Monday, April 02, 2007

AN NISA 11-15



يُوصِيكُمُ اللّهُ فِي أَوْلاَدِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الأُنثَيَيْنِ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَاء فَوْقَ اثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ وَإِن كَانَتْ وَاحِدَةً فَلَهَا النِّصْفُ وَلأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُ وَلَدٌ وَوَرِثَهُ أَبَوَاهُ فَلأُمِّهِ الثُّلُثُ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُ إِخْوَةٌ فَلأُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ آبَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبناؤُكُمْ لاَ تَدْرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ لَكُمْ نَفْعاً فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلِيما حَكِيمًا
{11}

[Yusufali 4:11] Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in all cases ('s) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. These are settled portions ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Al-wise.





وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَلَكُمُ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْنَ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِينَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ وَلَهُنَّ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَلَهُنَّ الثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ تُوصُونَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌ يُورَثُ كَلاَلَةً أَو امْرَأَةٌ وَلَهُ أَخٌ أَوْ أُخْتٌ فَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ فَإِن كَانُوَاْ أَكْثَرَ مِن ذَلِكَ فَهُمْ شُرَكَاء فِي الثُّلُثِ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصَى بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ غَيْرَ مُضَآرٍّ وَصِيَّةً مِّنَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌ
{12}

[Yusufali 4:12] In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Most Forbearing.





تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
{13}

[Yusufali 4:13] Those are limits set by Allah: those who obey Allah and His Messenger will be admitted to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath, to abide therein (for ever) and that will be the supreme achievement.





وَمَن يَعْصِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَارًا خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ
{14}

[Yusufali 4:14] But those who disobey Allah and His Messenger and transgress His limits will be admitted to a Fire, to abide therein: And they shall have a humiliating punishment.





وَاللاَّتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىَ يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلا
ً {15}

[Yusufali 4:15] If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.

_________________________________________________________________

11
God charges you, He commands you, concerning, the matter of, your children, with what He will mention: to the male, of them, the equivalent of the portion, the lot, of two females, if there are two [women] with him, so that half the property is his, and the other half is theirs; if there is only one female with him, then she has a third, and he receives two thirds; if he is the only one, he takes it all; and if they, the offspring, be, only, women more than two, then for them two-thirds of what he, the deceased, leaves; likewise if they be two women, since in the case of two sisters, more deserving of such a share, God says, They shall receive two-thirds of what he leaves [Q. 4:176]; and since a female is entitled to a third with a male, she is all the more deserving [of the same share] with a female. It is said that fawq, 'more than', introduces a relative clause; it is also said to guard against the wrong impression that the greater the number [of females] the greater the portion [they are entitled to], since, it is [mistakenly] thought that the entitlement of two females to two-thirds derives from the fact that a female is entitled to one third when with a male; but if she, the daughter, be one (wāhidatan, is also read wāhidatun, making the kāna [construction] syntactically complete) then to her a half; and to his parents, the deceased's, to each one of the two (li-kulli wāhidin minhumā, substitutes for the previous li-abawayhi, 'to his parents'), the sixth of what he leaves, if he has a child, male or female: the point of the substitution is to show that they do not share the sixth [but receive one each]. [The term] 'child' (walad) also applies to a grandchild, and likewise 'parent' (abb) to a grandparent; but if he has no child, and his heirs are his parents, alone or along with a spouse, then to his mother (read li-ummihi; also read, in both places [here and further down], li-immihi in order to avoid the cumbersome transition from a damma ['u'] to a kasra ['I']); a third, of the property, or what remains after the spouse, the rest being for the father; or, if he has siblings, two or more, males or females, to his mother a sixth, and the rest for the father, and nothing for the siblings.


12
And for you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no children, from you or from another; but if they have children, then for you a fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they may bequeath, or any debt: the consensus is that the grandchild in this case is like the child. And for them, the wives, whether one or more, a fourth of what you leave, if you have no children; but if you have children, from them or from others, then for them an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you may bequeath, or any debt; again the consensus is that the grandchild is as the child. If it be a man leaving an inheritance (yūrathu, 'being inherited from', is an adjectival qualification, the predicate of which is [the following kalālatan, 'without direct heir']) and not having a direct heir, that is, [having] neither a parent nor child, or it be a woman, leaving an inheritance and having no direct heir, but it be that such, a man leaving an inheritance with no direct heir, has a brother or a sister, from the same mother, as read by Ibn Mas'ūd and others, then to each of the two a sixth, of what he leaves; but if they, the siblings from the same mother, be more than that, that is, [more] than one, then they share a third, the male and female equally, after any bequest to be bequeathed or any debt without prejudice (ghayra mudārrin, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing [the verb] yūsā, 'to be bequeathed') in other words, without causing any prejudice to the inheritors by bequeathing more than the third); a charge (wasiyyatan, a verbal noun reaffirming [the import of] yūsīkum, 'He charges you' [of the beginning of the previous verse]) from God. God is Knowing, of the obligations which He has ordained for His creatures, Forbearing, in deferring the punishment of those that disobey Him. The Sunna specifies that the individuals mentioned may receive the relevant inheritance provided that they are not barred from it on account of their having committed murder, or [their belonging to] a different religion or being slaves.

13
Those, rulings mentioned with respect to orphans and what followed, are God's bounds, His laws, which He has delimited for His servants, so that they may act in accordance with them and not infringe them. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, in what He has ruled, He will admit him (yudkhilhu, or, as a shift [to the first person plural] read nudkhilhu, 'We will admit him') to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; that is the great triumph.

14
But whoever disobeys God, and His Messenger; and transgresses His bounds, him He will admit ([read] in both ways [as above, yudkhilhu and nudkhilhu]) to a Fire, abiding therein, and for him, in it, there shall be a humbling chastisement, one of humiliation. In both [of the last] verses, the [singular] person [of the suffixed pronouns and the verbs] accords with the [singular] form of [the particle] man, 'whoever', while [the plural person in] khālidīn, 'abiding', accords with its [general plural] import.

15
As for those of your women who commit lewdness, adultery, call four, Muslim men, of you to witness against them; and if they witness, against them such [lewdness], then detain them in their houses, and prevent them from mixing with people, until, the angels of, death take them or, until, God appoints for them a way, out of it. This was stipulated for them at the very beginning of Islam, but then a way out was appointed for them through [the stipulation] that the virgin should receive a hundred lashes and be banished for a year, and the married woman be stoned. The prescribed punishment was explained thus in the hadīth, 'Come listen to me! Come listen to me! God has now made a way out for them', as reported by Muslim.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

AN NISA 6-10

وَابْتَلُواْ الْيَتَامَى حَتَّىَ إِذَا بَلَغُواْ النِّكَاحَ فَإِنْ آنَسْتُم مِّنْهُمْ رُشْدًا فَادْفَعُواْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلاَ تَأْكُلُوهَا إِسْرَافًا وَبِدَارًا أَن يَكْبَرُواْ وَمَن كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَلْيَسْتَعْفِفْ وَمَن كَانَ فَقِيرًا فَلْيَأْكُلْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ حَسِيبًا {6}

[Yusufali 4:6] Make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if then ye find sound judgment in them, release their property to them; but consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up. If the guardian is well-off, Let him claim no remuneration, but if he is poor, let him have for himself what is just and reasonable. When ye release their property to them, take witnesses in their presence: But all-sufficient is Allah in taking account.




لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصيِبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاء نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا
{7}

[Yusufali 4:7] From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large,-a determinate share.




وَإِذَا حَضَرَ الْقِسْمَةَ أُوْلُواْ الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينُ فَارْزُقُوهُم مِّنْهُ وَقُولُواْ لَهُمْ قَوْلاً مَّعْرُوفً
ا {8}

[Yusufali 4:8] But if at the time of division other relatives, or orphans or poor, are present, feed them out of the (property), and speak to them words of kindness and justice.




وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُواْ مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللّهَ وَلْيَقُولُواْ قَوْلاً سَدِيدًا
{9}

[Yusufali 4:9] Let those (disposing of an estate) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own if they had left a helpless family behind: Let them fear Allah, and speak words of appropriate (comfort).





إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَى ظُلْمًا إِنَّمَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمْ نَارًا وَسَيَصْلَوْنَ سَعِيرًا
{10}

[Yusufali 4:10] Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their own bodies: They will soon be enduring a Blazing Fire!


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6
Try, test, well the orphans, before reaching maturity with regard [the duties of] religion and [before] they can [legally] manage their own affairs, until they reach the age of marrying, that is, until they have become eligible for it through puberty or [legal] age, which, according to al-Shāfi'ī, is the completion of fifteen years; then, if you perceive in them maturity, that is, right [judgement] in matters of religion and their property, deliver their property to them; consume it not, O guardians, wastefully, without due merit, and in haste, that is, hastening to expend it, fearing, lest they should grow up, and become mature, at which time you will be obliged to hand it over to them. If any man, who is a guardian, is rich, let him be abstinent, that is, let him abstain from the orphan's property and refrain from consuming it; if he is poor, let him consume, of it, honourably, that is, in line with the wage for his work. And when you deliver to them, the orphans, their property, take witnesses over them, that they have received it and that you are absolved [of the obligation], so that if any dispute occurs, you are able to refer to a clear proof: this is a command [intended] for guidance. God suffices as a reckoner, as a guardian of His creatures' deeds and as a reckoner of these [deeds] (the bā' [in bi'Llāhi] is extra).

7
The following was revealed as a repudiation of pre-Islamic practices in which women and children were not given any inheritance: To the men, young ones and kin, belongs a share, a portion, of what, deceased, parents and kinsmen leave, and to the women belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave, whether it, the property, be little or much. God has made it, an obligatory share, apportioned, to be given to them.

8
And when the division, of the inheritance, is attended by kinsmen, those of kinship who cannot inherit, and orphans and the poor, grant them, something, out of it, before the division [is effected]; and, if the inheritors are young, speak to them, O guardians, honourable words, kindly, by apologising to them that it is not your possession [to divide as you wish], but that it is for the young [inheritors]. Some say that this [stipulation] was abrogated; others say that it was not, only that people were all too readily neglecting it, since it was encouraged [but not prescribed]. According to Ibn 'Abbās, however, it is a duty.

9
And let them fear, let them be concerned for the orphans, those who, if they, are about to, leave behind them, that is, after their death, weak offspring, young children, would be afraid for them; that they be ruined; let them fear God, in the matter concerning orphans, and let them give what they would love for their own offspring after their death; and speak, to the one approached by death, pertinent words, the right [words], by enjoining him to give as voluntary almsgiving no more than the third [of the inheritance], and leave the remainder for the ones inheriting, so that they do not end up as dependants

10
Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly, without any right, are only consuming, the whole of it as, fire in their bellies, because that is where such [action] leads, and they shall be exposed to (read active yaslawna, or passive yuslawna), that is, they shall enter, a blaze, an intense fire, in which they shall burn.

AN NISA" 1-5

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيراً وَنِسَاء وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبً
ا {1}

[Yusufali 4:1] O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.




وَآتُواْ الْيَتَامَى أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلاَ تَتَبَدَّلُواْ الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ وَلاَ تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِير
ًا {2}

[Yusufali 4:2] To orphans restore their property (When they reach their age), nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your won. For this is indeed a great sin.



ُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحتَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُو
اْ {3}

[Yusufali 4:3] If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.




وَآتُواْ النَّسَاء صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَيْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئًا مَّرِيئًا
{4}

[Yusufali 4:4] And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, Take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.




وَلاَ تُؤْتُواْ السُّفَهَاء أَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِي جَعَلَ اللّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَاماً وَارْزُقُوهُمْ فِيهَا وَاكْسُوهُمْ وَقُولُواْ لَهُمْ قَوْلاً مَّعْرُوف
ًا {5}

[Yusufali 4:5] To those weak of understanding Make not over your property, which Allah hath made a means of support for you, but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.

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1
O people, of Mecca, fear your Lord, that is, His punishment by being obedient to Him, Who created you of a single soul, Adam, and from it created its mate, Eve (Hawwa'), from one of his left ribs, and from the pair of them, Adam and Eve, scattered, separated and spread, many men and, many, women; and fear God by whom you claim [your rights] from one another (tassa'aluna: the original ta' [of tatasa'aluna] has been assimilated with the sin; a variant reading has tasa'aluna), so that one of you says to the other, 'I ask you, by God…', or 'For God's sake…'; and, fear, kinship ties, lest you sever them (a variant reading [of wa'l-arhama, 'and kinship ties'] is wa'l-arhami, as a supplement to the pronoun contained in bihi [sc. God]). They used to implore one another by ties of kinship. Surely God has been watchful over you, heedful of your deeds, for which He will requite you, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such an attribute.

2
The following was revealed regarding an orphan who demanded his property from his guardian but was refused it: Give the orphans, the under-age ones that have no father, their property, when they have reached maturity, and do not exchange the evil, the unlawful, for the good, the lawful, that is, taking the one in place of the other, as you do when you take what is good from the orphan's property, and leave him your faulty property instead; and absorb not their property, [by] adding it, into your property; surely that, the absorbing of it, is a great crime, a serious sin. When this was revealed they found it difficult to maintain guardianship over orphans, and some of them had ten or eight wives under their care, and did not treat them all equally, and so the following was revealed:

3

If you fear that you will not act justly, [that] you will [not] be equitable, towards the orphans, and are thus distressed in this matter, then also fear lest you be unjust towards women when you marry them; marry such (ma means man) women as seem good to you, two or three or four, that is, [each man may marry] two, or three, or four, but do not exceed this; but if you fear you will not be equitable, towards them in terms of [their] expenses and [individual] share; then, marry, only one, or, restrict yourself to, what your right hands own, of slavegirls, since these do not have the same rights as wives; thus, by that marrying of only four, or only one, or resorting to slavegirls, it is likelier, it is nearer [in outcome], that you will not be unjust, [that] you will [not] be inequitable

4

And give women their dowries (saduqat, plural of sudqa), their bridal money (mahr, muhur), as a free gift (nihlatan, is a verbal noun), a present given out of the kindness of one's heart; but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord (nafsan, 'of their own accord', is for specification and is taken from the subject of the verb [thus, it refers back to 'they', the women]), meaning, [if] their own selves are pleased that you should have something of the dowry and they give it to you then, consume it with, good, wholesome appetite, a praiseworthy consequence, with no harm therein for you with regard to the Hereafter: this was revealed in response to those who were opposed to this [consumption].

5
But do not, O guardians, give to the foolish, the squanderers from among men, women and children, your property, that is, the property that is theirs but held by you, which God has assigned to you as maintenance (qiyāman, 'maintenance', is the verbal noun from qāma; a variant reading has qiyaman, the plural of qīma, 'value', that is, that with which property is valued), meaning that the property which sustains your livelihoods and the well-being of your children, lest they expend it improperly; provide for them thereof, that is, feed them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them decent words, prepare for them a kind reception, by giving them their property when they reach maturity.

Friday, January 12, 2007

AL IMRAN 196-200


لاَ يَغُرَّنَّكَ تَقَلُّبُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِي الْبِلاَد
ِ {196}

[Yusufali 3:196] Let not the strutting about of the Unbelievers through the land deceive thee:





مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ ثُمَّ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ
{197}

[Yusufali 3:197] Little is it for enjoyment: Their ultimate abode is Hell: what an evil bed (To lie on)!




لَكِنِ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْاْ رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا نُزُلاً مِّنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَمَا عِندَ اللّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّلأَبْرَار
ِ {198}

[Yusufali 3:198] On the other hand, for those who fear their Lord, are Gardens, with rivers flowing beneath; therein are they to dwell (for ever),- a gift from the presence of Allah; and that which is in the presence of Allah is the best (bliss) for the righteous.



وَإِنَّ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَمَن يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ خَاشِعِينَ لِلّهِ لاَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً أُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ
{199}

[Yusufali 3:199] And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book, those who believe in Allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to Allah: They will not sell the Signs of Allah for a miserable gain! For them is a reward with their Lord, and Allah is swift in account.




يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اصْبِرُواْ وَصَابِرُواْ وَرَابِطُواْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
{200}

[Yusufali 3:200] O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah; that ye may prosper.

________________________________________________________________

196

When the Muslims began to say, 'Look at the enemies of God, how comfortable they are, while we are struggling!', the following was revealed: Let it not delude you, that the disbelievers go to and fro in the land, engaging in commerce and acquiring profit:

197

That is [but], a little enjoyment, which they enjoy for a short while in this world and then perishes; then their abode is Hell - an evil cradling [an evil] resting place it is!

198
But those who fear their Lord - for them shall be Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding, that is, it is decreed for them to abide, therein; a hospitality (nuzul is what is prepared for a guest; it is in the accusative [nuzulan] because it is a circumstantial qualifier referring to jannāt, 'gardens', and its operator is the import of the adverbial phrase) from God Himself. That which is with God, in the way of reward, is better for the pious, than the enjoyment of this world.



199
Verily, there are some among the People of the Scripture who believe in God, like 'Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions and the Negus, and what has been revealed to you, that is, the Qur'ān, and what has been revealed to them, that is, the Torah and the Gospel, humble before God (khāshi'īn is a circumstantial qualification of the person of [the verb] yu'min, 'who believe', and takes into account the [potentially plural] sense of man, 'who'), not purchasing with the verses of God, which they have before them in the Torah and the Gospel pertaining to the descriptions of the Prophet (s), a small price, of this world, by concealing them for fear of losing their supremacy, as others, like the Jews, have done. Those - their wage, the reward for their deeds, is with their Lord, [a reward] which they will be given twice over, as [stated] in the sūrat al-Qasas [Q. 28:54]. God is swift at reckoning, reckoning with the whole of creation in about half a day of the days of this world.

200
O you who believe, be patient, in [performing] acts of obedience, in the face of afflictions and in refraining from acts of disobedience, and vie in patience, with the disbelievers, lest they be more patient than you; be steadfast, persist in the struggle; fear God, in all of your circumstances, so that you will prosper, [so that] you will win [admittance to] Paradise and be delivered from the Fire.

AL IMRAN 191-195

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ {191}

[Yusufali 3:191] Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.




رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ مَن تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ
{192}

[Yusufali 3:192] "Our Lord! any whom Thou dost admit to the Fire, Truly Thou coverest with shame, and never will wrong-doers Find any helpers!




رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُواْ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الأبْرَار
ِ {193}

[Yusufali 3:193] "Our Lord! we have heard the call of one calling (Us) to Faith, 'Believe ye in the Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take to Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous.




رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدتَّنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ وَلاَ تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّكَ لاَ تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَاد
َ {194}

[Yusufali 3:194] "Our Lord! Grant us what Thou didst promise unto us through Thine messengers, and save us from shame on the Day of Judgment: For Thou never breakest Thy promise."





فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ أَنِّي لاَ أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَامِلٍ مِّنكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى بَعْضُكُم مِّن بَعْضٍ فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُواْ وَأُخْرِجُواْ مِن دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُواْ فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُواْ وَقُتِلُواْ لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ ثَوَابًا مِّن عِندِ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَاب
ِ {195}

[Yusufali 3:195] And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the presence of Allah, and from His presence is the best of rewards."

________________________________________________________________

191
Those who (alladhīna, an adjectival qualification of the preceding [li-ūlī l-albāb, 'for people of pith'], or a substitution for it) remember God, standing and sitting and on their sides, reclining, that is to say, in all states: [it is reported] from Ibn 'Abbās that they perform prayer in these ways, [each] according to [his own] capacity; and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, to deduce therefrom the power of their Creator, saying: 'Our Lord, You have not created this, creation that we see, in vain (bātilan, a circumstantial qualifier), frivolously, but as a proof of the totality of Your power. Glory be to You!, exalted above any frivolity. So guard us against the chastisement of the Fire.


192


Our Lord, whomever You admit into the Fire, to abide therein, You will have abased, You will have humiliated, and the evildoers, the disbelievers therein, shall have no helpers, to protect them from God's chastisement, exalted be He (the overt noun ['the evildoers'] has replaced the pronominalisation ['whomever'] in order to inform that the [punishment of] abasement is specifically theirs; the min of [min ansār, 'helpers'] is extra).

193

Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling, summoning people, to belief (li'l-īmān means ilā l-īmān) and this is Muhammad (s), or [summoning them] to the Qur'ān, saying, that, “Believe in your Lord!” And we believed, in Him. So, our Lord, forgive us our sins and absolve us of, conceal, our evil deeds, and so do not make them manifest by punishing us for them, and take us [in death], receive our spirits together, with the pious, the prophets and the righteous.

194

Our Lord, grant us what You have promised us through, the tongues of, Your messengers, in the way of mercy and favour: they are asking her they be made among those that deserve such a promise, for, God's promise is fufilled regardless, but they are not certain that they are among those who deserve it. The repetition of the phrase our Lord is out of extreme humility; and abase us not on the Day of Resurrection. You will not fail the tryst', the promise of Resurrection and Requital.

195
And their Lord answers them, their supplication, by saying that 'I do not let the labour of any labourer among you go to waste, be you male or female - the one of you is as the other (this statement is a reaffirmation of the previous one): that is, they are both equal when it comes to recompensing them for their deeds and for not neglecting them. When Umm Salama asked, 'O Messenger of God, why is there no mention of women when it comes to the Emigration (hijra)?', the following was revealed: and those who emigrated, from Mecca to Medina, and were expelled from their habitations, those who suffered hurt in My way, for My religion, and fought, the disbelievers, and were slain (read qutilū or quttilū) - them I shall surely absolve of their evil deeds, concealing these with forgiveness, and I shall admit them to Gardens underneath which river flow'. A reward (thawāban is a verbal noun reaffirming the import of la-ukaffiranna) from God! (there is a shift of person here). And God - with Him is the fairest reward, [the fairest] requital.





Thursday, January 11, 2007

AL IMRAN 186-190


لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ أَذًى كَثِيراً وَإِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الأُمُورِ
{186}

[Yusufali 3:186] Ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs.




وَإِذَ أَخَذَ اللّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلاَ تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاء ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْاْ بِهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُون
َ {187}

[Yusufali 3:187] And remember Allah took a covenant from the People of the Book, to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And vile was the bargain they made!




لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَا أَتَواْ وَّيُحِبُّونَ أَن يُحْمَدُواْ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُواْ فَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّهُمْ بِمَفَازَةٍ مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
{188}

[Yusufali 3:188] Think not that those who exult in what they have brought about, and love to be praised for what they have not done,- think escape the penalty. For them is a penalty Grievous indeed.




وَلِلّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاللّهُ عَلَىَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
{189}

[Yusufali 3:189] To Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah hath power over all things.




إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْب
َابِ {190}

[Yusufali 3:190] Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,-

______________________________________________________________________________


186
You shall surely be tried (la-tublawunna, the [final] nūn nominative indicator has been omitted because two nūn letters [would otherwise] succeed one another, as has been the plural person indicator wāw where two unvocalised consonants have come together), in other words, you shall surely be tested, in your property, through the duties [imposed] thereupon and through the damages that affect them; and in your selves, through [the obligations of] worship and through calamities, and you shall hear from those who were given the Scripture before you, the Jews and the Christians, and from those who are idolaters, from among the Arabs, much hurt, in the way of insult, slander and [their] flirting with your women; but if you are patient, through this, and fear, God - surely that is true resolve, that is, it is one of those things regarding which one must necessarily have firm resolve.

187
And, mention, when God made covenant with those who had been given the Scripture, that is, the pledge [taken] from them in the Torah, 'You shall expound it (read tubayyinunnahu, or yubayyinunnahu, 'they shall expound it') the Book, to people, and not conceal it' (read taktumūnahu, 'you shall not conceal it', or yaktumūnahu, 'they shall not conceal it'). But they rejected it, they discarded the covenant, behind their backs, and so they did not act in accordance with it, and bought with it, they took in its place, a small price, of this world from the debased among them, enjoying supremacy over them in knowledge, and they concealed it, lest it [the supremacy] escape them; how evil is what they have bought, [how evil is] this purchase of theirs!

188

Do not reckon that (lā tahsabanna, or read lā yahsabanna, 'let them not reckon') those who rejoice in what they have brought, that is, [in what] they have done by leading people astray, and who love to be praised for what they have not done, in the way of adherence to the truth, being [themselves] misguided - do not reckon them (fa-lā tahsabannahum, is for emphasis [in the case of both readings above]) secure, in a place where they can escape, from the chastisement, in the Hereafter; but instead they shall be in a place of wherein they shall be tortured, and that is Hell; there shall be a painful chastisement for them, in it (alīm means mu'lim, 'painful'). If one reads yahsabanna, 'let them [not] reckon', the two direct objects of the first h-s-b verb would be indicated by the two direct objects of the second h-s-b verb; but if one reads tahsabanna, 'do [not] reckon', then only second direct object would be omitted.

189

To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth, the storehouses of rain, sustenance, vegetation and so forth, and God has power over all things, including the punishing of disbelievers and the saving of believers.


190


Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the marvels contained in them, and in the alternation of night and day, coming and going, increasing and diminishing, there are signs, indications of God's power, for people of pith, for people possessing intellects.