الر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ وَقُرْآنٍ مُبِينٍ
Alif. Lām. Rā. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation – of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. (1)
رُبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ كَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ
And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their lifetime]. (2)
ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا وَيَتَمَتَّعُوا وَيُلْهِهِمُ الْأَمَلُ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ
Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth]. (3)
وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَعْلُومٌ
And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been made known to it; (4)
مَا تَسْبِقُ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ
[but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term – and neither can they delay [it]. (5)
وَقَالُوا يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِي نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ إِنَّكَ لَمَجْنُونٌ
And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad! (6)
لَوْ مَا تَأْتِينَا بِالْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ
Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth?" (7)
مَا نُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَمَا كَانُوا إِذًا مُنْظَرِينَ
[Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth; and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further respite! (8)
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder: and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]. (9)
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِي شِيَعِ الْأَوَّلِينَ
AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old (10)
وَمَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ
and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him. (11)
كَذَٰلِكَ نَسْلُكُهُ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ
Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin, (12)
لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ سُنَّةُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
who do not believe in it, although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken. (13)
وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ بَابًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّوا فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ
Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it, (14)
لَقَالُوا إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَارُنَا بَلْ نَحْنُ قَوْمٌ مَسْحُورُونَ
they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!" (15)
- they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!"14
- 14 Lit., "we are people bewitched". Cf. 6:7, as well as the last paragraph of 10:2 and the corresponding note 5. The confusing of revealed truths with illusory "enchantment" or "sorcery" is often pointed out in the Qur'an as characteristic of the attitude of people who a priori refuse to accept the idea of revelation and, thus, of prophethood. The above two verses, implying that not even a direct insight into the wonders of heaven could convince "those who are bent on denying the truth", are a prelude to the subsequent passage, which once again draws our attention to the wonders of nature as an evidence of God's creative activity.
-
They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: Nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery."
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
They would certainly say: Only our eyes have been covered over, rather we are an enchanted people.
— M. Habib Shakir -
They would surely say: "Our eyes have been (as if) dazzled. Nay, we are a people bewitched."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
They would surely say: intoxicated have been our sights; aye! we are a people enchanted.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
still they would say: 'Our eyes were dazzled; truly, we must have been a bewitched people. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
they would surely say, `only our eyes have been dazzled; no, we are a bewitched people'.
— Ayub Khan -
They would surely say, 'Only our eyes are dazed; rather we are a bewitched people'
— Sher Ali -
they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!"
— Muhammad Asad -
yet would they say, Our eyes have been dazzled; nay, we are a people bewitched!
— Arthur Arberry -
they would still have said: "Surely our eyes have been dazzled; rather, we have been enchanted."
— Abu'l Ala Maududi