Tafsir Al Jalalayn - English — Yunus 10:1 – Al-Isra 17:111

Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the wise Book, that is, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation [āyāt al-kitāb] has the meaning of min [sc. min āyāti’l-kitāb, ‘from among the verses of the Book’]), which has been made clear.

Is it for the people, the people of Mecca (this interrogative is meant as a disavowal; the preposition [li-, ‘for’] and its dependent genitive noun [al-nās, ‘the people’] constitute a circumstantial qualifier of His saying): a wonder (‘ajaban: read in the accusative as a predicate of kāna; or if read in the nominative [‘ajabun] as its subject: its predicate, which is also its subject if read according to the former [accusative] reading, is [the following, an awhaynā]) that We have inspired a man from among them, Muhammad (s), [saying] (an, ‘that’, is explicative): ‘Warn, threaten, the people, the disbelievers, with chastisement, and give good tidings to those who believe that they have a prior, a preceding, [promise of] truth with their Lord’?, that is a [preceding] fair reward, in return for the deeds they have sent forward. The disbelievers say, ‘Truly this, Qur’ān that comprises all of that [mentioned], is manifest sorcery’: a variant reading [for la-sihrun] has la-sāhirun, ‘a sorcerer’, where it is the Prophet (s) to whom they are referring [as being ‘a manifest sorcerer’].

Truly your Lord is God Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, of the days of this world, that is, in the same measure [of time], since there was no sun or moon then: had He willed He could have created them in an instant, but the reason for His not having done so is that He wanted to teach His creatures to be circumspect; then He presided upon the Throne, a presiding befitting of Him, directing affairs, among creatures. There is no (mā min indicates a relative clause) intercessor, to intercede for anyone, save after His permission: a refutation of their saying, ‘The idols intercede for us!’; that, Creator and Director, is God, your Lord, so worship Him, affirm His Oneness. Will you not remember? (tadhakkarūna: the original tā’ [of tatadhakkarūna] has been assimilated with the dhāl).

To Him, exalted be He, is the return of all of you: God’s promise, in truth (both [wa‘da and haqqan] are verbal nouns, and in the accusative because of the verbs implicit in them). Truly He (read innahu as a new sentence, or annahu with an implied lām [sc. li-annahu, ‘Because He’] originates creation, that is, He began it by originating [it], then recreates it, through resurrection, that He may requite, reward, those who believe and perform righteous deeds, justly. And those who disbelieve, for them will be a draught of boiling water and a painful chastisement because they disbelieved.

He it is Who made the sun a radiance, that is, emitting light, and the moon a light, and determined it, with respect to its movement, in stations: 28 stations in 28 nights every month, becoming concealed for two nights when a particular month has 30 days, or [concealed] for one night, when it has 29 days, so that you might know, thereby, the number of the years and the reckoning. God did not create that, which is mentioned, save in truth, not in vain, exalted be He above such things. He details (read yufassilu or nufassilu, ‘We detail’) the signs for a people who know, who reflect.

Truly in the alternation of night and day, in [their] coming and going, increasing and diminishing, and [in] what God has created in the heavens, of angels, sun, moon, stars and other things, and, in, the earth, of animals, mountains, seas, rivers, trees, and other things, there are signs, indications of His power, exalted be He, for a people who fear, Him, and so believe: He singles these out for mention because they are the ones to benefit from them [such signs].

Truly those who do not expect to encounter Us, through resurrection, and are content with the life of this world, instead of [the life] the Hereafter, since they reject [the truth of] it, and feel reassured, feel secure, in it, and those who are heedless of Our signs, [of] the proofs of Our Oneness, neglecting to ponder them,

those, their abode will be the Fire because of what they used to earn, in the way of [practising] idolatry and [performing] acts of disobedience.

Truly those who believe and perform righteous deeds, their Lord will guide them, He will lead them, through their faith, in Him, by appointing for them a light with which they will be able to find their way on the Day of Resurrection. Rivers will flow beneath them in the Gardens of Bliss,

their prayer therein, their request for what they desire in Paradise will be to say: ‘Glory be to You, O God!’, so that, lo!, what they request they find before them; and their greeting, between them, therein will be: ‘Peace.’ And their final prayer will be: ‘Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds’.

When the idolaters sought to hasten [their] chastisement, the following was revealed: And if God should hasten for mankind evil as they would hasten good, their term [of life] would already have been concluded for them (read as the passive, with nominative ajaluhum [sc. la-qudiya ajaluhum]; or read as the active with accusative ajalahum [sc. la-qadā ajalahum, ‘He would have already concluded their term’]), by His destroying them, but He gives them respite. But We leave those, who do not expect to encounter Us, to wander blindly in their insolence, hesistant and perplexed.

If misfortune, illness or poverty, should befall a, disbelieving, man, he calls upon Us on his side, that is, lying down, or sitting or standing, in other words, in every state; but when We have relieved him of his misfortune, he passes on, in his unbelief, as if (ka-an is softened, its subject omitted, in other words [read as] ka-annahu) he had never called upon Us because of a misfortune that befell him. So, in the same way that supplication during misfortune and abstention [from supplication] in times of comfort were adorned for him, is adorned for the prodigal, the idolaters, that which they do.

And indeed We have destroyed generations, communities, before you, O people of Mecca, when they did evil, by way of idolatry, and, indeed, their messengers brought them clear proofs, indicating their truthfulness; but they would not believe (wa-mā kānū li-yu’minū: this is a supplement to zalamū, ‘they did evil’). So, just as We destroyed those, We shall requite the sinning, the unbelieving, folk.

Then We made you, O people of Mecca, successors (khalā’if is the plural of khalīfa) in the earth after them, that We might behold how you would behave, in it, and whether you would take heed from their example and believe in Our messengers.

And when Our clear, manifest (bayyināt is a circumstantial qualifier), verses, [from] the Qur’ān, are recited to them, those who do not expect to encounter Us, those who do not fear the Resurrection, say, ‘Bring a Qur’ān other than this, one in which our gods are not denigrated, or change it’, of your own accord. Say, to them: ‘It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow that which is revealed to me. Truly I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, by changing it, the chastisement of a dreadful day’, that is, the Day of Resurrection.

Say: ‘If God had willed I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you, [nor] would He have made you aware of it (the lā [of wa-lā adrākum] is for negation, and is a supplement to what preceded; a variant reading has the lām [sc. la-adrākum, ‘He would have made it known to you’] as the response to the [conditional] law, ‘if’, in other words, He would have made it known to you by the tongue of someone other than myself). For I have already dwelt among you a [whole] lifetime, of forty years, before this [Qur’ān], not relating to you anything [of the sort], so will you not understand?’, that this [Qur’ān] is not from myself?

And who, that is, no one, does greater evil than he who invents a lie against God, by ascribing a partner to Him, or denies His signs?, [denies] the Qur’ān. Surely, it is that, the sinners, the idolaters, shall not prosper, they shall [never] find happiness.

And they worship, besides God, that is, other than Him, that which can neither hurt them, should they not worship it, nor profit them, if they do worship it — and these are the idols; and they say, of them: ‘These are our intercessors with God’. Say, to them: ‘Would you tell, would you inform, God of what He does not know in the heavens or in the earth?’ (the interrogative is meant as a disavowal), for if He had a partner, He [Himself] would know it, since nothing can be hidden from Him. Glory be to Him!, in [affirmation of] His transcendence, and High be He exalted above what they associate! with Him.

Mankind was but one community, following one religion, that is submission [to the One God], from the time of Adam to the time of Noah; but it is also said [that this was the case] from the time of Abraham to that of ‘Amr b. Luhayy; then they differed, some of them remaining firmly [upon belief in One God], while others disbelieved. And had it not been for a word that had already preceded from your Lord, [to the effect] that requital would be deferred until the Day of Resurrection, it would have been decided between them, that is, [between] mankind, in this life, regarding that over which they differed, in religion, by the disbelievers being punished.

And they, the people of Mecca, say, ‘Why has a sign not been sent down on him, on Muhammad (s), from his Lord?’, as was the case with [previous] prophets, in the way of a she-camel, a staff or a [glowing] hand. Then say, to them: ‘The Unseen, that which is concealed from servants, in other words, its affair, belongs only to God, and it is from this [Unseen] that signs come forth; therefore He alone can bring them forth: mine is only to covey the Message. So wait, for the chastisement, if you do not believe. I am waiting with you’.

And when We made people, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, taste of mercy, [of] rain and fertility, after adversity, misery and drought, that had afflicted them, behold! they have some plot concerning Our signs, in the way of mockery and denial. Say, to them: ‘God is swifter at plotting, at requiting; surely Our, guardian, messengers are writing down that which you are plotting’ (tamkurūn, is also read yamkurūn, ‘they are plotting’).

He it is Who conveys you (yusayyirukum: a variant reading has yanshurukum) across the land and the sea, until when you are in ships and they sail with them (there is a shift of address from second [to third] person) with a fair, gentle, breeze and they rejoice therein, there comes upon them a stormy wind, blowing violently, destroying everything, and waves come on them from every side, and they think that they are overwhelmed, that is, [that] they shall perish, they call upon God, secure in their faith, their supplication, only to Him: ‘If (la-in: the lām is for oaths) You deliver us from these, terrors, we shall verily be of the thankful’, [of those] who affirm [Your] Oneness.

Yet when He has delivered them, behold! they are insolent in the earth wrongfully, by associating others with God. O mankind, your insolence, wrongdoing, is only against yourselves, since the sin thereof shall fall against them; it is [but], the enjoyment of the life of this world, which you will enjoy for a short while, then to Us is your return, after death, and We shall inform you of what you used to do, and then requite you for it (a variant reading [for nominative matā‘u] has accusative matā‘a, ‘an enjoyment’, in other words [read as with an omitted verb such as] tatamatta‘ūna, ‘[one which] you shall enjoy’).

The likeness, the description, of the life of this world is only as water, rain, which We send down from the heaven, then the plants of the earth mingle with it, [they mingle] because of it, attaching themselves one to another, whereof mankind eat, [plants] such as wheat and barley and so on, and cattle [eat], of pasture, until, when the earth has taken on its ornaments, its splendour of plants, and has adorned itself, with flowers (izzayyanat, ‘adorned itself’, is originally tazayyanat, but the tā’ has been substituted with the zāy and assimilated with it) and its inhabitants think that they are masters of it, fully capable of harvesting its fruits, Our command, Our decree or Our chastisement, comes upon it by night or day, and We make it, that is, its crops, as reaped corn, like that which has been reaped with sickles, as though (ka-an is softened, in other words [read it as] ka-annahā) the previous day it had not flourished, [as though] it never were. Thus do We detail, [do] We make clear, the signs for a people who reflect.

And God summons to the Abode of Peace, that is, [the Abode] of security, which is Paradise, by summoning [people] to faith, and He guides whomever He wills, that he be guided, to a straight path, the religion of Islam.

For those who do good, by having faith, is the fairest reward, Paradise, and more, which is to contemplate God, exalted be He, as [reported] in a hadīth by Muslim [in his Sahīh]; neither dust, soot, nor ignominy, grief, shall overcome, envelop, their faces. Those, they are the inhabitants of Paradise: therein they will abide.

And for those (wa’lladhīna is a supplement to li’lladhīna ahsanū, ‘for those who do good’, so [understand it as] wa-li’lladhīna, ‘and for those’) who earn evil deeds, by practising idolatry, [there shall be] the requital of an evil deed by the like thereof; ignominy shall overcome them — they have no protector, no defender, against God — as if their faces had been covered with, cloaked [in], strips of darkest night (read qita‘an, as the plural of qit‘a; or qit‘an, meaning juz’an, ‘a part’). Those, they are the inhabitants of the Fire: therein they will abide.

And, mention, the day on which We shall gather them, that is, creation, all together, then We shall say to those who associated others [with God]: ‘In your place! (makānakum is in the accusative because ilzamū, ‘adhere to’, is implied [sc. ilzamū makānakum]). You (antum: this emphasises the [second person plural] subject concealed in the implied verb [ilzamū], and allows for the supplement [that follows]:) and your associates!’, that is, the idols. Then We shall make a separation, We shall distinguish, between them, and the believers, as [is stated] in the verse, wa’mtāzū’l-yawma ayyuhā’l-mujrimūn, ‘Now be separate, you sinners, upon this day!’ [Q. 36:59]; and their associates will say, to them: ‘It was not us that you were worshipping (mā [of mā-kuntum, ‘you were not …’] is for negation; the direct object [iyyānā, ‘us’] precedes the verb in order [to accord] with the end-rhyme [of the Qur’ānic verse];

God suffices as a witness between us and you, that indeed (in is softened, so [read as] innā) we were unaware of your worship’.

There, that is, on that day, every soul shall experience (tablū derives from balwā, ‘a trial’; a variant reading has tatlū, ‘it shall recite’, derived from tilāwa, ‘recitation’) what it did before, [what] it offered in the way of deeds, and they shall be returned to God, their rightful, [their] established, everlasting, Lord, and that which they were inventing, [of lies] against Him, in the way of associates, shall fail them, shall be absent [before them].

Say, to them: ‘Who provides for you, rain, out of the heaven, and, plants [out of], the earth, or Who owns hearing, meaning the ability to make hear, that is, the creation of this [faculty], and sight, and Who brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and Who directs affairs?’, between creatures? They will surely say, ‘It is He, God.’ Then say, to them: ‘Will you not then fear?’, Him, and believe?

That, Doer of all these things, then is God, your true, established, Lord: so what is there, after truth, except error? (the interrogative is meant as an affirmative, in other words, there is nothing after it [truth] other than that [error]; thus he who mistakes the truth, which is the worship of God, has fallen into error). How then are you turned away, from faith, despite the proofs having been established?

Thus, just as those are turned away from faith so, the Word of your Lord is justified concerning those who are wicked, [those who] disbelieve, and this [Word] is [either] the verse, [Q. 32:13]‘Verily I shall fill Hell [with jinn and mankind, together]’, or it is [the following:] that they do not believe.

Say: ‘Is there of those whom you associate [with God] one that originates creation, then recreated it?’ Say: ‘God originates creation, then recreates it. How then are you deviated?’, turned away from worshipping Him, despite proof having been established.

Say: ‘Is there of those whom you associate [with God] one that guides to the truth?’, by [means of] setting up [definitive] arguments and creating guidance. Say: ‘God guides to the truth; is One Who guides to the truth — and this is God — more deserving of being followed, or one who does not guide, [one who] is not [himself] guided, unless he is guided?, more deserving of being followed? (the interrogative is meant as an affirmation and a rebuke, in other words, the former is more deserving). So what is wrong with you, how do you judge?’, [how do you make] this corrupt judgement, one where what does not deserve to be followed is followed?

And most of them, in worshipping idols, follow nothing but conjecture, since they imitate their fathers therein; truly conjecture avails nothing against truth, when what is sought is knowledge. Surely God is Knower of what they do, and will requite them for it.

And this Qur’ān is not such as could ever be produced, that is, [it could not be] a fabrication, [by anyone] besides God; but it is, revealed [as], a confirmation of what is before it, of Scriptures, and a detailing of the Book, a exposition of the rulings and other matters which God has prescribed — wherein is no doubt, no uncertainty — from the Lord of the Worlds (min rabbi’l-‘ālamīn is semantically connected to tasdīqa, ‘a confirmation’, or to an omitted unzila, ‘revealed’; a variant reading [for accusative tasdīqa] has the nominative tasdīqu and nominative tafsīlu, ‘a detailing’, [for the accusative tafsīla] by [reading] an implied huwa, ‘it is’).

Or do they say, ‘He has invented it’?, Muhammad (s) has invented it. Say: ‘Then bring a sūra like it, in terms of the clarity and the rhetorical excellence of its language, by way of invention, for you are eloquent speakers of Arabic like me; and call upon whom you can, for help in this [matter], besides God, that is, other than Him, if you are truthful’, in [saying] that this is an invention. But they were not able to do this.

God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but they denied that, the knowledge whereof they did not comprehend, that is, [they denied] the Qur’ān and did not reflected upon it; and whereof the interpretation, the consequence of the threats [made] therein, has not yet come to them. So, in the same [manner of] denial, those who were before them denied, their messengers. Behold then what was the consequence for the evildoers!, for denying the messengers, in other words, [behold] how their affair was concluded, by their being destroyed. In a similar manner, We shall destroy these [people].

And of them, that is, [of] the people of Mecca, are some who believe in it, God being aware of this in their case, and some who would never believe therein. And your Lord knows very well the corrupters: this is a threat for them.

If they deny you, then say, to them: ‘Unto me is my work, and to you your work, that is, for each there will be a [due] requital of his deeds; you are innocent of what I do, and I am innocent of what you do’: this was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse [Q. 9:5].

And of them are some who listen to you, when you recite the Qur’ān. But will you make the deaf to hear — He likens them [the Meccan disbelievers] to these [the deaf] because they are not able to benefit from what is recited to them — even though, with their deafness, they do not understand?, [even though they do not] reflect?

And of them are some who look toward you. But will you guide the blind, even though they do not see? — He likens them [the Meccan disbelievers] to these [the blind] because they fail to be guided, nay, [they are] much worse [since God says]: It is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts within the breasts [Q. 22:46].

Verily God does not wrong mankind in any way, but mankind wrong themselves.

And on the day when He shall gather them, it is, as if they had not tarried, in this world, or in the grave, but an hour of the day, because of the terror of what they see (the comparative sentence is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [third person] pronoun); recognising one another, knowing one another, upon their being resurrected, but thereafter the recognition ceases on account of the severity of the terrors (the [last] sentence is either an implied circumstantial qualifier or one connected to the adverbial qualifier [yawma, ‘on the day’]); those will verily have lost who denied the encounter with God, through resurrection, for they were not guided.

And whether (wa-immā: the nūn of the conditional particle in has been assimiliated with the extra mā) We show you something of that which We promise them, of chastisement, during your lifetime (the response to the conditional statement has been omitted, in other words [understand it as being] fa-dhāka, ‘then so shall it be’), or We take you [to Us], before punishing them, to Us they shall return, and God, moreover, is Witness, Aware, of what they do, in the way of their denials and disbelief, and so will chastise them with the severest punishment.

And for every community, of the communities [of this world], there is a messenger. And when their messenger comes, to them, and they deny him, judgement is passed between them justly, fairly, such that they are punished and the messenger, and all those who accepted his truthfulness, are delivered; and they are not wronged, by being punished for no crime: similarly, We shall deal with these [disbelievers of your community].

And they say: ‘When will this promise, of chastisement, come to pass, if you are truthful, about it?’

Say: ‘I have no power to, avert, hurt, from, myself, or to, bring, benefit, except as God might will, to give me power over: so how could I possess the power to bring about the chastisement? For every community there is an appointed time, a fixed period until they perish. When their time comes, they cannot put it off, they will not miss it, by a single hour, nor bring it forward, [nor] overtake it’.

Say: ‘Have you considered?, [Say] inform me: If His, God’s, chastisement comes upon you by night or day, what, part, is there of it, that is, [of] the chastisement, that the sinners, the idolaters, seek to hasten? (an overt noun [al-mujrimūn, ‘the sinners’] has replaced the [second person, ‘you’] pronominalisation. The interrogative sentence is the response to the conditional, as [in the case where] you might say, ‘If I come to you, what would you give me?’; the intention here is to provoke terror [in them], in other words: how awful is that which they seek to hasten!)

Is it [only] then, when it has come to pass, [when] it has befallen you, that you will believe therein?, that is, in God, or [it means] in the chastisement, when it has come down (the [use of] hamza [in a-thumma, ‘is it then’] is to deny [the possibility of] deferrment [of chastisement], in other words, it [your belief] will not be accepted from you [in that instance] and it will be said to you: Now, do you believe, when [until now] you have been hastening it on?’, in mockery [of it].

Then will it be said to those who were evildoers: ‘Taste the everlasting chastisement!, that is, the one in which you shall abide. Are you, you are not, requited for anything but, the requital of, what you used to earn?’

And they ask you to tell, to inform, them, ‘Is it true?’, that which you promise us in the way of chastisement and resurrection? Say: ‘Aye, indeed, by my Lord! Verily it is true and you cannot escape’, [you cannot] elude the chastisement.

And if each soul that has done wrong, [that] has disbelieved, had all that is in the earth, of riches, it would offer it as ransom, against chastisement on the Day of Resurrection; and they will feel remorse within them, for having neglected faith, when they see the chastisement, their leaders keep it [their remorse] secret from the weak ones whom they had led astray, fearing reproach, but it has been decided justly between them, [between] all creatures, and they are not wronged, in anything.

Why, surely to God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Why, surely God’s promise, of resurrection and requital, is true, [is] fixed, but most of them, people, do not know, this.

He gives life and makes to die, and to Him you shall be returned, in the Hereafter, and He shall requite you for your deeds.

O people, that is, inhabitants of Mecca, there has come to you an admonition from your Lord, a Book which contains [mention] of that which is [permissible] for you and that which is enjoined on you, and this [Book] is the Qur’ān; and a healing, a cure, for what is in the breasts, of corrupt beliefs and uncertainties, and a guidance, from error, and a mercy for those who believe, in it.

Say: ‘In the bounty of God, [that is] Islam, and in His mercy, the Qur’ān, in that, bounty and mercy, let them rejoice: it is better than what they hoard’, in this world (read yajma‘ūn, ‘they hoard’, and tajma‘ūn, ‘you hoard’).

Say: ‘Have you considered, inform me, what provision God has revealed, has created, for you, how you have made some of it unlawful and some lawful?’, as in the case of [the camels called] al-Bahīra or al-Sā’iba, and carrion. Say: ‘Has God given you permission, to make that lawful or unlawful? No! Or do you, nay [you], invent lies concerning God?’, by attributing that to Him.

And what do they suppose, those who invent lies concerning God, [will happen to them] on the Day of Resurrection?: do they reckon that He will not chastise them? No! Truly God is Bountiful to mankind, by granting them respite and bestowing graces upon them, but most of them do not give thanks.

And you, O Muhammad (s), are not occupied with any business, any matter, nor do you recite anything regarding it, that is, regarding such a matter — [or it means: nor do you recite anything] from God, by way of the Qur’ān, which He has revealed to you, nor do you perform any action, God is addressing him and his community, but We are witnesses, watchers, over you when you are engaged therein, that is, [in] the action. And not so much as the weight of an atom, [the weight of] the smallest ant, in the earth or in the heaven escapes, is hidden from, your Lord, nor what is less than that or greater, but it is in a clear, a manifest, Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz).

Assuredly God’s friends, no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve, in the Hereafter.

They are, those who believe and fear, God, by observing His commandments and prohibitions.

Theirs are good tidings in the life of this world: in a hadīth verified by al-Hākim this has been explained as [referring to] a propitious vision which an individual might have or [a vision] which another might have of that person; and in the Hereafter: Paradise and reward. There is no changing the Words of God, no failing of His promises; that, mentioned, is the supreme triumph.

And let not what they say, to you, that you have not been sent [as a prophet] or otherwise, grieve you. Truly (inna: indicates a new sentence) power, might, belongs wholly to God. He is the Hearer, of speech, the Knower, of deeds, and will requite them and grant you victory.

Why, surely to God belongs all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth, as servants, possessions and creatures. Those who call upon, [those who] worship, besides God, that is, other than Him, idols, are not following associates, of His, in reality, exalted be He above this: they are following nothing but conjecture, in this [matter], that is, their supposition that these are gods who intercede for them, and they are only telling lies, in this [matter].

He it is Who made for you the night that you should rest therein, and the day to see: the attribution of sight (ibsār) to ‘the day’ is figurative, since one is able to see during it. Surely in that are signs, indications of His Oneness, exalted be He, for a folk who are able to hear, hearing [in such a way so as] to reflect and be admonished.

They, that is, the Jews and the Christians, and those who claim that the angels are the daughters of God, say, ‘God has taken [to Him] a son’. God, exalted be He, says to them: Glory be to Him!, [in affirmation of] His transcending having offspring. He is Independent, [without need] of anyone, for only he who has need of a child would desire [to have] one. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants. You have no warrant, [no] proof, for this, that you say. Do you say about God what you do not know? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke).

Say: ‘Truly those who invent lies concerning God, by attributing offspring to Him, shall not prosper’, they shall not find happiness.

Theirs will be, enjoyment, [only] a little, in this world, which they will enjoy for the duration of their lives, then to Us is their return, at death, then We shall make them taste terrible chastisement, after death, because they used to disbelieve.

And recite, O Muhammad (s), to them, that is, [to] the Meccan disbelievers, the story, the tale, of Noah (Nūhin is substituted by [the following, idh qāla]) when he said to his people, ‘O my people, if my sojourn, my stay among you, is too great [to bear], is a hardship, for you, as is my reminding you, my admonishing you, by the signs of God, in God have I put my trust; so decide upon your course of action, resolve upon what you will do to me, together with your associates (wa-shurakā’akum: the wāw [wa-] means here ‘with’), then let not your decision be a secret between you, concealed, nay, manifest it and proclaim it to me; then implement it against me, carry out what you desire, and do not put it off, [do not] give me respite, for I am not concerned by you.

But if you turn away, from my reminding [you], I have not asked you for any wage, any reward for it, so turn [and go] away: my wage, my reward, falls only on God, and I have been commanded to be of those who submit [to God]’.

But they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and made them, that is, those with him, successors, in the earth, and We drowned those who denied Our signs, by [unleashing] the Flood. Behold then the nature of the consequence for those who had been warned!, in that they were destroyed: likewise We deal with those who deny.

Then, after him, that is, [after] Noah, We sent messengers to their people, such as Abraham, Hūd and Sālih, and they brought them clear proofs, miracles, but it was not for them to believe in that which they had denied before, that is, before the sending of messengers to them. Thus do We seal, stamp [upon], the hearts of the transgressors — so that they cannot accept faith — in the same way that We sealed the hearts of those [before].

Then, after them, We sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his council, that is, his folk, with Our, nine, signs, but they were disdainful, to believe in them, and were a sinful folk.

So, when the Truth came to them from Us, they said, ‘Surely this is manifest sorcery’, [sorcery that is] clear and evident.

Moses said, ‘Do you say [so] of the Truth when it has come to you, that it is sorcery? Is this sorcery?, when the one who has brought it has indeed prospered and has invalidated the sorcery of the sorcerers? Now sorcerers do not prosper’ (the interrogative in both instances is meant as a disavowal).

They said, ‘Have you come to us to divert us, to turn us away, from what we found our fathers following, and that yours both might be the greatness, the kingship, in the land, the land of Egypt? We will not believe you two’.

And Pharaoh said, ‘Bring me every cunning sorcerer’, [every] individual excelling in the art of sorcery.

And when the sorcerers came, Moses said to them, after they had said to him, Either you cast, or we shall be the casters! [Q. 7:115]: ‘Cast your cast!’

Then, when they had cast, their ropes and staffs, Moses said, ‘What (mā is interrogative and the subject, its predicate being [the following, ji’tum bihi]) have you brought? Sorcery? (ā’l-sihru [a-al-sihru] is a substitute [for the predicate ji’tum bihi, ‘have you brought’]; a variant reading has al-sihru with a single hamza, making it predicative, in which case mā is the relative particle of the subject) Verily God will bring it to nothing, He will efface it. Truly God does not make right the work of those who do corruption.

And God will vindicate, He will establish and make prevail, the Truth by His words, by His promises, however much the sinners be averse’.

But with Moses, none believed save a few descendants, a party, of, the children of, his, that is, Pharaoh’s, folk, out of fear of Pharaoh and their council, that he [Pharaoh] might persecute them, turn them away from his [Moses’s] religion by torturing them; and truly Pharaoh was despotic, arrogant, in the land, the land of Egypt, and truly he was of the prodigal, [of] those who transgress the bounds by claiming to be Lords.

And Moses said, ‘O my people, if you have believed in God then put your trust in Him, if you have [truly] submitted [to Him]’.

So they said, ‘In God we have put our trust. Our Lord, make us not a [cause of] temptation for the evildoing folk, that is, do not make them prevail over us, lest they then think that they are upon the right path and so end up succumbing to [the] temptation [of thinking that they are upon the right path] because of us;

and deliver us by Your mercy from the unbelieving folk’.

And We inspired Moses and his brother [saying]: ‘Appoint houses for your people in Egypt and make your houses oratories, places in which to perform prayers, so that you might be secure from fear — for Pharaoh had prohibited them from performing prayers — and establish, fulfil, worship; and give good tidings to the believers’, of victory and Paradise.

And Moses said, ‘Our Lord, You have indeed given Pharaoh and his council splendour and riches in the life of this world. Our Lord, You have given them this, that they may lead [people] astray, as a consequence thereof, from Your way, [from] Your religion. Our Lord, obliterate, transform, their riches and harden their hearts, stamp upon them and shackle [them], so that they do not believe until they see the painful chastisement’: he [Moses] invoked God against them and Aaron said ‘Amen’ at the end of his invocation.

He, [God] exalted be He, said, ‘Your prayer has been answered: thus their riches were transformed into stones and Pharaoh did not believe until he was about to drown. So the two of you remain upright, with the Message and the Call until such time as chastisement befalls them, and do not follow the way of those who have no knowledge’, when they seek to hasten on My judgement — it is reported that he [Moses] remained [alive] a further forty years thereafter.

And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh pursued them, he caught up with them, together with his hosts, in insolence and transgression (baghyan wa-‘adwan: these constitute the [direct] object denoting reason), until, when the [fate of] drowning overtook him, he said, ‘I believe that (annahu is [to be understood as] bi-annahu; a variant reading has innahu, ‘truly it is …’ indicating a new sentence) there is no god save Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit [to Him]’: he reiterated this [his submission to God] so that it might be accepted from him, but it was not; and Gabriel thrust mud from the sea into his mouth, lest [God’s] mercy embrace him. And he [Gabriel] said to him:

‘Now, do you believe, when hitherto you have disobeyed and been of those who do corruption?, on account of your being astray and your leading [others] astray, away from belief.

But this day We shall save you, We shall bring you out of the sea, in your body, your lifeless corpse, that you may be, for those after you a sign, a lesson, that they might come to know your servitude and not venture upon deeds like yours. According to Ibn ‘Abbās, some of the Children of Israel doubted his death and so he was brought out [of the sea] for them to see. And truly most people, that is, the people of Mecca, are heedless of Our signs’, not learning the lesson therefrom.

And verily We appointed for the Children of Israel an excellent abode, a noble [place of] residence, namely, Syria and Egypt, and We provided them with good things; and they did not differ, such that some believed while others disbelieved, until the knowledge came to them. Truly your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ.

So, if you, O Muhammad (s), are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to you, of stories — hypothetically speaking — then question those who read the Scripture, the Torah, before you, for it is confirmed [therein] with them and they can inform you of its truth. The Prophet (s) said, ‘I have no doubt, nor will I question’. Verily the Truth from your Lord has come to you; so do not be of the waverers, [of] those who have doubts about it.

And do not be of those who deny God’s signs and so be of the losers.

Truly those against whom your Lord’s Word, of chastisement, is justified, [against whom] it is due, will not believe,

though every sign come to them, until they see the painful chastisement, at which time it [their belief] will be of no use to them.

If only there had been one town — meaning its inhabitants — that believed, before chastisement befell it, and profited by its belief — except for the people of Jonah: when they believed, after seeing a portent of the chastisement, for they did not wait [to believe] until it came to pass, We removed from upon them the chastisement of degradation in the life of this world and We gave them comfort for a while, until the conclusion of their terms [of life].

And if your Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Would you then compel people, to do what God did not will that they do, until they are believers? No!

And it is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of God, by His will, and He causes abomination, chastisement, to fall upon those who have no understanding, [those who do not] reflect upon God’s signs.

Say, to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Behold what is in the heavens and in the earth!’, of signs indicating God’s Oneness, exalted be He. But signs and warners (nudhur is the plural of nadhīr, that is, messengers) do not avail a folk who will not believe, according to God’s knowledge, in other words, these [signs and warners] will not benefit them.

What do they await, when they deny you, but the like of the days of those who passed away before them?, of communities, that is, the like of chastisements that befell them. Say: ‘Then await, this: I shall indeed be with you among the waiting’.

Then We shall deliver (nunajjī: the imperfect tense is [being used] to narrate a past situation) Our messengers and the believers, from the chastisement. In like manner, to [that] deliverance, it is incumbent upon Us to deliver the believers, the Prophet (s) and his Companions, when [the time comes for] chastising the idolaters.

Say: ‘O people, that is, O people of Mecca, if you are in doubt of my religion, [and] whether it is true, then [know that] I do not worship those whom you worship besides God, that is, [worshipping] other than Him — namely, idols — for you have doubts concerning God; but I worship God Who will take you to Him, [Who] will seize your souls, and I have been commanded to be of the believers.

And, it has been said to me: “Set your purpose for religion, as a hanīf, inclining towards it, and do not be of the idolaters;

and do not call upon, [do not] worship, besides God, that which can neither profit you, should you worship it, nor hurt you, should you not worship it; for if you do, this, hypothetically speaking, then you will surely be of the evildoers.

And if God afflicts you, smites you, with some hurt, such as impoverishment or illness, there is none who can remove it save Him; and if He desires good for you, there is none who can repel His bounty, that [bounty] which He has intended for you. He strikes with it, that is, with [such] good, whomever He will of His servants.” He is the Forgiving, the Merciful’.

Say: ‘O people, that is, people of Mecca, the Truth has come to you from your Lord. So whoever is guided, is guided only for the sake of his own soul, since the reward of his being guided will be his, and whoever errs, errs only against it, since the evil consequence of his erring shall befall [only] it [his soul]. And I am not a guardian over you’, that I might then compel you to [accept] guidance.

And follow what is revealed to you, from your Lord, and endure [patiently], the Call and their hurting [you], until God give judgement, concerning them, by giving His command, and He is the Best of Judges, the fairest of them: he [the Prophet] endured patiently until God judged that the idolaters be fought and that the People of the Scripture pay the jizya-tax.

Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]; this is, a Book whose verses have been set clear, through marvellous arrangement and wonderful meanings, and then detailed, expounded, through rulings, stories and admonitions, from One Wise, Informed, that is, [from] God.

[Saying:] ‘Worship none but God. Truly I am to you a warner from Him, of chastisement, if you disbelieve, and a bearer of good tidings’, of reward, if you believe.

And [bidding you]: ‘Ask forgiveness of your Lord, for [your] idolatry, then repent, return, to Him, through [acts of] obedience, and He will give you, in this world, fair enjoyment, in the way of pleasant living and abundant provision, until a time appointed, namely, death, and He will give, in the Hereafter, every person of merit, in deed, [the due for] his merit, his reward. But if you turn away (tawallaw: one of the two tā’ letters [of tatawallaw] has been omitted), in other words, if you object, I fear for you the chastisement of an awful day, namely, the Day of Resurrection.

Unto God is your return, and He has power over all things’, including reward and chastisement.

As reported by al-Bukhārī [by way of an isnād] from Ibn ‘Abbās, the following was revealed regarding those who were embarrassed to withdraw [to relieve nature] or to have sexual intercourse [without their clothes] and become exposed to the heaven. It is also said: [that it was revealed] regarding the hypocrites: Lo!, they fold up their breasts that they may hide from Him, that is, [from] God; lo! the moment they cover themselves with their garments, wrapping themselves up therewith, He, God, exalted be He, knows what they keep hidden and what they proclaim, and so their hiding is to no avail. Truly He knows what is in the breasts [of men], that is, what is in the hearts.

And there is not (wa-mā min: min is extra) a creature (dābba is that [creature] which treads [dabba]) in the earth but the sustenance thereof rests on God, [sustenance] which He has undertaken [to provide], out of His bounty, exalted be He. And He knows its habitation, its dwelling-place in this world — or in the loins — and its repository, after death, or in the womb. All, that which is mentioned, is in a manifest, a clear, Book, which is the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz).

And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, the first of which was Sunday and the last, Friday — and His Throne, before creating them, was upon the water, borne by the winds — that He might try you (li-yabluwakum is semantically connected to khalaqa, ‘He [Who] created’), in other words, He created them and all that is beneficial and good for you in them, in order to test you: which of you is best in conduct, that is, [which of you] is most obedient to God. And if you were to say, O Muhammad (s), to them: ‘Truly you shall be raised again after death’, those who disbelieve will say, ‘This, Qur’ān that speaks of resurrection — or, [this] that you are saying — is nothing but manifest, clear, sorcery’ (sihrun: a variant reading has sāhirun, ‘sorcerer’, in which case the reference is to the Prophet (s).

And if we postpone the chastisement for them until, the arrival of, a reckoned time, [reckoned] moments, they will surely say, in mockery: ‘What is detaining it?’, what is preventing it from being sent down? God, exalted be He, says: Verily on the day when it comes to them, it cannot be averted, warded off, from them, and that, chastisement, which they derided shall surround them, [it] shall come down upon them.

And if We cause, the disbelieving, man to taste some mercy from Us, [such as] wealth and [good] health, and then wrest it from him, lo! he is despairing, having lost hope of God’s mercy, ungrateful, intensely ungrateful to Him.

But if We cause him to taste prosperity after some misery, [such as] impoverishment and hardship, that had befallen him, assuredly he will say, ‘The ills, the afflictions, have gone from me’, when he had not anticipated that they would go away; yet still he does not give thanks for this; lo!, he is exultant, wanton, boastful, to people of what he has been given;

save, but, those who endure, misery, [patiently] and perform righteous deeds, during times of comfort; theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward, which is Paradise.

Perhaps, O Muhammad (s), you might [think to] leave out some of what is revealed to you, such that you do not convey it to them, for they do not take it seriously, and that your breast should be straitened by it, by reciting it to them, because they say, ‘Why has a treasure not been sent down for him, or an angel not come with him?’, to confirm his sincerity, as we had requested? You are but a warner, and yours is only to convey [the Message], not to produce what they have requested; and God is Guardian over all things, He is Preserver [of all things], so He will requite them [accordingly].

Or do they say, ‘He has invented it’?, that is, the Qur’ān. Say: ‘Then bring ten sūras the like thereof, in terms of clarity and rhetorical excellence, invented, for you are Arabs who speak [Arabic] eloquently, like myself — he challenged them to these [ten sūras] first, and then to one sūra — and call, in order [for them] to assist you, upon whom you can beside God, that is, [on] other than Him, if you are truthful’, about it [the Qur’ān] being an invention of lies.

Then, if they, that is, those on whom you call for assistance, do not answer you, know, this address is to the idolaters, that it has been revealed, enwrapped, only in God’s knowledge, not as an invention of lies against Him, and that (an is softened, in other words [understand it as] annahu) there is no god save Him. Will you then submit?, after this definitive argument; in other words: ‘Submit!’

He who desires the life of this world and its adornment, by persisting in idolatry — it is said that this was [revealed] regarding the dissimulators — We shall repay them their deeds, that is, the requital of any good that they did, such as charity or kindness to kin, in it, by giving them abundant provision, and therein, that is, in this world, they shall not be defrauded, they shall [not] be made to suffer diminution in anything.

Those are they for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire; what they contrive will have failed, [will] be invalid, therein, that is, in the Hereafter, and will not be rewarded, and useless is that which they used to do.

Is he who relies on a clear proof, a clear statement, from his Lord, meaning the Prophet (s), or the believers; it [the proof] being the Qur’ān, [a clear proof] which is followed by a witness, to it of its veracity [as being], from Him, that is, from God; he [the witness] being Gabriel, and before it, [before] the Qur’ān, was the Book of Moses, the Torah, also a witness to it, as an example and a mercy? (imāman wa-rahmatan is a circumstantial qualifier) [is such a person] like one who is not so? No! Those, that is, the ones who rely on a clear proof, they believe in it, that is, in the Qur’ān, and so for them will be Paradise; but he who disbelieves in it of the partisans, [namely] all the disbelievers, the Fire shall be his appointed place. So do not be in doubt, in uncertainty, concerning it, concerning the Qur’ān. Truly it is the Truth from your Lord, but most of mankind, that is, the people of Mecca, do not believe.

And who, that is, none, does greater wrong than he who invents a lie concerning God?, by ascribing to Him partner and child. Those, they shall be brought before their Lord, on the Day of Resurrection, amid [the rest of] creation, and the witnesses (ashhād is the plural of shāhid) namely, the angels, who will bear witness that the messengers conveyed [the Message] and that the disbelievers denied [them], will say, ‘These are they who lied concerning their Lord’. Surely the curse of God is upon the wrong-doers, the idolaters;

they who bar [people] from God’s way, [from] the religion of Islam, desiring [to have] it, seeking that the way be, crooked; and in the Hereafter they (hum, ‘they’, is [reiterated] for emphasis) are disbelievers.

Such will not escape, God, in the earth and, beside God, other than Him, they [can] have no allies, [no] helpers to protect them against His chastisement. For them the chastisement will be double, for their having led others astray. They could not hear, the truth, nor did they use to see, it; that is to say, because of their extreme aversion to it, it is as though they did not have the [physical] capacity for it.

Such are they who have lost their souls, for their journey’s end shall be to the Fire, made everlasting for them; and that which they used to invent, [of lies] concerning God, in the way of claiming [that He has] a partner, has failed them, is absent [before them].

Without doubt, verily, they will be the greatest losers in the Hereafter.

Truly those who believe and perform righteous deeds and humble themselves, [who] are at peace and feel reassured, or [who] repent, before their Lord: such will be the inhabitants of Paradise, abiding therein.

The likeness, the description, of the two parties, the disbelievers and the believers, is as the blind and the deaf, this being the likeness of the disbeliever, and the one who sees and the one who hears, this being the likeness of the believer, are they equal in likeness? No! Will you not then remember? (tadhakkarūn: the original tā’ [of tatadhakkarūn] has been assimilated with the dhāl) [will you not then] be admonished?

And verily We sent Noah to his people [and he said]: ‘I am (annī: a variant reading has innī, in which case ‘he said’ has been omitted) for you a clear warner, one whose warning is plain.

That, you worship none but God. Lo! I fear for you, should you worship other than Him, the chastisement of a painful day’, painful in this world and in the Hereafter.

The council, the respected elders, of his people who disbelieved, said: ‘We see you but a mortal like us, and you have no merit over us, and we see not that any follow you save the vilest among us, the riffraff among us, such as the weavers and the shoemakers, [through] rash opinion (bādiya’l-ra’ya: read with hamza or without [in both cases]), in other words, impulsively, without thinking you over (it [bādiya’l-ra’ya] is in the accusative because it is an adverbial clause, that is to say: at the time that their opinion first came into being). We do not see that you have any merit over us, for which you would deserve our following you; nay, we deem you liars’, with regard to your claim to [be bringing] a Message: they [the disbelievers] included his folk with him in their address [to him].

He said, ‘O my people, have you considered: — inform me — if I am [acting] upon a clear proof, a clear statement, from my Lord and He has given me mercy — prophethood — from Him, and it has been obscured, concealed, from you (‘amiyat, ‘obscured’, a variant reading has the passive ‘ummiyat), can we compel you to it, are we [able] to force you to accept it, while you are averse to it? We are not able to do that.

And O my people, I do not ask of you any wealth, which you should give me, for this, for conveying the Message. My wage, my reward, falls only upon God and I will not drive away those who believe, as you have commanded me; they shall surely meet their Lord, at the Resurrection, and He will requite them and exact vengeance for them from those who wronged them and drove them away. But I see you are a people who are ignorant, of the consequence of your affair.

And O my people, who would help, [who would] defend, me against God, that is, [against] His chastisement, if I drive them away?, in other words, there is none to help me. Will you not then remember? (tadhakkarūn: the original second tā’ [in tatadhakkarūn] has been assimilated with the dhāl), [will you not then] be admonished?

And I do not say to you, “I possess the treasure houses of God” nor, “I have knowledge of the Unseen”; nor do I say, “I am an angel”, nay, I am human like you. Nor do I say to those whom your eyes scorn that God will not give them any good — God knows best what is in their souls, [in] their hearts. Lo! if I were to say this, then indeed I would be of the evildoers’.

They said, ‘O Noah, you have disputed with us and disputed with us at length, so bring upon us that wherewith you are threatening us, in the way of chastisement, if you are of the truthful’.

He said, ‘Only God will bring it upon you, if He wills, to hasten it on for you, for the decision is His, not mine; and you cannot escape Him, elude God.

And my counsel will not benefit you if I desire to counsel you when God desires to keep you astray (the response to the conditional is indicated by wa-lā yanfa‘ukum nushī, ‘and my counsel will not benefit you’). He is your Lord and to Him you will be brought back’.

God, exalted be He, says: Or do they, the disbelievers of Mecca, say, ‘He has invented it’?, Muhammad (s) has invented the Qur’ān? Say: ‘If I have invented it, then my crime will be upon me, my sin [will be upon me], that is, the punishment for it; and I am innocent of what you commit’, of crime, when you attribute invention to me.

And it was revealed to Noah that: ‘None of your people will believe except he who has already believed. Do not be distressed, grieved, because of what they do, in the way of idolatry. So, he [Noah] invoked God against them with the words: My Lord, leave not [one of the disbelievers] upon the earth [Q. 71:26]. God responded to this invocation of his and said:

Build the Ark, the ship, under Our eyes, under Our watch and protection, and by Our inspiration, [by] Our command, and do not address Me concerning those who have done evil, [those who] have disbelieved, [by asking] that I should refrain from destroying them; lo! they shall be drowned’.

And he was building the Ark (yasna‘ is narrating a past state [in the present tense]) and whenever a council, a group, of his people passed him, they scoffed at him, mocked him. He said, ‘Though you scoff at us, yet we scoff at you, even as you scoff, when we are saved, while you drown;

and you shall know to whom (man introduces the relative clause which constitutes the direct object of the [action of] ‘knowing’) will come a chastisement degrading him, and upon whom an enduring, an everlasting, chastisement will fall’.

Such that when (hattā represents the objective for [the action of] ‘building’) Our command came, for their destruction, and the, baker’s, oven gushed forth, with water — this was the sign for Noah — We said, ‘Load therein, in the ship, of every kind, [of every] male and female, that is, of every species of these two, two, a male and a female (ithnayn constitutes the direct object). According to the story, God gathered for Noah all the beasts of prey and birds and other [animals]; he [Noah] would go through every species [to select them] with his hands, and his right hand would fall upon a male and the left upon a female, whereupon he would take them aboard the ship; and your family — that is, his wife and children — save those against whom the Word has already gone forth, from among them, that they be destroyed: this was his wife and his son Canaan, in contrast with Shem, Ham and Japheth, whom he took aboard together with their three wives, and those who believe’. And none but a few believed with him: it is said that these were six men and their wives; it is also said that the number of all those aboard the ship was eighty, half of whom were men and the other half, women.

And he, Noah, said, ‘Embark therein! In the Name of God be its course and its mooring (read majrāhā and marsāhā, or mujrāhā and mursāhā, both being verbal nouns, meaning, the length of its course and where it docks, in other words, the entire journey). Truly my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful’, for He did not destroy us.

And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, in terms of their height and size, and Noah called out to his son, Canaan, who was standing away, from the ship, ‘O my son, embark with us and do not be with the disbelievers!’

He said, ‘I shall take refuge in a mountain that will protect me, preserve me, from the water’. Said he, ‘This day there is none that can protect from God’s command, [from] His chastisement, except — but — him on whom He, God, has mercy’, he will be protected. God, exalted be He, says: And the waves came between them, so he was among the drowned.

And it was said, ‘O earth, swallow your waters, that have sprung forth from you — and it reabsorbed it [all] except for what came down from the sky and formed rivers and seas — and O heaven, abate!’, withhold the rain, and it did. And the waters subsided, decreased. And the affair was accomplished, the matter of the destruction of Noah’s people was complete, and it settled, [and] the ship came to rest, upon al-Jūdī, a mountain in Mespotamia (al-jazīra), near Mosul; and it was said: ‘Away with — perish — the evildoing, the disbelieving, folk!’

And Noah called out to his Lord and said, ‘My Lord, lo! my son, Canaan, is of my family, and You promised me that they would be saved, and truly Your promise is the Truth, which never fails, and You are the Most Just of Judges’, the most knowledgeable and the fairest of them.

He, [God] exalted be He, said: ‘O Noah, lo! he is not of your family, of those [who will be] saved, or of the followers of your religion; lo! it, that is, your asking me to save him, is not a righteous deed, for he is a disbeliever and there is no deliverance for disbelievers (‘āmalun ghayru sālihin, ‘it is not a righteous deed’: a variant reading has ‘āmila, the verb, with ghayra in the accusative, in which case the person governing [the verb ‘amila] is his son). So do not ask of Me (read either fa-lā tas’alanni, or fa-lā tas’alni) that whereof you have no knowledge, in respect to saving your son. I admonish you lest you be among the ignorant’, when you ask about what you do not know.

He said, ‘My Lord, I seek refuge in You, from [the sin], that I should ask of You that whereof I have no knowledge. Unless You forgive me, my excess, and have mercy on me I shall be among the losers’.

It was said, ‘O Noah, go down, disembark from the ship, in peace, in safety, or with a greeting, from Us and blessings, good things, upon you and upon some communities [that will spring] from those with you, in the ship, that is, from their children and their seed, those who are [and those who will be] the believers. And [there will be other] communities (read umamun), [to spring] from those with you, to whom We shall give enjoyment, in this world, and then a painful chastisement will befall them’, in the Hereafter, and these will be the disbelievers.

Those, that is, these verses, containing [stories such as] the story of Noah, are of the tidings of the Unseen, [of] the tales of that which was hidden from you, which We inspire in you, O Muhammad (s). You yourself did not know it, nor did your people [know it] before this, Qur’ān. So be patient, in conveying [the Message] and in [enduring] your people’s hurt, as Noah endured. Truly the, praiseworthy, sequel is for those who are God-fearing.

And, We sent, to ‘Ād their brother, from the tribe, Hūd. He said, ‘O my people, worship God!, affirm His Oneness. You have no god (min ilāhin: min is extra) other than He. You, in your worship of graven images, do but invent, [you do but] invent lies against God.

O my people, I do not ask of you any wage for it, for the affirmation of His Oneness. Lo! my wage falls only upon Him Who originated me, created me. Will you not understand?

And, O my people, ask forgiveness of your Lord, for [your] idolatry, then turn, return, to Him repentant, through obedience; He will release the sky, [He will release] the rain — for they had been denied it — upon you in abundance, with abundant rainfall, and He will add to you strength to your strength, through wealth and children. Do not turn away as sinners’, idolaters.

They said, ‘O Hūd, you have not brought us any clear proof, [any] evidence for what you say, and we are not going to forsake our gods on [the basis of] your saying, that is, because of what you say, and we are not believers in you.

We say nothing, concerning you, save that one of our gods has possessed you in some evil way’, rendering you insane, for your having cursed them, and so you are raving. He said, ‘Lo! I call God to bear witness, for me, and you, bear witness also, that I am innocent of what you associate, with Him,

beside Him; so plot against me, devise ways to destroy me, all together, you and your graven images, then give me no respite, grant me [no] reprieve.

Truly I have put my trust in God, my Lord and your Lord; there is no (mā min: min is extra) creature, no living thing that treads upon this earth, but He takes it by the forelock, that is, [but] He is its possessor and subjugator, so that no benefit or harm occurs except by His permission — the forelock is specifically used here because he who is taken by his forelock suffers the ultimate humiliation. Surely my Lord is on a straight path, that is, [on] the way of truth and justice.

And if you turn away (tawallaw: one of the two tā’ letters [of tatawallaw] has been omitted), that is, if you object, still I have conveyed to you that wherewith I was sent to you, and my Lord will set in place of you a folk other than you. You cannot injure Him in any way, by your idolatry. Truly My Lord is Preserver, Watcher, over all things’.

And when Our command, Our chastisement, came to pass We delivered Hūd and those who believed with him by a mercy, by guidance, from Us, and We delivered them from a harsh, a severe, chastisement.

And that was ‘Ād — [this is] an allusion to their remains; in other words, go forth in the land and look at these [remains]. God then describes their case, saying: they knowingly denied the signs of their Lord and disobeyed His messengers (rusulahu is in the plural, because when a person disobeys a messenger he has [effectively] disobeyed all of them, since they share a common principle in that [Message] with which they come, namely, [the principle of] God’s Oneness); and they, that is, the riffraff, followed the command of every rebellious tyrant, [every] leader of theirs who is obstinate with regard to the truth.

And a curse was made to follow them in this world, from people, and on the Day of Resurrection, a curse [will follow them] for all creatures to see. ‘Lo! ‘Ād disbelieved in, they knowingly denied, their Lord. Lo! away, [far] from God’s mercy, with ‘Ād, the folk of Hūd!’

And, We sent, to Thamūd their brother, from the tribe, Sālih. He said, ‘O my people, worship God!, affirm His Oneness. You have no god other than He. He it is Who produced you, [Who] began your creation, from the earth, by creating your father Adam from it, and has given you to live therein, He has made you inhabitants, living therein; so ask forgiveness of Him, from idolatry, then turn, return, to Him repentant, through [acts of] obedience. Truly my Lord is Near, to His creation by [virtue of] His knowledge, Responsive’, to those who ask of Him.

They said, ‘O Sālih, you had been one of promise among us, that is to say, we had hoped that you would become [our] chief, before this, that has issued from you. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped?, in the way of graven images? Truly we are in grave doubt, [doubt] creating [great] uncertainty, concerning that to which you are calling us’, in the way of [affirming] God’s Oneness.

He said, ‘O my people, have you considered: if I am [acting] upon a clear proof, a [clear] statement, from my Lord, and He has given me from Him mercy, prophethood, who will help me, [who will] defend me, against God, [against] His chastisement, if I disobey Him? You would only be adding, by commanding me to do that, to my loss, [my] misguidance.

And, O my people, this is the she-camel of God, a sign for you (āyatan is a circumstantial qualifier operated by the demonstrative noun [hādhihi, ‘this’]). Leave her to eat in God’s earth and do not cause her any harm, [by] hamstringing [her], lest you be seized by a near chastisement’, if you do hamstring her.

But they hamstrung her, Qudār hamstrung her at their command, and he, Sālih, said, ‘Enjoy [yourselves], live, in your dwellings for three days, whereafter you will be destroyed. That is a promise that will not be belied’.

So, when Our command came, for their destruction, We delivered Sālih and those who believed with him, they numbered 4000, by a mercy from Us, and, We delivered them, from the ignominy of that day (read yawmi’idhin [if understood] as declinable, or read yawma’idhin on the basis of it [yawm, ‘day’] being annexed to an invariable [idhin, ‘that’], which is the majority view). Truly your Lord is the Strong, the Mighty, the Victor.

And those who did evil were seized by the Cry, so that they ended up lying lifeless prostrate in their habitations, keeled over their knees, dead,

as if (ka-an had been softened and its subject omitted, in other words [understand it as] ka’annahum) they had not dwelt there, in their dwelling-place: ‘Lo! Thamūd disbelieved in their Lord, lo! away with Thamūd!’ (this may be read, declined, li-Thamūdan, or left, as indeclinable, li-Thamūda, referring to the district or the tribe).

And verily Our messengers came to Abraham with good tidings, of [the birth of] Isaac and, after him, Jacob. They said, ‘Peace!’ (salāman is a verbal noun). He said, ‘Peace!’, be upon you, and did not delay to bring a roasted calf.

And when he saw their hands not reaching to it, he was suspicious of them and conceived, he kept secret in himself, a fear of them. They said, ‘Fear not. Lo! we have been sent to the people of Lot’, to destroy them.

And his wife, that is, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, standing by, serving them, laughed, at the good tiding of their destruction; and so We gave her the good tiding of Isaac, and, after Isaac, of Jacob, his son, whom she would live to see.

She said, ‘Woe to me! (yā waylatā is an expression used in [reaction to] a serious matter; the alif [suffixed in waylatā] substitutes for the yā’ of the genitive annexation [waylatī, ‘my woe’]). Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman, 99 years old, and this my husband is an old man?, 100 or 120 years old (shaykhan is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier, operated by the demonstrative import of dhā, ‘this’). Truly this is a strange thing’, that a child should be born to such an aged couple.

They said, ‘Are you astonished by God’s command?, [by] His power? The mercy of God and His blessings be upon you, O, people of the House!, the House of Abraham. Truly He is Praised, Glorious!’, Generous.

And when the awe, the fear, departed from Abraham and the good tiding came to him, of a child, he began to plead with Us, pleading with Our messengers, concerning the, matter of the, people of Lot.

Assuredly Abraham was forbearing, long-suffering, imploring, penitent, always returning [to God] in repentance: thus he said to them, ‘Would you destroy a town in which there are 300 believers?’ They said, ‘No’. He said, ‘Would you destroy a town in which there are 200 believers?’ They said, ‘No’. He said, ‘Would you destroy a town in which there are 40 believers?’ They said, ‘No’. He said, ‘Would you destroy a town in which there are 14 believers?’ They said, ‘No’. He said, ‘What if there were one believer in it?’ They said, ‘No’. He said, ‘Lot is in it’. They said, ‘We know full well who is in it’ … to the end [of the narrative].

When he had pleaded with them at length, they said: ‘O Abraham, desist from this, pleading. Truly your Lord’s command, for their destruction, has gone forth, and truly there will come upon them a chastisement which cannot be repelled’.

And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed, he was grieved on their account, and felt constrained in his power to protect them, because they had handsome faces and were dressed as [visiting] guests, and so he feared for them from his people, and he said, ‘This is a distressful, a very difficult, day’.

And his people, when they became aware of them, came to him, running, hastening, towards him — and previously, before they came, they had been committing abominations, namely, penetrative sexual intercourse with men. He, Lot, said, ‘O my people! Here are my daughters, marry with them; they are purer for you. So fear God, and do not degrade me, [do not] disgrace me, before my guests. Is there not among you any upright man?’, to enjoin decency and forbid indecency?

They said, ‘You know full well that we have no right to, no need of, your daughters, and you know well what we desire’, in the way of sexual intercourse with men.

He said, ‘Would that I had strength, power, to resist you or could resort to some strong support!’, [to] some clan that would help me, I would surely fall upon you. So, when the angels saw this,

they said, ‘O Lot, truly we are messengers of your Lord. They shall not reach you, with any harm, so travel with your family during a part of the night, and let not one of you turn round, lest they see the terrible predicament that will befall them, except for your wife: (read illā imra’atuka, in the nominative, as a substitute for ahadun; a variant reading has illā imra’ataka, in the accusative, as [her being] an exception among [his] ‘family’, in other words, do no take her along when you travel) lo! she shall be smitten by that which smites them: it is said that he did not take her along with him; it is also said that she did set out [with them] and turned round, and so exclaimed, ‘Woe is my people!’, at which point a stone struck her and killed her. When he [Lot] asked them about the time of their destruction, they replied: Truly their tryst is [for] the morning, and when he said, ‘I want it to be sooner’, they said: is the morning not nigh [enough]?’

So when Our command, for their destruction, came to pass We made their uppermost, that is, their cities, the nethermost — when Gabriel raised them to the sky and dropped them upside down to the earth, and We rained upon them stones of baked clay, clay baked in fire, one after another,

marked, [each one of them] with the name of the person it would strike, with your Lord (‘inda rabbik is an adverbial qualifier for these [stones]), and they, the stones — or their lands — are not far from the evildoers, that is, [from] the people of Mecca.

And, We sent, to Midian their brother Shu‘ayb. He said, ‘O my people, worship God!, affirm His Oneness. You have no god other than He. And diminish not the measure or the weight. I see you in prosperity, [enjoying] a grace which precludes any need for stinting [people]; and I fear for you, should you not believe, the chastisement of a besetting day, [besetting] you, destroying you (the attribution of this term [‘besetting’] to ‘a day’ [as opposed to ‘the chastisement’] is figurative, for it [the chastisement] will take place thereupon).

O my people, give full measure and weight, fulfil [the due of] both of these, in justice, and do not defraud people in respect of their goods, do not diminish anything of their due, and do not be degenerate in the land, working corruption, by killing or otherwise ([lā ta‘thaū] derives from ‘athiya, meaning afsada, ‘he corrupted’; mufsidīn, ‘working corruption’, is a circumstantial qualifier reiterating the import of the term operating it, ta‘thaū, ‘[do not] be degenerate’).

The remainder [which is] from God, that provision of His which remains for you after you have given full measure and weight, is better for you, than fraud, if you are believers; and I am not a guardian over you’, a watcher, that I should requite you for your deeds: I was sent only as a warner.

They said, to him mockingly: ‘O Shu‘ayb, does your [way of] prayer command you, with the obligation [to make sure], that we should leave what our fathers [used to] worship, of idols, or, that we should cease, to do as we will with our goods?, meaning that such a command is an absurdity which no person calling to good would commend. You are indeed the forbearing, the right-guided’: they said this in mockery.

He said, ‘O my people, have you considered that I might be [acting] upon a clear proof from my Lord and that He has provided me with fair, wholesome, sustenance from Him?, should I then blemish it with what is unlawful, in the way of fraud or stinting? And I do not desire to be inconsistent, and then partake, in what I forbid you, thus committing the same. I desire only to set things right, in your case, by way of [enjoining] justice, so far as I am able. My success, my ability to do this [successfully] and [to enjoin] other acts of obedience, is only with God. In Him I trust and to Him I turn, I return, [repentant].

And, O my people, let not the breach with me, the dispute [you have] with me (shiqāqī, ‘the breach with me’, is the subject of the verb yajrimannakum, ‘make you deserve’, in which the [suffixed] pronoun [-kum, ‘you’] constitutes the first direct object, the second being [what follows]) make you deserve, earn you [as punishment], that there befall you the like of what befell the people of Noah, or the people of Hūd, or the people of Sālih, in the way of chastisement; and the people of Lot, that is, their dwelling-places or the era in which they were destroyed, are not far away from you, so take heed [of this].

And ask forgiveness of your Lord, then repent to Him. Truly my Lord is Merciful, to believers, Affectionate’, loving towards them.

They said, in proclamation of their lack of concern: ‘O Shu‘ayb, we do not understand much of what you say. Truly we see you are weak, abject, among us, and were it not for your clan, we would have stoned you; for you are not, too, powerful, [too] venerable, for us’, to stone, but it is your clan that is powerful.

He said, ‘O my people, is my clan more venerable in your sight than God?, such that you refrain from killing me because of them, instead of [your] protecting me for [being the Messenger of] God? And do you put Him, God, behind you, neglected?, rejected, behind your backs, not mindful of Him? Truly my Lord encompasses, in knowledge, what you do, and will requite you.

And, O my people, act according to your ability, your circumstances, lo! I [too] am acting, according to mine. You will soon know upon whom (man is the relative particle introducing the direct object of [the action of] ‘knowing’) will come the chastisement that will abase him, and who is a liar. And sit in watch, wait for the consequence of your affair: I too will be with you watching’, waiting.

And when Our command came, for their destruction, We delivered Shu‘ayb and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us; and the Cry seized those who were evildoers — Gabriel cried at them — and they ended up lying lifeless prostrate in their habitations, keeled over on their knees, dead,

as if (ka-an is softened, in other words [understand it as] ka-annahum) they had never dwelt there: ‘Lo! Away with Midian, just as Thamūd was done away with!’

And verily We sent Moses with Our signs and a clear warrant, a manifest and evident proof,

to Pharaoh and his council; but they followed Pharaoh’s command, and Pharaoh’s command was not right-guided, appropriate.

He will go before his people on the Day of Resurrection, and they will follow him, as they did in this world, and he will lead them, he will admit them, to the Fire — an evil place, it is, for those entering it!

And a curse was made to follow them in this [world], as well as, a curse, on the Day of Resurrection — evil is the assistance offered!, in their case.

That, which is mentioned (dhālika is the subject, the predicate of which [follows]), is [something] of the tidings of the towns, which We relate to you, O Muhammad (s). Some of them, that is, [of] the towns, are standing, only its inhabitants having been destroyed, and some, of them, have been cut down, destroyed together with its inhabitants, such that there are no vestiges thereof, much like crops harvested with sickles.

And We did not wrong them, destroying them for not having committed any sins, but they wronged themselves, through idolatry. Their gods did not avail, defend, them in any way (min shay’in: min is extra), those [gods] upon whom they called, [whom] they worshipped, besides God, that is, other than Him, when the command of your Lord, His chastisement, came; and they [their gods] — through their [the disbelievers’] worship of these [gods], did not increase them in anything but ruin, [but] loss.

Such, like that seizing, is the seizing of your Lord when He seizes the towns, meaning its inhabitants, while they are doing wrong, by way of sins: in other words, nothing can avail them in any way when He seizes them. Truly His seizing is painful, severe. The two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim] reported [by way of an isnād] from Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī that he said, ‘The Prophet (s) said, “God gives [extended] respite to the evildoer, but when He seizes him there is no escape for him”, whereupon the Prophet (s) recited the verse: Such is the seizing of your Lord [Q. 11:102, above]’.

There is indeed in that, which is mentioned of stories, a sign, a lesson, for him who fears the chastisement of the Hereafter: that, in other words, the Day of Resurrection, is a day to which, on which, mankind will be gathered, and that is a day witnessed, witnessed by all creatures.

And We do not defer it but to a term [already] reckoned, [but] to a time predetermined by God.

The day it, that day, comes, no soul shall speak (takallamu: one of the tā’ letters [of tatakallamu] has been omitted) except by His permission, exalted be He. Some of them, that is, [some] creatures, will be wretched, and [some], of them, joyous, each having been determined [to be thus] from pre-eternity.

As for those who are damned, according to God’s [prior] knowledge, they will be in the Fire; their lot therein will be wailing, which is a loud sound, and sighing, which is a faint sound;

abiding therein for as long as the heavens and the earth endure, that is, [for] the length of the duration of both in this world, except, other than, what your Lord may will, in the way of adding to the duration of these two, such that it [their abiding] becomes indefinite: meaning that they will abide therein forever. Truly your Lord is Doer of what He desires.

And as for those who are fortunate (read sa‘idū or su‘idū) they shall be in Paradise, abiding therein for as long as the heavens and the earth endure except, other than, what your Lord may will — as mentioned already [of increasing the duration], which in their case is indicated by His words, an endless bounty, [one not] to be cut off. The interpretation given above seems to be the clear and obvious one, devoid of affectation, but God knows best what it means.

So do not be, O Muhammad (s), in doubt, in uncertainty, concerning what these [folk] worship, of idols: We will indeed chastise them as We did those before them — this is intended as solace for the Prophet (s). They worship only as their fathers worshipped — that is, in the same way — before, and indeed We chastised them; and We shall surely pay them, like those [fathers of theirs], their whole due, their portion of the chastisement, undiminished, that is, in full.

And We verily gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, but differences arose concerning it, some believing, others denying, just as [is the case] with the Qur’ān; and were it not for a word that went forth from your Lord, to defer the reckoning and the requital for creatures to the Day of Resurrection, the case would have been decided between them, in this world, regarding that over which they differed; and truly they, that is, those who deny it, are in grave doubt concerning it, [doubt] creating [great] uncertainty.

And assuredly (read wa-in or wa-inna) to each, that is, to all creatures, verily (la-mā: the mā is extra and the lām is in the place of an implied oath or a separator; a variant reading has lammā, with the sense of illā, ‘but’, making the [preceding] in for negation), your Lord will pay for his works, that is, the requital thereof, in full. Truly He is Aware of what they do, knowing the inner and outer aspects thereof.

So remain upright, acting in accordance with the commandment of your Lord and supplicating Him, as you have been commanded, and, let him also remain upright, he who repents, [who] believes, with you; and do not transgress, [do not] overstep the bounds of God. Truly He sees what you do, and will requite you for it.

And do not incline toward the evildoers, through affection or adulation, or [by showing] satisfaction with their actions, lest the Fire touch, smite, you, and you have, besides God, other than Him, no protectors (min awliyā’: min is extra), to guard you from Him; and then you will not be helped, you will [not] be protected from His chastisement.

And establish prayer at the two ends of the day, at first light and before sunset, that is, [pray] in the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon, and in some watches (zulafan is the plural of zulfa), a portion, of the night, that is, at sunset and late evening. Indeed good deeds, such as the five prayers, annul misdeeds, minor sins: this was revealed regarding one who kissed a female stranger and told the Prophet (s) about it, and then asked him, ‘Is this [verse true] for me?’ and the Prophet said to him, ‘It is [so] for every person of my community’, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]. That is a remembrance for the mindful, an admonition for those who heed them.

And be patient, O Muhammad (s), in [enduring] the harm inflicted [upon you] by your people, or in [performing] prayer, for indeed God does not waste the wage of those who are virtuous, by patiently enduring through [acts of] obedience [to God].

If only there had been among the generations, past communities, before you men possessing a remnant [of good sense], men of religion and virtue, forbidding corruption in the earth (this [statement] is intended to be a negation, in other words, ‘there never were such [men] among them’), except, but, a few of those whom (mimman: min is explicative) We delivered from among them, did forbid [corruption] and were thus delivered. But those who did wrong, through corruption and neglecting to forbid, followed that by which they were made profligate, and were sinners.

Yet your Lord would never destroy the towns through injustice, on His part, against them, while their inhabitants were righteous, that is, believers.

Had your Lord willed, He would have made mankind one community, people of one religion, but they continue to differ, in religion,

except those on whom your Lord has mercy, [those] for whom He desires good, and so they do not differ in it — and that is why He created them, that is, [He created] those of difference for that [in other words, so that they should differ] and those deserving mercy for that [in other words, so that they should receive mercy]. And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled, namely: ‘I will surely fill Hell with jinn and mankind together’.

And all that (kullān is in the accusative because [it is the direct object] of naqussu, ‘We relate’; and the nunation compensates for a [missing] genitive annexation), that is, all that is necessary, We relate to you of the accounts of the messengers, that (mā substitutes for kullan, ‘all that’) with which We might strengthen, reassure, your heart. And in these, accounts, or verses, there has come to you the Truth and an admonition and a reminder to the believers: they are specifically mentioned here because they are the ones to benefit from them, through their belief [in them], in contrast to [the case with] the disbelievers.

And say to those who do not believe: ‘Act according to your ability, [according] to your status, we are acting, according to our status — [this is] a threat for them.

And wait, for the consequence of your affair, we are also waiting’, for this.

And to God belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, that is, the knowledge of what is concealed within them, and to Him all matters are returned (read active yarji‘u, meaning ‘return’, or passive yurja‘u, meaning ‘[are] returned’) and He will exact retribution from those who were disobedient. So worship Him, affirm His Oneness, and rely on Him, trust in Him, for He is sufficient for you, and your Lord is not heedless of what they do, but He defers [dealing with] them until their [appointed] time (a variant reading has ta‘malūn, ‘[what] you do’).

Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, verses, are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation carries the meaning of [partitive] min, ‘from’) that makes plain, the one that manifests truth [distinguishing it] from what is falsehood.

We have revealed it as an Arabic Qur’ān, in the language of the Arabs, so that you, O people of Mecca, might understand, comprehend its meaning.

We will relate to you the best of narratives in what We have revealed, in Our revealing, to you this Qur’ān, though (wa-in: in is softened, in other words [understand it as] wa-innahu) prior to it you were of the heedless.

Mention, when Joseph said to his father, Jacob: ‘O my father (read yā abati to indicate the omitted yā’ of genitive annexation [sc. of yā abī]; or read yā abata to indicate that an alif, originally a yā’, has been omitted) I saw, in my sleep, eleven planets and the sun and the moon, I saw them ([repeated] for emphasis) prostrating themselves before me’ (sājidīn: this plural form is used to describe [the act of] ‘prostration’, which is an attribute associated with rational beings).

He said, ‘O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers, lest they plot against you some plot, [lest] they scheme to kill you, out of envy, knowing that the interpretation [of the dream] is that they represent the [eleven] planets, your mother, the sun and your father, the moon. Truly Satan is to man a manifest foe, [one] of evident enmity.

Thus, in the way that you have seen, will your Lord prefer you, choose you, and teach you the interpretation of events, the interpretation of visions, and perfect His grace upon you, with prophethood, and upon the House of Jacob — [upon] his sons — as He perfected it, with prophethood, formerly on your fathers Abraham and Isaac. Truly your Lord is Knower, of His creatures, Wise’, in what He does with them.

Verily in, the tale of, Joseph and his brethren — who were eleven — are signs, lessons, for those who inquire, about their tale.

Mention, when they, that is, [when] some of Joseph’s brothers, said, to some of the others: ‘Surely Joseph (la-Yūsufu is the subject) and his brother, his full brother Benjamin, are dearer (ahabbu is the predicate) to our father than we are, though we be a [hardy] band, a group. Lo! our father is in plain aberration, in manifest error, for preferring those two to us.

Kill Joseph or cast him away into some land, that is, into some distant land, so that your father might be solely concerned with you, so that he might turn [his attention] to you and not be distracted by anyone else, and that thereafter, that is, after killing Joseph or casting him away, you might be a righteous folk’, by repenting.

One of them, namely, Judah, said, ‘Do not kill Joseph, but cast him, throw him, into the bottom of a well (ghayābat al-jubb is the darkest recess of a well; a variant reading has the plural [ghayābāt]), so that some caravan might pick him up, if you are to do anything’, of what you desire, in the way of separating [Joseph from us]: so content yourselves with this [solution].

They said, ‘O father, what is wrong with you that you do not trust us with Joseph? We are indeed his well-wishers, we are indeed only looking out for his best interests.

Send him forth with us tomorrow, to the desert, to frolic and play (read [first person plural] narta‘ wa-nal‘ab, ‘that we might frolic and play’, or [third person plural] yarta‘ wa-yal‘ab, ‘that he might frolic and play’), in other words, so that we might be spirited and roam freely. Surely we shall take good care of him’.

He said, ‘Lo! It grieves me that you should go with him, that is, your departure [with him grieves me], because I would be separated from him, and I fear lest the wolf devour him (al-dhi’b here represents the genus, for their land had many wolves in it), while you are heedless of him’, distracted [by something else].

They said, ‘Truly if (la-in: the lām here is for oaths) the wolf were to devour him, when we are [so hardy] a band, a group, then we indeed are losers!’, incapable [of anything]. Thus, he sent him off with them.

So when they went off with him, and agreed, resolved, to put him into the bottom of the well (the response of lammā, ‘when’, has been omitted, in other words [understand it as being] fa‘alū dhālika, ‘they did [just] that’) by taking off his shirt — after having beaten him, humiliated him and desiring to kill him — and lowering him in a bucket [into the well]. When he reached half-way down the well, they flung him [from the bucket] so that he would [fall and] die, but he fell into the water and took refuge near a rock. They then called to him and he responded, thinking that they had [decided to have] mercy on him. They then wanted to smash his head with a rock, but Judah prevented them. And We revealed to him, in the well, through true revelation (wahy haqīqa) — he was 17 years of age or just under — in order to reassure his heart: ‘Truly you shall inform them, after this day, of this affair, [this] deed, of theirs when they are unaware’, of [who] you [are] (wa-hum lā yash‘urūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the action of ‘informing’).

And they came to their father in the evening, weeping.

They said, ‘O father, we went competing, shooting, and left Joseph by our things, our clothes, and the wolf ate him. But you would never believe us, even though we speak the truth’, before you, you would still have accused us [of lying] in this story, because of your adoration of Joseph, so how much more so when you think ill of us?

And they came with false blood on his shirt (‘alā qamīsihi has the status of an accusative [of the verb], because it is an adverbial qualifier, meaning fawqa [qamīsihi]): they slaughtered a lamb and dabbed it [his shirt] with its blood — but they forgot to tear it [the shirt] — and they said that it was his blood. He, Jacob, said, when he saw that it [the shirt] was undamaged and realised that they were lying: ‘Nay, but your souls have beguiled you into something, and so you did it to him. Yet comely patience!, without any anxiety! (fa-sabrun jamīlun is the predicate of a missing subject such as amrī, ‘my course]’). And God is the One Whose succour is sought in that [predicament] which you describe’, that which you mention of Joseph’s affair.

And there came a caravan — travellers going from Midian to Egypt, who stopped near to Joseph’s well — and they sent their water-drawer, the one who goes down to the water [source] to draw from it, and he let down his bucket, into the well and Joseph clung to it and he pulled him out, and when he saw him: he said, ‘Good news!’ (a variant reading [of yā bushrā] has yā bushrāya: this [vocative] call is figurative, in other words [it is to be understood as] ‘Come [O good news], now is your time!’) ‘This is a young boy’. His brothers became aware of this and came to him, and they hid him, that is, they disguised his real status, claiming that he was, as [a piece of] merchandise, by saying, ‘This is a slave of ours: he is a runaway’; but Joseph did not say anything, fearing that they might kill him. But God knew well what they were doing.

Then they sold him — they [the caravan] purchased him from them — for a very low, a diminished, price, a handful of dirhams, 20 or 22; for they, that is, his brothers, set small store by him. So the caravan brought him to Egypt, where the one who had bought him sold him for 20 dinars, two pairs of sandals and two robes.

And he of Egypt who purchased him, Potifar, the Court Officer (Qitfīr al-‘azīz), said to his wife, Zulaikha (Zulaykhā), ‘Give him an honourable place, [an honourable] residence with us. Maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son’ — for he was chaste. Thus, just as We delivered him from being killed and from the well, and softened the Court Officer’s heart for him, We established Joseph in the land, the land of Egypt, until he attained what [status] he attained, that We might teach him the interpretation of events, the interpretation of visions (wa-li-nu‘allimahu min ta’wīli’l-ahādīth is a supplement to an implied [missing part] connected to makkannā, ‘We established’, in other words, [an implied] li-numallikahu, ‘so that We might give him kingship’; or else the wāw [of wa-li-nu‘allimahu, ‘that We might teach him’] is [to be understood as being] extra). God’s way [always] prevails, exalted be He, nothing being beyond Him, but most people — and they are the disbelievers — do not know, this.

And when he reached his prime — which was at 30 or 33 years of age — We gave him [power of] judgement, wisdom, and knowledge, understanding in [matters of] religion, before his call to prophethood. Thus, just as We rewarded him, We reward those who are virtuous, to [the good] of their souls.

And she, in whose house he was — namely Zulaykhā — attempted to seduce him, that is, she asked him to lie with her, and she closed the doors, of the house. And she said, to him: ‘Come!’ (hayta laka: the lām [of laka] is for clarification; a variant reading has hīta laka or haytu laka). ‘God forbid!’, I seek refuge with God from this, he said. ‘Truly he, who bought me, is my lord, my master, who has given me an honourable place, [an honourable] residence, and so I cannot betray him with regard to his family. Truly, evildoers, fornicators, never prosper’.

And she certainly desired him, she sought sexual intercourse with him, and he would have desired her [too], he would have sought the same, had it not been that he saw the proof of his Lord: Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘Jacob was made to appear before him, and he struck his [Joseph’s] breast, whereupon his [sexual] desire withdrew [from his body] through his fingernails (the response to lawlā, ‘had it not been’, has been omitted: [understood to be] la-jāma‘ahā, ‘he would have lain with her’). So it was, that We made him see the proof, that We might ward off from him evil, betrayal, and lewdness, [the act of] fornication. Truly he was of Our devoted servants, in terms of obedience (mukhlisīn: a variant reading has mukhlasīn, in other words, ‘chosen/purified [servants]’).

And they raced to the door: Joseph making for it in order to escape, while she, in order to grab hold of him, caught hold of his garment and pulled him towards her, and she tore his shirt from behind, whereupon they encountered her master, her husband, at the door. She, composed herself and then, said, ‘What is to be the requital of him who intends evil, [who intends] fornication, against your folk, but that he should be imprisoned, locked up in a jail, or [suffer] a painful chastisement?’, by having him beaten.

He, Joseph, said, declaring himself innocent [of the charge]: ‘It was she who attempted to seduce me’. And a witness of her own folk testified, her paternal cousin — it is reported that he was still [a child] in the cradle — and he said: ‘If his shirt has been torn from the front, then she speaks the truth, and he is of the liars;

but if his shirt has been torn from behind, then she has lied, and he is of the truthful’.

So when he, her husband, saw that his shirt was torn from behind, he said: ‘Indeed this — that is, your saying: ‘What is to be the requital of him who intends …’ to the end [of the verse, Q. 12:25] — is of the guile of you, O, women. Verily your guile is great.

Then he said: O, Joseph, ignore this, matter and do not mention it [to anyone], lest it be broadcast; and you, O Zulaykhā, ask forgiveness for your sin: surely you have been of the erring’, the sinful; but the tale was reported and became public.

And some of the women in the city, the city of Egypt, said, ‘The Court Officer’s wife has been seducing her boy, her servant. Indeed he has smitten her heart with love, (hubban is for specification, in other words, ‘[her] love of him has entered her heart’s pericardium (shaghāfa qalbihā), that is, its inner casing). Lo! we see her to be in plain aberration’, that is, in error evident, in her love of him.

And when she heard of their machinations, their backbiting of her, she sent for them and prepared for them a repast (muttaka’ is food that requires cutting with a knife, since one leans upon it (ittikā’): this [repast] was utruj, ‘citron’). She then gave each one of them a knife and said, to Joseph: ‘Come out before them!’ And when they saw him, they were in awe of, they exalted, him and cut their hands, with the knives, without feeling any pain, because their hearts were so engrossed by Joseph, and they exclaimed: ‘God preserve us! — in exaltation of him — This, namely, Joseph, is no human being: this is but a noble angel!’, on account of his all-encompassing beauty, which is [a characteristic] not usually found among humankind. In the Sahīh [of al-Bukhārī], it is [reported] that one half of all beauty was given to him.

She, the wife of the Court Officer, said, when she saw what happened to them, ‘This is he on whose account, for the love of whom, you blamed me (alladhī lumtunnanī fīhi is an explication of her excuse). Indeed I did attempt to seduce him, but he withheld himself, he refused. Yet if he does not do what I bid him, he verily shall be imprisoned, and verily shall be of those brought low’, those abased. The women said to him: ‘Obey your mistress!’.

He said, ‘My Lord, prison is dearer to me than that to which they are urging me. And if You do not fend off their wiles from me, then I shall tend, I shall incline, towards them and become of the ignorant, the sinful: this is intended as a supplication, which is why God, exalted be He, then says:

So his Lord answered him, his supplication, and He fended off their wiles from him. Truly He is the Hearer, of words, the Knower, of deeds.

Then it seemed, it appeared, [good] to them, after they had seen the signs, indicating Joseph’s innocence, that they should imprison him for a while, until such time as people ceased to talk of him. He was thus imprisoned.

And there entered the prison with him two youths, two young men [servants] of the king, one of whom was his cup-bearer, the other, his food-taster. They noticed that he interpreted dreams and so they said, ‘Let us try him’. One of them, the cup-bearer, said: ‘I dreamed that I was pressing wine’, that is, grapes. The other, the food-taster, said: ‘I dreamed that I was carrying on my head bread whereof the birds were eating. Tell us, inform us [of], its interpretation, for indeed we see you as being among the virtuous’.

He said, to them both, in order to inform [them] that he knew how to interpret dreams: ‘The food, with which you are provided, shall not come to you, while you are asleep, but I shall tell you the interpretation thereof, while you are conscious, before it, the interpretation thereof, comes to you. This is from that which my Lord has taught me — herein is an incitement for them to believe, which he reinforces with the following words: Lo! I have forsaken the creed, the religion, of a folk who do not believe in God and who moreover (hum, ‘they’ [is repeated] for emphasis) are disbelievers in the Hereafter.

And I follow the creed of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It never was, right, for us to associate anything (min shay’in: min is extra) with God — on account of our [God-given] immunity [from error]. That, affirmation of [God’s] Oneness, is from God’s bounty to us and to mankind; but most people — and these are the disbelievers — do not give thanks, to God, and so they associate others with Him.

He [Joseph] then explicitly calls them to faith, saying: O my two fellow-prisoners!, inmates [of the prison]: Are several lords better, or, is, God, the One, the Almighty, better? (an interrogative meant as an affirmative).

You do not worship, apart from Him, that is, other than Him, anything but [mere] names that you have named, that you have named for idols, you and your fathers. God has not revealed any warrant, any definitive argument or proof, regarding them, regarding worship of them. Judgement, decree, belongs only to God, alone. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That, affirmation of [God’s] Oneness, is the upright, the straight, religion, but most people — and these are the disbelievers — do not know, the punishment in which they shall end up, and so they ascribe partners [to God].

O fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, that is, the cup-bearer, he will depart after three [days] and, he shall serve his lord, his master, wine to drink, as usual; and as for the other, he will depart after three [days] and, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head: this is the interpretation of both your dreams. They said, ‘We never dreamed a thing!’; he said, decided, concluded, is the matter regarding which you sought opinion’, about which you enquired, whether you spoke truthfully or were lying.

Then he said to the one whom he deemed, [whom] he was certain, would be saved of the two — and this was the cup-bearer: ‘Mention me to your lord’, your master, and say to him, ‘There is a young man in jail who has been wrongly imprisoned’. So he [the cup-bearer] departed, but Satan caused him, that is, the cup-bearer, to forget the mention, of Joseph, before his master, so that he, Joseph, stayed, he remained, in prison for some years: it is said [that he remained] for seven years, or for twelve.

And the king, the king of Egypt — al-Rayyān b. al-Walīd — said, ‘I saw in [a dream] seven fat kine being devoured, being swallowed up, by seven lean ones, of kine (‘ijāf is the plural of ‘ajfā’), and seven green ears of corn and others, that is seven [other] ears of corn, dry, that had wound themselves around the green ones and risen above them. O courtiers! Give me [your] opinion about my vision: expound for me its interpretation, if you can interpret visions’, then interpret it for me.

They said, this is, ‘A jumble, a mixture, of dreams! And we are not knowledgeable in the interpretation of dreams’.

And he of the two who was released, that is, of the two young men, namely, the cup-bearer, remembering (iddakara: the original tā’ [of tadhakkara] has been changed to a dāl and assimilated with the dhāl), after a time, [after] a period of time, the predicament of Joseph, said, ‘I will inform you of its interpretation; so send me forth’, so they sent him forth and he came to Joseph, and said:

‘O, Joseph, O truthful one, one given to truth, give us your opinion concerning seven fat kine that are devoured by seven lean ones, and [concerning] seven green ears of corn and [seven] others dry, that I may return to the people, that is, to the king and his courtiers, so that they might know’, its interpretation.

He said, ‘You shall sow — that is, [go ahead and] sow — seven years consecutively — and this was the interpretation of the seven fat ones — but that which you reap, leave it in the ear, lest it spoil, except for a little which you eat: thresh it.

Then after that, in other words, after the seven fertile [years], there shall come seven hard, barren and unyielding, years — the interpretation of the seven lean ones — which shall devour what you set aside for them, of grain sown during the fertile years, in other words, you shall eat [all] this during these [seven hard years], all except a little which you have preserved, stored.

Then after that, in other words, after the seven barren years, there shall come a year in which the people will be granted relief, through rain, and in which they will press [fruit], grapes, and other [seeds], because of its [that year’s] fertility.

And the king, after the messenger had come to him and informed him of its [the dream’s] interpretation, said: ‘Bring him to me!’, that is, the one who interpreted it. And when the messenger came to him, that is, [to] Joseph, and summoned him in order to depart [from the prison], he said — with the intention of manifesting his innocence — ‘Return to your lord and ask him, to inquire: “What of, [what was] the case with, the women who cut their hands?” Surely my lord, my master, has knowledge of their guile’; he [the messenger] thus returned and informed the king, who then summoned them [the women].

He said, ‘What was your business, women, when you solicited Joseph?’, did you find on his part any inclination towards you?: ‘God preserve us!’ they said. ‘We know of no evil in him.’ The Court Officer’s wife said, ‘Now the truth is out, [now] it has become clear; it was I who attempted to seduce him and he is indeed of the truthful’, in his saying, It was she who attempted to seduce me [Q. 12:26]. Joseph was then informed of this and he said:

‘That, plea of innocence, is so that he, the Court officer, may know I did not betray him, with regard to his family, in his absence (bi’l-ghayb is a circumstantial qualifier), and that truly God does not guide [to success] the guile of the treacherous; he [Joseph] then humbled himself before God and said:

Yet I do not exculpate my own soul, of slipping into error; verily the soul, as such, is ever inciting to evil, except that whereon, meaning the person [upon whom], my Lord has mercy, and so protects [from sin]. Truly my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful’.

And the king said, ‘Bring him to me, that I may use him for myself’, that I may make him mine exclusively, with none to share [him with me]. The messenger came to him [to Joseph] and said, ‘Respond to the king!’, and so he got up and bid farewell to [his] fellow-prisoners and prayed for them. He then washed himself, put on some good clothes and entered upon him. And when he had spoken with him, he said, to him: ‘Indeed you are on this day in our presence established and trustworthy’, a person of status, entrusted over our affair, so what do you think we should do? He said, ‘Gather food [stocks] and sow abundantly in these fertile years, then store the corn in its ears. People [from far and wide] will come to you and ask you to supply them [with provisions]’. He [the king] said, ‘Whom can I delegate this [task] to?’

He, Joseph, said, ‘Place me in charge of the storehouses of the land, the land of Egypt. I am indeed a skilled custodian’, one worthy of custodianship thereof, and knowledgeable in such affairs — it is also said [that he meant]: [I am indeed] a [competent] scribe and accountant.

Thus, in the same way that We were graceful towards Him by delivering him from prison, We established Joseph in the land, the land of Egypt, that he may settle in it wherever he wished, after [having suffered] hardship and imprisonment. According to the story, the king crowned him, gave him a signet-ring to wear, and appointed him in place of the Court officer, whom he removed from his position, and who later died; and so he [the king] made him [Joseph] take the latter’s spouse as a wife. He [Joseph] discovered that she was [still] a virgin and she bore him two children. He [Joseph] established justice in Egypt and people became subject to him. We confer Our mercy on whomever We will and We do not waste the wage of the virtuous.

Yet the wage of the Hereafter is better, than the wage of this world, for those who believe and are God-fearing. And so the years of drought arrived and afflicted the land of Canaan and Syria.

And Joseph’s brothers came — except for Benjamin — in order to secure provisions, when they found out that the [new] Court officer of Egypt was providing food at its [fair] price; and they entered to him, and he recognised them, to be his brothers, but they did not recognise him, not knowing who he was, because it had been a long time since they had seen him, and because they supposed that he had died. They spoke to him in Hebrew and he said to them, as if reproaching them: ‘What brings you to my land?’ They replied, ‘[We have come] for supplies’. He said, ‘You might be spies!’ They said, ‘God forbid!’ He said, ‘So where are you from?’ They said, ‘From the land of Canaan, our father is Jacob, the prophet of God.’ He said, ‘Does he have children other than you?’ They said, ‘Yes. We used to be twelve, but the youngest of us passed away: he perished in the wild. He was the most beloved to him [our father] from among us; only his full brother remains, and so he keeps him by his side, in order to comfort himself with him in place of the other.’ He [Joseph] commanded that they be given lodging and treated well.

And when he had equipped them with their provision, [when] he had given them the full measure [of food], he said, ‘Bring me a brother of yours from your father, namely, Benjamin, that I might know that you have been truthful in what you said. Do you not see that I give the full measure, that I complete it, without any fraud, and that I am the best of hosts?

But if you do not bring him to me, there will be no measure, that is, no provisions, for you with me; and do not come near [me]’ (wa-lā taqrabūn is [either] a prohibition, or a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of fa-lā kayla, in other words, ‘and you shall be denied [the measure] and will not [be allowed to] come near [me]’).

They said, ‘We will try to tempt his father away from him, that is, we will try our hardest to seek him from him. That we will surely do’.

And he said to his young men (li-fityatihi: a variant reading has li-fityānihi, ‘his servants’): ‘Place their merchandise, that [money] with which they bought the supplies, and these were a few dirhams, in their saddlebags, their [supply] sacks, so that they may recognise it when they return to their folk, and empty their sacks, and so come back’, to us, deeming it unlawful to retain these [monies].

So when they went back to their father, they said, ‘O father, the measure will be denied us, unless you send forth our brother to him [to the Court officer]; so send forth our brother with us, that we may obtain the measure (read naktal or yaktal, ‘that he may obtain the measure [for us’]). Surely we will guard him well’.

He said, ‘Should I — [I will] only — trust you with him like I trusted you with his brother, Joseph, before? despite [the fact] that you have done to him what you have done? Yet God is best at guarding (hifzan: a variant reading has hāfizan, ‘a guardian’, as a specification, similar to when they say li’Llāhi darruhu fārisan, ‘By God, how excellent a horseman he is!’); and He is the Most Merciful of merciful ones’, and so I hope that He will show favour [to me] by guarding him.

And when they opened their belongings, they found that their merchandise had been restored to them. They said, ‘O father, what [more] should we desire? (mā nabghī: mā is interrogative, that is to say: what greater thing than this can we ask for from the king’s generosity?’; a variant reading has mā tabghī, ‘what [more] do you desire?’, as an address to Jacob — for they had mentioned to him his [the king’s] generosity towards them). Here is our merchandise restored to us. And we shall get provisions for our family, we shall obtain supplies for them, namely, food, and guard our brother, and we shall receive an extra camel’s load, because of our brother; that will be an easy measure’, for the king [to grant us], given his munificence.

He said, ‘I will not send him with you until you give me a [solemn] pledge, a covenant, in the name of God, by your swearing an oath, that assuredly you will bring him back to me, unless you are besieged’, such that you die, or are overwhelmed and thus unable to bring him back. They agreed to this. And when they gave him their [solemn] pledge, to this effect, he said, ‘God shall be Guardian, Witness, over what we say’, we and you. Thus he sent him with them.

And he said, ‘O my sons, do not enter, Egypt, by one gate, but enter by separate gates, lest the evil eye smite you. Yet I cannot avail, protect, you, by this that I have said, against God (min Allāhi: min is extra) anything, which He might have decreed against you; this [that I have said] is only out of affection [for you]. Judgement belongs to God, alone. On Him I rely, in Him I trust, and on Him let all the trusting rely’.

God, exalted be He, says: And when they entered in the manner which their father had bidden them, that is, separately, it did not avail them anything (min shay’in: min is extra) against God, that is, [against] His decree; it was but a need in Jacob’s soul which he [thus] satisfied, and this [need] was his desire to fend off the evil eye [from them], out of affection [for them]. And verily he was possessed of knowledge, because We had taught him; but most of mankind — and they are the disbelievers — do not know, [about] God’s inspiring His elect.

And when they entered to Joseph, he took his brother into his arms, saying [to him]: ‘Truly it is me, your brother, therefore do not despair, do not be grieved, at what they did’, in the way of envying us. He commanded him not to tell them anything, and he [Joseph] agreed with him that he would devise a trick to keep him [Benjamin] with him.

And when he had equipped them with their provision, he put the drinking-cup, a golden cup studded with jewels, into the saddlebag of his brother, Benjamin. Then a crier shouted, a herald cried, after they were dismissed from Joseph’s court: ‘O cameleers, caravan, you are surely thieves!’

They said, after, coming towards them, ‘What is it that you are missing?’

They said, ‘We are missing the king’s goblet, [his] cup. And he who brings it shall have a camel’s load, of food [supplies], and I will guarantee that’, the [camel’s] load.

They said, ‘By God,’ (ta’Llāhi is an oath, entailing astonishment) ‘You know very well that we did not come to work corruption in the land, and we are certainly not thieves’, that is, we have never stolen [anything].

They, the crier and his men, said, ‘So, what shall be his requital, that is, the thief’s, if you prove to have been liars?’, when you said, ‘we are certainly not thieves’, and [if] it is found among your belongings?

They said, ‘His requital (qālū jazā’uhu: the subject, the predicate of which is [the following, man wujida fī rahlihi) shall be [the requital of] him in whose saddlebag it is found, that he be enslaved — this is then reiterated by His words: He, the thief, shall be the requital for it, that is, [for] the stolen item, and nothing else: this was the customary practice of the family of Jacob. Thus, [with such] a requital, do we requite those who do evil’, through theft. They thus permitted Joseph to have their saddlebags searched.

And so he began with their sacks, and searched them, before his brother’s sack, lest he be accused [of the theft]; then he pulled it, the drinking-cup, out of his brother’s sack. God, exalted be He, says: Thus, [through such] contrivance, did We contrive for Joseph, [thus] We taught him how to devise a plot to take his brother; he, Joseph, could not have taken his brother, as a slave, on account of theft, according to the king’s law, [according] to the laws of the king of Egypt — since his [a thief’s] requital according to his law would have been a beating and a penalty of twice [the value of] the stolen item, but not enslavement — unless God willed, for him to be taken according to the law of his father [Jacob]; in other words, he was only able to take him with God’s will, by God’s inspiring him to ask his brothers [about the nature of requital] and their responding according to [what is decreed by] their customary practice. We raise by degrees whom We will (read with a genitive annexation, darajāti man nashā’, or [simply] with nunation, darajātin man nashā’), in terms of knowledge, as [We did] with Joseph; and above every man of knowledge, from among creatures, is one who knows better, better than him [and so on] until it ends with God, exalted be He.

They said, ‘If he is stealing, a brother of his stole before’, that is, Joseph — he had stolen a golden idol from his maternal grandfather and smashed it, lest he worship it. But Joseph kept it secret in his soul and did not disclose it, manifest it, to them (the [suffixed] pronoun [in yubdi-hā, ‘disclose it’] refers to the word[s] in his [following] saying); he said, within himself: ‘You are a worse case, than Joseph and his brother, because of your stealing a brother of yours from your father, and your wronging him. And God knows very well what you are describing’, [what] you are mentioning with regard to him.

They said, ‘O Court officer, lo! he has a father, an aged man, who loves him more than we do, and who finds solace in him from [the anguish he feels for] his dead son; and it will grieve him to part with him, so take one of us, enslave him, in his place, instead of him: indeed we see that you are among the virtuous’, in [terms of] your actions.

He said, ‘God forbid (ma‘ādha’Llāhi, [lit.] ‘refuge is with God’, is in the accusative because it is a verbal noun, the verb having been omitted and placed in a genitive annexation with its direct object, in other words, [understand it as] na‘ūdhu bi’Llāhi, ‘we seek refuge with God’) that we should take anyone save him with whom we found our property — he did not say ‘[save] him who stole [our property]’, being careful not to lie; for then truly — if we were to take anyone other than him — we would be evildoers’.

So when they despaired of [moving] him, they withdrew to confer privately [together] (najiyyan is a verbal noun that can be used to refer to one person or more, in other words [understand it as meaning] yunājī ba‘duhum ba‘dan, ‘one conferring with the other’). The most senior of them, in years — Reuben — or, [the most senior of them] in opinion — Judah, said: ‘Are you not aware that your father has taken a solemn pledge, a covenant, from you by God, concerning your brother, and formerly (wa-min qablu mā: the mā is extra) you failed regarding Joseph? (but it [the mā] is also said to be relating to the verbal action, [in other words it is] a subject, the predicate of which is min qabl, ‘formerly’). So I will never leave, part with, this land, the land of Egypt, until my father permits me, to return to him, or God judges for me, through the deliverance of my brother; and He is the best, the fairest, of judges.

Go back to your father and say, “O our father, your son has indeed stolen and we testified, against him, only regarding what we knew, from the certainty of having seen the [king’s] cup in his saddlebag; we could not have guarded against the Unseen, that which was hidden from us, when we gave our pledge: had we known that he would steal, we would not have taken him [with us to Egypt].

And ask the city in which we were — namely Egypt — in other words, send forth [someone] to ask its people, and the caravan, the men of the caravan, with which we approached — and these were a group of Canaanites. Surely we speak the truth” ’, in what we say. So they went back to him and told him as much.

‘Nay,’ he said, ‘but your souls have beguiled you into, have adorned [for you], something, and you did it: he accused them because of what had happened with them before concerning Joseph. Yet comely patience, will be my [course of] patience! It may be that God will bring them, Joseph and his two brothers, all [back] to me. Indeed He is the Knower, of my predicament, the Wise’, in His actions.

And he turned away from them, no longer addressing them, and said, ‘Alas, my grief for Joseph!’ (yā asafā: the [final] alif [of asafā] has taken the place of the [possessive] yā’ of genitive annexation [sc. yā asafī], in other words [it means] yā huznī [‘O my sorrow’]). And his eyes turned white, their dark colour was effaced and became white on account of his tears, with grief, for him, such that he was [filled] with suppressed agony, anguished and grief-stricken, but not manifesting his grief.

They said, ‘By God, you will never cease remembering Joseph until you are consumed, on the verge of perishing, on account of your illness (it [haradan, ‘consumed’] is a verbal noun equally [applicable] to one person or more) or you are of those who perish’, [of] the dead.

He said, to them: ‘I complain of my anguish — (bathth is) severe grief, which cannot be endured unless it is proclaimed [yubaththu] to others — and grief only to God, not to any other than Him, for it is worth complaining to Him; and I know from God what you do not know, [and that is] that Joseph’s dream is true and that he is alive. Then he said:

O my sons, go and enquire about Joseph and his brother, seek news of them, and do not despair of God’s [gracious] Spirit, His mercy. Indeed none despairs of the [gracious] Spirit of God save the disbelieving folk’: and so they departed to Egypt [to look] for Joseph.

And so when they entered to him, they said, ‘O Court officer, misfortune, hunger, has befallen us and our family; and we have come with reject merchandise, refused by any person who sees it, because of its worthlessness — it consisted of counterfeit dirhams or something else — so fill up, complete, for us the measure and be charitable to us, by overlooking the worthlessness of our merchandise; truly God requites the charitable’, He rewards them: he [Joseph] thus took pity on them and he was overtaken by compassion [for them] and removed the partition between them and himself.

Then, he said, to them, in rebuke: ‘Do you realise what you did to Joseph, in the way of beating [him] and selling [him] and otherwise, and his brother, oppressing him, after having separated him from his brother, while you were ignorant?’, of where the affair of Joseph will lead?

They said — after recognising him by his noble traits — cautiously [inquiring]: ‘Is it really (read a-innaka, either pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second, but in both cases inserting an alif) you, Joseph?’. He said, ‘I am [indeed] Joseph, and this is my brother. God has truly shown favour, He has been gracious, to us, by bringing [us] together. Verily if one fears, [if] one fears God, and endures, what happens to him, God does not waste the wage of those who are virtuous’, in this [respect] (the overt noun [al-muhsinīn, ‘the virtuous’] has replaced the [third person] pronominalisation).

They said, ‘By God, truly God has preferred you over us, with kingship and in other ways, and indeed we (wa-in: in is softened, in other words [it is understood as] innā, ‘indeed we’) have been erring’, sinful towards you and treated you disgracefully.

He said, ‘There shall be no reproach, [no] blame, on you this day — he specifically mentions this [day] because it was [the day] when they expected to be reproached, although any other day would have been more appropriate [for them to be reproached on]. God will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.

He [Joseph] asked them about his father; and they told him that his eyesight had gone. And so he said: Go with this shirt of mine — and this was the shirt of Abraham, the one he wore when he was thrown into the fire; he [Joseph] had it around his neck when he was at the bottom of the well. It [the shirt] had come from Paradise: Gabriel commanded him [Joseph] to send it off [to Jacob] saying that the scent of Paradise lingers in it, and whenever it is cast upon a sufferer, it heals him — and lay it on my father’s face, and he will recover his sight; and bring me all your folk’.

And as the caravan set forth, leaving behind the palm fields of Egypt, their father said, to those of his sons and their children present, ‘Truly I sense the scent of Joseph — which the east wind had brought to him, with God’s permission, across a distance of three or eight or more days’ journey; if only you did not think me doting’, [if only] you [did not] regard me as foolish, you would believe me.

They said, to him: ‘By God, you are certainly in your misguidance, your error, of old’, in your excessive adoration of him, and your [enduring] hope of encountering him [again] despite the length of time [that has passed].

Then, when (fa-lammā an: an is extra) the bearer of good tidings, Judah, came, with the shirt — he had [been the one who] brought the blood-stained shirt, and so now he wished to bring him joy, after he had [previously] brought him grief — he laid it, he cast the shirt, on his face and he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not say to you, “Indeed I know from God what you do not know?” ’

They said, ‘O our father, ask forgiveness for us of our sins; truly we have been sinful’.

He said, ‘Assuredly I shall ask forgiveness for you of my Lord. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful’: he [Jacob] put off this [plea of forgiveness] until [the last hour] before dawn, in order to be closer to [the likelihood of] it being accepted, or [he put it off] until the eve of Friday. They then departed for Egypt, where Joseph and the senior courtiers came out to meet them.

And when they entered to Joseph, in his tent, he took his parents, his father and his mother — or [and] his maternal aunt — into his arms, and said, to them: ‘Enter into Egypt, if God will, in safety’, and they entered, and Joseph sat down on his throne.

And he raised his parents, he seated them next to him, upon the throne, and they fell down, that is, his parents and brothers, prostrating before him — a prostration that was [actually] a bowing down, not placing their foreheads down [on the ground]; this was their standard [form of] greeting at that time. Then he said, ‘O father, this is the interpretation of my vision of old. Indeed my Lord has made it true. And indeed He has been gracious to me, since He brought me out of the prison — he did not say ‘out of the well’, in [a show of] magnanimity, lest his brothers feel ashamed — and has brought you from the desert after Satan had incited ill feeling, made trouble, between me and my brethren. Truly my Lord is Subtle in [bringing about] what He will. Truly He is the Knower, of His creatures, the Wise, in His actions. His father [Jacob] remained with him for 24 years, or for 17 years. The duration of his separation [from Joseph] had been 18, or 40, or 80 years. When death approached him, he charged Joseph to take him and bury him by his father [Isaac], and so he [Joseph] himself went and buried him there. He [Joseph] then returned to Egypt and remained [alive] for another 23 years.

When he was nearing his end, realising that he would not remain [alive] forever, he longed for the everlasting kingdom and said: My Lord, indeed You have given me [something] of sovereignty and You have taught me the interpretation of events, the ability to explain dreams. Originator, Creator, of the heavens and the earth! You are my Protector, Guardian of my best interests, in this world and the Hereafter. Take me [in death] to You in submission [to You] and join me to the righteous’, from among my fathers. He lived after that for another week or more. He died at the age of 120 years. The Egyptians were very covetous with regard to his grave; [eventually] they placed him in a marble coffin and buried him at the top of the Nile so that both banks would be blessed [by his body] — Glory be to the One Whose Kingdom never ends.

That, which is mentioned of the matter of Joseph, is of the tidings, the tales, of the Unseen, what has been hidden from you O Muhammad (s), which We reveal to you; for you were not with them, with Joseph’s brothers, when they agreed upon their plan, to plot against him, that is, [when] they resolved upon it, and schemed, against him; in other words, you were not present among them to know their story and so tell it to others: knowledge of it has come to you through revelation.

Yet, most people, that is, the people of Mecca, however eager you might be, that they believe, will not believe.

Nor do you ask them any wage, that you should take, for it, that is, [for] the Qur’ān — it, namely, the Qur’ān, is but a reminder, an admonition, to all the worlds.

And how many a sign, indicating the Oneness of God, is there in the heavens and the earth which they pass by, which they witness, but disregard!, not reflecting upon it.

And most of them do not believe in God, such that they might affirm that He is the Creator and the Sustainer, without ascribing partners, to Him, by worshipping idols; which is why, when crying their [ritual] response to God, they used to say: ‘At Your service, no partner have You, save a partner that belongs to You; You possess him and all that he possesses’, meaning it [when they said it].

Do they deem themselves secure from the coming upon them of a pall, a calamity enveloping them, of God’s chastisement, or the coming of the Hour upon them suddenly, while they are unaware?, of the time of its arrival beforehand?

Say, to them: ‘This is my way — which He explains by saying: I call to, the religion of, God, being upon sure knowledge, plain proof, I and whoever follows me, [whoever] believes in me (man ittaba‘anī is a supplement to anā, ‘I’, the subject, predicated by what preceded [sc. ‘being upon sure knowledge’]). So Glory be to God!, [in affirmation] of His being exalted high above having partners, and I am not of the idolaters’ — this [sentence] is also subsumed by the [explanation of] his statement about ‘his way’.

And We did not send before you [any messengers] save men inspired by revelation (yūhā ilayhim: a variant reading has nūhī ilayhim, ‘to whom We revealed’) — and not angels — from among the people of the towns, the principal towns, since they are more knowledgeable and wiser than the people of the desert, who are crude and ignorant. Have they, the people of Mecca, not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them?, that is, how they ended up, when they were destroyed for denying their messengers? And verily the abode of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise, is better for those who are wary, of God. Will they not understand? (read a-fa-lā ya‘qilūn, or a-fa-lā ta‘qilūn. ‘Will you not understand?’), this, O people of Mecca, and so have faith?

Until (hattā indicates the end [result] indicated by [the previous statement] wa-mā arsalnā min qablika illā rijālan, And We did not send before you [any messengers] save men [above, Q. 12:109]), that is, [to whom] Our support waned until, when the messengers despaired and thought, [when] the messengers were certain, that they were denied (read kudhdhibū, to mean [that they were denied] to such an extent that [they believed that] there would not be any [possible acceptance of] faith thereafter; or read kudhibū, to mean that the communities thought that their messengers had been lied to concerning the victory which they had been promised), Our help came to them and whomever We willed We delivered (read fa-nunajjī or fa-nunjī; or fa-nujjiya, as past tense, ‘[whomever We wished] was delivered’). And Our wrath, Our chastisement, cannot be averted from the sinning, the idolatrous, folk.

Verily there is in their stories, that is, the messengers’ [stories], a lesson for people of pith, possessors of intellect. It, this Qur’ān, is not a fabricated, an invented, discourse but, it is, a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, of scriptures, and a detailing, an elucidation, of everything, that one needs for [the proper observance of] religion, and a guidance, from error, and a mercy for a folk who believe: such [folk] are singled out for mention because they are the ones to benefit from it, to the exclusion of others.

Alif lām mīm rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, these verses, are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation carries the meaning of [partitive] min, ‘from’), and that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, namely, the Qur’ān (this [preceding sentence] constitutes the subject, the predicate of which is [the following]), is the Truth, wherein is no doubt, but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not believe, that it is from God, exalted be He.

God is He Who raised up the heavens without visible supports (‘amad is the plural of ‘imād, which is [the same as] an ustuwāna, ‘a column’; and this [statement] is true, since there are no actual supports) then presided upon the Throne, a presiding befitting Him, and disposed, made subservient, the sun and the moon, each one, of them, moving, along its course, until [the conclusion of] an appointed time, that is, [until] the Day of Resurrection. He directs the command, He conducts the affairs of His Kingdom. He details, He expounds, the signs, the indications of His power, so that you, O people of Mecca, might be certain of the encounter with your Lord, through resurrection.

And He it is Who spread out, extended [flat], the earth and set, created, therein firm mountains and rivers, and of every fruit He has made in it two kinds, of every species. He covers, He cloaks, the night, and its darkness, with the day. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs, indications of His Oneness, exalted be He, for a people who reflect, upon God’s handiwork.

And on the earth are tracts, diverse terrains, neighbouring each other, joined side by side, some good, some briny, some of little yield and some fruitful — and these constitute proofs of His power, exalted be He — and gardens, orchards, of vines and sown fields (read zar‘un, in the nominative, as a supplement to jannātun, ‘gardens’, or read zar‘in, in the genitive, [as a supplement] to a‘nābin, ‘of vines’); similarly [constituting proofs of His power are] His words: and date-palms sharing one root (sinwān is the plural of sinw, which are date-palms belonging to the same root, but with many offshoots) and date-palms otherwise, [each] of individual root, watered (read tusqā as [referring to] jannāt, ‘gardens’, and what is in them, or read yusqā as [referring to] the mentioned [date-palms]) by the same [source of] water; and We make some of them to excel (wa-nufaddil, or read wa-yufaddil, ‘and He [God] makes [some of them] to excel’) others in flavour (read fī’l-ukul or fī’l-ukl): and so some are sweet, others, bitter — and these are [also] proofs of His power, exalted be He. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs for a people who understand, [who] reflect.

And if you wonder, O Muhammad (s), at the disbelievers denying you, then surely wondrous, [surely] deserving wonder, is their saying, in denial of resurrection: ‘When we have become dust, shall we indeed then be [raised] in a new creation?’, [it is wondrous] because the One Who has the power to originate creation and [to originate] what has been mentioned [above], without any precedent, has [also] the power to restore them [to life] (both hamzas, in both instances [a-idhā and a-innā], are pronounced; or [one may] pronounce the first and not pronounce the second, but in both cases inserting an alif or not [inserting it]; one variant reading has the first [a-idhā] as the interrogative, and the second one [a-innā] as the predicate, while another variant reading has the [exact] opposite). Those are the ones who disbelieve in their Lord; those — fetters shall be around their necks; and those, they shall be the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

The following was revealed regarding their hastening on, out of mockery, of the chastisement: And they would have you hasten on the evil, the chastisement, rather than the good, [rather than] mercy, when there have indeed occurred before them exemplary punishments (mathulāt is the plural of mathula, similar [in pattern] to samura [pl. samurāt], ‘acacia’), that is to say, the punishments of disbelievers like them: will they not take warning from these? Truly your Lord is forgiving to mankind despite their evil-doing, for otherwise He would not have left a single creature on the face of it [the earth]; and truly your Lord is severe in retribution, against those who disobey Him.

And those who disbelieve say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down upon him, upon Muhammad (s), from his Lord!’, the like of the staff and the [glowing] hand, or the she-camel. God, exalted be He, says: You are only a warner, one to threaten the disbelievers, for it is not your duty to bring forth signs; and for every folk there is a guide, a prophet, to guide them to their Lord with the signs that He gives him, and not what with they request.

God knows what every female bears, of male or female, one or more, and otherwise, and what the wombs reduce, of the time of gestation, and what they increase, of it. And everything with Him is according to a [precise] measure, a [precise] amount and limit which it does not exceed;

[He is] the Knower of the unseen and the visible, [of] what is hidden and what is witnessed; the Great, the Tremendous, the High Exalted, above His creation, through His [overpowering] subjugation (read al-muta‘ālī or al-muta‘āl, ‘the High Exalted’).

[They are all] the same, according to His knowledge, exalted be He, those of you who speak secretly and those who do so openly, and those who lurk, [who] hide themselves, in the night, in its darkness, and those who go forth, [those who] are manifest [to view] when they make their way, by day.

For him, for man, are attendants, angels who follow him, to his front and to his rear, guarding him through God’s command, that is, by His command, from [the danger of] the jinn and others. Indeed God does not alter the state of a people — He does not deprive them of His grace — unless they have altered the state of their souls, from [their] comely nature, through an act of disobedience. And if God wills misfortune, chastisement, for a people there is none that can repel it, either from among the attendant angels or others; and they, for whom God wills misfortune, have no protector (min wālin: min is extra) to avert it from them, apart from Him, that is, other than God.

He it is Who shows you the lightning, [inspiring] fear, in travellers, of thunderbolts, and hope, for those who are at home, of rain; and He produces, He creates, the clouds that are heavy, with rain.

And the thunder — this is an angel, who is in charge of the clouds, driving them, [while he] constantly, proclaims His praise, that is, he says, ‘Glory be to God through His praise’ (subhāna’Llāh wa-bi-hamdihi), and so too the angels, proclaim His praise, in awe of Him, that is, of God. He unleashes the thunderbolts — these are a fire which issues forth from the clouds — and smites with them whom He will, such that it burns [that person]: this was revealed regarding a man to whom the Prophet (s) had sent someone to invite [to Islam] and who said, ‘Who is the Messenger of God? And what is God? Is He [made] of gold, or of silver, or of copper?’, whereupon a thunderbolt came down on him and blew off the top of his head; yet they, that is, the disbelievers, dispute, argue with the Prophet (s), about God, though He is great in might, in power, or in [the severity of His] retribution.

His, exalted be He, is the call of truth, that is, the words that constitute it [the truth], and these are: ‘there is no god but God’ (lā ilāha illā’Llāh); and those upon whom they call (read yad‘ūn or tad‘ūn, ‘you call’), [those whom] they worship, apart from Him, that is, other than Him — namely, the idols — do not answer them anything, of which they ask; save as, is the response to, one who stretches forth his hands towards water, at the edge of a well, calling to it, that it may reach his mouth, by its rising through the well to [reach] him, but it would never reach it, that is, [reach] his mouth, ever: likewise they [the idols] will not answer them; and the call of the disbelievers, their worship of idols — or their actual supplication — goes only astray, [it is only] in perdition.

And to God prostrate whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly, such as believers, or unwillingly, such as hypocrites and those coerced by the sword, and their shadows also, prostrate, in the mornings and the evenings.

Say, O Muhammad (s), to your people: ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say: ‘God’ — and even if they do not say it, there can be no other response. Say, to them: ‘Then have you taken beside Him, other than Him, protectors, idols, to worship, who have no power to benefit or harm themselves?’, and you abandon the One Who is their Possessor? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke). Say: ‘Are the blind one and the seer, [respectively], the disbeliever and the believer, equal? Or are darkness, disbelief, and the light, faith, equal? No! Or have they set up for God associates who have created the like of His creation, so that creation seems alike, that is, [is] what the associates create and the creation of God [alike], to them?’, so that they believe them worthy of being worshipped on account of what these [associates] have created? (an interrogative of disavowal); in other words, not so! None save the Creator is worthy of being worshipped. Say: ‘God is the Creator of all things, having no associate therein, and so He cannot have an associate in terms of worship; and He is the One, the Subjugator’, of His servants.

He then strikes a similitude of truth and falsehood, saying: He, exalted be He, sends down water, rain, from the sky, whereat the valleys flow according to their measure, according to their full capacity, and the flood carries a scum that swells, rising above it, and this [scum] is the filth and the like that lies on the surface of the earth, and from that which they smelt (read tūqidūn, ‘you smelt’, or yūqidūn, ‘they smelt’) in the fire, of the earth’s minerals, such as gold, silver or copper, desiring, seeking [to make], ornaments, adornment, or ware, which is useful, such as utensils, when they [the minerals] are melted; [there rises] a scum the like of it, that is, the like of the scum of the flood, and this [latter scum] consists of the impurities expelled by the bellows. Thus, in the way mentioned, God points out truth and falsehood, that is, [He points out] the similitude thereof. As for the scum, of the flood and of the minerals smelted, it passes away as dross, useless refuse, while that which is of use to mankind, in the way of water and minerals, lingers, remains, in the earth, for a time: likewise, falsehood wanes and is [eventually] effaced, even if it should prevail over the truth at certain times. Truth, on the other hand, is established and enduring. Thus, in the way mentioned, God strikes, He makes clear, similitudes.

For those who respond to their Lord, [those who] answer Him, by way of obedience, there shall be the goodly reward, Paradise, and those who do not respond to Him, namely the disbelievers — if they possessed all that is in the earth, and therewith the like of it, they would offer it to redeem themselves therewith, against the chastisement. For such there shall be an awful reckoning, and that is that they will be requited for every single thing they did, none of which will be forgiven, and their abode shall be Hell, an evil resting place, it is!

The following was revealed regarding Hamza and Abū Jahl: Is he who knows that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and so believes in it, like him who is blind?, and does not know it, nor believes in it? No! But only people of pith, possessors of intellect, remember, heed [such admonitions];

such as fulfil God’s covenant, [meaning] the one that was taken from them while they were still atoms — or [meaning] any covenant — and do not break the pact, by abandoning belief, or [religious] obligations;

and such as cement what God has commanded should be cemented, of faith and kinship ties and so forth, and fear their Lord, that is, His Threat [of punishment], and dread an awful reckoning — a similar [statement] has preceded;

such as are patient, through obedience and [during] hardship, and [staying] away from disobedience, desiring, seeking, their Lord’s countenance, and nothing else, from among the transient things of this world; and maintain the prayer and expend, in obedience, of that which We have provided them, secretly and openly, and repel evil with good, such as [repelling] ignorance through forbearance, and harm through patience; those, theirs shall be the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode: that is, the praiseworthy sequel in the Hereafter, namely:

Gardens of Eden, as a [place of] residence, which they shall enter, they, along with those who were righteous, [those who] believed, from among their fathers and their spouses and their descendants, even if these [latter] did not perform deeds of the same [merit] as theirs, they shall share with them their stations [of Paradise] as an honouring for them; and the angels shall enter to them from every gate, of the gates of Paradise or of [the gates of] the palaces [of Paradise], when they first enter, in order to congratulate them.

They will say [to them]: ‘Peace be upon you, this is the reward, for your patience’, during life on earth. How excellent is, your sequel, the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode!

And those who break God’s covenant after pledging it, and sever what God has commanded should be cemented, and work corruption in the earth, through unbelief and acts of disobedience, theirs shall be the curse, banishment from God’s mercy, and theirs shall be the awful abode, the awful sequel in the abode of the Hereafter, namely, Hell.

God expands provision, He makes it abundant, for whom He will, and straitens, restricts it, for whomever He will; and they, the people of Mecca, rejoice, a wanton rejoicing, in the life of this world, that is, in what they acquire therein, yet the life of this world, in, comparison with the life of, the Hereafter, is but [a brief] enjoyment, a trifling thing, enjoyed and then lost.

And those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca, say, ‘Why has not some sign, like the staff and the [glowing] hand or the she-camel, been sent down upon him, upon Muhammad (s), from his Lord?’ Say, to them: ‘Indeed God sends astray whomever He will, to send astray — such that signs cannot avail him in any way — and He guides, He directs, to Him, to His religion, those who turn in repentance’, [those who] return to Him (man, ‘those who’, is substituted by [the following, alladhīna, ‘those who …’]);

those who believe and whose hearts are reassured, find rest, by God’s remembrance, that is, by His promise [of reward]. Verily by God’s remembrance are hearts reassured, that is, the hearts of the believers;

those who believe and perform righteous deeds: (alladhīna āmanū wa-‘amilū’l-sālihāt is the subject, the predicate of which [is the following]) theirs shall be blessedness (tūbā is a verbal noun derived from tīb, ‘goodness’, or [the name of] a tree in Paradise, whose shade a mounted traveller travelling for 100 years would still not traverse) and a fair resort, [a fair] place to return to.

Thus, just as We sent prophets before you, We have sent you to a community before whom other communities have passed away, that you may recite to them that which We have revealed to you, that is, the Qur’ān; yet they disbelieve in the Compassionate One, for, when they were commanded to prostrate themselves to Him, they said, ‘And what is the Compassionate One?’ Say, to them, O Muhammad (s): ‘He is my Lord; there is no god save Him. In Him I trust and to Him is my recourse’.

The following was revealed when they said to him, ‘If you are [truly] a prophet, then make these mountains of Mecca drift away before us, and make for us rivers and springs in it, that we may plant and sow seeds, and resurrect for us our dead fathers to speak to us and tell us that you are a prophet’: Even if it were a Qur’ān whereby the mountains were set in motion, moved from their places, or the earth were cleft, torn, or the dead were spoken to, such that they would respond, they still would not believe. Nay, but the affair belongs entirely to God, and none other, so that none believes except he whom He wills that he believes, and no other; even if they were given what they request [of signs]. The following was revealed when the Companions were keen that what was requested [of signs] should be manifested, hoping that they [the ones requesting them] might believe: Have they not realised, those who believe, that (an is softened, in other words [understand it as] annahu) had God willed, He could have guided all mankind?, to faith, without [the need for] any sign? And the disbelievers, from among the people of Mecca, continue to be struck by devastation, a catastrophe that devastates them through all manner of hardship, such as being killed, taken captive, and [suffering] war or drought, because of what they wrought, because of their actions, that is, their disbelief; or you alight, O Muhammad (s), together with your army, near their home — Mecca — until God’s promise, of victory against them, comes to pass; truly God does not break His promise: and indeed, he alighted at Hudaybiyya until the conquest of Mecca took place;

messengers were certainly mocked before you, in the same way that you have been mocked — this is meant as solace for the Prophet (s) — but I gave respite to those who disbelieved; then I seized them, with retribution, and how was My retribution?, that is to say, it [My retribution] will come to pass; and I shall deal with those who have mocked you in the same way.

Is He Who stands, watches, over every soul what it has earned?, what it has done of good or evil — and this is God — like the idols who are not so? No! This [response] is suggested by [the following words]: Yet they ascribe to God associates. Say: ‘Name them!, for Him: who are they? Or will you inform Him, will you inform God, of something, that is, of an associate, which He does not know in the earth? (an interrogative of disavowal); in other words, He has no associate, for if He did, He would know him — exalted be He above such a thing. Or is it — nay — you call them associates, merely [a manner of] speaking?’, that is, [it is merely] on the basis of false conjecture, without any truth in it. Nay, but their scheming, their unbelief, has been adorned for those who disbelieve and they have been barred from the way, [from] the path of guidance; and whomever God sends astray, for him there is no guide.

For them there is chastisement in the life of this world, through being killed or taken captive; and verily the chastisement of the Hereafter is more grievous, is more severe; and they have no defender, protector, from God, that is, from His chastisement.

The likeness, the description, of Paradise, which has been promised to the God-fearing (this is a subject, the predicate of which has been omitted), in other words, according to what We recount to you [is as follows]: beneath it rivers flow, its food, what is consumed in it, is everlasting, never perishing, and its shade, is everlasting, never replaced by any sun, because it does not exist therein. That, namely, Paradise, is the reward, the sequel, of those who were wary, of idolatry, and the requital of the disbelievers is the Fire!

And those to whom We have given the Scripture, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and others from among the believing Jews, rejoice in that which has been revealed to you, because of its according with what they have with them [of revelation]; and among the factions, that aligned themselves against you in enmity, from among the idolaters and the Jews, are those who reject some of it, such as the mention of the ‘Compassionate One’ (al-Rahmān) and all that is other than the stories [related therein]. Say: ‘I have been commanded — in that which has been revealed to me — only to worship God, and not to associate [anything] with Him. To Him I call and to Him shall be my return’.

And so, just like that [manner of] revelation, We have revealed it, that is, the Qur’ān, as a [decisive] judgement in Arabic, in the language of the Arabs, for you to judge thereby between people. And if you should follow their whims, that is, [those of] the disbelievers, in that to which they summon you of their creed, hypothetically [speaking], after what has come to you of knowledge, of God’s Oneness, you shall have no protector, to assist you, against God (mina’Llāhi min: the [second] min is extra) and no defender, to ward off His chastisement.

And when they derided him for having many wives, the following was revealed: And indeed We sent messengers before you, and We assigned to them wives and seed, children — and you are like them; and it was not for any Messenger, from among them, that he should bring a sign, save by God’s leave, because they are servants enthralled [by Him]. For every term, period, there is a Book, wherein is inscribed its delimitation.

God effaces, of it [the Book], whatever He will and He fixes (read yuthbit or yuthabbit), therein whatever He will of rulings or other matters, and with Him is the Mother of the Book, its [source of] origin, of which nothing is ever changed, and which consists of what He inscribed in pre-eternity (azal).

And whether ([read as] immā: the nūn of the conditional particle in, ‘whether’, has been assimiliated with the extra mā) We show you a part of that which We promise them, of chastisement, during your lifetime (the response of the conditional statement has been omitted, in other words [understand it as being], fa-dhāk [‘then so shall it be’]); or We take you [to Us], before chastising them; it is for you only to convey [the Message], your duty is only to deliver [the Message], and it is for Us to do the reckoning, when they finally come to Us, whereupon We shall requite them.

Or is it that they, the people of Mecca, have not seen how We visit the land, [how] We target their land, diminishing it at its outlying regions?, by giving victory to the Prophet (s). And God judges, among His creatures as He will; there is none that can repel His judgement and He is swift at reckoning.

And indeed those that were before them, of communities, plotted, against their prophets just as they plot against you; but to God belongs all plotting. And nor is their plotting like the plotting of God, for, exalted be He, He knows what every soul earns, and so its requital is prepared for it, and this is the ultimate plotting, since He brings it to them whence they are not aware. The disbeliever (the genus is meant here; a variant reading has kuffār [‘the disbelievers’]) shall assuredly know for whom shall be the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode, that is, the praiseworthy sequel in the abode of the Hereafter: will it be theirs or that of the Prophet (s) and his Companions?

And those who disbelieve say, to you: ‘You have not been sent [by God]!’ Say, to them: ‘God suffices as a witness between me and you, to my truthfulness [as a messenger], and he who possesses knowledge of the Book’, from among the Christian and Jewish believers.

Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. This Qur’ān is, a Book We have revealed to you, O Muhammad (s), that you may bring forth mankind from darkness, [from] unbelief, into light, [into] faith, by the leave, by the command, of their Lord (ilā’l-nūr, ‘into light’, may be substituted by [the following ilā sirāt]), to the path, the way, of the Mighty, the Victor, the Praised, the One who is [constantly] praised.

God (Allāhi, read in the genitive as a substitution or an explicative supplement, with what follows being an adjectival qualification; or [read as] Allāhu in the nominative as a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants. And woe to the disbelievers from a terrible chastisement,

those who (alladhīna is a description) prefer, choose, the life of this world over the Hereafter, and bar, people, from God’s way, [from] the religion of Islam, and seek to make it, that is, the path, crooked — those, they are far astray, from the truth.

And We have not sent any Messenger except with the tongue, with the language, of his people, that he might make [the Message] clear to them, that he might make them understand what he brings to them; God then sends astray whomever He will and He guides whomever He will; and He is the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His actions.

And verily We sent Moses with Our signs, the nine [signs], and We said to him: ‘Bring forth your people, the Children of Israel, out of darkness, [out of] unbelief, into light, [into] faith, and remind them of the Days of God’, of His graces. Surely in that, reminder, are signs for every man enduring, in obedience [to God], thankful, for [His] graces.

And, mention, when Moses said to his people, ‘Remember God’s grace to you when He delivered you from the folk of Pharaoh, who were inflicting upon you a dreadful chastisement, and were slaughtering your sons, the new-born, and sparing, keeping alive, your women — this was because some of the priests [of Egypt] had stated that a child born among the Israelites shall be the cause of the destruction of Pharaoh’s kingdom; and in that, deliverance — or [in that] chastisement — was a tremendous trial, grace — or [a tremendous] test — from your Lord.

And when your Lord proclaimed, [when] He made it known that: “If you are thankful, for My graces, through affirmation of [My] Oneness and obedience [to Me], then assuredly I shall give you more; but if you are thankless, [if] you deny [the truth of] the grace, through disbelief and disobedience, then assuredly I shall chastise you — as is indicated by [His following words] — My chastisement is indeed severe” ’.

And Moses said, to his people: ‘If you are thankless, you and all who are on earth, lo! assuredly God is Independent, [without need] of His creatures, Praised’, praiseworthy in what He does with them.

Has there not come to you (an interrogative meant as an affirmative) the tidings, the news, of those who were before you — the people of Noah, and ‘Ād — the people of Hūd — and Thamūd — the people of Sālih — and those after them? None knows them save God. [This is] on account of their multitude. Their messengers brought them clear signs, with lucid arguments demonstrating their truthfulness; but they, that is, the communities, thrust their hands into their mouths, to bite on them, out of extreme spite, and said, ‘Lo! we disbelieve in that wherewith you have been sent, according to what you claim, and lo! we are in grave doubt concerning that to which you call us’, [doubt] creating [great] uncertainty.

Their messengers said, ‘Can there be doubt concerning God (an interrogative meant as a denial), in other words, there can be no doubt concerning His Oneness, given the manifest proofs of it, the Originator, the Creator, of the heavens and the earth? He calls you, to obedience of Him, so that He might forgive you your sins (min dhunūbikum: min is extra, since through submission [to the One God] all that may have been committed previously is forgiven (or else it [min, ‘some of’] is partitive, intended to state that [forgiveness] which is due to [God’s] servants) and defer you, without chastisement, to an appointed term’, the term of death. They said, ‘You are but mortals like us, desiring to bar us from that which our fathers used to worship, in the way of idols. So bring us a clear warrant’, a manifest argument demonstrating your truthfulness.

Their messengers said to them, ‘We are but mortals like you, as you have said; but God is gracious to whomever He will of His servants, by way of [assigning] prophethood. And it is not ours to bring you any warrant save by the leave of God, by His command, for we are servants, enthralled; and in God let believers put their trust, [let them] have confidence in Him.

And why, indeed, should we not put our trust in God, in other words, there is nothing to prevent us from [doing] this, when He has guided us our ways? And we shall surely endure the hurt you do us. And in God let the trusting put their trust’.

And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, ‘We will assuredly expel you from our land, or you will surely return, you will [surely] end up [returning], to our creed’, our religion. Then their Lord inspired them [saying]: ‘We shall surely destroy the evildoers, the disbelievers,

and We shall surely make you dwell in the land, their land, after them, after they have been destroyed — that, victory [over them] and bequest of the land [to you] is, for whoever fears the standing before Me, that is, [whoever fears] when he comes to stand before Me, and fears My threat’, of chastisement.

And they sought victory, the messengers sought assistance from God against their people; and every tyrant, disdaining obedience to God, rebellious, obstinate to the truth, was brought to nothing;

beyond him, that is, in front of him, is Hell, which he will enter, and he is given to drink, in it, of festering fluid — which is what issues out of the insides of the people of the Fire, mixed with pus and blood —

which he sips, gulping it repeatedly, because of its acridity, but can scarcely swallow, [scarcely] ingest because it is so foul and disgusting; and death, that is, those causes of it that necessarily bring it about, in the way of [different] types of chastisement, comes to him from every side, yet he cannot die; and still beyond him, after that chastisement, there is a harsh chastisement, a severe one, following on [from the previous one].

The likeness, the description, of those who disbelieve in their Lord (alladhīna kafarū bi-rabbihim: the subject, substituted by [the following, a‘māluhum,]): their works, the righteous ones, such as kindness [to kin] or an act of charity — in the way that no benefit can be derived from them [it is because these works] — are as ashes over which the wind blows hard on a tempestuous day, one in which the winds blow violently, making them as scattered dust, over which none can have power (the genitive [clause beginning with ka-ramādin, ‘as ashes’] constitutes the predicate of the [above-mentioned] subject); they, that is, the disbelievers, have no power over anything that they have earned, [anything] that they had done in [their] life on earth, in other words, they shall find no reward for it, since this was never a precondition. That is extreme error, [extreme] perdition!

Have you not seen, have you not observed, O you being addressed (this is an interrogative meant as an affirmative) that God created the heavens and the earth in truth? (bi’l-haqq is semantically connected to [the action of the verb] khalaqa, ‘created’). If He will, He can take you away, O mankind, and bring [about] a new creation, in your place.

And that for God is surely no great, [no] difficult, matter.

And they, that is, [all] creatures, sally forth to God (wa-barazū: this, and what follows, is expressed in the past tense because it will come to pass) all together; then the weak, the followers, say to those who were arrogant, those who were followed: ‘Indeed we were your followers (taba‘an is the plural of tābi‘). Will you then avail, defend, us against the chastisement of God in any way?’ (min ‘adhābi’Llāhi min shay’in: the first min is explicative, while the second one is partitive). They, the ones followed, say, ‘If God had guided us, we would have guided you, we would have called you to [right] guidance. It is the same for us whether we rage [impatiently] or patiently endure; we do not have any asylum’, [any] refuge (min mahīs, ‘any asylum’, min is extra).

And Satan, Iblīs, says, when the issue has been decided, and the people of Paradise are in Paradise and those of the Fire are in the Fire, and they [the people of the Fire] have gathered round him: ‘Truly God promised you a promise of truth, regarding resurrection and requital, fulfilling [it] to you; whereas I promised you, that this would not be, then failed you, for over you I had no warrant (min sultān: min is extra), [no] power or capacity, to compel you to follow me, except that I called you and you responded to me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves, for having responded to me. I cannot heed your [distress] call, [I cannot] bring aid to you, nor can you heed mine (read bi-musrikhiyya or bi-musrikhī). Lo! I disbelieved in your making me an associate of God formerly’, during life on earth. God, exalted be He, says: Truly for the evildoers, the disbelievers, there shall be a painful chastisement.

And those who believed and performed righteous deeds, they are admitted to gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding (khālidīna is a circumstantial qualifier of an implied situation) therein by the leave of their Lord, their greeting therein, from God and from the angels, and between themselves: ‘Peace!’.

Have you not seen, observed, how God has struck a similitude? (mathalan is substituted by [the following words, kalimatan tayyibatan]): a goodly saying, which is, ‘there is no god but God’, is as a goodly tree, a palm tree, its root set firm, in the ground, and its shoots, its branches, are in heaven;

it gives its produce, its fruit, every season by the leave of its Lord, by His will. Similarly, the words of faith are set firm in the heart of the believer; his works are raised up to heaven and he receives the blessings and reward therefrom all the time. And God strikes, He makes clear, similitudes for mankind, so that they might remember, be admonished, and therefore believe.

And the similitude of a bad saying, that is, the word of unbelief, is as a bad tree, a colocynth, uprooted from upon the earth, having no stability, [no] fixing or foundation. Similarly, the word of unbelief has no foundation, and no shoot or blessing.

God confirms those who believe by a firm saying, namely, the profession of [His] Oneness, in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, that is, in the grave, when the two angels question them about their Lord, their religion and their Prophet, and they respond correctly, as [reported] in the hadīth of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]; and God sends astray the evildoers, the disbelievers, and therefore they are not guided to the correct response, saying instead, ‘We do not know’, as [reported] in the hadīth; and God does what He will.

Have you not seen, observed, those who exchanged God’s grace, that is, the thanks [due] for it, for unthankfulness — these were the disbelievers of Quraysh — and who, by leading them astray, caused their people to take up residence in the Abode of Ruin?

Hell (jahannama: a supplement, functioning as an explicative): to which they shall be exposed, admitted — an evil place to settle!

And they have set up rivals to, associates [with], God, that they might lead [others] astray (read li-yadillū or li-yudillū) from His way, the religion of Islam. Say, to them: ‘Enjoy!, this world of yours for a short time. For lo! your journey’s end, your return, shall be to the Fire!’.

Tell My servants who believe that they establish prayers and expend of that which We have provided them, secretly and openly, before a day comes wherein there will be neither bargaining, ransoming, nor befriending, that is, [when there will not be] any friendship of any benefit: this is the Day of Resurrection.

God it is Who created the heavens and the earth, and He sends down water from the heaven and with it He brings forth fruits as sustenance for you. And He has disposed for you the ships, that they may run upon the sea, [laden] with passengers and cargo, at His commandment, by His leave, and He has disposed for you the rivers.

And He has disposed for you the sun and the moon, constant, moving in their courses without pause; and He has disposed for you the night, that you may rest therein, and the day, that you may seek of His bounty therein.

And He gives you of all that you ask of Him, according to your [individual] best interests. And if you were to enumerate God’s graces, meaning His bestowal of graces, you could never number it, you would not be able to count it. Lo! man, the disbelieving [man], is verily a wrong-doer and unthankful!, ever wronging his own soul through [acts of] disobedience and ungratefulness towards God’s grace.

And, mention, when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, make this land, Mecca, secure — God granted him this petition and thus made it [Mecca] a sanctuary in which no human blood is shed, no person is wronged, prey is not hunted and one which is never deserted in any of its parts — and turn me and my sons away from serving idols.

My Lord, truly they, idols, have led many of mankind astray, because of their [mankind’s] worship of them. So whoever follows me, believing in the Oneness of God, verily belongs with me, belongs with those who follow my religion; and whoever disobeys me, truly You are Forgiving, Merciful: this was before he was aware of the fact that God does not forgive idolatry.

Our Lord, indeed I have made some of my seed, that is, Ishmael and his mother Hagar, to dwell in a valley where there is no sown land, namely, Mecca, by Your Sacred House, which had been there since before the Flood, our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make some of the hearts of men yearn, incline and long, towards them — Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘Had He said: “Make [all] the hearts of men …”, assuredly the Persians, the Byzantines and all of mankind would have yearned towards them’. And provide them with fruits, that they might be thankful: and this [petition] was granted, for [the town of] al-Tā’if was transferred to that [land].

Our Lord, You know what we hide, keep secret, and what we proclaim. And nothing (min shay’in: min is extra) is hidden from God in the earth or in the heaven: these may constitute God’s words or the words of Abraham.

Praise be to God Who has given me, despite [my] old age, Ishmael — born to him when he [Abraham] was 99 years old — and Isaac — born to him when he was 112 years old. Lo! my Lord is indeed the Hearer of supplication.

My Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and, make, of my seed, those who will establish it (the use of [partitive] min [in min dhurriyatī, ‘of my seed’] is because God informed him that some of them [his seed] would be disbelievers). Our Lord! And accept my supplication, the [supplication] mentioned.

Our Lord, forgive me and my parents — this was before their enmity towards God, Mighty and Majestic, became clear; but it is also said that his mother submitted [to God], (the alternative reading [here] being the singular wālidī [‘my father’]; or [yet another variant reading being] waladī, ‘my son’) and [forgive] believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass’, [the day] it shall be effected. God, exalted be He, says:

And do not suppose that God is heedless of what the evildoers, the disbelievers from among the people of Mecca, do. He but gives them respite, without chastisement, until a day when eyes shall stare wide-open, because of the terror of what they see (one says shakhasa basaru fulān to mean ‘he opened them [his eyes] and did not shut them’);

as they come hastening (muhti‘īna is a circumstantial qualifier) with their heads turned upwards, to the heaven, their gaze, their sight, returning not to them, and their hearts as air, devoid of any sense, because of their being terror-stricken.

And warn, make [them] have fear, O Muhammad (s), mankind, the disbelievers, of the day when chastisement will come upon them, namely, the Day of Resurrection, and those who did evil, who disbelieved, will say, ‘Our Lord, give us respite, by returning us to the world, for a brief while, that we might respond to Your call, by affirming [Your] Oneness, and follow the messengers’. It is then said to them in rebuke: ‘But did you not use to swear formerly, in the world, that for you there would be no passing [away]? (min zawālin: min is extra) from this [world] to the Hereafter?

And you dwelt, in it, in the dwelling-places of those who wronged themselves, through unbelief, [those] from among communities of old, and it became clear to you how We dealt with them, by way of punishment — but you were not restrained [thereby] — and We struck, made clear, similitudes for you, in the Qur’ān, but you did not take heed.

And verily they plotted, against the Prophet (s), their plot — when they desired to kill him, or detain him [in his house] or banish him — but their plotting is with God, that is to say, knowledge or the requital thereof [is with God], and their plotting, even though it be great, was not such whereby mountains should be moved, meaning that it is not of any importance, but that they are only harming themselves thereby. It is said that the use of ‘mountains’ here is meant to be literal; alternatively, it is also said [to be a reference to] the laws of Islam, which are likened to these [mountains] in the way that they are established and fixed (a variant reading has la-tazūlu [instead of li-tazūla], with in softened [from inna, ‘verily’], in which case the intended meaning is that [the extent of] their plotting is great. It is said that ‘plotting’ here is [actually a reference to] their unbelief. This second [reading] is consonant with [God’s saying]: Whereby the heavens are almost torn and the earth split asunder and the mountains fall crashing [Q. 19:90]; according to the former [reading], however, one should read it as [if it were] wa-mā kāna, and [their plotting] was not such …).

So do not suppose that God will fail [to keep] His promise, of victory, to His messengers. Truly God is Mighty, Victor, nothing able to escape Him, Lord of Retribution, against those who disobey Him.

And mention, the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth and the heavens, namely, the Day of Resurrection: mankind shall be gathered onto a white clear earth, as [reported] in the hadīth of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]. Muslim relates the following hadīth: ‘The Prophet (s) was asked, “Where will people be on that day?” He said, “On the Bridge (sirāt)” ’; and they shall come forth, they shall exit from [their] graves, to God, the One, the Almighty.

And you shall see, O Muhammad (s), the sinners, the disbelievers, on that day coupled, chained together with their [individual] devils, in chains, manacles or collars,

their shirts [made] of pitch, because it ignites fire more intensely, and their faces are engulfed by the Fire,

that God may requite (li-yajziya is semantically connected to [the verb] barazū, ‘they shall come forth’) every soul for what it has earned, of good and evil. Truly God is swift at reckoning — He shall reckon with all creatures in about half a day of the days of this world, as one hadīth states to that effect.

This, Qur’ān, is a Proclamation for mankind, in other words, it was revealed in order to proclaim to them, and so that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know, by way of the arguments contained in it, that He, namely, God, is One God, and that people of pith, possessors of intellect, may remember (yadhdhakkara: the original tā’ [of yatadhakkara] has been assimilated with the dhāl), [that they] may be admonished.

Alif lām rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those — these verses — are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (āyātu’l-kitābi: this annexation functions in the sense of min, ‘from’) and of a manifest Qur’ān, one that makes evident what is truth and what is falsehood (wa-qur’ānin mubīnin is [made up of] a supplement with an added adjectival qualification).

It may be that (read rubbamā or rubamā) those who disbelieve, on the Day of Resurrection, when they witness their predicament and that of the Muslims, will wish that they had been muslims (rubba here is used to indicate ‘many’, since many of them will wish this; but it is also said to indicate ‘few’, since they will be so stupefied by the terrors that they will not come out of their stupor to wish such a thing, except on a few occasions:

Leave them, the disbelievers, O Muhammad (s), to eat and to enjoy, this world of theirs, and that they be diverted, distracted, by hope, of a long life and other [such] matters, [that keep them] away from faith, for they will come to know, the sequel of their affair — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

And We did not destroy any town (min qaryatin: min is extra), meaning, its inhabitants, but that it had a known decree, a [pre-]determined term, after which it would be destroyed.

No community (min ummatin: min is extra) can outstrip its [predetermined] term nor can they [seek to] delay it, [nor can they] put it off.

And they, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, say, to the Prophet (s): ‘O you, to whom the Remembrance, the Qur’ān — as you claim — has been revealed, lo! you are indeed possessed!

Why do you not bring us the angels, if you are of the truthful?’, in saying that you are a prophet and that this Qur’ān is from God.

God, exalted be He, says: The angels do not descend (tanazzalu: one of the two tā’ letters [of tatanazzalu] has been omitted) save with the truth, with the chastisement; and then, that is, upon the descent of the angels with the chastisement, they [the disbelievers] would not be reprieved, [would not] be granted respite.

Verily it is We (nahnu emphasises the subject of inna, or [functions as] a separating pronoun) Who have revealed the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, and assuredly We will preserve it, against substitution, distortion, additions and omissions.

And verily We sent before you, messengers, to former factions, sects.

And never did a messenger come to them but that they mocked him, in the same way that your people have mocked you — this is meant to comfort the Prophet (s).

Thus We cause it to find its way, in other words, in the same way that We have caused denial to enter the hearts of those [individuals], We cause it to enter, into the hearts of the sinners, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca.

They do not believe in him, in the Prophet (s), even though the example of the men of old has already gone before, that is, the way of God [in dealing] with them [those of old], by chastising them for denying [the truthfulness of] their prophets: those [Meccans] are like these former.

And even if We were to open for them a gate from the heaven, and they were to continue ascending through it, the gate,

they would say, ‘It is merely that our eyes have been dazzled, they have been shut. Nay, we are a folk bewitched!’, imagining this.

And verily We have placed in the heaven constellations, twelve [of them]: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo (al-sunbula), Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, which are the mansions of the seven orbiting planets: Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, Venus: Taurus and Libra, Mercury: Gemini and Virgo, the Moon: Cancer, the Sun: Leo, Jupiter: Sagittarius and Pisces, and Saturn: Capricorn and Aquarius; and We have adorned it, with [these] planets, for beholders;

and We have guarded them, with meteors, from every outcast devil;

except the one who listens by stealth — he is pursued by a clear flame, a shining meteor that burns him, or pierces him or drives him insane.

And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.

And We have made for you therein [means of] livelihood (read ma‘āyish), such as fruits and grains, and, We have made [this] for you, those for whom you do not provide, such as servants, [crawling] creatures and cattle; it is God Who provides for them.

And there is not a thing but that the stores thereof, the keys to its stores, are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure, according to the benefits [of all creatures].

And We send the winds as fertilisers, to fertilise the clouds, whereupon they fill up with water, and send down out of the heaven, [out of] the clouds, water, rain, so that We give it to you to drink, for you are not the storers thereof, that is, the stores thereof are not in your control.

Indeed it is We Who give life and bring death, and We are the heirs, Who shall endure, inheriting all creation.

And verily We know the predecessors among you, that is, those creatures from Adam who have already passed, and verily We know the successors, those who will come afterwards, until the Day of Resurrection.

And it is indeed your Lord Who will gather them, lo! He is Wise, in His actions, Knower, of His creatures.

And verily We created man, Adam, out of a dry [clinking] clay, that gives off a clinking sound when it is tapped, of malleable mud, black [mud].

And the jānn, the father of the jinn, namely, Iblīs, We created beforehand — that is, before the creation of Adam — out of the permeative fire, a smokeless fire that can escape through openings.

And, mention, when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am going to create a mortal out of a dry clay [drawn] from a malleable mud.

So, when I have proportioned him, completed him, and breathed, caused to flow, of My Spirit in him, so that he becomes a living thing — the annexation of ‘the Spirit’ to him is a conferring of honour upon Adam — fall down in prostration before him!’, a prostration [meant as an act] of salutation by bowing.

And so the angels prostrated, all of them together (kulluhum ajma‘ūn contains two elements of emphasis),

except Iblīs, the father of the jinn — he was [standing] among the angels: he refused to be among those prostrating.

He, [God] exalted be He: ‘O Iblīs what is wrong with you, what prevents you, that you are not among those prostrating?’

Said he, ‘I was not about to prostrate myself, I should not prostrate myself, before a mortal whom You have created out of a dry clay [drawn] from malleable mud’.

Said He, ‘Then be gone from hence, that is, from the Garden — but it is also said, from the heavens — for you are indeed accursed, outcast.

And indeed the curse shall rest upon you until the Day of Judgement’, [the Day] of Requital.

Said he, ‘My Lord! Reprieve me until the day when they, mankind, shall be resurrected’.

Said He, ‘Then lo! you are of those reprieved,

until the day of the known time’, the time of [the blowing of] the First Trumpet.

Said he, ‘My Lord, because You have lead me astray (bi-mā, ‘because’, the bi- is for oaths, the response for which is [what follows]) I shall adorn for them [evil acts], acts of disobedience, in the earth and I shall lead them astray, all of them;

except those servants of Yours who are sincerely devoted [to You]’, namely, believers.

He, [God] exalted be He, said, ‘This is a straight path [leading] to Me,

in other words, truly over My servants, that is, believers, you shall have no warrant, [no] power, except those who follow you from among the perverse, the disbelievers.

And truly Hell shall be their tryst, all of them, that is, all those who follow you, shall be with you [in Hell].

It has seven gates, [seven] layers — to each gate, therein, belongs an appointed portion, lot, of them.

Truly the God-fearing shall be amidst gardens, orchards, and springs’, flowing through them.

And it shall be said to them: ‘Enter them in peace, that is, safe from all danger — or [it means enter] with [the greeting of] ‘Peace!’, in other words: say, ‘Peace’ and then enter, secure!’, from all terror.

And We remove whatever rancour, spite, may be in their breasts. As brethren (ikhwānan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to them), [they shall recline] upon couches, facing one another (mutaqābilīn is also a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, they do not look upon each other’s backs, because the couches revolve with them in them.

No toil, [no] weariness, will touch them, nor will they be expelled from thence, ever.

Tell, inform, O Muhammad (s), My servants that verily I am the Forgiving, of believers, the Merciful, to them,

and that My chastisement, of those who are disobedient, is the painful chastisement.

And tell them of the guests of Abraham, that is, the angels — there were twelve, ten or three of them, among them Gabriel;

[how] when they entered unto him, and said, ‘Peace!’, that is, [they said] this very word (salām). He, Abraham, said, after having offered them food which they did not eat: ‘Lo! we are afraid of you’.

They said, ‘Do not be afraid; lo!, we, are the messengers of your Lord [sent to], give you good tidings of a knowledgeable boy’, one very knowledgeable [boy], namely, Isaac — as we mentioned in sūrat Hūd [Q. 11:69].

He said, ‘Do you give me good tidings, of a boy, when old age has befallen me?’ (‘alā an massaniya l-kibaru is a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, despite the fact of its having befallen me? So, of what, thing, do you give me good tidings?’ (an interrogative meant to indicate amazement).

They said, ‘We give you good tidings in truth, sincerely; so do not be of the despairing’, the despondent.

He said, ‘And who — in other words, no one — despairs (read yaqnitu or yaqnatu) of the mercy of his Lord, save those who are astray?’, [save] disbelievers.

He said, ‘So what is your business, O you who have been sent [by God]?’

They said, ‘We have been sent to a sinning folk, a disbelieving [folk], namely, the people of Lot, in order to destroy them;

[all] except the family of Lot; indeed we shall save them, all of them, because of their faith,

except his wife — We have decreed that she indeed should be of those who will remain behind’, [of] those who will stay behind in the chastisement, because of her unbelief.

And when those who had been sent [by God] came to the family of Lot, that is, to Lot [himself],

he said, to them, ‘Indeed you are strangers’, that is, I do not know you.

They said, ‘Rather, we have come to you because of that which they, your people, used to doubt, namely, the chastisement.

And we have brought you the Truth and indeed we speak truthfully, in what we say.

So travel with your family in a portion of the night and follow their rear, walk behind them; and let none of you turn round, lest he see the dreadful nature of that [punishment] which will be sent down on them, and go whither you are commanded’, namely, [to] Syria.

And We conveyed, We revealed, to him the matter, which was, that these [sinners] was to be eradicated by morning (musbihīn is a circumstantial qualifier,), in other words, their annihilation will take place in the morning.

And then came the people of the city, the city of Sodom, that is, the people of Lot, upon being told that there were handsome clean-shaven individuals — namely, the angels — in the house of Lot, rejoicing (yastabshirūn is a circumstantial qualifier), desiring to commit an abomination with them.

He, Lot, said, ‘Lo! these are my guests, so do not disgrace me;

and fear God, and do not humiliate me’, by seeking them to commit an abomination with them.

They said, ‘Have we not forbidden you from [entertaining] anyone?’, from offering them hospitality?

He said, ‘These here are my daughters, if you must be doing’, what you desire [to do] in the way of satisfying your lust, then marry them. God, exalted be He, says:

By your life — this is an address to the Prophet (s) — in their drunkenness they were bewildered, hesitant.

Then the Cry, the Cry of Gabriel, seized them at sunrise.

And We made their, that is, their cities’, topmost part their nethermost, by Gabriel’s raising them [the cities] to the heaven and dropping them face down onto the earth, and We rained on them stones of baked clay, clay baked in fire.

Indeed in that, which is mentioned, there are signs, indications of God’s Oneness, for those who take note, [those who] observe and take heed.

And indeed they, that is, the cities of the people of Lot, are on a road that [still] remains, Quraysh’s route to Syria, [one] not yet effaced: so why do they not take heed from their example?

There is indeed a sign, a lesson, in that for believers.

And certainly (in has been softened, in other words [understand it as being] innahu) the dwellers in the wood, a huddle of trees near Midian — these were the people of [the prophet] Shu‘ayb — were evildoers, for denying Shu‘ayb.

So We exacted retribution from them, by destroying them through extreme heat. And certainly both of them, that is, the cities of the people of Lot and those of [the dwellers in] the wood, are upon a open road, plain [to see]: so will you not take heed from their example, O people of Mecca?

And verily the dwellers in al-Hijr — a valley between Medina and Syria — namely, [the tribe of] Thamūd, denied those who had been sent [by God], when they denied [the prophet] Sālih, as this constituted a denial of the other messengers, since they all shared the fact that they came with [the Message proclaiming] the Oneness of God.

And We brought them Our signs, by way of the she-camel [of Sālih], but they were averse [to them], refusing to reflect on them.

And they used to hew out dwellings from the mountains, feeling secure.

But the Cry seized them in the morning.

And so that which they used to count as gain, in the way of building fortresses and amassing riches, did not avail, [did not] protect, them, from the chastisement.

We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save with the Truth. And truly the Hour shall come, without doubt, whereupon every person will be requited according to his deeds. So be forgiving, O Muhammad (s), to your people, with gracious forgiveness: turn away from them without [any feeling of] anxiety — this was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse [Q. 9:5].

Truly your Lord, He is the Creator, of everything, the Knowing, of everything.

And verily We have given you seven of the oft-repeated [verses] — the Prophet (s) said that this meant [sūrat] al-Fātiha, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim], since it is repeated in every unit of prayer (rak‘a) — and the great Qur’ān.

Do not extend your glance toward that which We have given different groups of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, should they not believe, and lower your wing, temper your nature, for the believers.

And say: ‘Indeed, I am the warner, of God’s chastisement, lest it be sent down on you, the clear [warner], clear in [his] warning.

Even as We sent down, chastisement, on those who make division, the Jews and the Christians,

those who have reduced the Recitation, namely, those scriptures revealed to them, to parts, believing in some and disbelieving in others. It is [alternatively] said that the individuals meant here were those who ‘divided up’ among themselves the roads to Mecca, barring people from Islam. Some of them said that the Qur’ān was sorcery, some that it was soothsaying, and others that it was poetry.

By your Lord, We shall question them all — a questioning involving rebuke —

about what they used to do.

So proclaim, O Muhammad (s), what you have been commanded, to [proclaim], in other words, declare it openly and carry it out, and turn away from the idolaters — this was [revealed] before the command to struggle [against the idolaters].

Indeed We have sufficed you against the mockers, [who mocked] you, by Our having destroyed each one of them through some harm, and these were: al-Walīd b. al-Mughīra, al-‘Āsī b. Wā’il, ‘Udayy b. Qays, al-Aswad b. al-Muttalib and al-Aswad b. ‘Abd Yaghūth,

those [mockers] who set up besides God another god: (this [entire clause] is an adjectival qualification; but it is also said to be the subject, and because there is an implicit conditional meaning [in the above-mentioned clause], the [particle] fā’ has been inserted into the predicate, which is [the following]) soon they will know, the sequel of their affair.

And verily (wa-laqad is for confirmation) We know that your breast is [at times] oppressed by what they say, in the way of mockery and denial.

So glorify, intimately [repeating], the praise of your Lord, in other words, say subhāna’Llāhi wa-bi-hamdihi — and be of those who prostrate themselves, those who pray;

and worship your Lord until Certainty — Death — comes to you.

When the idolaters found chastisement slow in coming, the following was revealed: God’s commandment has come, that is, the Hour [has come] ([this verb] atā is in the past tense because it means that [the event therein described] will come to pass) in other words, it [God’s commandment] is close at hand, so do not seek to hasten it, do not demand it before its [due] time, for it will come to pass without doubt. Glory be to Him — an affirmation of His transcendence — and exalted be He above what they associate, with Him, in the way of others.

He sends down the angels, namely, Gabriel, with the Spirit, with the Revelation, of His command, by His will, to whomever He will of His servants, and these are the prophets, [saying] that (an is explicative): Warn, threaten the disbelievers with chastisement and make them aware, that there is no God save Me: so fear Me, fear Me.

He created the heavens and the earth with the Truth, that is, with the purpose of [manifesting] truth. Exalted be He above what they associate, with Him in the way of idols.

He created man from a drop of fluid, of sperm, until He makes him strong and tough, yet behold! he is disputatious, extremely quarrelsome, openly, making this [disputatiousness] clear in his rejection of resurrection, contending: Who shall revive the bones when they are decayed? [Q. 36:78].

And the cattle, camels, cows and sheep (al-an‘āma, ‘cattle’, is in the accusative because of the implied verb [governing it], as explained by [the following words, khalaqahā lakum]), He created them for you, [you being] included among the number of mankind. In them there is warmth, that by which you keep warm in the way of clothes and garments, [taken] from their hairs and wools, as well as [other] uses, such as [their] offspring, milk and for you to ride, and of them you eat (the adverbial clause [wa-minhā, ‘of them’] precedes [the verb] for the purpose of [establishing harmony with] the end-rhyme [of the Qur’ānic verse]);

and for you there is in them beauty, adornment, when you bring them [home] to rest, [when you] return them to their resting places in the evening, and when you drive them forth to pasture, when you bring them out to the grazing pastures in the morning.

And they bear your burdens, your baggage, to a land which you could not reach, without being on camel-back, save with great trouble to yourselves, [save by] straining them. Indeed your Lord is Gentle, Merciful, to you, in having created these for you.

And, He created, horses and mules and asses, that you may ride them, and for adornment (wa-zīnatan is an object denoting reason; the use of both of these reasons [‘to ride’ and ‘for adornment’] as illustrations of [God’s] graces does not preclude that they may have been created for other purposes, such as for consumption in the case of horses — which is established [as lawful] by a hadīth in both Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim]); and He creates what you do not know, of marvelous and strange things.

And God’s is the direction of the way, that is, to point out the straight path, and some of them, that is, the paths, are deviant, swerving away from straightness. And had He willed, to guide you, He would have guided you, to seek the way, all, so that you would be [rightly] guided of your own choice.

He it is Who sends down water from the heaven, whence you have drink, for you to drink, and whence are trees, which grow because of this [water], whereat you let your animals graze.

With it He makes the crops grow for you, and olives and date-palms and vines and all kinds of fruit. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there is a sign, indicating His Oneness, exalted He be, for people who reflect, upon His handiwork and therefore believe.

And He disposed for you the night and the day and the sun (wa’l-shamsa, read in the accusative as a supplement to what precedes it; or read wa’l-shamsu in the nominative as a subject [of a new sentence]) and the moon and the stars (also read both ways) are disposed (musakhkharātin, read in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier, or in the nominative [musakhkharātun] as a predicate) by His command, by His will. Surely in that there are signs for people who understand, [a people] who reflect.

And, He has disposed for you, whatever He has created for you in the earth, of animals, plants and otherwise, diverse in hue, such as red, yellow, green and otherwise. Surely in that there is a sign for people who remember, [a people who] are admonished.

And He it is Who disposed the sea, [He it is Who] subdued it, that it might be sailed upon and dived in, that you may eat from it fresh meat, that is, fish, and bring forth from it ornaments which you wear, namely, pearls and coral. And you see, observe, the ships ploughing therein, ploughing through the water, that is, cleaving it as they sail upon it, coming and going with the same wind; and that you may seek (wa-li-tabtaghū is a supplement to li-ta’kulū, ‘that you may eat’) of His bounty, exalted He be, by way of commerce, and that you might be thankful, to God for [all] that.

And He cast into the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake, move, with you, and, He made therein, rivers, such as the Nile, and ways, roads, so that you might be guided, to your destinations,

— and landmarks [as well], by which you might find the roads, [landmarks] such as mountains, during the day, and by the star, meaning, by the stars, they are guided, to the roads and to the direction of prayer (qibla) by night.

Is He then Who creates — namely, God — as he who does not create, namely, idols, so that you associate them with Him in worship? No. Will you not then remember, this, and so become believers?

And if you were to count God’s grace you could never reckon it, number it precisely, let alone be able to give thanks for it. Indeed God is Forgiving, Merciful, since He bestows graces upon you despite your shortcomings and your [acts of] disobedience.

And God knows what you keep secret and what you disclose.

And those whom you invoke (tad‘ūna, or read yad‘una ‘they invoke’) besides God, namely, the idols, do not create anything, but are themselves created, fashioned from stones and other [materials].

They are dead, possessing no life (amwātun, ‘dead’, is a second predicate), not living (an emphasis), and they, the idols, are not aware when, is the time [in which], they shall be raised, that is, creatures: so how can they be worshipped? For, only the Creator, the Living, the Knower of the Unseen can be a God.

Your God, the One deserving of your worship, is One God, without [any] equal in [terms of] His essence or His attributes, and this is God, exalted He be. But as for those who do not believe in the Hereafter their hearts are in denial, rejecting the Oneness [of God], and they are arrogant, scorning to believe in it.

Without doubt, verily, God knows what they keep secret and what they disclose, and will requite them for it. Indeed He does not love the arrogant, meaning, He will punish them.

The following was revealed regarding al-Nadr b. al-Hārith: And when it is said to them, ‘What is it (mā is an interrogative particle; dhā is a relative particle) that your Lord has revealed?’, to Muhammad (s), they say, [that] these [revelations] are, ‘fables, lies, of the ancients’, in order to lead people astray.

That they may bear, at the conclusion of the matter, their burdens, their sins, complete, none of them expunged, on the Day of Resurrection and also, [bear] some, of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without any knowledge, because they summoned them to error and they [the latter] followed them, and thus both share in the sin. How evil, awful, is the burden they bear, this load [of sins] of theirs which they carry.

Those before them had indeed plotted, [those] such as Nimrod — he built a lofty tower that he might ascend through it to the heavens and wage war against its inhabitants; then God came at, He aimed at, their edifice from the foundations, from the base, unleashing against it winds and earthquake, which demolished it; and so the roof collapsed upon them from above them, that is, while they were beneath it, and the chastisement came upon them whence they were not aware, from a direction which would not have occurred to them: [alternatively] it is said that this [description] is a simile for [demonstrating] the thwarting of that which they had settled on in the way of plots against [God’s] messengers.

Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them, humiliate them, and He, God, will say, to them by the tongues of the angels, in rebuke: ‘Where are those associates of Mine, as you [were wont to] claim, concerning whom, for whose sake, you used to make breaches?’, you used to opposed the believers. Those who were given knowledge, from among the prophets and believers, will say, ‘Truly disgrace on this day, as well as misfortune, are for the disbelievers — they say this rejoicing at their [the disbelievers’] misfortune —

those whom the angels take [in death] (read [feminine person] tatawaffāhum or [masculine] yatawaffāhum) while they are wronging themselves’, through disbelief. Then they will offer submission, becoming compliant and submitting themselves [to belief in God] upon death, saying: ‘We were not doing any evil’, [any] associating others with God, whereat the angels say: ‘Nay! Surely God is Knower of what you used to do’, and will requite you for it.

And it will also be said to them: So enter the gates of Hell, to abide therein! Evil indeed is the lodging, the abode, of the arrogant.

And it is said to those who fear, idolatry, ‘What has your Lord revealed?’ They will say, ‘Good! For those who were virtuous, by [embracing] faith, in this world, there will be a virtuous [reward], namely, a goodly life; and truly the abode of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise, is better, than the world and all that is in it. God says [the following] regarding it: And truly excellent is the abode of the God-fearing, it [the Hereafter] is.

Gardens of Eden, as a [place of] residence (jannātu ‘Adnin is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) which they will enter, [Gardens] underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall have whatever they wish. So, [with such] a reward, God rewards the God-fearing,

those whom (alladhīna is a description) the angels take away [in death] while they are goodly, pure of any unbelief, saying, to them upon death: ‘Peace be on you!, and it is said to them in the Hereafter: Enter Paradise because of what you used to do’.

Do they, the disbelievers, await anything but that the angels should come to them (read [feminine person] ta’tīhim or [masculine] ya’tīhim) to seize their spirits, or that there should come your Lord’s command?, chastisement, or the resurrection that entails it. So, just as these have done, did those before them, from among the [former] communities: they denied their messengers and were therefore destroyed. And God did not wrong them, destroying them for no sin, but they used to wrong themselves, through disbelief.

So that the evils of what they did smote them, that is, the requital of these [evil things smote them], and there besieged, it was sent down [against], them that which they used to mock, namely, the chastisement.

And the idolaters, from among the Meccans, say, ‘Had God willed we would not have worshipped anything besides Him — neither we, nor our fathers — nor would we have deemed anything sacred besides Him’, in the way of those [camels] called bahīras and sā’iba. In other words, our idolatry and our deeming [these animals] sacred are [effected] by His will; therefore He must be satisfied with this. God, exalted He be, says: So did those before them, that is, they denied their messengers regarding that which they [the messengers] brought them. Yet are messengers charged with anything save plain conveyance [of the Message]? It is not their duty to guide.

And verily We sent forth among every community a messenger, just as We have sent you forth among these [Meccans], [to say]: ‘Worship God, profess [belief in] His Oneness, and shun false deities’, graven images, and do not worship them. Then among them were some whom God guided, and they believed, and among them were some who deserved to be in error, according to God’s knowledge, and so they did not believe. So travel, O disbelievers of Mecca, in the land and observe the nature of the consequence of those who denied, their messengers, in that they were destroyed.

If you, O Muhammad (s), are eager for them to be guided, when God has already made them go astray, you will not be able to achieve this: For God does not guide (read passive lā yuhdā [?], or active lā yahdī) he whom He has [already] sent astray, he whom He desires to send astray, and they will have no helpers, [no] protectors from God’s chastisement.

And they swear by God their most earnest oaths, in other words, with their utmost earnestness therein, that God will not resurrect the dead. God, exalted be He, says: Nay, He will resurrect them: it is a promise binding upon Him (both wa‘dan and haqqan are verbal nouns, used for emphasis, and are in the accusative because of the verbal actions implicit in them; in other words, He promised that and made it a binding truth) but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not know, that.

That He may make clear to them (li-yubayyina is semantically connected to an implied yab‘athuhum, ‘He will resurrect them’) what they differ, with believers, in, of matters of religion, by punishing them and rewarding the believers, and that the disbelievers may know that they were liars, when they denied the Resurrection.

All that We say to a thing, when We will it, that is, when We will that it come into existence (qawlunā is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is, in other words, and that [thing] is (a variant reading [for fa-yakūnu] has fa-yakūna as a supplement to naqūla). The verse is intended as an affirmation of the power [of God] to resurrect.

And those who emigrated for God’s cause, to establish His religion, after they had been wronged, through harm, [those] from among the people of Mecca — these were the Prophet (s) and his Companions — truly We shall lodge them in this world in a goodly lodging, namely, Medina, and the reward of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise, is surely greater, grander, did they but know, that is, the disbelievers — or those who stayed behind and did not emigrate — [did they but know] the honour that belongs to emigrants, they would have followed them.

They are, those who endure, the harm inflicted by the idolaters and [endure] the emigration in order to make manifest the religion, and put their trust in their Lord, so that He provides for them whence they do not reckon.

And We did not send before you anything other than men, to whom We revealed, and [sent] not angels: ‘So ask the followers of the Remembrance, those knowledgeable in the Torah and the Gospels; if you do not know’, that, then they know it, and you are more likely to believe them than the believers are to believe Muhammad (s),

[We sent them] with clear signs (bi’l-bayyināt is semantically connected to an omitted [verb]), namely, We sent them with clear arguments, and the Books and We have revealed to you the Remembrance, the Qur’ān, that you may make clear to mankind what has been revealed to them, therein, in the way of [what is] lawful and unlawful, and that perhaps they might reflect, upon this and take heed.

Do they feel secure, those who have schemed evil, schemes against the Prophet (s) at the Council Assembly, [schemes] such as detaining him, killing him or banishing him, as mentioned in [sūrat] al-Anfāl [Q. 8:30], that God will not cause the earth to swallow them, as [God did] with Qārūn [Q. 28:81], or that the chastisement will not come upon them whence they are not aware of?, that is, in a way which would not occur to them. Indeed, they were destroyed at Badr even though they had never anticipated it.

Or that He will not seize them in their going to and fro, during their travels for commerce, whereupon they will not be able to escape?, [whereupon] they will not be able to elude the chastisement.

Or that He will not seize them amid [growing] fear?, [amid] a gradual diminishing [of their numbers] little by little, until all are destroyed (‘alā takhawwufin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb [God] or the object). Indeed then your Lord is Gentle, Merciful, insofar as He does not hasten for them their punishment.

Or have they not observed the things which God has created, which cast a shadow, such as trees or a mountain, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left (shamā’il is the plural of shimāl), in other words, towards both sides, at the beginning of the day and at its end, prostrating to God (sujjadan is a circumstantial qualifier), that is to say, subservient to Him with respect to what is required of them, and [how] they, the shadows, are subject?, humbled: they [the shadows] are likened to rational beings [in this description].

And to God prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of living creatures, that is, [of] every single thing that moves thereupon; in other words, to Him it [everything] is subservient in terms of what is required of it — most of what is given [by way of example] is non-rational, since these are [the more] numerous — and the angels [also prostrate] — these are singled out for mention because of their merit — and they are not arrogant, they do [not] disdain to worship Him.

They, that is, the angels, fear (yakhāfūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing [the verb] yastakbirūna, ‘they are [not] arrogant’) their Lord from above them (min fawqihim is a circumstantial qualifier referring to [the suffixed pronoun] -hum [of fawqihim]) in other words, [they fear their Lord], being High above them with the power to subjugate, and they do what they are commanded, to [do].

And God has said: ‘Do not choose two gods (ithnayn is for emphasis). Truly there is only One God — He has added this [statement] to affirm [His] Divinity and Oneness — so be in awe of Me [alone]’: fear Me, to the exclusion of anyone else — herein is a shift from the third person [to the first].

And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants. And to Him belongs the religion, the obedience, that endures, the [one] everlasting (wāsiban, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-dīn, ‘the religion’, and is operated by the sense of the adverbial clause). Will you then fear any other than God?, when He is the True God, other than Whom there is no god (the interrogative is a [statement of] rejection and rebuke).

Whatever grace you have, it is from God, none but He brings it (mā, ‘whatever’, is either a conditional or relative [particle]). Then when misfortune, poverty or illness, befalls you, to Him you cry for help, [to Him] you raise your voices with pleas for help and supplications, and you do not call upon any other than Him.

Then when He has rid you of the misfortune, behold, a group of you attribute partners to their Lord,

in order to deny that, grace, which We have given them. So enjoy, that consent of yours to worship idols (an imperative meant as a threat): for soon you shall know, the consequence of this.

And they, that is, the idolaters, assign, to what they do not know, that they cause harm and cannot benefit [them] — namely, the idols — a portion of that which We have provided them with, of crops and cattle, saying that ‘this is for God and this is for our partners’. By God, you will indeed be questioned (a questioning of rebuke; there is a shift herein from the third [to the second] person) about what you used to fabricate, against God, such as [claiming] that He commanded you to [do] this.

And they assign to God daughters, by claiming that the angels are the daughters of God — Be He glorified! — a declaration that He is [exalted] above that which they claim — while they will have what they desire, namely, sons (the status of this sentence is either independent [nominative], or that of an [accusative] object of [the verb] yaj‘alūna, ‘they assign’). The meaning is that to Him they assign daughters, to whom they are averse, when [in any case] He is [exalted] beyond having offspring, while to themselves they assign sons, of their own choosing, so that the best is theirs exclusively — like where God says, Now, ask them: are daughters to be for your Lord, while sons are to be for them? [Q. 37:149].

And when one of them is given the tidings of a girl, that will be born to him, his face becomes darkened, transformed like that of one [suddenly] struck by grief, and he chokes inwardly, filled with anguish: so how is it that daughters are attributed to Him, exalted be He?

He hides, disappearing, from people, that is, [from] his people, out of distress at the tidings given to him, fearing mockery, unsure what to do with it [the newborn]: shall he retain it — refrain from killing it — in humiliation, [enduring] shame and disgrace, or trample into the dust, by burying it alive. Verily wretched is what they judge, [evil is] this judgement of theirs, in which they ascribe to their Creator [that His are the] daughters, who have such a [lowly] status in their eyes.

For those who do not believe in the Hereafter, namely, [for] the disbelievers, there is an evil description, in other words, [theirs is] the most evil attribute, meaning, the most vile, which is their burying alive of [newborn] girls, despite the fact that they are needed for the purposes of marriage; and the loftiest description belongs to God, [His is] the attribute most sublime, namely, that there is no god except Him. And He is the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His creation.

And if God were to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, [wrongdoing] through acts of disobedience, He would not leave upon it, that is, [upon] the earth, any living being, any single [living] thing moving upon it; but He gives them respite until an appointed term; and when their term comes they will not defer, from it, by a single hour nor advance, it.

Still, they assign to God what they dislike, for themselves — such as daughters, partners in power, and the mistreatment of messengers. And their tongues, despite this, relate, tell, the lie, which is, that theirs will be the best reward, with God, namely, Paradise, as He [God] states [in their words elsewhere]: ‘And in case I am returned to my Lord, I will indeed have the best reward with Him’ [Q. 41:50]. But God, exalted be He, says: Without any doubt — verily — theirs shall be the Fire and they shall be abandoned therein, or [it, mufratūn, means that] they shall be foremost in [entering] it (a variant reading [for mufratūn] has mufritūn, meaning that ‘they transgress the bounds’).

By God, We verily sent to communities before you, messengers. But Satan adorned for them their deeds, [their] evil [deeds], so that they considered them to be good [deeds] and therefore they denied the messengers. So he is their patron, the guardian of their affairs, today, that is, [now] in this world, and for them there will be a painful chastisement, in the Hereafter. It is also said that by al-yawm, ‘today’, is meant the Day of Resurrection, narrating the events as though they are taking place [now]. In other words, they have no guardian other than him [in other words, Satan], and as he is incapable of helping himself, how could he possibly help them?

And We have not revealed to you, O Muhammad (s), the Book, the Qur’ān, except [for the purpose] that you may make clear to them, to mankind, that wherein they differ, in the matter of religion, and as a guidance (wa-hudan is a supplement to wa-li-tubayyina, ‘and that you may make clear’) and as a mercy for a people who believe, in it.

And God sends down water from the heaven and therewith revives the earth, with plants, after its death, [after] its drying up. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there is a sign, indicating the [truth of the] Resurrection, for a people who listen, listening and then reflecting.

And truly for you there is in the cattle a lesson, an example to learn from. We give you to drink — [this introduces] the explanation of the ‘lesson’ — of that which is in their bellies, the cattle’s [bellies], from (min indicates a new subject and is semantically connected to nusqīkum, ‘We give you to drink’) between the refuse, the intestinal waste, and the blood, pure milk, uncontaminated by either the refuse or the blood, neither in its taste, odour or colour, even though it [the milk] is [situated] between the two, palatable to drinkers, easily passing down their throats, not causing any choking.

And of the fruits of date-palms and vines, [comes forth] a fruit, from which you draw an intoxicant, a wine that intoxicates — it [the wine] is referred to by the verbal noun [sakaran, ‘intoxicant’], and this [verse] came before it was prohibited — and goodly provision, such as dates, raisins, vinegar, and molasses. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there is a sign, indicating His power, exalted be He, for a people who understand, [a people who] reflect.

And your Lord revealed to the bee, a revealing [effected] through inspiration, [saying] (an, ‘that’, is either explicative or relates to the verbal noun): ‘Choose among the hills habitations, to which you can resort, and among the trees, [also] habitations, and among the trellises which they raise, that is, the places which humans build for you — for otherwise it [the bee] would not resort to these [places].

Then eat from every [kind of] fruit, and follow, enter, the ways of your Lord, [follow] His paths in seeking pastures, [ways] made easily accessible’ (dhululan is the plural of dhalūl, and is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-subul, ‘the ways’, in other words, [those paths] disposed for you, such that they pose no difficulty for you, even if it should be rough [terrain], and [such that] you would not lose your way when returning therefrom, even if it be far away; it [dhululan] is also said to be [a circumstantial qualifier] referring to the person of [the pronominal suffix of] fa’slukī, ‘you follow’, meaning [in this case] [follow those paths] in compliance with what is required of you). There comes forth from their bellies a drink, namely, honey, of diverse hues, wherein is a cure for mankind, from [all] ailments; it is also said [that it means that it is a cure only] for some [ailments], as indicated by the indefinite [noun] shifā’un, ‘a cure’; or [that it is a cure] for all [ailments] when supplemented with some other [remedy]; or without these [other remedies] but with the resolve (niyya) [to get better]. The Prophet (s) used to prescribe it for anyone suffering from stomach pains, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]. Surely in that there is a sign for a people who reflect, upon God’s handiwork, exalted be He.

And God has created you, when you were nothing, then He takes you [in death], when your terms [of life] are concluded; and there are some among you who are relegated to the most abject stage of life, that is, the most diminished, because of old-age and senility, so that he knows nothing after [having possessed] some knowledge. ‘Ikrima said, ‘Whoever recites the Qur’ān will not come to such a predicament’. God is Knowing, of how to manage [the affairs of] His creation, Powerful, in [doing] what He will.

And God has favoured some of you above others in [respect of] provision, thus, some of you are poor, some are rich, some owners, others are owned. Now those who have been [more] favoured, namely, the masters, would not hand over their provision to those [slaves] whom their right hands possess, that is, they would not assign that wealth and other things which We have given them as something to be shared [equally] between them and their slaves, so that they, that is, the slaves and [their] masters, become equal, partners, in respect thereof. The meaning is: they do not have partners from among their slaves in respect of their wealth, so how can they make certain of God’s servants partners of His? Is it then the grace of God that they deny?, [that] they reject, when they ascribe partners to Him?

And God made for you mates from your own selves, thus He created Eve from Adam’s rib and [created] all mankind from the seminal fluids of men and women, and made for you, from your mates, children and grandchildren, and He provided you with the good things, of [all] kinds of fruits, seeds and animals. Is it then in falsehood, [in] the idol, that they believe and in the grace of God that they disbelieve?, when they associate others [with God]?

And they worship besides God, that is, other than Him, what has no power to give them any [sort of] provision from the heavens, such as water, and the earth, such as plants (shay’an, ‘any[thing]’, is a substitute for rizqan, ‘provision’) nor do they have the capacity, [nor] are they able to do anything — and these are the idols.

So do not strike any similitude for God, [do not] ascribe to God likenesses and then associate them with Him [in power]. Truly God knows, that there is nothing like Him, and you do not know, this.

God strikes a similitude (mathalan, this is substituted by [the following, ‘abdan mamlūkan]) a slave who is a chattel (mamlūkan, an adjective to distinguish him [this type of slave] from a free man, who is the servant of God [alone]) having no power over anything, since he has no mastery, and one on whom (man, is an indefinite [noun], adjectivally qualified, in other words, a free man) We have bestowed a fair provision from Us, such that he spends thereof secretly and openly, that is, disposing of it as he wishes: the first similitude is for the idols, while the second is His, exalted be He. Are they equal?, the powerless slaves and the dispensing free men? No. Praise belongs to God, alone. But most of them, that is, the people of Mecca, do not know, the chastisement they will come to, and so they associate others with God.

And God strikes a similitude (mathalan, this is substituted by [the following, rajulayn]) two men, one of whom is dumb [from birth], having no power over anything, as he cannot understand nor be understood, and who is a liability, burdensome, to his master: — the [legal] guardian of his affairs — wherever he directs him, he does not bring, therefrom, any good, he does [not] succeed, and this is the similitude of the disbeliever. Is he, that is, the dumb one mentioned, equal to one who enjoins justice, that is, to one who is able to speak, of benefit to people, since he enjoins it [justice] and encourages [others to] it, and follows a path, a way, that is straight? — this being the second [man], the believer — No [he is not equal to him]. It is also said that this [last similitude] is a similitude of God, while the [similitude of the] dumb one is of the idols, so that the preceding [verse] contains the similitude of the disbeliever and the believer.

And to God belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, in other words, the knowledge of what is hidden in them. And the matter of the Hour is but as the twinkling of an eye, or it is [even] nearer, since it takes place as a result of the words, ‘Be’ and it is (kun fa-yakūn). Truly God has power over all things.

And God brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers while you did not know anything (the statement [lā ta‘lamūna shay’an, ‘while you did not know anything’] is a circumstantial qualifier), and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts that perhaps you might give thanks, to Him for this [gift] and become believers.

Have they not observed the birds [how they are] made subservient, disposed to [be able to] fly, in the air of heaven?, that is, in the air between the heaven and the earth. Nothing holds them, when they draw in their wings or open them, lest they fall, except God, by His power. Indeed in that there are signs for a people who believe, [the signs] which are that they have been created in a way that enables them to fly, as well as the creation of the air in such a way that it allows for flight, and the holding of them [up in the air so that they do not fall].

And it is God Who has made for you your homes as a place of rest, a place that you can inhabit, and He has made for you out of the skins of the cattle homes, such as tents and pavilions, which you find light, to carry, on the day of your migration, your travel, and on the day of your halting; and of their wool, that is, the sheep’s, and their fur, that is, the camels’, and their hair, that is, the goats’, [He has made for you] furniture, chattels such as rugs and blankets, and wares, for you to use, for a while, until they perish.

And it is God Who has made for you, from what He created, of houses, trees and clouds, shade (zilāl is the plural of zill) to protect you from the heat of the sun; and He has made for you, in the mountains, places of refuge (aknān is the plural of kinn, which is [a places] where one can seek shelter [istakanna], such as a cave or a tunnel); and He has made for you garments, shirts, that protect you from the heat, that is, and [also] from the cold, and garments that protect you from your [mutual] violence, [your] warring, in other words, [to protect you] from stabbed or struck during these [instances], [garments] such as coats of mail and armour plates. So, in the same way that He has created these things, He perfects His favour — in this world — to you, by creating that of which you have need, so that you, O people of Mecca, might submit, [that you might] affirm His Oneness.

But if they turn away, [if] they reject Islam, your duty, O Muhammad (s), is only to convey [the Message] plainly — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [the disbelievers].

They recognise God’s grace, that is, they affirm that it comes from Him, and then deny it, by associating others [with Him], and most of them are ungrateful.

And, mention, the day We shall raise up from every community a witness, and this will be it [that community’s] prophet, to bear witness for it and against it, and this [day] is the Day of Resurrection; then the disbelievers will not be given permission, to make excuses, nor will they be asked to make amends, that is, [nor will they be asked] to [repent and] return to that which pleases God.

And when those who did wrong, [those who] disbelieved, behold the chastisement, the Fire, it shall not be lightened for them, the chastisement, nor will they be granted any respite, [any] deferment from it when they see it.

And when the idolaters behold their associates, of devils and others, they will say, ‘Our Lord, these are our associates whom we used to invoke, [whom we used] to worship, besides You’. But they will fling to them the saying, that is, they will say to them: ‘You are indeed liars!’, when you say that you used to worship us — as is stated [by them] in another verse: ‘It was not us that they worshipped’ [Q. 28:63]; [and also in the verse] They will deny their worship of them [Q. 19:82].

And they will offer submission to God on that day, that is, they will have surrendered to His judgement, and that which they used to invent, in the way of [claiming that] their gods intercede for them, will fail, forsake, them.

Those who disbelieve and bar, people, from the way of God, [from] His religion, them, We shall add chastisement to [their] chastisement, that [chastisement] which they have merited for their disbelief — Ibn Mas‘ūd said, ‘[Their chastisment will consist of] scorpions whose fangs are [as long] as the tallest palm trees’ — because of the corruption they used to cause, by their barring people from belief.

And, mention, the day We shall raise up from every community a witness against them from among themselves, and this will be their [that community’s] prophet, and We shall bring you, O Muhammad (s), as a witness against these, namely, your people. And We have revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, as a clarification of all things, that people [might] need concerning the Law, and as a guidance, from error, and a mercy and good tidings, of Paradise, to those who submit, [those who] affirm the Oneness [of God].

Indeed God enjoins justice — [that is] affirmation of [His] Oneness, or [actually] being fair, and virtue, performance of the [religious] obligations, or that you should worship God as if you were able to see Him, as [reported] in the hadīth; and giving to kinsfolk — He has singled it [kinship] out for mention by way of [highlighting] its importance — and He forbids lewdness, fornication, and abomination, with regard to the [stipulations of the] Law, [abomination] such as disbelief and acts of disobedience, and aggression, wrongdoing against people — He also singles this out for mention by way of [showing] its importance; just as He began with [the mention of] ‘lewdness’, in this way, He admonishes you, through commands and prohibitions, so that you might remember, [that you might] be admonished (tadhakkarūna, ‘you [might] remember’, the original tā’ [of tatadhakkarūna] has been assimilated with the dhāl). In the Mustadrak [of al-Hākim al-Naysābūrī] it is reported from Ibn Mas‘ūd that [he said]: ‘This [verse] is the most comprehensive verse in the Qur’ān in terms of [what is] good and [what is] evil’.

And fulfil God’s covenant, [effected] by way of pledges of allegiance and oaths and in other ways, when you made a covenant, and do not break [your] oaths after pledging them and having made God surety over you, that you will fulfill [the covenant], for you have sworn [the oath] by Him (the sentence wa-qad ja‘altumu’Llāha ‘alaykum kafīlan, ‘and having made God surety over you’, is a circumstantial qualifier). Truly God knows what you do — [this is] a threat for them.

And do not be like her who undoes, spoils, her yarn, that which she has spun, after having made it strong, [having] set and spun it, [breaking it up] into fibres (ankāthan is a circumstantial qualifier, [ankāth is] the plural of nikth, and means that which is undone [yunkathu]) — this was an imbecile Meccan woman who used to spin all day and then undo it — by making (tattakhidhūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of [the verb] takūnū, ‘[do not] be like’), in other words, [what is meant is] ‘do not be like her by making’, your oaths a [means of] deceit, (dakhal, is what enters [yadkhulu] into something but does not belong to it), in other words, as [a means of causing] mischief or as trickery, between you, by breaking these [oaths], so that one group may become more numerous than [another] group. They used to enter into an alliance with a given group, but if they encountered another more numerous and more powerful [group], they would renege on their alliance with the former and forge a [new] alliance with these [latter]. God only tries, tests, you thereby, in other words, by that which He enjoins, in the way of fulfilling the covenant, so that He may observe the obedient and the disobedient among you, or when [it is the case that] one group is more numerous [than another], that He may observe whether you fulfil [your obligation to them] or not; and certainly He will make clear to you on the Day of Resurrection that wherein you used to differ, during [the life of] this world, with regard to covenants and otherwise, by punishing he who reneged and rewarding he who was faithful [to his covenant].

For if God had willed, He could have made you one community, people of a single religion, but He leads astray whom He will and guides whom He will, and you will surely be questioned, on the Day of Resurrection, a questioning of rebuke, about what you used to do, so that you might be requited for it.

And do not make your oaths a [means of] deceit between you — He repeats this [here] for emphasis — lest a foot should slip, that is, [lest] your feet [should slip] off the path of Islam, after being steady, having been set upon it, and [lest] you should taste evil, that is, chastisement, forasmuch as you barred [people] from the way of God, in other words, for your refraining to fulfil covenants or barring others from [doing] this, since your custom [once established] will be followed [by others], and there be a tremendous chastisement for you, in the Hereafter.

And do not sell God’s covenant for a small price, of this world, so that you break it in return for this [small price]. For truly what is with God, of reward, is better for you, than all that is in this world — if you should know, this, then do not break it.

That which is with you, of [the things of] this world, will come to an end, will perish, but that which is with God remains, [it is] everlasting. And He shall surely pay (read la-yajziyanna or la-najziyanna, ‘We shall surely pay’) those who were patient, in fulfilling their covenants, their reward according to the best of what they used to do, ‘the best’ [here] means ‘the good’.

Whoever acts righteously, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall revive with a goodly life. This is said to be life in Paradise; or it is life on earth, [when it is] one of contentedness or one of wholesome (halāl) provision. And We shall surely pay them their reward according to the best of what they used to do.

And when you recite the Qur’ān, that is, when you intend to recite it, seek refuge in God from Satan the outcast, in other words, say a‘ūdhu bi’Lllāhi min al-shaytān al-rajīm, ‘I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan’.

Indeed he has no power, sway, over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord.

His [Satan’s] power is only over those who choose him as [their] patron, by obeying him, and those who ascribe partners to Him, that is, to God.

And when We exchange a verse in place of a [different] verse, by abrogating it and revealing another, for the welfare of [God’s] servants — and God knows best what He reveals — they say, that is, the disbelievers [say] to the Prophet (s): ‘You are just a fabricator’, a liar, making it up yourself. Nay, most of them do not know, the true nature of the Qur’ān and the benefit [to God’s servants] of abrogation.

Say, to them: ‘The Holy Spirit, Gabriel, has revealed it from your Lord with truth (bi’l-haqq, this is semantically connected to nazzala, ‘he [Gabriel] has revealed [it]’) to confirm [the faith of] those who believe, by their believing in it [when it is revealed], and as guidance and good tidings for those who have submitted [to God]’.

And verily (wa-laqad is for confirmation) We know that they say, ‘It is only a human that is teaching him, the Qur’ān’ — this was a Christian blacksmith whom the Prophet (s) used to frequent. God, exalted be He, says: The tongue, the language, of him to whom they refer, to whom they incline, [with the accusation] that he is [the one] teaching him, is foreign’; while this, Qur’ān, is [in] a clear Arabic tongue, one of lucidity and clarity: so how can a foreigner be teaching him?

Indeed those who do not believe in God’s signs — God shall not guide them and there is a painful chastisement for them.

Only those invent falsehood who do not believe in God’s signs, the Qur’an, by saying that these are the words of a human, and it is they who are the liars (the emphasis is [effected] by way of repetition; wa-inna, ‘and indeed’, and other [combinations of inna] are [used] in refutation of their saying, ‘You are just a fabricator’ [above, Q. 16:101]).

Whoever disbelieves in God after [having affirmed] his faith — except for him who is compelled, to pronounce [a statement of] unbelief and so pronounces it, while his heart is at rest in faith (man, ‘whoever’, is [either] a subject or a conditional, and so the predicate [of this subject], or the response [to this conditional], is [an implied] lahum wa‘īdun shadīd, ‘there is for them a severe threat [of chastisement]’; this is indicated by [the statement that follows]) — but he who opens up his breast to unbelief, that is, [he who] opens it up and expands it [with unbelief], meaning that his soul is content with it, upon such shall be wrath from God, and there is a great chastisement for them.

That, threat [of chastisement] for them, is because they have preferred the life of this world, they have chosen it [in preference], to the Hereafter, and because God does not guide the disbelieving folk.

They are the ones on whose hearts God has set a seal, and on their hearing and their sight [as well], and it is they who are heedless, of what [punishment] is being prepared for them.

Without a doubt — verily — in the Hereafter they are the ones who will be the losers, because their journey’s end shall be the Fire, in which they shall be perpetually.

Then indeed your Lord — as for those who emigrated, to Medina, after they were persecuted, [after] they were tortured and [compelled to] pronounce [words of] unbelief (a variant reading [for futinū, ‘they were persecuted’] has fatanū, in other words, ‘[after] they disbelieved’, or ‘[after] they turned people away from belief’), and then struggled and were patient, in obedience — indeed your Lord after that, that is, [after] such a trial, is Forgiving, of them, Merciful, to them (the predicate of the first inna, ‘indeed’, is indicated by the predicate of the second one).

Mention, the day when every soul will come pleading, arguing, for itself, not concerned for any other [soul] — this is the Day of Resurrection — and every soul will be repaid, the requital [of], what it has done and they will not be wronged, at all.

And God strikes a similitude (mathalan is substituted by [the following, qaryatan]) a town, Mecca — meaning its inhabitants — secure, from any raids, never becoming agitated, and peaceful, without anyone ever needing to emigrate from it, on account of anxiety or fear, its provision coming to it plenteously, abundantly, from every place. But it rejected God’s graces, by denying the Prophet (s), so God made it taste the garb of hunger, and so they suffered seven years of drought, and fear, as a result of the raiding parties of the Prophet (s), [all] because of what they used to do.

And verily there came to them a messenger from among them, Muhammad (s), but they denied him, and so the chastisement, of hunger and fear, seized them while they were evildoers.

So eat, O believers, of the lawful and good food which God has provided you, and be thankful for God’s grace, if it is Him that you worship.

He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been hallowed to other than God. Yet whoever is compelled, neither craving nor transgressing, then truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

And do not say, concerning that which your own tongues qualify, falsehood [such as] ‘This is lawful, and this is unlawful’, for what God [respectively] has not made lawful, and what He has not made unlawful, in order to invent lies against God, by attributing such [claims] to Him. Truly those who invent lies against God will not prosper.

For them [there will be], a brief enjoyment, in this world, and for them, in the Hereafter, there will be a painful chastisement.

And to those of Jewry, that is, the Jews, We forbade that which We have related to you already, in the verse, And to those of Jewry We forbade every beast with hoof … to the end [Q. 6:146]; and We did not wrong them, by forbidding [them] that, but they used to wrong themselves, by committing acts of disobedience which necessarily bring about such [consequences].

Then indeed your Lord — to those who did evil, associating others [with God], out of ignorance, and then repented, returned [to God’s way], after that and made amends, in their actions — indeed your Lord after that, that is, [after] that ignorance, or that repentance, is Forgiving, of them, Merciful, to them.

Truly Abraham was a community, a leader (imām), a [good] example, comprising [in his character] all the good traits, obedient to God, a hanīf, inclining towards the upright religion, and he was not of the idolaters;

grateful [as he was] for His graces, He chose him, elected him, and guided him to a straight path.

And We gave him (herein is a shift [to the first person plural] from the third person) in this world good, which is handsome praise [of him] by members of all [three] religions, and in the Hereafter he will indeed be among the righteous, for whom there will be the highest degrees [of reward].

Then We revealed to you, O Muhammad (s), [saying]: ‘Follow the creed, the religion, of Abraham, a hanīf, and he was not of the idolaters’: this [remark] is repeated in order to refute to the claim of the Jews and Christians that they follow his religion.

The Sabbath was only prescribed, in other words, its consecration was made obligatory [only], for those who differed concerning it, with their prophet — these were the Jews. They were commanded to devote themselves solely to worship on Friday, but they said, ‘We do not want it’, and chose Saturday; consequently thereon [the observance of] it was enforced strictly on them; and lo! your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection, concerning that wherein they used to differ, with regard this matter [of the Sabbath], by rewarding the obedient and chastising the one who disobeyed by [his] violating its sanctity.

Call, mankind, O Muhammad (s), to the way of your Lord, [to] His religion, with wisdom, [with] the Qur’ān, and fair exhortation, its [the Qur’ān’s] fair exhortations, or with gentle words, and dispute with them by way of that which, that is, by way of that [manner of] disputation which, is best, such as calling [them] to God by way of His signs and calling [them] to His definitive arguments. Truly your Lord knows best, that is, He is fully knowledgeable [of], those who stray from His way and He knows best those who are guided, and will requite them — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

After Hamza [b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib] had been killed and mutilated, and the Prophet (s) had seen him and said, ‘Verily I will mutilate 70 of them for you’, the following was revealed: And if you retaliate, retaliate with the like of what you have been made to suffer; and yet if you endure patiently, [refraining] from revenge, verily that, namely, [that] enduring, is better for the patient. Thus the Prophet (s) refrained [from taking revenge] and made atonement for his oath, as reported by al-Bazzār.

So be patient, and your patience is only by [the help of] God, [only] by His assistance. And do not grieve for them, that is, [for] the disbelievers if they do not believe, despite your eagerness that they believe, nor be in distress because of that which they scheme, in other words, do not be concerned with their scheming, for I [God] will make victorious over them.

Truly God is with those who fear, [falling into] unbelief and [committing] acts of disobedience, and those who are virtuous, by way of obedience and patience, [granting them] assistance and victory.

Glory be to Him — an affirmation of [God’s] transcendence — Who carried His servant, Muhammad (s), by night (laylan is in the accusative as an adverbial qualification; isrā’ means ‘to travel by night’; what is instructive about this mention [of laylan, ‘by night’] is that, through its being indefinite, there is an indication of the brevity of its duration) from the Sacred Mosque, that is, Mecca, to the Farthest Mosque, the Holy House [of Jerusalem], so called because of its distance from the former; the environs of which We have blessed, with fruits and rivers, that We might show him some of Our signs, the marvels of Our power. Indeed He is the Hearing, the Seeing, that is to say, the Knower of the Prophet’s (s) sayings and deeds. Thus He [God] was gracious to him by way of [carrying him on] the night journey, which comprised his encountering the [other] prophets, his ascension to heaven and the sight of the marvels of the [Divine] Realm and His communion, exalted be He, with him. For he [the Prophet] (s) said: ‘I was brought al-Burāq, a white animal, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule; it was able to place its hoof [back] towards its extremity and so I mounted it. It set off carrying me until I reached the Holy House [of Jerusalem]. [There] I fastened the animal to the ring where the prophets fasten [their animals]. I then went in and prayed two units inside it. As I came out, Gabriel came to me with a jug of wine and a jug of milk, and so I chose the milk. Gabriel said [to me], “You have made the right choice [by choosing] the primordial nature (fitra)”.’ He [the Prophet] continued [the narration], ‘We then ascended to the heaven of this world, whereat Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”, “And who is with you?”, “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been sent for?”. “Yes, he has been sent for”. Then it was opened for us, and lo! Adam stood before me; he greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the second heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”, “And who is with you?”, “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been called forth?”. “Yes, he has been called forth”. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there were the two [maternal] cousins, John and Jesus. They greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the third heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”, “And who is with you?”, “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been sent for?” it was asked. “Yes, he has been sent for”. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there was Joseph standing before me, and indeed he had been given one half of all beauty! He greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the fourth heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”, “And who is with you?”, “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been called forth?”, it was asked. “Yes, he has been called forth”, he replied. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there before me was Enoch (Idrīs). He greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the fifth heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”. “And who is with you?” it was asked, “Muhammad (s)”, he replied. “Has he been sent for?”, it was said. “Yes, he has been sent for”, he replied. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there before me was Aaron. He greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the sixth heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”; “and who is with you?”, “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been called forth?”, it was asked. “Yes, he has been called forth”. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there before me was Moses. He greeted me and prayed for well-being for me. We then ascended to the seventh heaven and Gabriel asked to be let in. Someone asked, “Who are you?”. He replied, “Gabriel”, “And who is with you?”; “Muhammad (s)”, he said. “Has he been called forth?”, it was asked. “Yes, he has been called forth”, he replied. And it was opened up for us, and lo! there before me was Abraham, leaning [seated] against the Frequented House (al-bayt al-ma‘mūr), into which 70,000 angels enter every day never to return thereto. I was then taken to the Lote-Tree of the Boundary (sidrat al-muntahā), and lo! its leaves resemble the ears of elephants, its fruits like pitchers [in size]. When some command of God’s enveloped it, it changed, and lo! none of God’s creation could describe it for all its beauty’. He [the Prophet] continued: ‘God then revealed to me what He revealed and prescribed for me fifty prayers each day and night. I then descended until I reached Moses and he said, “What has your Lord prescribed for your community?” I said, “Fifty prayers each day and night”. He said, “Go back to your Lord and ask Him for an alleviation, for your community will not have the capacity for it: I have tried the Children of Israel and have experience of them [not being up to the task].” I then went back to my Lord and said, “My Lord! Lighten that [prescription] for my community”, and so He reduced it for me by five. I went back to Moses who asked me, “What did you do?”. I said to him, ‘He has reduced it for me by five’, to which he said, “Your community will not have the capacity for this; so go back to your Lord and ask Him for an alleviation for your community”. Thus I kept going back and forth between my Lord and Moses, with Him reducing it by five each time until He said, “O Muhammad (s)! They shall be five prayers each day and night, every prayer will be worth [the reward of] ten [prayers]; that then makes fifty prayers. And whoever intends a good deed but does not perform it, I shall count it for him as one [done]; and if he performs it, I shall count it for him as ten; and whoever intends an evil deed, but does not perform it, it shall not be recorded against him; but if he performs it, it shall be recorded [only] as one evil deed”. I then descended until I reached Moses. I informed him and he said, “Go back to your Lord and ask Him for an alleviation for your community, because your community will not have the capacity for this”; and I said, “I have gone back to my Lord so many times that I am ashamed [to go again]”. This [hadīth] is reported by the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]; but the wording [of this version] is that of [the report in the Sahīh of] Muslim. Al-Hākim [al-Naysābūrī] reports in the Mustadrak by way of Ibn ‘Abbās that he said, ‘The Prophet (s) said, “I did see my Lord, Mighty and Majestic”.’

God, exalted be He, says: And We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel [saying] that they should not choose beside Me any guardian, to whom they delegate their affairs (a variant reading [for yattakhidhū, ‘they should [not] choose’] is tattakhidhū, ‘you should [not] choose’, thus turning away [from the third person address], in which case [the particle] an, ‘that’, is extra and the ‘saying’ is implicit).

descendants of those whom We carried with Noah, in the Ark. Indeed he was a grateful servant, giving thanks to Us frequently, and offering praise in whichever state he found himself.

And We decreed, We revealed, to the Children of Israel in the Scripture, the Torah: ‘You shall indeed work corruption in the land, the land of Syria, through acts of disobedience, twice and you shall indeed become great tyrants’, you shall perpetrate grave injustice.

So when the time for the first of the two [prophecies], the first of the two occasions for corruption, came, We roused against you servants of Ours of great might, men who are strong in war and assault, who ransacked, who came and went, seeking you out [through], [your] habitations, in the [very] midst of your homes, in order to slay you and take [others among] you captive, and it was a promise fulfilled. Their first act of corruption was their slaying of [the prophet] Zachariah. So Goliath and his army were roused against them, and they slew them and took their children captive and destroyed the Holy House [of Jerusalem].

Then We gave you back the turn, the [rule of the] state and victory, [to prevail] over them, one hundred years later, by having Goliath slain, and We aided you with children and wealth, and made you greater in number, in clan.

And We said: ‘If you are virtuous, through [acts of] obedience, you are being virtuous to your own souls, since the reward thereof is for them [your souls]; and if you do evil, by way of [working] corruption, it is for them’, your evildoing. So when the time, the occasion, for the other [prophecy] comes, We will raise them forth, that they might ravage you, make you grieve through [their] slaying and taking captive [of you], a grief that will be manifest on your faces, and that they might enter the Temple, the Holy House [of Jerusalem], and destroy it, just as they entered it, and destroyed it, the first time, and that they might destroy, lay waste, all that they conquered, [all that] they gained ascendancy over, utterly, with an utter wasting. They indeed wrought corruption a second time when they slew [the prophet] John. Thus Nebuchadnezzar was roused against them, and so he slew thousands of them and took their children captive and destroyed the Holy House [of Jerusalem].

And We said in the Scripture: It may be that your Lord will have mercy upon you, after the second time, if you were to repent; but if you revert, to [working] corruption, We [too] will revert, to punishment. And assuredly they did revert by denying the Prophet (s), and so he was given power over them, through the slaying of the [Banū] Qurayza, the expulsion of the [Banū] Nadīr and the exacting of the jizya-tax from them; and We have made Hell a dungeon for the disbelievers, a place of detention and a prison [for them].

Truly this Qur’ān guides to that, to that way, which is straightest, most upright and correct, and gives tidings to the believers who perform righteous deeds that there is a great reward for them.

And, it [this Qur’ān] informs, that those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have prepared for them a painful chastisement, namely, the Fire.

And man prays for ill, against himself and his family when he is frustrated, as [avidly as] he prays for good. And mankind is ever hasty, to pray against himself, without contemplating the consequence thereof.

And We made the night and the day two signs, [both] indicators of Our power. Then We effaced the sign of the night, extinguishing its light with darkness, so that you might repose therein (the annexation [āyata’layli, ‘the sign of the night’, is explicative), and made the sign of the day sight-giving, in other words, one in which it is possible to see because of the light; that you may seek, therein, bounty from your Lord, by earning [your livelihood], and that you may know, by both [day and night], the number of years and the reckoning, of the times [of the day], and everything, that might be needed, We have detailed very distinctly, We have explained clearly.

And We have attached every person’s omen — his deeds — for him to carry, upon his neck — this [site] is singled out for mention because fastening [something] to it is [much] more severe; Mujāhid [b. Jabr al-Makkī] said, ‘There is not a child born but it has a leaf around its neck in which it is decreed [that the child will be either] fortunate or damned’ — and We shall bring forth for him, on the Day of Resurrection, a book, in which his deeds are recorded [and], which he will find wide open (yalqāhu manshūran: both are adjectival qualifications of kitāban, ‘a book’).

And it will be said to him: ‘Read your book! This day your soul suffices as your own reckoner’.

Whoever is guided, is guided only to [the good of] his own soul, because the reward of his guidance will be for him; and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its [his soul’s] detriment, because the sin thereof will be held against it. No burdened, [no] sinful, soul shall bear the burden of another, soul. And We never chastise, anyone, until We have sent a messenger, to make clear to him that which is his obligation.

And when We desire to destroy a town We command its affluent ones, those [inhabitants] of its who enjoy the graces [of God], meaning its leaders, [We command them] to obedience, by the tongue of Our messengers; but they fall into immorality therein, rebelling against Our command, and so the Word is justified concerning it, that it should be chastised, and We destroy it utterly, We annihilate it by annihilating its inhabitants and leaving it in ruins.

How many — in other words, many — generations, communities, We have destroyed since Noah! And your Lord suffices as One Informed and Beholder of the sins of His servants, Knower of the hidden and manifest aspects of these [sins] (bi-rabbika, ‘your Lord’, is semantically connected to bi-dhunūb, ‘of the sins’).

Whoever desires, through his deeds, the hasty world, that is, [the life of] this world, We hasten for him therein whatever We will, for whom We please, [such] a hastening, (li-man nurīd, ‘for whom We please’, is a substitute for lahu, ‘for him’, with the repetition of the genitive particle [li-]). Then We appoint for him, in the Hereafter, Hell, to which he will be exposed, [to which] he will be admitted, condemned, blameful, and rejected, banished from [God’s] mercy.

And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the necessary effort, [that is] he performs the deeds worthy of it, being a believer (wa-huwa mu’minun is a circumstantial qualifier) — for such their effort will find favour, with God, that is, [their effort will be] accepted and rewarded.

Each, of the two parties, We supply, We give, [to] these and [to] those (hā’ūlā’ wa-hā’ūlā’ is a substitute [for kullan, ‘each’) from (min is semantically connected to numiddu, ‘We supply’) from your Lord’s bounty, in this world. And your Lord’s bounty, therein, is not confined, [it is not] forbidden to anyone.

See how We have given preference to some of them over others, in provision and renown. And truly the Hereafter is greater, grander, in degrees and greater in preferment, to this world, and so one ought to devote one’s attention to it [the Hereafter], to the exclusion of the other.

Do not set up another god besides God, or you will sit blameworthy, forsaken, with no one to assist you.

And your Lord has decreed, He has commanded, that you worship none save Him, and, that you show, kindness to parents, by being dutiful to them. If they should reach old age with you, one of them (ahaduhumā is the subject [of the verb]) or both (a variant reading [for yablughanna] has yablughān, ‘both [should] reach’, in which case ahaduhumā would be substituting for the [dual indicator] alif [of yablughān]) then do not say to them ‘Fie’ (read uffan or uffin, uffa or uffi, a verbal noun meaning tabban, ‘perish!’ or qubhan, ‘evil!’) nor repulse them, but speak to them gracious words, fair and gentle [words].

And lower to them the wing of humility, show them your submissive side, out of mercy, that is, on account of your affection for them, and say, ‘My Lord, have mercy on them, just as they, had mercy on me when [they], reared me when I was little’.

Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts, [in the way] of what may be concealed of dutifulness or disobedience [to parents]. If you are righteous, obedient to God, then truly, to those who are penitent, those who return to obedience of Him, He is Forgiving, of any slip that might have issued on their part regarding their duty to the parents, so long as they do not conceal [within themselves] any disrespect [towards them].

And give the kinsman his due, of dutifulness and kindness, and the needy and the traveller [as well]; and do not squander, by expending for [any purpose] other than in obedience to God.

Indeed squanderers are brothers of devils, that is, they follow their way, and the Devil was ever ungrateful to his Lord, extremely rejective of His graces: likewise his brother the squanderer.

But if you [have to] overlook them, that is, the kinsmen and the others mentioned, and do not give to them, seeking mercy from your Lord, [a mercy] which you expect [in the future], that is, [you do not give to them] because of a request for provision which you are waiting to come to you [from your Lord], before you give to them, then speak to them gentle words, pleasant and reasonable [words], promising them that you will give to them when the provision [from God] arrives.

And do not keep your hand chained to your neck, in other words, do not withhold it completely from expending, nor open it, in order to expend, completely, or you will sit blameworthy — this refers to the first case — and denuded, cut off, having nothing — this refers to the latter case.

Truly your Lord expands provision, He makes it abundant, for whomever He will and He straitens, He restricts it for whomever He will. Indeed He is ever Aware and Seer of His servants, Knower of what they hide and what they manifest, giving them provision in accordance with their welfare.

And do not slay your children, by burying them alive, fearing penury, poverty. We shall provide for them and for you. Slaying them is truly a great sin.

And do not come [anywhere] near fornication — this [form of expressing it] is more effective than [saying] ‘Do not commit it’. It is indeed an indecency, an abomination, and, it is, an evil way.

And do not slay the soul [whose life] God has made inviolable, except with due cause. Whoever is slain wrongfully, We have certainly given his heir, the one inheriting from him, a warrant, a sanction [to retaliate] against the slayer; but let him not commit excess, [let him not] overstep the bounds, in slaying, by slaying other than the killer [of the one slain], or by other than that [instrument] with which he [the slain] was killed; for he is supported [by the Law].

And do not come [anywhere] near an orphan’s property, except in the fairest manner until he comes of age. And fulfil the covenant, should you make a covenant with God or with people [in general]. Indeed the covenant will be enquired into.

And give full measure, complete it, when you measure, and weigh with a right balance, [with] an even balance: that is better and fairer in return.

And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed the hearing and the sight and the heart — of each of these it will be asked, of that person what he did with them.

And do not walk in the earth exultantly, that is, exultant with pride and conceit. Indeed you will not rend the earth, [you will not] pierce it and reach its depths with your pride, nor attain the mountains in height: the meaning is that you shall never attain such ends, so how can you be so arrogant?

All of that, [which has been] mentioned — the evil of it is hateful in the sight of your Lord.

This is [part] of the wisdom, the admonition, which your Lord has revealed to you, O Muhammad (s). And do not set up with God any other god, or you will be cast into Hell, blameworthy, abandoned, banished from God’s mercy.

Has your Lord then preferred you, has He distinguished you [exclusively], O Meccans, with sons and chosen for Himself females from among the angels?, as daughters for Himself, in the way that you [are wont to] claim. Truly, by [saying] this, you are speaking a monstrous word!

And verily We have dispensed, We have elucidated, in this Qur’ān, similitudes, promises [of reward] and threats [of retribution], so that they may remember, [that they may] be admonished, but it, that [elucidation], only increases them in aversion, to the Truth.

Say, to them: ‘If there were with Him, that is, with God, [other] gods, as they say, they would, in that case, have sought against the Lord of the Throne, that is, [against] God, some path, some way, in order to fight Him [off].

Glory be to Him — an affirmation of His transcendence — and exalted be He above what they say, in the way of [His having] associates, greatly!

The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein proclaim His praise, [they] affirm His transcendence. And there is not a thing, among things created, but proclaims, enwrapped [in], His praise, in other words, [everything] says subhāna’Llāh wa-bi-hamdihi, ‘Glory and praise be to God’; but you do not understand their glorification, because it is not [proclaimed] in your language. Lo! He is Forbearing, Forgiving, for He does not hasten [to bring about] your punishment.

And when you recite the Qur’ān, We place between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter a hidden barrier, that is, one that hides you from them, so that they cannot see you — this was revealed regarding those who wanted to assassinate him (s) [the Prophet].

And We place upon their hearts veils, covers, lest they should understand it, lest they should understand the Qur’ān, in other words, and so [in this way] they do not understand it, and in their ears a deafness, a heaviness, thus they cannot hear it. And when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur’ān, they turn their backs in aversion, to it.

We know best what they listen to, the reason for [which they listen to] it, in order to mock [it], when they listen to you, [to] your recital, and when they are in secret counsel, holding secret talks among themselves, in other words, when they talk, when (idh substitutes for the preceding idh, ‘when’) the evildoers say, in their secret conversation: ‘You are only following a man bewitched, one duped, his mind overcome’.

God, exalted be He, says: Look how they strike similitudes for you, such as [your being] bewitched, a soothsayer or a poet, and they go astray, thereby from [the path of] guidance, and cannot find a way, a path to it!

And they say, in denial of the Resurrection: ‘What, when we are bones and fragments, shall we really be raised up in a new creation?’

Say, to them: ‘Be stones or iron,

or some creation yet greater in your breasts, [something yet] far less able to accept life, aside from bones and fragments, a spirit will undoubtedly be made to exist in you [to bring you back to life]. They will then say, ‘Who shall bring us back?’, to life. Say: ‘He Who originated you, created you, the first time, when you had not been anything [in existence], because the One Who is able to initiate [creation] is also able to repeat [it], indeed, this [repetition] is easier [than the initiation]. Then they will shake their heads at you, stupefied, and they will say, mockingly: ‘When will it be?’, that is, the Resurrection. Say: ‘Maybe it is near!’

The day He calls you, [the day] He calls out to you from your graves by the tongue of [the archangel] Isrāfīl, you will respond, you will answer His call from your graves, with His praise, by His command — it is also said to mean [that you will respond] ‘and praise be to Him’ — and you will think that you have remained, in this world, only a little, because of the terror of what you will see [on that day].

And tell My servants, the believers, to speak, to disbelievers, that, word, which is finer. For Satan indeed incites ill feeling, he makes trouble, between them, and Satan is indeed man’s manifest enemy, his enmity is evident. The ‘finer word’ is [to say] this:

Your Lord knows you best. If He will, He will have mercy on you, by way of [granting you] repentance and faith, or, if He will, for you to be chastised, He will chastise you, by having you die in disbelief. And We did not send you to be a guardian over them, and so compel them to [embrace] faith — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

And your Lord knows best all who are in the heavens and the earth, thus endowing them [each one] with what He will, according to the measure of their states. And verily We have preferred some of the prophets above others, endowing each of them with a particular merit: Moses, with being spoken to; Abraham, with Friendship; and Muhammad (s), with the Night Journey; and We gave David the Psalms.

Say, to them: ‘Call on those whom you assumed, to be gods, besides Him, such as the angels, Jesus and Ezra (‘Uzayr); yet they have no power to rid you of misfortune nor to transfer, it to [persons] other than you.

Those whom they call, gods, [they themselves] seek a means to their Lord, [they seek] nearness, by way of obedience, which of them (ayyuhum substitutes for the [third person indicator] wāw of [the verb] yabtaghūna, ‘they seek’) in other words, [even] he seeks it [this nearness] the one who, is nearer, to Him, so how [much more] is it [sought] in the case of others?; and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement, just like others, so how can you call them gods? Truly your Lord’s chastisement is a thing to beware of.

There is not a town — its inhabitants are the ones meant — but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, through death, or chastise it with terrible chastisement, by killing [its inhabitants] or otherwise. That has been inscribed in the Book, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz).

Nothing prevented Us from sending the signs, requested by the people of Mecca, except that the ancients denied them, when We sent such [signs] and so We destroyed them: if We were to send them to these [people of Mecca], they would deny them and would thus deserve destruction. However, We have judged that they be given respite so that the mission of Muhammad (s) be completed. And We gave Thamūd the she-camel as, a sign [that was], apparent, [one that was] clear and evident, but they wronged, they disbelieved, it, and were therefore destroyed. And We do not send signs, miracles, except for deterrence, to servants, so that they might believe.

And, remember, when We said to you, ‘Truly your Lord encompasses mankind’, in knowledge and power [over them], such that they are within His grasp: so deliver the Message to them and do not fear anyone, because God will protect you from them. And We did not appoint the vision that We showed you, before your very eyes, during the Night Journey, except as a test for people, [for] the people of Mecca — since they denied it and some of them [even] apostatised when he [the Prophet] informed them of it — and [likewise] the tree cursed in the Qur’ān, namely, the [tree called] Zaqqūm [Q.37:62ff] that issues from the very root of the Blazing Fire [of Hell]; We made it a test for them, because they said, ‘Fire consumes trees, so how can it cause it [the Zaqqūm tree] to issue forth?’. And We [seek to] deter them, with it, but it, Our deterrence, only increases them in gross insolence.

And, mention, when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam’, a prostration of salutation, by inclining oneself, and so they [all] prostrated themselves, except Iblīs: he said, ‘Shall I prostrate myself before one whom You have created from clay?’ (tīnan, is in the accusative because the operator of the oblique [min, ‘of’] has been omitted, in other words [it would normally be] min tīnin).

Said he, ‘Do You see — in other words, inform me: this one whom You have honoured, [whom] You have preferred, above me?, by commanding that prostration should be made before him, when ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire, while him You created from clay’ [Q. 7:12]. If (la-in: the lām is for oaths) You defer me to the Day of Resurrection I shall verily eradicate his seed, by leading them astray, [all] save a few’, of them, of those whom You have given [divine] protection.

Said He, exalted be He, to him [Iblīs]: ‘Begone, deferred to the time of the First Blast [of the Trumpet]. Whoever of them follows you — indeed Hell shall be your requital, [both] yours and theirs, a requital [that is indeed] ample, sufficient and complete.

And tempt, dupe, whomever of them you can with your voice, by your calling them with songs and pipes and with every invitation to [acts of] disobedience; and rally, incite, against them your cavalry and your infantry, namely, those who ride and walk in acts of disobedience, and share with them in wealth, that is illicit, such as usury and extortion, and children, from [acts of] adultery, and make promises to them’, to the effect that there will not be any resurrection or requital. And Satan promises them, thereby, nothing but delusion, falsehood.

‘Truly as for My servants, the believers, you shall have no warrant’, [no] sway or ability. And Your Lord suffices as a guardian, as a protector for them against you.

Your Lord is He Who drives for you the ships upon the sea that you may seek of His bounty, exalted be He, through [engaging in] commerce. Truly He is ever Merciful towards you, by disposing these [ships] for you.

And when distress, difficulty, befalls you at sea, [such as] fear of drowning, those whom you [are wont to] invoke are no longer present, [those whom] you [are wont to] worship of gods [are no longer present], and so you do not call on them — except Him, exalted be He, for on Him alone you do call, because you are suffering a distress which only He can remove. But when He delivers you, from drowning and brings you, to land, you are rejective, of [God’s] Oneness, for man is ever ungrateful, [ever] denying [God’s] graces.

Do you feel secure that He will not cause a side of the earth, in other words, the land, to swallow you up, as [He did] with Korah (Qārūn), or unleash upon you a squall of pebbles? that is, hurl a shower of stones upon you, as [He did] with the people of Lot. Then you will not find for yourselves any guardian, any protector from Him.

Or do you feel secure that He will not return you to it, that is, [to] the sea, a second time and unleash upon you a shattering gale, that is, a violent wind that shatters everything in its path, to destroy your ship, and drown you for your ungratefulness? And then you will not find for yourselves any redresser of this against Us, [any] helper or advocate to demand restitution from Us for what We [will] have done to you.

And verily We have honoured, We have preferred, the Children of Adam, [above other creation], by [giving them] knowledge, speech and [their being] a creation of even proportions amongst other things, including their [means of] purification after death, and carried them over land, on animal-back, and sea, in ships, and provided them with good things and We have preferred them above many of those whom We created, such as livestock and wild animals, with a marked preferment (the min [of mimman, ‘of those whom’] has the sense of mā, ‘of what’, or something close to it, and includes the angels, the purpose being to give preference to the [angelic] genus; there is no requirement to give [explicit] preference to the individuals [of this category of being], since they [angels] are superior to mankind, excepting the prophets).

Mention, the day when We shall summon all men with their leader, their prophet, and it will be said, ‘O community of so-and-so’; or [it bi-imāmihim means] ‘with the record of their deeds’, in which case it will be said, ‘O one of good [deeds], O one of evil [deeds]!’: this is [on] the Day of Resurrection. And whoever, from among them, is given his book in his right hand, these being the fortunate, those possessors of understanding in this world — those will read their book, and they will not be wronged, they will [not] be diminished of their deeds, [so much as] a single date-thread.

And whoever has been in this, that is, [in] this world, blind, to the truth, will be blind in the Hereafter, to the path of salvation and the reciting of the Qur’ān, and [even] further astray from the [right] way, more removed from the road [that leads] to it.

The following was revealed regarding the [tribe of] Thaqīf, for they had asked him [the Prophet] (s) to declare their valley inviolable and implored him [to grant them this request]: And indeed (wa-in, [the particle in is] softened) they were about to, they nearly did, beguile you away from that which We revealed to you, so that you might invent against Us [something] other than that; and then, had you done that, they would have taken you as a friend.

And if We had not made you [stand] firm, upon the Truth, by way of [divine] protection (‘isma), certainly you might have, you nearly, inclined to them a little, because of the extent of their deception and their persistence. This [statement] is explicit about the fact that the Prophet (s) neither inclined nor came close to doing so.

Then, had you inclined, We would have surely made you taste a double, chastisement, in life and a double, chastisement, upon death, in other words, twice the chastisement that any other person would receive in this world and the Hereafter. Then you would not have found for yourself any helper against Us, [anyone] to shield [you] from it.

When the Jews said to him, ‘If you are a prophet, then make your way to Syria, for it is the land of prophets’, the following was revealed: And indeed (wa-in, [the particle in is] softened) they were about to provoke you out of the land, the land of Medina, to expel you from it, but then, had they expelled you, they would not have remained after you, in it, except a little [while], after which they would have been destroyed.

[That is] the way in the case of those whom We have sent from among Our messengers before you, that is to say, [that is] Our way [of dealing] with them [their enemies], destroying those who expel them [Our messengers]. And as regards Our [established] way you will not find any change, any alternative [manner].

Establish prayer from the sun’s decline, that is, from after midday, until the dark of night, [until] its darkness has fallen, in other words, [perform prayers] at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and at night, and the recital [of the Qur’ān] at dawn, the morning prayer. Verily the dawn recital is ever witnessed, it is witnessed by the angels of the night and the angels of the day.

And for a part of the night, keep vigil, perform prayer, therewith, with the Qur’ān, as a supererogatory [devotion] for you, as an extra obligation for you to the exclusion of your community, or [it means] as extra merit [for you] on top of the [other] obligatory prayers. It may be that your Lord will raise you to, establish you, in the Hereafter, in, a praiseworthy station, one for which the first and last [of mankind] will praise you — and this is the station of intercession [which will take place] during [the passing of] the Final Judgement.

And say: ‘My Lord, make me enter, Medina, with a veritable entrance, an entrance that is satisfying, one in which I do not see what I dislike, and bring me out, of Mecca, with a veritable departure, a departure such that my heart will not [care to] turn back to look at it [yearningly]. And grant me from Yourself a favourable authority’, [grant me] strength with which You render me victorious over Your enemies.

And say, upon your entry into Mecca: ‘The Truth, Islam, has come and falsehood has vanished away, disbelief has come to nothing. Truly falsehood is ever bound to vanish’, [ever bound] to fade away and disappear. Indeed the Prophet (s) entered it [Mecca] and there were 360 idols [which had been placed] around the [Sacred] House [sc. the Ka‘ba]. He [the Prophet] then set about thrusting at them with a stick he was carrying, saying those [words] until they had [all] been toppled, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim].

And We reveal of (min [here] is explicative) the Qur’ān that which is a cure, from error, and a mercy for believers, thereby; though it only increases the evildoers, the disbelievers, in loss, because of their disbelief in it.

And when We are gracious to man, the disbelieving [man], he is disregardful, of giving thanks, and turns aside, turning his face away in arrogance; but when an ill, such as poverty or hardship, befalls him, he is in despair, despondent of God’s mercy.

Say: ‘Everyone, [including] us and you, acts according to his [own] character, his [own] manner [of conduct], and your Lord knows best who is better guided as to the way’, [as to] the path [he follows], and He will reward him [accordingly].

And they will question you, that is, the Jews, concerning the Spirit, from which the body receives life. Say, to them: ‘The Spirit is of the command of my Lord, that is, [it belongs to] His knowledge, about which you know not. And of knowledge you have not been given except a little’, relative to His knowledge, exalted be He.

And if (la-in, the lām is for oaths) We willed We could take away what We have revealed to you, in other words, [take away] the Qur’ān, by erasing it from the hearts [of men] and from the written copies. Then you would not find in respect thereof any guardian for yourself against Us;

[it is] only — but We have let it remain — as a mercy from your Lord. Truly His favour to you is ever great, tremendous, for He has revealed to you and granted you the praiseworthy station as well as other [kinds of] merit.

Say: ‘Verily, should mankind and jinn come together to produce the like of this Qur’ān, [the like thereof] in terms of clarity and rhetorical excellence, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed one another’, [even if one was] an assistant [of the other]. This [verse] was revealed as a refutation of their statement: ‘If we wish we can speak the like of this’ [Q. 8:31].

And verily We have dispensed, explained, for people in this Qur’ān every [kind of] similitude (min kulli mathalin, [this] is an adjectival qualification of an omitted clause, in other words, [‘We have dispensed] a similitude from every kind of similitude’), that they might be admonished; but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, insist on disbelieving, on denying the truth.

And they say (wa-qālū is a supplement to abā [illā], ‘insist on’), ‘We will not believe you until you make gush forth for us from the ground a spring, from which water issues forth;

or until you [come to] have a garden, an orchard, of date-palms and vines, and cause streams to gush forth therein, in the midst of these, abundantly;

or until you cause the heaven to fall upon us, as you assert, in pieces, or bring God and the angels [right] in front [of us], face to face [with us], before [our] very eyes, so that we might see them;

or until you [come to] have a house adorned with gold, or ascend into the heaven, upon a ladder, and [even then] we will not believe your ascension, if you were to ascend into it, until you bring down for us, therefrom, a book, in which is [confirmed] your truthfulness, that we may read’. Say, to them: ‘Glory be to my Lord — this is a statement of amazement — Am I anything but a human, a messenger [from God]?’, in other words, [I am] like all [other] messengers, for they never brought [any] signs except by God’s leave.

And nothing prevented mankind from believing when guidance came to them, but that they said, that is, [except] their saying in denial: ‘Has God sent a human as a messenger [from Him]?’, instead of sending an angel.

Say, to them: ‘Had there been in the earth, instead of humans, angels, walking [and living] secure, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as Messenger’, for when a messenger is sent to a people he is [always] of their kind, so that they are able to speak to him and understand from him [his message].

Say: ‘God suffices as a witness between me and you, of my sincerity. Truly He is Aware, Seer of His servants’, Knower of what they hide and what they manifest.

And he whom God guides is rightly guided, and he whom He sends astray — you will not find for them [any] guardians, to guide them, besides Him. And We shall assemble them on the Day of Resurrection, walking, on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf; their abode shall be Hell — whenever it abates, [whenever] its flames subside, We shall intensify for them the blaze, the flame and [its] burning.

That is their requital because they disbelieved Our signs and said, in denial of the Resurrection: ‘What, when we are bones and fragments, shall we really be raised in a new creation?’

Have they not seen, realised, that God, [He] Who created the heavens and the earth, with all their immensity, has the power to create the like of them?, that is, [the like of] these human beings, [especially] given their smallness? He has appointed for them a term, until [the time for their] death and resurrection, whereof is no doubt; yet the wrongdoers insist on disbelief, on denial of such [a term].

Say, to them: ‘If you possessed the treasuries of my Lord’s mercy, [those treasuries] of provision and rain, you would surely withhold [them], [you would] stint, for fear of spending, fearing that they would be depleted if [one] spent [from them] and [that] you would then become impoverished; and man is ever niggardly’.

And verily We gave Moses nine manifest signs, clear [signs], namely, [those of] the hand, the staff, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, the blood and the obliteration [of their possessions, cf. Q. 10:88], the years [of dearth] and scarcity of fruits [cf. Q. 7:130]. Ask, O Muhammad (s), the Children of Israel, about this (a [rhetorical] question meant as an affirmation for the idolaters of your sincerity; or [it means that] We said to him [Muhammad, s], ‘Ask’; a variant reading has the past tense [fa-sā’ala, ‘and he asked’]), when he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, ‘O Moses, I truly think that you are bewitched’, duped, your mind deceived.

He [Moses] said, ‘Indeed you know that none revealed these, signs, except the Lord of the heavens and the earth, as proofs, lessons; however, you are being stubborn (a variant reading [for ‘alimta, ‘you know’] has ‘alimtu [‘I know’]); and I truly think that you, O Pharaoh, are doomed’, [that you] will be destroyed — or [it, mathbūran, means that Pharaoh has been] turned away from [all deeds that are] good.

And he, Pharaoh, desired to scare them, to expel Moses and his people, from the land, the land of Egypt; so We drowned him and those with him, all together.

And after him We said to the Children of Israel, ‘Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter, namely, the Hour, comes to pass, We shall bring you [gathered] in mixed company’, all together, you and them.

With the truth have We revealed it, that is, the Qur’ān, and with the truth, it comprises, has it been revealed, in the way it has, unaffected by any alterations; and We have not sent you, O Muhammad (s), except as a bearer of good tidings, of Paradise, for those who believe, and as a warner, of the Fire, for those who disbelieve.

And [it is] a Qur’ān (qur’ānan is in the accusative because of the verb governing it [which is the following]) that We have divided, that We have revealed in portions over 20 or 23 years, that you may recite it to mankind at intervals, gradually and with deliberateness so that they [are able to] comprehend it, and We have revealed it by [successive] revelation, one part after another, according to what is best [for mankind].

Say, to the disbelievers of Mecca, ‘Believe in it or do not believe, as a threat to them; indeed those who were given knowledge before it, before its revelation, namely, the believers from among the People of the Scripture, when it is recited to them, fall down in prostration on their faces,

and say, “Glory be to our Lord, exalting Him above [the claim] that [His] promise [of sending a prophet] had not been fulfilled. Indeed (in, softened) Our Lord’s promise, of its [the Qur’ān’s] revelation and the sending of the Prophet (s), is bound to be fulfilled”.

And they fall down on their faces, weeping (yabkūna is a supplement [to yakhirrūna, ‘they fall down’] also containing an adjectival qualification [of those falling down]); and it, the Qur’ān, increases them in humility’, in humbleness before God.

The Prophet (s) would often say, ‘O God, O Compassionate One’. So they said, ‘He [Muhammad, s] forbids us to worship more than one god, and yet he calls upon another [god] together with Him [God]’. The following was then revealed: Say, to them: ‘Invoke God or invoke the Compassionate One, that is to say, invoke Him by either of these [Names] or call upon Him by saying, ‘O God! O Compassionate One!’, whichever (ayyan is conditional; mā is extra), in other words, whichever of these two [Names], you invoke, is beautiful — this [predicate, ‘beautiful’] is indicated by the following [statement]), to Him, to the One called by these two [Names], belong the Most Beautiful Names’, these two [Names] being from among them; and they [the other Names] are [the following] as [mentioned] in hadīth: God, there is no god except Him, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Securer, the Controller, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Sublime, the Creator, the Maker [out of nothing], the Fashioner, the [ever] Forgiving, the Almighty, the Bestower, the Provider, the Deliverer, the Knower, the Seizer, the Extender, the Lowerer, the Raiser, the Glorifier, the Abaser, the Hearer, the Seer, the Arbiter, the Just, the Subtle, the Aware, the Forbearing, the Tremendous, the Forgiver, the Thankful, the High, the Great, the Preserver, the Conserver, the Reckoner, the Majestic, the Generous, the Watcher, the Responsive, the Embracing, the Wise, the Loving, the Glorious, the Resurrector, the Witnessing, the Truth, the Guardian, the Strong, the Firm, the Patron, the Praiseworthy, the Numberer, the Initiator, the Restorer, the Life-giver, the Death-maker, the Living, the Eternal Sustainer, the Originator, the Magnificent, the One, the Single, the Everlasting Refuge, the Powerful, the Omnipotent, the Advancer, the Deferrer, the First, the Last, the Outward, the Inward, the Ruler, Exalted, the Benign, the Relenting, the Avenger, the Pardoning, the Gentle, Master of the Kingdom, One of Majesty and Munificence, the Equitable, the Gatherer, the Independent, the Availing, the Restrainer, the Harming, the Benefactor, the Light, the Guiding, the Innovator, the Enduring, the Inheritor, the Reasonable, the Patient, as reported by al-Tirmidhī. God, exalted be He, says: And do not be loud in your prayer, when you recite [the Qur’ān] therein, lest the idolaters hear you and curse you, as well as the Qur’ān and the One Who has revealed it; nor be silent, do [not] murmur, therein, so that your companions might [be able to hear it and] benefit [therefrom]; but seek between that, loudness and silence, a, middle, way.

And say: ‘Praise be to God, Who has neither taken a son, nor has He any partner in sovereignty, in divineness, nor has He [taken] any ally, to assist Him, out of, because of [any], weakness’, that is to say, He would never become weak and thus need an assistant. And magnify Him with magnifications [worthy of Him], extol Him with a perfect extolling above that He should have taken a son or a partner, and [above] any weakness and [above] all that does not befit Him. The arrangement whereby ‘praise’ is [invoked] together with this [statement] is meant to indicate that He is the One worthy of all praise, because of the perfection of His Essence and the fact that He alones possesses those attributes of His. Imam Ahmad [b. Hanbal] relates in his Musnad [by way of a report] from Mu‘ādh al-Juhanī [who heard it] from the Messenger of God (s), who used to say, ‘The “glory” verse [in the Qur’ān] is: Praise be to God, Who has neither taken a son, nor has He any partner in sovereignty … to the end [of the above-mentioned sūra, 17:111]’, and God, exalted be He, knows best. The author of this [commentary] says, ‘This [last commentary] constitutes the end of my complement to the commentary on the Noble Qur’ān composed by the inquisitive scholar, the shaykh, Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī al-Shāfi‘ī, may God be pleased with him. I have expended every effort in it and reflected throughout it exhaustively, [especially] in those precious things that I have deemed, God willing, to be profitable. I composed it [this commentary] in the same length of time appointed for the one spoken to by God [sc. Moses] and I have made it a means to attaining the Gardens of Bliss. It [this commentary] actually draws on the work which it complements, relying and depending on it for [an understanding of] those allegorical verses. May God have mercy on one who examines it with impartiality, chances upon an error and informs me of it. As I have said: “I praise God, my Lord, for He guided me in what I have expressed despite my incapacity and weakness; for who [other than God] is there to avert me from error and who is there to accept from me even a single letter”. In fact, it never occurred to me to embark upon such [a task], knowing that I was incapable of delving into such issues. Perhaps God will make it of ample profit [to others] and through it open sealed hearts, blinded eyes and deaf ears. I have the impression that I am before those [sort of readers] who would prefer works of prolixity, refraining from [referring to] this complementary work, rejecting it outright, tending to obvious obstinacy [regarding it], without addressing its intricacies with any understanding: And whoever is blind in this world shall be blind in the Hereafter [Q. 17:72]. May God thereby provide us with a [way of] guidance to the path of truth, with success, an awareness of the subtle intricacies of His words and with an ascertainment. May He thereby also make us with those to whom God has been gracious from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the righteous — and excellent companions are they! [Q. 4:69]. He [Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūtī] completed the composition of this [work] on Sunday, 10th of Shawwāl, in the year 870 (AH) [1465 AD], having commenced it on the first Wednesday of Ramadān of the same year. He completed the fair copy [of this work] on Wednesday, 6th of Safar in the year 871 (AH) [1466 AD], and God knows best. Shaykh Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Abī Bakr al-Khatīb al-Tūkhī said: my friend the erudite shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, brother of the above-mentioned shaykh of ours, shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, may God have mercy on both of them, that he saw his brother, the above-mentioned shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn, in his dream: before him stood our friend the inquiring erudite scholar shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūtī, compiler of this complement. He [Mahallī] had this complement in his hand and, perusing it, he was saying to its above-mentioned compiler [Suyūtī], ‘Which of the two is better, my composition or yours?’. He [Suyūtī] said, ‘Mine’. He [Mahallī] then said, ‘But look at this …’, and he showed him parts of it, politely pointing out to him his objections thereto. Each time he [Mahallī] brought something up, the compiler of this complement [Suyūtī] would respond to him, while shaykh [Mahallī] would smile and laugh. Our shaykh, the imam, the erudite scholar Jalāl al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Rahmān b. Abī Bakr al-Suyūtī, compiler of this complement said: What I believe, and what I am absolutely certain of, is that the part composed by shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, may God have mercy on him, in his section [of the commentary] is actually better than mine by far. How [could it be otherwise], when most of what I have written here draws on his work and relies on it? I have no doubt about this. As regards what was seen in the above-mentioned dream, then perhaps it is the case that the shaykh meant to point out those few places in which I disagreed with what he had written on account of some little comment [that I had made therein]. But these [instances] are very few and I do not think that they add up to more than ten such instances. Among these is where shaykh [al-Mahallī] comments in sūrat Sād: ‘The Spirit is a delicate organism (jism latīf) that gives life to a human being by permeating it’. I followed this [opinion] at first, but then I remembered the restriction [made by God] while [working on the commentary] at sūrat al-Hijr; and so I erased it because of where God says, And they will question you concerning the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit is of the command of my Lord. And of knowledge you have not been given except a little […]’ [to the end of] the verse [Q. 15:85]. For, it is explicit, or almost explicit, in stating that the [true nature of the] Spirit is of God’s knowledge [only], exalted be He — we do not know it. Thus, it is better that we should refrain from trying to define it. For this reason also, shaykh Tāj al-Dīn b. al-Subkī says in [his work] Jam‘ al-jawāmi‘ (The compendium of compendiums’): ‘As for the spirit, Muhammad (s) never spoke about it and we should [also] therefore refrain [from speaking about it].’ Another [instance] is where the shaykh says in [his commentary to] sūrat al-Hajj [Q. 22:17], ‘The Sabaeans (al-sābi’ūn) are a Jewish sect’. I mention this in [my commentary to] sūrat al-Baqara [Q. 2:62], where I added the following [gloss] ‘or [they are] a Christian [sect]’, in order to point out a variant opinion, generally acknowledged, particularly by our colleagues, the [Shāfi‘ī] jurists, and [also acknowledged] by the Minhāj (‘The Method […]’), where it is stated that the Samaritans opposed the Jews and the Sabaeans [opposed] the Christians [respectively] over the fundamentals of their religion. In his [Mahallī’s] Sharh (‘Commentary’), al-Shāfi‘ī, may God be pleased with him, is reported to have said that the Sabaeans were a Christian sect. At this moment, I cannot recall a third instance [of Mahallī’s objections]. Perhaps these are the sort of examples which the Shaykh, may God have mercy on him, was pointing out [in the dream]. And God knows best what is correct, and to Him is the return and the [final] resort.