وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ
CONSIDER the heavens and that which comes in the night! (1)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ
And what could make thee conceive what it is that comes in the night? (2)
النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ
It is the star that pierces through [life's] darkness: (3)
إِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ
[for] no human being has ever been left unguarded. (4)
فَلْيَنْظُرِ الْإِنْسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ
LET MAN, then, observe out of what he has been created: (5)
خُلِقَ مِنْ مَاءٍ دَافِقٍ
he has been created out of a seminal fluid (6)
يَخْرُجُ مِنْ بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ
issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman]. (7)
إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ
Now, verily, He [who thus creates man in the first instance] is well able to bring him back [to life] (8)
يَوْمَ تُبْلَى السَّرَائِرُ
on the Day when all secrets will be laid bare, (9)
فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ
and [man] will have neither strength nor helper! (10)
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ
Consider the heavens, ever-revolving, (11)
وَالْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ
and the earth, bursting forth with plants! (12)
إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ
BEHOLD, this [divine writ] is indeed a word that cuts between truth and falsehood, (13)
وَمَا هُوَ بِالْهَزْلِ
and is no idle tale. (14)
إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا
Behold, they [who refuse to accept it] devise many a false argument [to disprove its truth]; (15)
وَأَكِيدُ كَيْدًا
but I shall bring all their scheming to nought. (16)
فَمَهِّلِ الْكَافِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًا
Let, then, the deniers of the truth have their will: let them have their will for a little while! (17)
- issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman].3
- 3 The plural noun tara'ib, rendered by me as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Quranic expressions this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).
- Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs:6071
- 6071 A man's seed is the quintessence of his body. It is therefore said metaphorically to proceed from his loins, i.e., from his back between the hipbones and his ribs. His backbone is the source and symbol of his strength and personality. In his spinal cord and in the brain is the directive energy of the central nervous system, and this directs all action, organic and psychic. The spinal cord is continuous with the Medulla Oblongata in the brain.
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Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs:
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
That issued from between the loins and ribs.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Coming from between the back and the ribs.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Proceeding from between the back-bone and the ribs,
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
That issueth from between the loins and the breast-bones.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
that issues from between the loins and the ribs.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
that comes forth between the loins and the breast-bones.
— Ayub Khan -
Which issues forth from between the loins and the breastbones.
— Sher Ali -
issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman].
— Muhammad Asad -
issuing between the loins and the breast-bones.
— Arthur Arberry -
emanating from between the loins and the ribs.{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi