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)
- - and [I call to witness] parent and offspring:2
- 2 Lit., "the begetter and that which he has begotten". According to Tabari's convincing explanation, this phrase signifies "every parent and all their offspring" - i.e., the human race from its beginning to its end. (The masculine form al-walid denotes, of course, both male and female parents.)
- And (the mystic ties of) Parent and Child;-6132
- 6132 A parent loves a child ordinarily: the father is proud and the mother, in spite of her birth pains, experiences supreme joy when the child is born. But in abnormal circumstances there may be misunderstandings, even hatred between parent and child. So Makkah cast out her most glorious son, but it was only for a time. Makkah was sound at heart; only her power had been usurped by an ignorant autocracy which passed away, and Makkah was to receive back her glory at the hands of the son whom she had rejected but whom she welcomed back later. And Makkah retains for all time her sacred character as the centre of Islam.
-
And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;-
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And the begetter and that which he begat,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And the begetter and whom he begot.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And by the begetter (i.e. Adam) and that which he begot (i.e. his progeny);
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And by the begetter and that which he begat,
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
and by the father and that he produces,
— Ayub Khan -
And I cite as witness the father and the son,
— Sher Ali -
and [I call to witness] parent and offspring:
— Muhammad Asad -
by the begetter, and that he begot,
— Arthur Arberry -
and I swear by the parent and his offspring:{{4}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi