قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا
SAY: "It has been revealed to me that some of the unseen beings gave ear [to this divine writ], and thereupon said [unto their fellow-beings]: "`Verily, we have heard a wondrous discourse, (1)
يَهْدِي إِلَى الرُّشْدِ فَآمَنَّا بِهِ وَلَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِرَبِّنَا أَحَدًا
guiding towards consciousness of what is right; and so We have come to believe in it. And we shall never ascribe divinity to anyone beside our Sustainer, (2)
وَأَنَّهُ تَعَالَىٰ جَدُّ رَبِّنَا مَا اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبَةً وَلَا وَلَدًا
for [we know] that sublimely exalted is our Sustainer's majesty: no consort has He ever taken unto Himself, nor a son! (3)
وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ سَفِيهُنَا عَلَى اللَّهِ شَطَطًا
"`And [now we know] that the foolish among us were wont to say outrageous things about God, (4)
وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَنْ لَنْ تَقُولَ الْإِنْسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا
and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God. (5)
وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ رِجَالٌ مِنَ الْإِنْسِ يَعُوذُونَ بِرِجَالٍ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَزَادُوهُمْ رَهَقًا
Yet [it has always happened] that certain kinds of humans would seek refuge with certain kinds of [such] invisible forces: but these only increased their confusion (6)
وَأَنَّهُمْ ظَنُّوا كَمَا ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنْ لَنْ يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ أَحَدًا
so much so that they came to think, as you [once] thought, that God would never [again] send forth anyone [as His apostle]. (7)
وَأَنَّا لَمَسْنَا السَّمَاءَ فَوَجَدْنَاهَا مُلِئَتْ حَرَسًا شَدِيدًا وَشُهُبًا
"`And [so it happened] that we reached out towards heaven: but we found it filled with mighty guards and flames, (8)
وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ فَمَنْ يَسْتَمِعِ الْآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رَصَدًا
notwithstanding that we were established in positions [which we had thought well-suited] to listening to [whatever secrets might be in] it: and anyone who now [or ever] tries to listen will [likewise] find a flame lying in wait for him! (9)
وَأَنَّا لَا نَدْرِي أَشَرٌّ أُرِيدَ بِمَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَمْ أَرَادَ بِهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ رَشَدًا
"`And [now we have become aware] that we [created beings] may not know whether evil fortune is intended for [any of] those who live on earth, or whether it is their Sustainer's will to endow them with consciousness of what is right: (10)
وَأَنَّا مِنَّا الصَّالِحُونَ وَمِنَّا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ كُنَّا طَرَائِقَ قِدَدًا
just as [we do not know how it happens] that some from among us are righteous, while some of us are [far] below that: we have always followed widely divergent paths. (11)
وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّا أَنْ لَنْ نُعْجِزَ اللَّهَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَنْ نُعْجِزَهُ هَرَبًا
"`And, withal, we have come to know that we can never elude God [while we live] on earth, and that we can never elude Him by escaping [from life]. (12)
وَأَنَّا لَمَّا سَمِعْنَا الْهُدَىٰ آمَنَّا بِهِ فَمَنْ يُؤْمِنْ بِرَبِّهِ فَلَا يَخَافُ بَخْسًا وَلَا رَهَقًا
Hence, as soon as we heard this [call to His] guidance, we came to believe in it: and he who believes in his Sustainer need never have fear of loss or injustice. (13)
وَأَنَّا مِنَّا الْمُسْلِمُونَ وَمِنَّا الْقَاسِطُونَ فَمَنْ أَسْلَمَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ تَحَرَّوْا رَشَدًا
"`Yet [it is true] that among us are such as have surrendered themselves to God – just as there are among us such as have abandoned themselves to wrongdoing. Now as for those who surrender themselves to Him – it is they that have attained to consciousness of what is right; (14)
وَأَمَّا الْقَاسِطُونَ فَكَانُوا لِجَهَنَّمَ حَطَبًا
but as for those who abandon themselves to wrongdoing – they are indeed but fuel for [the fires of] hell!'" (15)
وَأَنْ لَوِ اسْتَقَامُوا عَلَى الطَّرِيقَةِ لَأَسْقَيْنَاهُمْ مَاءً غَدَقًا
[KNOW,] THEN, that if they [who have heard Our call] keep firmly to the [right] path, We shall certainly shower them with blessings abundant, (16)
لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ وَمَنْ يُعْرِضْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ رَبِّهِ يَسْلُكْهُ عَذَابًا صَعَدًا
so as to test them by this means: for he who shall turn away from the remembrance of his Sustainer, him will He cause to undergo suffering most grievous. (17)
وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا
And [know] that all worship is due to God [alone]: hence, do not invoke anyone side by side with God! (18)
وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ كَادُوا يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا
Yet [thus it is] that whenever a servant of God stands up in prayer to Him, they [who are bent on denying the truth] would gladly overwhelm him with their crowds. (19)
- and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God.3
- 3 In this and the next verse, the term jinn (rendered here as "invisible forces") apparently refers to what is described as "occult powers'" or, rather to a person's preoccupation with them (see Appendix III). Irrespective of whether these "forces" are real or mere products of human imagination, they "tell lies about God" inasmuch as they induce their devotees to conceive all manner of fantastic, arbitrary notions about the "nature" of His Being and of His alleged relations with the created universe: notions exemplified in all mystery-religions, in the various gnostic and theosophical systems, in cabalistic Judaism, and in the many medieval offshoots of each of them.
- ?But we do think that no man or spirit should say aught that untrue against Allah.5731
- 5731 No one ought to entertain false notions about Allah. For by joining false gods in our ideas of worship, we degrade our conception of ourselves and the duty we owe to our Creator and Cherisher, to Whom we have to give a final account of life and conduct. If we worship idols or heavenly bodies, or human beings, or any creature, or false fancies born of self or foolish abstractions, or the lusts and desires of our own hearts, we are not only doing violence to Truth, but we are causing discord in the harmony of the world.
-
'But we do think that no man or spirit should say aught that untrue against Allah.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah -
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And that we thought that men and jinn did not utter a lie against Allah:
— M. Habib Shakir -
'And verily, we thought that men and jinns would not utter a lie against Allah.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And verily we! we had imagined that humankind and Jinn would never forge against Allah a lie.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
we never thought that either human or jinn would ever tell a lie against Allah!" '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
and that we had thought that men and jinn will never speak against God a lie;
— Ayub Khan -
And we thought that men and jinn would never utter a lie concerning God,
— Sher Ali -
and that [we were mistaken when] we thought that neither man nor [any of] the invisible forces would ever tell a lie about God.
— Muhammad Asad -
and we had thought that men and jinn would never speak against God a lie.
— Arthur Arberry -
and that "we had thought that men and jinn would never speak a lie about Allah",{{6}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi