الرَّحْمَٰنُ
THE MOST GRACIOUS (1)
عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ
has imparted this Qur'ān [unto man]. (2)
خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ
He has created man: (3)
عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ
He has imparted unto him articulate thought and speech. (4)
الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ
[At His behest] the sun and the moon run their appointed courses; (5)
وَالنَّجْمُ وَالشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ
[before Him] prostrate themselves the stars and the trees. (6)
وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ
And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure, (7)
أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ
so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right]: (8)
وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ
weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short! (9)
وَالْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ
And the earth has He spread out for all living beings, (10)
فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ
with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates], (11)
وَالْحَبُّ ذُو الْعَصْفِ وَالرَّيْحَانُ
and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants. (12)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (13)
خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ
He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery, (14)
وَخَلَقَ الْجَانَّ مِنْ مَارِجٍ مِنْ نَارٍ
whereas the invisible beings He has created out of a confusing flame of fire. (15)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (16)
رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ
[He is] the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunrise, and the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunset. (17)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (18)
مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ
He has given freedom to the two great bodies of water, so that they might meet: (19)
بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَا يَبْغِيَانِ
[yet] between them is a barrier which they may not transgress. (20)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (21)
يَخْرُجُ مِنْهُمَا اللُّؤْلُؤُ وَالْمَرْجَانُ
Out of these two [bodies of water] come forth pearls, both great and small. (22)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (23)
وَلَهُ الْجَوَارِ الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالْأَعْلَامِ
And His are the lofty ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas. (24)
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? (25)
- Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?4
- 4 The majority of the classical commentators interpret the dual form of address appearing in this phrase - rabbikuma ("the Sustainer of you two") and tukadhdhiban ("do you [or "can you"] two disavow") - as relating to the worlds of men and of the "invisible beings" (jinn - see Appendix III); but the most obvious explanation (mentioned, among others, by Razi) is that it refers to the two categories of human beings, men and women, to both of whom the Qur'an is addressed. The plural noun ala', rendered by me as "powers", signifies literally "blessings" or "bounties"; but as the above refrain, which is repeated many times in this surah, bears not only on the bounties which God bestows on His creation but, more generally, on aU manifestations of His creativeness and might, some of the earliest commentators - e.g., Ibn Zayd, as quoted by Tabari - regard the term ala', in this context, as synonymous with qudrah ("power" or "powers").
- Then which of the favours5180 of your Lord will ye deny?
- 5180 Both the pronoun "your" and the verb "will ye deny" are in the Arabic in the Dual Number. The whole Surah is a symphony of Duality, which leads up to Unity, as explained in the Introduction. All creation is in pairs: 51:49, and notes 5025-26; 36:36, n. 3981. Justice is the conciliation of two opposites to unity, the settlement of the unending feud between Right and Wrong. The things and concepts mentioned in this Surah are in pairs: man and outer nature; sun and moon; herbs and trees; heavens and earth; fruit and corn; human food and fodder for cattle; things nourishing and things sweet-smelling; and so on throughout the Surah. Then there is man and Jinn, for which see n. 5182 below. Will ye deny? that is, fail to acknowledge either in word or thought or in your conduct. If you misuse Allah's gifts or ignore them, that is equivalent to ingratitude or denial or refusal to profit by Allah's infinite Grace.
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Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?
— M. Habib Shakir -
Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Which, then, of the benefits of your Lord, will ye twain belie?
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Which favors of your Lord will you both (humans and jinn) belie?
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
so which of your Lord's bounties will you two deny?
— Ayub Khan -
Which, then, of the favours of your Lord will ye twain, O men and jinn, deny?
— Sher Ali -
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
— Muhammad Asad -
O which of your Lords bounties will you and you deny?
— Arthur Arberry -
Which of the bounties of your Lord{{12}} will you twain - you men and jinn - then deny?{{13}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi