Gems from the Holy Qur’an
From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
About the translator:
Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after years of devoted study became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur'an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category, dedicated to “li-qawmin yatafakkaroon” (people who think). Forwarded by Dr Ismat Kamal.
Chapter 80, ‘Abasa, Verses 17 -23
[ But only too often ] man destroys himself: how stubbornly does he deny the truth!
[Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates him?
Out of a drop of sperm He creates him, and thereupon determines his nature, and then makes it easy for him to go through life; and in the end He causes him to die and brings him to the grave; and then, if it be His will, He shall raise him again to life.
Nay, but [man] has never yet fulfilled what He has enjoined upon him! [ 1 ]
Chapter 81, Al-Takwiir, Verses 15-21
But nay! I call to witness the revolving stars, the planets that run their daily course and set, and the night as it darkly falls, and the morn as it softly breathes: behold, this [divine writ] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle [ 2], with strength endowed, secure with Him who in almightiness is enthroned, [the word] of one to be heeded, and worthy of trust!
Chapter 81, Al-Takwiir, Verses 27-29
This [message] is no less than a reminder to all mankind – to every one of you who wills to walk a straight way.
But you cannot will it unless God, the Sustainer of all the worlds, wills [to show you the way]. [ 3 ]
Chapter 82, Al-Infitaar, Verses 6-9
O man! What is it that lures thee away from thy bountiful Sustainer, who has created thee in accordance with what thou art meant to be, and shaped thy nature in just proportions, having put thee together in whatever form He willed [thee to have]?
Nay, [ O men, ] but you [are lured away from God whenever you are tempted to] give the lie to [God’s] Judgement!
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] In other words, man has failed to make use of the intellectual and spiritual endowment referred to in Verse 20.
[ 2 ] By “calling to witness” certain natural phenomena which are familiar to man because of their permanent recurrence, attention is drawn to the fact that what we call “laws of nature” are but the observable elements of God’s plan of creation – a plan in which His revelations (referred to in this and the subsequent verses) play a decisive role: and so, by implication, the divine writ granted to the Prophet is as intrinsically “natural” as any other phenomenon, concrete or abstract, in the realm of God’s creation.
[ 3 ] I.e., “you can will it only because God has willed to show you the right way by means of the positive instincts which He has implanted in you, as well as through the revelations which He has bestowed on His prophets”: implying that the choice of the right way is open to everyone who is willing to avail himself of God’s universal guidance.
