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)
- 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]!"8 And so these evildoers say [unto one another], "If you were to follow [Muhammad, you would follow] but a man bewitched!"
- 8 A sarcastic allusion to the "gardens of paradise" of which the Qur'an so often speaks. (Cf. l3:38 and the corresponding notes 74 and 75; also 5:75 and 21:7-8.)
- "Or (Why) has not a treasure been bestowed on him, or why has he (not) a garden for enjoyment?"3061 The wicked say: "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched."3062
- 3061 Literally, 'that he may eat out of it'. As shown in n. 776 to 5:66, akala (to eat) has a comprehensive meaning, implying enjoyment of all kinds, physical, social, mental and moral, and spiritual. Here the garden itself stands for a type of the amenities of life: its fruits would be available for eating, its coolness for rest and refreshment, its waters and its landscape for aesthetic delight.
- 3062 Cf. 17:47. This speech, of the wicked or the ungodly, is meant to be even more bitter than that of the Misbelievers. It makes out the Teacher to be a demented fool.
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"Or (Why) has not a treasure been bestowed on him, or why has he (not) a garden for enjoyment?" The wicked say: "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched."
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Or (why is not) treasure thrown down unto him, or why hath he not a paradise from whence to eat? And the evil-doers say: Ye are but following a man bewitched.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Or (why is not) a treasure sent down to him, or he is made to have a garden from which he should eat? And the unjust say: You do not follow any but a man deprived of reason.
— M. Habib Shakir -
"Or (why) has not a treasure been granted to him, or why has he not a garden whereof he may eat?" And the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong- doers, etc.) say: "You follow none but a man bewitched."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Or, whereforeis not there cast down unto him a treasure or he has a garden whereof he may eat! And the wrong-doeray: ye follow only a man bewitched.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Or, why has no treasure been thrown to him, or a garden for him to eat from? ' And the harmdoers say: 'The man you follow is surely bewitched. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
or why not a treasure is cast down to him, or a garden belonged to him to eat thereof.' And the wrongdoers say, `you are following only a bewitched man'.
— Ayub Khan -
Or a treasure should have been sent down to him, or he should have had a garden to eat therefrom.' And the wrongdoers say, 'You follow but a man bewitched.'
— Sher Ali -
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!"
— Muhammad Asad -
Or why is not a treasure thrown to him, or why has he not a Garden to eat of? The evildoers say, You are only following a man bewitched!
— Arthur Arberry -
Or why has not at least a treasure been sent down for him or a garden given to him for (easy) sustenance?"{{16}} And the wicked people say, "You are following a man bewitched."{{17}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi