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 97, Al-Qadr (Destiny), Verses 1-5 (Complete Surah)
Behold, from on high have we bestowed this divine writ on the Night of Destiny. [ 1 ]
And what could make thee conceive what it is, the Night of Destiny?
The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months: [ 2 ]
in hosts descended in it the angels, bearing divine inspiration by their Sustainer’s leave;
from all [evil] that may happen does it make secure [ 3 ] until the rise of dawn.
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] Or: “of Almightiness” or “of Majesty” – thus describing the night on which the Prophet received his first revelation. On the basis of several Traditions, it may be assumed that it was one of the last ten nights – probably the twenty-seventh – of the month of Ramadan, thirteen years before the Prophet’s emigration to Medina.
[ 2 ] Sc., “in which there was no similar night” (Raazi).
[ 3 ] I.e., it makes the believer secure from all spiritual evil: thus Mujaahid (as quoted by Ibn Kathiir), evidently implying that a conscious realization of the sanctity of this night acts as a shield against unworthy thoughts and inclinations.
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