062 - Sūrat al-Jumu’ah

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

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

1

All that is the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifies Allahu ta’ālā, [all] proclaims His transcendence (the lām [of li'llāhi] is extra; mā is used instead of min in order to indicate the predominance [of non-rational beings]), the Sovereign Lord, the Holy, the One Who transcends what does not befit Him, the Mighty, the Wise, in His Sovereignty and in His actions.

2

It is He Who sent to the unlettered [folk], [among] the Arabs (ummī means 'one who cannot write or read a book'), a Messenger (rasūl) from among them, namely, Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", to recite to them His signs, the Qur'ān, and to purify them, to cleanse them from idolatry, and to teach them the Book, the Qur'ān, and wisdom, [in] the rulings that it contains, though indeed (wa-in: in has been softened from the hardened form, with its subject having been omitted, that is to say, [understand it as] wa-innahum) before that, [before] his coming, they had been in manifest error.

3

And [to] others (wa-ākharīna is a supplement to al-ummiyyīna, 'the unlettered'), that is to say, those who are alive, from among them, and [to] those of them who will come after them, who have not yet joined them, with regard to precedence and merit; and He is the Mighty, the Wise, in His Sovereignty and in His actions: those [mentioned as coming afterwards] are the Successors (al-tābi'ūna); and it suffices to mention these [Successors] in order to illustrate the [greater] merit of the Companions, among whom the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" was sent, over all those others, of humans and jinn, to whom he was [also] sent and who [believed and] will believe in him up until the Day of Resurrection, for every generation is better than the succeeding one.

4

That is the bounty of Allahu ta’ālā, which He gives to whom He will - [such as] the Prophet and those mentioned with him - and Allahu ta’ālā is [dispenser] of tremendous bounty.

5

The likeness of those who were entrusted with the Torah, those who were charged with implementing it, then failed to uphold it, [then] failed to act in accordance with it, in what pertains to the descriptions of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", and so did not believe in him, is as the likeness of an ass carrying books, in that it does not benefit from them. Evil is the likeness of the people who deny Allah’s āyāt/verses, those confirming the truth of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" - the object of rebuke is omitted but is implied to be hādhā'l-mathalu, 'this likeness'). And Allahu ta’ālā does not guide the evildoing folk, the disbelievers.

6

Say: 'O you of Jewry, if you claim that you are the [favoured] friends of Allahu ta’ālā, to the exclusion of other people, then long for death, if you are truthful' (in kuntum sādiqīna is semantically connected to tamannū, 'long for'; as for the two conditions, the first is dependent on the second, that is to say, if you are truthful in your claim that you are the [favoured] friends of Allahu ta’ālā, and given that [such] a friend would prefer the Hereafter [to this world] and that it [the Hereafter] begins at death, then long for it).

7

But they will never long for it, because of what their hands have sent ahead, in the way of their disbelief of the Prophet, [which itself is] a necessary consequence of their denial; and Allahu ta’ālā is Knower of the evildoers, the disbelievers.

8

Say: 'Assuredly the death from which you flee (fa-innahu: the fā' is extra) will indeed encounter you; then you will be returned to the Knower of the Unseen and the visible, [the Knower of] what is [kept] secret and what is in the open, and He will inform you of what you used to do', whereat He will requite you for it.

9

O you who believe, when the call for prayer is made on Friday, hasten, set off, to the remembrance of Allahu ta’ālā, to the prayer, and leave aside [all] commerce, suspend [all] such contracts. That is better for you, should you know, that it is better for you, then do it.

10

And when the prayer is finished, disperse in the land (this is an imperative denoting permissibility) and seek, provision through, Allah’s bounty, and remember Allahu ta’ālā, with remembrance, frequently, that perhaps you may be successful, [that perhaps] you may be the winners.

11

On one occasion the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" was delivering the Friday sermon when a caravan arrived and so, as was the custom, drums were beaten to announce its arrival, whereat the people began to leave the mosque [to go to it], all except for twelve men. The following [verse] was then revealed: But when they sight some [opportunity for] business or a diversion, they scatter off towards it, that is, towards the business, since it is what they seek more than diversion, and leave you, during the sermon, standing. Say: 'That which is with Allahu ta’ālā, in the way of reward, is better, for those who believe, than diversion and commerce. And Allahu ta’ālā is the best of providers'. They say that every person 'provides for' (yarzuqu) his dependants, [by which they mean that such a person does so] by means of the provision given by Allahu ta’ālā (min rizqi'llāhi), exalted be He.