الر كِتَابٌ أُحْكِمَتْ آيَاتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ
Alif. Lām. Rā. A DIVINE WRIT [is this], with messages that have been made clear in and by themselves, and have been distinctly spelled out as well – [bestowed upon you] out of the grace of One who is wise, all-aware, (1)
أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ إِنَّنِي لَكُمْ مِنْهُ نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ
so that you may worship none but God. [Say, O Prophet:] "Behold, I come unto you from Him [as] a warner and a bearer of glad tidings: (2)
وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ وَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيرٍ
Ask your Sustainer to forgive you your sins, and then turn towards Him in repentance – [whereupon] He will grant you a goodly enjoyment of life [in this world] until a term set [by Him is fulfilled]; and [in the life to come] He will bestow upon everyone possessed of merit [a full reward for] his merit. But if you turn away, then, verily, I dread for you the suffering [which is bound to befall you] on that awesome Day! (3)
إِلَى اللَّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Unto God you all must return; and He has the power to will anything." (4)
أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ يَثْنُونَ صُدُورَهُمْ لِيَسْتَخْفُوا مِنْهُ أَلَا حِينَ يَسْتَغْشُونَ ثِيَابَهُمْ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ
Oh, verily, they [who are bent on denying the truth of this divine writ] are enshrouding their hearts in order to hide from Him. Oh, verily, [even] when they cover themselves with their garments [in order not to see or hear], He knows all that they keep secret as well as all that they bring into the open – for, behold, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men]. (5)
وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا كُلٌّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ
And there is no living creature on earth but depends for its sustenance on God; and He knows its time-limit [on earth] and its resting-place [after death]: all [this] is laid down in [His] clear decree. (6)
وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا وَلَئِنْ قُلْتَ إِنَّكُمْ مَبْعُوثُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْمَوْتِ لَيَقُولَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ
And He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons; and [ever since He has willed to create life,] the throne of His almightiness has rested upon water. [God reminds you of your dependence on Him] in order to test you [and thus to make manifest] which of you is best in conduct. For thus it is: if thou sayest [unto men], "Behold, you shall be raised again after death!" – they who are bent on denying the truth are sure to answer, "This is clearly nothing but an enchanting delusion!" (7)
وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ
And thus it is: if We defer their suffering until a time-limit set [by Us], they are sure to say, "What is preventing it [from coming now]?" Oh, verily, on the Day when it befalls them there will be nothing to avert it from them; and they shall be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride. (8)
- And thus it is: if We defer their suffering until a time-limit set [by Us],13 they are sure to say, "What is preventing it [from coming now]?"14 Oh, verily, on the Day when it befalls them there will be nothing to avert it from them; and they shall be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride.15
- 13 Lit., "a time computed [by Us]", i.e., the Day of Judgment: a reference to the last sentence of verse 3 above, where the Prophet is made to say, "I dread for you the suffering [which is bound to befall you] on that awesome Day!" Among the several meanings which the noun ummah comprises, that of "time" or "a period of time" is the most appropriate here (Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir and other classical commentators).
- 14 For an explanation of this allusion to the attitude of the unbelievers, see 8:32 and 10:50, as well as the corresponding notes; cf. also 6:57-58. The repeated Qur'anic references to the above derisive query are evidently meant to show that the attitude of mind responsible for it is not restricted to an isolated historic incident (see Sarah 8, note 32) but is symptomatic of most, if not all, people "who are bent on denying the truth".
- 15 Lit., "that which they were wont to deride enfolded them (haqa bihim)". According to almost all the commentators, the use of the past tense in the verb haqa, despite the fact that it refers to the future, has the syntactic value of a stress, implying the inevitability of the happening to which it relates. (See also note 9 on 6:10.)
- If We delay the penalty for them for a definite term, they are sure to say, "What keeps it back?"1505 Ah! On the day it (actually) reaches them, nothing will turn it away from them, and they will be completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!
- 1505 As much as to say: "Oh! all this talk of punishment is nonsense. There is no such thing!"
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If We delay the penalty for them for a definite term, they are sure to say, "What keeps it back?" Ah! On the day it (actually) reaches them, nothing will turn it away from them, and they will be completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And if We delay for them the doom until a reckoned time, they will surely say: What withholdeth it? Verily on the day when it cometh unto them, it cannot be averted from them, and that which they derided will surround them.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And if We hold back from them the punishment until a stated period of time, they will certainly say: What prevents it? Now surely on the day when it will come to them, it shall not be averted from them and that which they scoffed at shall beset them.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And if We delay the torment for them till a determined term, they are sure to say, "What keeps it back?" Verily, on the day it reaches them, nothing will turn it away from them, and they will be surrounded by (fall in) that at which they used to mock!
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And if We defer from them the torment until a period determined, they say: What withholdeth it! Lo! the day it betideth them it shall not be averted from them, and shall beset them that whereat they have been mocking.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
And if We delay the punishment till an appointed time, they will ask: 'What has detained it? ' Indeed, the Day will come to them, it will not be turned awayfrom them, and that they mocked at will encompass them.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And if We defer the punishment from them till a reckoned term, they will say, `what detains it?' Behold, the day it comes on them, it will not be turned away from them, and what they mock at shall overtake them.
— Ayub Khan -
And if We put off their punishment until a reckoned time, they would certainly say, 'What withholds it?' Now, surely, on the day it shall come unto them, it shall not be averted from them, and that which they used to mock at shall encompass them.
— Sher Ali -
And thus it is: if We defer their suffering until a time-limit set [by Us], they are sure to say, "What is preventing it [from coming now]?"
Oh, verily, on the Day when it befalls them there will be nothing to avert it from them; and they shall be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride.
— Muhammad Asad -
And if We postpone the chastisement from them till a reckoned moment they will say What is detaining it? Surely, the day it shall come to them, it shall not be turned aside from them, and they shall be encompassed by that they mocked at.
— Arthur Arberry -
And were We to put off the chastisement from them for a determined period, they will cry out: 'What withholds Him from chastising?' Surely when the day of the chastisement will come, nothing will avert it and the chastisement which they had ridiculed shall encompass them.
— Abu'l Ala Maududi