the basis of Allah’s saying, exalted be He: And We did not find in him any constancy [Q. 20:115]; and Jonah, on the basis of His words: And do not be like the One of the fish [Q. 68:48]. And do not seek to hasten [it] for them, for your people, the sending down of the chastisement on them. Some say that he [the Prophet] seemed [by this stage] to have become exasperated because of them and desired that chastisement be sent down on them, which is why he was enjoined to [exercise] patience and to refrain from hastening the chastisement [for them] - for it would befall them [eventually] without doubt. It shall seem for them, on the day when they see what they are promised, of chastisement in the Hereafter, given its long duration, as though they had tarried, in this world, by their reckoning, only an hour of a day. This Qur'ān is, a communication, a proclamation from Allahu ta’ālā to you. So shall any be destroyed, that is to say, none [shall be destroyed] upon seeing the chastisement, but the immoral folk?, that is to say, the disbelieving [folk].