لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ
NAY! I call to witness this land – (1)
وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ
this land in which thou art free to dwell – (2)
وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ
and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: (3)
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ فِي كَبَدٍ
Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil, and trial. (4)
أَيَحْسَبُ أَنْ لَنْ يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ
Does he, then, think that no one has power over him? (5)
يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُبَدًا
He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!" (6)
أَيَحْسَبُ أَنْ لَمْ يَرَهُ أَحَدٌ
Does he, then, think that no one sees him? (7)
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ عَيْنَيْنِ
Have We not given him two eyes, (8)
وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ
and a tongue, and a pair of lips, (9)
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ
and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? (10)
فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ
But he would not try to ascend the steep uphill road.... (11)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ
And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? (12)
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ
[It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin], (13)
أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ
or the feeding, upon a day of [one's own] hunger, (14)
يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ
of an orphan near of kin, (15)
أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ
or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust – (16)
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ
and being, withal, of those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. (17)
أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ
Such are they that have attained to righteousness; (18)
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ
whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages – they are such as have lost themselves in evil, (19)
عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُؤْصَدَةٌ
[with] fire closing in upon them. (20)
- [It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin],7
- 7 Thus lkrimah, as quoted by Baghawi; also Razi. Alternatively, the phrase fakk raqabah may be rendered as "the freeing of a human being from bondage" (cf. note 146 on 2:190), with the latter term covering all those forms of subjugation and exploitation - social, economic or political - which can be rightly described as ";slavery".
- (It is:) freeing the bondman;6140
- 6140 The difficult path of virtue is defined as the path of charity or unselfish love, and three specific instances are given for our understanding: viz. (1) freeing the bondman, (2) feeding the orphan, and (3) feeding the indigent down in the dust. As regards the bondman, we are to understand not only a reference to legal slavery, but many other kinds of slavery which flourish especially in advanced societies. There is political slavery, industrial slavery, and social slavery. There is the slavery of conventions, of ignorance, and of superstition. There is slavery to wealth or passions or power. The good man tries to liberate men and women from all kinds of slavery, often at great danger to himself. But he begins by first liberating himself. (R).
-
(It is:) freeing the bondman;
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
(It is) to free a slave,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
(It is) the setting free of a slave,
— M. Habib Shakir -
(It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.)
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
It is freeing the neck,
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
(It is) the freeing of a slave,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
It is the freeing of a neck,
— Ayub Khan -
It is the freeing of a slave,
— Sher Ali -
[It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin],
— Muhammad Asad -
The freeing of a slave,
— Arthur Arberry -
It is freeing someone's neck from slavery;
— Abu'l Ala Maududi