Al-Ahqaf

حمٓ 1

{ حم } الله أعلم بمراده به.

Hā mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].

تَنزِيلُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ 2

{ تنزيل الكتب } القرآن مبتدأ { من الله } خبره { العزيز } في ملكه { الحكيم } في صنعه.

The revelation of the Book, the Qur’ān (tanzīlu’l-kitābi, the subject) is from God (mina’Llāhi, the predicate thereof), the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His actions.

مَا خَلَقْنَا ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَآ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ عَمَّآ أُنذِرُوا۟ مُعْرِضُونَ 3

{ ما خلقنا السموات والأرض وما بينهمآ إلا } خلقا { بالحق } ليدل على قدرتنا ووحدانيتنا { وأجل مسمى } إلى فنائهما يوم القيامة { والذين كفروا عمآ أنذروا } خوفوا به من القرآن { معرضون }.

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them except, as a creation, in truth, so that it may be an indication of Our power and Our Oneness, and for an appointed term, until [the point of] their annihilation on the Day of Resurrection. Yet those who disbelieve are disregardful of what they are warned, [of what] they are threatened with in the way of [impending] chastisement.

قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُم مَّا تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَرُونِى مَاذَا خَلَقُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ۖ ٱئْتُونِى بِكِتَـٰبٍ مِّن قَبْلِ هَـٰذَآ أَوْ أَثَـٰرَةٍ مِّنْ عِلْمٍ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ 4

{ قل أرءيتم } أخبروني { ما تدعون } تعبدون { من دون الله } أي الأصنام مفعول أول { أرونى } أخبروني ما تأكيد { ماذا خلقوا } مفعول ثان { من الأرض } بيان ما { أم لهم شرك } مشاركة { فى } خلق { السموات } مع الله و أم بمعنى همزة الإنكار { ائتونى بكتب } منزل { من قبل هذآ } القرآن { أو أثرة } بقية { من علم } يؤثر عن الأولين بصحة دعواكم في عبادة الأصنام أنها تقربكم إلى الله { إن كنتم صدقين } في دعواكم.

Say: ‘Have you considered, [say] Inform me [about], what you invoke, [what] you worship, besides God?, namely, the idols (min dūni’Llāhi, constitutes the first object [of the verb]). Show me — inform me — (arūnī, [repeated] for emphasis), what they have created (mādhā khalaqū, the second object) of the earth (mina’l-ardi, the explication of mā, ‘what [part]’). Or do they have any share, any partnership, in, the creation of, the heavens?, with God? (am, ‘or’, has the significance of the [rhetorical interrogative] hamza of denial). Bring me a scripture, [that has been] revealed, before this, Qur’ān, or some vestige, some remnant, of knowledge, transmitted from the ancients confirming the soundness of your claim that your worship of the idols brings you closer to God, if you are truthful’, in your claim.

وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَن لَّا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُۥٓ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـٰفِلُونَ 5

{ ومن } استفهام بمعنى النفي أي لا أحد { أضل ممن يدعوا } يعبد { من دون الله } أي غيره { من لا يستجيب له إلى يوم القيمة } وهم الأصنام لا يجيبون عابديهم إلى شيء يسألونه أبدا { وهم عن دعآئهم } عبادتهم { غفلون } لأنهم جماد لا يعقلون.

And who is (man here is interrogative but meant [rhetorically] as a negation: in other words, ‘no one is’) further astray than him who invokes, [him who] worships, besides God, that is to say, other than Him, such as would not respond to him [even] until the Day of Resurrection — these are the idols, who never answer those who worship them in anything that they ask for — and who are heedless of their supplication?, their worship, because they are inanimates that possess no [faculty of] comprehension.

وَإِذَا حُشِرَ ٱلنَّاسُ كَانُوا۟ لَهُمْ أَعْدَآءً وَكَانُوا۟ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَـٰفِرِينَ 6

{ وإذا حشر الناس كانوا } أي الأصنام { لهم } لعابديهم { أعدآء وكانوا بعبادتهم } بعبادة عابديهم { كفرين } جاحدين.

And when mankind are gathered, they, the idols, will be enemies to them, to those who had worshipped them, and they will deny, they will disavow, their worship, the worship of those who had worshipped them.

وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُنَا بَيِّنَـٰتٍ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ هَـٰذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ 7

{ وإذا تتلى عليهم } أي أهل مكة { ءايتنا } القرآن { بينت } ظاهرات حال { قال الذين كفروا } منهم { للحق } أي القرآن { لما جآءهم هذا سحر مبين } بين ظاهر.

And when Our signs, the Qur’ān, are recited to them, namely, [to] the people of Mecca, being clear signs, manifest [signs] (bayyinātin is a circumstantial qualifier), those who disbelieve, from among them, say of the truth, that is, the Qur’ān, when it comes to them, ‘This is plain sorcery!’, clear and evident [sorcery].

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ ٱفْتَرَىٰهُ ۖ قُلْ إِنِ ٱفْتَرَيْتُهُۥ فَلَا تَمْلِكُونَ لِى مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ ۖ كَفَىٰ بِهِۦ شَهِيدًۢا بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ 8

{ أم } بمعنى بل وهمزة الإنكار { يقولون افتراه } أي القرآن؟ { قل إن افتريته } فرضا { فلا تملكون لى من الله } أي من عذابه { شيئا } أي لا تقدرون على دفعه عني إذا عذبني الله { هو أعلم بما تفيضون فيه } تقولون في القرآن { كفى به } تعالى { شهيدا بينى وبينكم وهو الغفور } لمن تاب { الرحيم } به فلم يعاجلكم بالعقوبة.

Or (am has the significance of bal, ‘nay, but …’ and the [rhetorical interrogative] hamza of denial) do they say, ‘He has invented it?’, that is, the Qur’ān. Say: ‘If I have invented it, hypothetically [speaking], still you would have no power to avail me against God, that is to say, against His chastisement, in any way, in other words, you would not be able to ward it off from me if God chooses to chastise me. He knows best what you delve into [of gossip] concerning it, what you say about the Qur’ān. He, exalted be He, suffices as a witness between me and you. And He is the Forgiving, to the one who repents, the Merciful’, to him, and so He does not hasten to punish you.

قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعًا مِّنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَمَآ أَدْرِى مَا يُفْعَلُ بِى وَلَا بِكُمْ ۖ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَىَّ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ 9

{ قل ما كنت بدعا } بديعا { من الرسل } أي أول مرسل، قد سبق قبلي كثيرون منهم فكيف تكذبوني؟ { ومآ أدرى ما يفعل بى ولا بكم } في الدنيا أأخرج من بلدي، أم أقتل كما فعل بالأنبياء قبلي؟ أو ترموني بالحجارة؟ أم يخسف بكم كالمكذبين قبلكم { إن } ما { أتبع إلا ما يوحى إلى } أي القرآن، ولا أبتدع من عندي شيئا { ومآ أنا إلا نذير مبين } بين الإنذار.

Say: ‘I am not a novelty, unprecedented, among the messengers, that is to say, [I am not] the first to be sent [by God as His Messenger]. Already many of them have come before me, so how can you deny me? Nor do I know what will be done with me or with you, in this world: will I be made to leave my [native] land, or will I be slain as was done with [some] prophets before me, or will you stone me to death, or will the earth be made to swallow you as [it did] deniers before you? I only follow what is revealed to me, that is, the Qur’ān, and I do not invent anything myself. And I am only a plain warner’, one whose warning is plain.

قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُمْ إِن كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُم بِهِۦ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنۢ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ عَلَىٰ مِثْلِهِۦ فَـَٔامَنَ وَٱسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ 10

{ قل أرءيتم } أخبروني ماذا حالكم { إن كان } أي القرآن { من عند الله وكفرتم به } جملة حالية { وشهد شاهد من بنى إسرءيل } هو عبد الله بن سلام { على مثله } أي عليه أنه من عند الله { فئامن } الشاهد { واستكبرتم } تكبرتم عن الإيمان. وجواب الشرط بما عطف عليه ألستم ظالمين؟ دل عليه { إن الله لا يهدى القوم الظلمين }.

Say: ‘Have you considered?, [say:] inform me, what will be your predicament, if it, the Qur’ān, is from God and you disbelieve in it (wa-kafartum bihi, the sentence is a circumstantial qualifier), and a witness from the Children of Israel has [already] testified, this was ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām, to the like of it, that is to say, to it [the Qur’ān], that it is from God, and he, the witness, has believed [in it], while you act with arrogance …’, you are disdainful of faith (the response to the conditional [‘if …’] is given [by implication] in what has been supplemented to it, in other words: ‘Would you not then be [considered] wrongdoers?’; this [understanding of the response] is indicated by [what follows]). Truly God does not guide wrongdoing folk’.

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَوْ كَانَ خَيْرًا مَّا سَبَقُونَآ إِلَيْهِ ۚ وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَـٰذَآ إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ 11

{ وقال الذين كفروا للذين ءامنوا } أي في حقهم { لو كان } الإيمان { خيرا ما سبقونآ إليه وإذ لم يهتدوا } أي القائلون { به } أي القرآن { فسيقولون هذآ } أي القرآن { إفك } كذب { قديم }.

And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, that is, [they say] with regards to them: ‘Had it, faith, been [anything] good, they would not have attained it before us’. And since they, the ones [now] speaking, will not be guided by it, that is, [by] the Qur’ān, they say, ‘This, that is, the Qur’ān, is an ancient lie!’

وَمِن قَبْلِهِۦ كِتَـٰبُ مُوسَىٰٓ إِمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً ۚ وَهَـٰذَا كِتَـٰبٌ مُّصَدِّقٌ لِّسَانًا عَرَبِيًّا لِّيُنذِرَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ 12

{ ومن قبله } أي القرآن { كتاب موسى } أي التوراة { إماما ورحمة } للمؤمنين به حالان { وهذا } أي القرآن { كتب مصدق } للكتب قبله { لسانا عربيا } حال من الضمير في مصدق { لينذر الذين ظلموا } مشركي مكة { و } هو { بشرى للمحسنين } المؤمنين.

Yet before it, that is, [before] the Qur’ān, [there was] the Book of Moses, that is, the Torah, as a guidepost and a mercy, for those who believed in it (imāman wa-rahmatan are two circumstantial qualifiers) and this, Qur’ān, is a Book that confirms, scriptures before it, in the Arabic tongue (lisānan ‘arabiyyan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of musaddiqun, ‘that confirms’) to warn those who do wrong, the idolaters of Mecca, and, it is, good tidings for the virtuous, the believers.