تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ نَذِيرًا
HALLOWED is He who from on high, step by step, has bestowed upon His servant the standard by which to discern the true from the false, so that to all the world it might be a warning: (1)
الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًا وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا
He to whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth belongs, and who begets no offspring, and has no partner in His dominion: for it is He who creates every thing and determines its nature in accordance with [His own] design. (2)
وَاتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ آلِهَةً لَا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْئًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا نَفْعًا وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ مَوْتًا وَلَا حَيَاةً وَلَا نُشُورًا
And yet, some choose to worship, instead of Him, [imaginary] deities that cannot create anything but are themselves created, and have it not within their power to avert harm from, or bring benefit to, themselves, and have no power over death, nor over life, nor over resurrection! (3)
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا إِفْكٌ افْتَرَاهُ وَأَعَانَهُ عَلَيْهِ قَوْمٌ آخَرُونَ فَقَدْ جَاءُوا ظُلْمًا وَزُورًا
Moreover, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say, "This [Qur'ān] is nothing but a lie which he [himself] has devised with the help of other people, who thereupon have perverted the truth and brought a falsehood into being." (4)
وَقَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا فَهِيَ تُمْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
And they say, "Fables of ancient times which he has caused to be written down, so that they might be read out to him at morn and evening!" (5)
قُلْ أَنْزَلَهُ الَّذِي يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا
Say [O Muhammad]: "He who knows all the mysteries of the heavens and the earth has bestowed from on high this [Qur'ān upon me]! Verily, He is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!" (6)
وَقَالُوا مَالِ هَٰذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِيرًا
Yet they say: "What sort of apostle is this [man] who eats food [like all other mortals] and goes about in the market-places? Why has not an angel [visibly] been sent down unto him, to act as a warner together with him?" (7)
أَوْ يُلْقَىٰ إِلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا وَقَالَ الظَّالِمُونَ إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَسْحُورًا
Or: "[Why has not] a treasure been granted to him [by God]?" Or: "He should [at least] have a [bountiful] garden, so that he could eat thereof [without effort]!" And so these evildoers say [unto one another], "If you were to follow [Muhammad, you would follow] but a man bewitched!" (8)
انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا
See to what they liken thee, [O Prophet, simply] because they have gone astray and are now unable to find a way [to the truth]! (9)
- Moreover, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say, "This [Qur'an] is nothing but a lie which he [himself] has devised with the help of other people,5 who thereupon have perverted the truth and brought a falsehood into being."6
- 5 Implying that the Qur'an, or most of it, is based on Judaeo-Christian teachings allegedly communicated to Muhammad by some unnamed foreigners (cf. 16:103 and the corresponding notes, especially note 130) or, alternatively, by various Arab converts to Judaism or Christianity; furthermore, that Muhammad had either deceived himself into believing that the Qur'an was a divine revelation, or had deliberately - knowing that it was not so - attributed it to God.
- 6 Lit., "and thus, indeed, have they come with [or "brought"] a perversion of the truth" [which obviously is the meaning of zuim in this context "and a falsehood". Whereas it is generally assumed that this clause constitutes a Qur'anic rebuttal of the malicious allegation expressed in the preceding clause, I am of the opinion that it forms part of that allegation, making the mythical "helpers" of Muhammad co-responsible, as it were, for the "invention" of the Qur'an.
- But the misbelievers say: "Naught is this but a lie3057 which he has forged, and others have helped him at it." In truth it is they who have put forward an iniquity and a falsehood.
- 3057 Ifk, which I have translated as a "lie" may be distinguished from zur at the end of this verse, translated "falsehood". The "lie" which the enemies attributed to the Holy Prophet of Allah was supposed to be something which did not exist in reality, but was invented by him with the aid of other people: the implication was that (1) the Revelation was not a revelation but a forgery, and that (2) the things revealed e.g., the news of the Hereafter, the Resurrection, the Judgement, the Bliss of the Righteous and the sufferings of the Evil, were fanciful and had no basis in fact. Delusion is also suggested. The reply is that, so far from that being the case, the facts were true and the charges were false (zur)-the falsehood being due to the habits of iniquity for which the Misbelievers' whole mental and spiritual attitude was responsible. (R).
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But the misbelievers say: "Naught is this but a lie which he has forged, and others have helped him at it." In truth it is they who have put forward an iniquity and a falsehood.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Those who disbelieve say: This is naught but a lie that he hath invented, and other folk have helped him with it, so that they have produced a slander and a lie.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And those who disbelieve say: This is nothing but a lie which he has forged, and other people have helped him at it; so indeed they have done injustice and (uttered) a falsehood.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Those who disbelieve say: "This (the Qur'an) is nothing but a lie that he (Muhammad SAW) has invented, and others have helped him at it, so that they have produced an unjust wrong (thing) and a lie."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And those who disbelieve, say. this is naught but a falsehood thathe hath fabricated and there have assisted him therein other people. so surelythey have aimed at a wrong and a fraud.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
The unbelievers say: 'This is but a falsehood he has forged ? another nation has helped him. ' So they have come with wrong and falsehood.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And the unbelievers say, `this is nothing but a calumny he has forged, and other people have helped him to it; so they have come down to wrong and falsehood.
— Ayub Khan -
And those who disbelieve say, 'It is naught but a lie which he has forged, and other people have helped him with it.' Indeed, they have perpetrated a great injustice and a great falsehood.
— Sher Ali -
Moreover, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say, "This [Qur'ān] is nothing but a lie which he [himself] has devised with the help of other people, who thereupon have perverted the truth and brought a falsehood into being."
— Muhammad Asad -
The unbelievers say, This is naught but a calumny he has forged, and other folk have helped him to it. So they have committed wrong and falsehood.
— Arthur Arberry -
Those who have rejected the Message of the Prophet, say, "This (Al-Furqan) is a forgery which this man himself has devised, and some others have helped him at it." What a cruel injustice{{11}} and an impudent lie!
— Abu'l Ala Maududi