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 19, Verses 58 - 63
These were some of the prophets upon whom God bestowed His blessings – [prophets] of the seed of Adam and of those whom We caused to be borne [in the ark] with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel: and [all of them were] among those whom We had guided and elected; [and] whenever the messages of the Most Gracious were conveyed unto them, they would fall down [before Him], prostrating themselves and weeping.
Yet they were succeeded by generations [of people] who lost all [thought of] prayer and followed but their own lusts; and these will, in time, meet with utter disillusion.
Excepted, however, shall be those who repent and attain to faith and do righteous deeds: for it is they who will enter paradise and will not be wronged in any way: [theirs will be the] gardens of perpetual bliss which the Most Gracious has promised unto His servants, in a realm which is beyond the realm of human perception [ 1 ]: [and,] verily, His promise is ever sure of fulfillment!
No empty talk will they hear there – nothing but tidings of inner soundness and peace; and there they will have their sustenance by day and by night: this is the paradise which we grant as a heritage unto such of Our servants as are conscious of Us.
Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] This lengthy paraphrase of the expression “b’il-ghayab” gives, I think, the closest possible interpretation of the idea underlying it: namely, the prospect of a reality which is inconceivable by man in terms of his worldly experiences, and which can, therefore, only be hinted at by means of allegorical illusions.
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