41FuṣṣilatSpecifiedسُورَةُ فصلت

Ḥā-Mīm [Ḥ-M].

[Such is the inscription material of] a delivery [of revelation] from the Mercy-Giver, the Very Merciful:

A scripture of specified āyāt [presented] as an Arabic Qur’an for people who understand,

A conveyor of good news [for good people] and of bad news [for bad people]. And yet [at the time of revelation] most of them [who were offered this divine Writ] turned the other way and thus were unable to listen [to what We had to say];

And they [those people] said, “Our hearts are [secured as if] in armor concerning what you [Muhammad] are requesting us [to say and do], and we are hard at hearing [what you are telling us], and between us and you there is a blockade [of traditions, culture, history, and religion] — so [go ahead and] do [whatever you want], for we will surely do [whatever we have always done]!”

Say [O Muhammad], “But I am only a mortal being just like you — [the only difference being that] I have received revelation to the effect that your deity/authority is One Deity/ Authority and therefore you should be forthright with Him and ask Him for forgiveness.” And woe to the mushriks —

Those who do not [methodically] spend of what they have in order to develop into whom they should be, and who are in denial of final life [afterlife].

[But], verily, as for those who have committed themselves [to Allah’s preponderant power and overwhelming authority] and do what is honest and just, theirs shall be [unprejudiced] never-ending reward.

Say [O Muhammad], “Are you [the people of Arabia] really in denial of Him who created the earth in two eons and [do you really] ascribe others to be on par with Him? [You should realize] that [only] He is the Sustainer of the worlds:

For, He [it is who] developed in it [the Earth] anchors [mountains, extending] above its surface, and blessed it [the Earth] with bounties and provisioned proportionately therein its multiple [sources of] subsistence for all who are curious — [and all this He created] in [a time frame of] four eons.

Then He [it is who] set out [in terms beyond the human comprehension of time and place] into space as it was [akin to] smoke; and He [it is who then] said to it and to the Earth, “Both of you, draw near voluntarily or involuntarily!” — [to which] they both replied, “We all come obediently.”

Consequently, He [it is who] decreed that they become seven outer spaces in two eons, and imparted unto each outer space its [peculiar] affair. And We decorated the skies of Earth with illuminating sources of light and [We preserve it with] safeguards: such is the calculation of the Grand, the Infinitely Knowledgeable.

And if they [the mushriks] turn away [as if they heard nothing from you], then say [O Muhammad] to them, “I am warning you of a [natural disaster] shock on the order of the [natural disaster] shock peculiar to the [one-time power structure of] ‘Ād and Thamūd!”

As it happened, apostles [of Allah] came to them early on and later on, [telling them] that they should not conform to anyone or anything except Allah; they countered back by saying, “Had our Sustainer willed it, He would have had angels come down [to us, as His messengers]! Therefore, we, indeed, repudiate the [divine] message you are tasked with!”

Now, as for the [elites of the empire] of ‘Ād, they acted arrogantly in world affairs without [moral] justification and without justice, proclaiming, “Who is it that surpasses us in power?” Can they not see that Allah — who created them — is more powerful than they are? But they [‘Ād] were [arrogant] and refused to acknowledge what is self-evident [that is, Allah’s superior power];

And thereupon We let loose upon them an earsplitting [violent] hurricane, raging on through days of doom, so that We would make them experience the suffering of humiliation in earthly life; but the suffering of the final life is yet more humiliating, and they shall find no support [there whatsoever].

And, as for Thamūd, We guided them, but they desired blindness in preference to guidance: and so, they [too] were overtaken by the shock [of a natural disaster of] suffering with degradation [that attends it], because of what they gained [of worldly materialism and immorality];

And We rescued [only] those [within those societies] who committed themselves [to Us] and were on guard [regarding Our power and authority].

And [there will be] a Day when the enemies of Allah are amassed unto the Fire in [tight] formation,

Until when they arrive at it, their hearing and their sights and their skins will testify [against them] about what they were doing [when they were in their past worldly lives].

[That being the case] they will ask their skins, “Why did you testify against us?” — [and] these [skins] will reply, “Allah, who makes speech possible for everything, has enabled us to speak: for, it is He who created you the first time around and to Him you return.

“And you did not try to hide [your sins and crimes] from your hearing, nor from your sights, nor from your skins in anticipation that they will testify against you. Rather you thought that Allah is not aware of much of what you were doing [while you were living on earth] —

“And this, your assumption, which you assumed about your Sustainer, is what [ultimately] devastated you; and thus, you joined the [rank of] losers.”

And then, even if they persist patiently, the Fire will still be their lodging; and if they were to petition [for mercy], it will not be granted to them:

And [it was] for these [types that] We arranged corresponding entities [evil spirits and demons] who fancied for them what lay ahead of them [of worldly whims and manias] and whatever was beyond them [in the world and life to come]. And so, [the measure of] truth and justice will have come due upon them as it came due upon nations of humans and jinn before their time: for they, truly, were losers.

Now, the practicing kāfirs said [to one another], “Do not listen to this Qur’an; rather talk inconsequentially about it and there is a chance that you may win [this public clash with the Prophet and the committed muslims].”

[For that] We will, of a certainty, subject the deniers [of Allah] to severe suffering and We will pay them back with the worst [type of punishment] for what they were doing [while living their God-defying lives on earth].

That is the [detrimental] compensation of the enemies of Allah — the Fire. Therein they shall have an abode for eternity as a payback for their defiance of what is self-evident [pertaining to Allah’s primacy and power].

[Thereupon] the God-deniers will say [on that Day in the hereafter], “O our Sustainer! Show us the two [instigators of sin and crime] from the [species] of jinn and humans who have led us astray, for we will trample them under our feet so that they become the lowest of the low!”

Indeed, as for those who say, “Our Sustainer is Allah,” and then move forward [in life] with honesty, upon them will descend the malā’ikah [saying], “Do not fear and do not be sad, but receive the glad tidings of the Paradise that has been promised to you,

“We are your prime exponents in earthly life and in the final life; and in it [Paradise] you shall have whatever your souls may desire, and in it you shall have whatever you request,

“As a ready welcome from Him who is all-forgiving, most merciful.”

And who could have a better thing to say than he who calls [others] to Allah while doing what is proper and right and expressing the fact, “Verily, I am from those who are muslims [those who self-surrender only to Allah]”?

Doing something that is progressively good cannot be on par with doing something that is progressively bad: [therefore] repel [the attitudes of those who are bad] with doing something that is progressively good, and you will realize that he who was separated from you by animosity will come into view as a warm friend!

And no one will achieve [this status] except for those who are patient; and no one will achieve [such status] except for those who are of the greatest good [divine] influence.

Hence, if it was to happen that a suggestion from Satan stirs you into deviation [from Allah], then seek refuge with Allah: behold, He is the Ever-Hearing, the Ever-Aware.

And among His illustrations of power and authority are the night and the day and the Sun and the Moon: [hence] do not bow down [in reverence] to the Sun, nor to the Moon, but bow [in reverence] to Allah who created all of them — if you were truly conforming to Him.

And though there are those [types] who are too arrogant [to do so], [know that] those in the presence of your Sustainer extol Him by night and day and are never weary [of doing so].1

And among His illustrations [of supremacy and sway] is that you notice the earth is stagnant — and lo! when We bring down water upon it, it stirs and swells [with life]! Indeed, He who brings it to life is the One who gives life to those who are dead [literally or figuratively]: verily, He is capable of doing anything [He wants].

Indeed, those who distort the implications of Our power and authority paradigms will not be able to hide from Us: hence, is he who is cast into the Fire better, or the one who comes forth securely on the Day of Resurrection? Do what you will: verily, He is watchful of what you do.

Surely, those who are in denial of the consciousness [issuing from this Qur’an] when it comes to them [are at a loss]: for, behold, it is a dignified divine Writ:

Falsehood does not approach it from what is onward [in the future] or from what is backward [in the past], [since it is] a delivery [of meanings] from One who is definitely wise, infinitely praised.

[And as for you, O Prophet], whatever is being said to you [by the mushriks] is what was said to apostles before you! Behold, your Sustainer is of forgiveness, and of a painful penalty.

And if We were to have rendered it [this Qur’an] in a non-Arabic discourse, they [the mushriks in Arabia] would surely have said, “If only the āyāt of the Qur’an were noted [in Arabic]! How can a non-Arabic scripture be explained by an Arab [prophet]?” Say [O Muhammad to these types], “It [the Qur’an] is guidance and a therapy for those who are committed [to Allah]; as for those who do not commit, they have deafness in their ears, and so the Qur’an becomes obscure to them: they are [like people who are] being called from a distance [they can hardly hear].”

In the same way, We indeed gave Mūsā the scripture, and thereupon quarrels arose about it [and its details]. But [then, as now], had it not been for a word [of mercy] issued from your Sustainer, [final] verdict would have been ruled upon them. And, surely, they remain in a state of dubious doubt about it.

Whoever does what is right and righteous does so to his own benefit; and whoever does what is wrong and wrongful does so to his own detriment: and never does your Sustainer wrong any [of His] living beings.2

Deferred to Him is the knowledge [of the onset] of the Final Hour. And no bloom bursts out of its calyx, and no female ever conceives, nor gives birth, except with His knowledge. And so, [there will come] a Day when He calls out to them, “Where are My equivalents [in power and authority]?” They [the mushriks] will reply, “We confess to You that none of us can bear witness [to You having any equivalents].”

And so, all [god-likes and god-equivalents] that they invoked aforetime [when they had their earthly lives] will have forsaken them; and now they know they have nowhere to run away.

A social being never tires of asking for the delights [of life]; but if nasty things happen [in his life] he abandons hope and becomes depressed.

And were We to have him experience Our grace after he was bruised by hardship, he will definitely say, “This is attributable to me; and I do not think the Final Hour will ever come — but even if [it were to come, and] I was to be returned to my Sustainer, then I will surely have reserverd for me a much improved condition in His presence.” For, indeed, We will certainly inform those who were in denial [of Our authority] of what they did [in their life of responsibilities] and We will certainly have them experience a harsh affliction.

And, also, if We were to provide plenty of a bounty upon a social being, he would turn away [from Us] and digress; but as soon as tough times come his way, he expresses capacious supplications.

Say [O Muhammad, to the kāfirs], “Have you ever considered [the consequences of] denying this Scripture’s authenticity if in reality it was issued by Allah? Who can be more in the wrong than he who entrenches himself in a far-fetched ruckus?”

Over time, We will show them Our power demonstrations in the most distant horizons and in their own selves until they finally realize that it [the Qur’an] is truth and justice. [Still], is it not enough [for them to know] that your Sustainer is a witness over everything?

Oh, surely, they are in a state of uncertainty concerning their encounter with their Sustainer! Oh, indeed, He encompasses everything!