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)
- And they say, "Fables of ancient times which he has caused to be written down,7 so that they might be read out to him at morn and evening!"
- 7 Because it was known to his contemporaries that he was unlettered (ummi) and could not read and write.
- And they say: "Tales of the ancients, which he has caused to be written: and they are dictated before him morning and evening."3058
- 3058 In their misguided arrogance they say: 'We have heard such things before: they are pretty tales which have come down from ancient times; they are good for amusement, but who takes them seriously? When the beauty and power of the Revelation are pointed Out, and its miracle as coming from an unlearned man, they again hint at other men who wrote them, though they could not produce any one who could write anything like it.
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And they say: "Tales of the ancients, which he has caused to be written: and they are dictated before him morning and evening."
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And they say: Fables of the men of old which he hath had written down so that they are dictated to him morn and evening.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And they say: The stories of the ancients-- he has got them written-- so these are read out to him morning and evening.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And they say: "Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And they say: fables of the ancients which he hath had written down, so they are dictated unto him, morning and evening.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
They say: 'He has written tales of the ancients, they are recited to him at dawn and at the evening. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And they say, `fables of the ancients that he has had written down, and they are dictated to him morning and evening.'
— Ayub Khan -
And they say, 'These are fables of the ancient; and he has got them written down and they are read out to him morning and evening.'
— Sher Ali -
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!"
— Muhammad Asad -
They say, Fairy-tales of the ancients that he has had written down, so that they are recited to him at the dawn and in the evening.
— Arthur Arberry -
They say, "These things are the writings of the ancients which he has got copied down for himself, and then these are recited to him in the morning and evening."
— Abu'l Ala Maududi