Surah 7. Al-A'raf

Alif. Lam. Mim. Sad.¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

Alif L'am M'im Suad.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Alif. Lam. Mim. Sad.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A DIVINE WRIT has been bestowed from on high upon thee - and let there be no doubt about this in thy heart - in order that thou mayest warn [the erring] thereby, and [thus] admonish the believers:²

  - Mohammad Asad

The expression haraj (lit., "straitness" or "tightness") is often used idiomatically to denote "doubt": and this is, according to Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah, the meaning of the term here (see Tabari, Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi, Ibn Kathir). The construction of the whole sentence makes it clear that the "doubt" does not relate to the origin of the divine writ but to its purpose: and thus, although ostensibly addressed to the Prophet, the above passage is meant to draw the attention of all whom the Qur'anic message may reach to the fact that it has a twofold objective - namely, to warn the rejectors of the truth and to guide those who already believe in it. Both the warning and the admonition are summarized in the sequence.

This Book is revealed to you; let there be no hesitation in your heart about it so that you may thereby warn the unbelievers and remind the believers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(It is) a Scripture that is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) so let there be no heaviness in thy heart therefrom that thou mayest warn thereby, and (it is) a Reminder unto believers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Follow what has been sent down unto you by your Sustainer, and follow no masters other than Him."³ How seldom do you keep this in mind!

  - Mohammad Asad

Some of the great Muslim thinkers, and particularly Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyyah, maintain that the expression awliya' (here rendered as "masters") denotes, in this context "authorities" in the religious sense of the word, implying a prohibition of attributing legal validity - side by side with Qur'anic ordinances - to the subjective opinions of any person below the Prophet. See in this connection 5:101 , and the corresponding notes.

Say: "O people, follow what has been brought down to you from your Rabb and do not follow other patrons besides Him." Yet little do they take admonition.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Saying): Follow that which is sent down unto you from your Lord, and follow no protecting friends beside Him. Little do ye recollect!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And how many a [rebellious] community have We destroyed, with Our punishment coming upon it by night, or while they were resting at noontide!⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., suddenly, when the people felt completely secure and at ease. This passage connects with the obligation, laid down in the preceding two verses, to follow God's revealed messages.

How many towns have We destroyed for their sins? Our scourge took them all of a sudden at night or while they were taking their afternoon rest,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How many a township have We destroyed! As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, Our terror came unto them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And when Our punishment came upon them, they had nothing to say for themselves, and could only cry,⁵ "Verily, we were wrongdoers!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "their plea was nothing but that they said".

and when our scourge fell upon them, their only cry was: "We have indeed been wrongdoers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

No plea had they, when Our terror came unto them, save that they said: Lo! We were wrongdoers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thus, [on Judgment Day] We shall most certainly call to account all those unto whom a [divine] message was sent, and We shall most certainly call to account the message-bearers [themselves];⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 5:109 .

On the Day of Judgement We shall question those to whom Rasools were sent and We shall also question the Rasools about Our message and its response.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then verily We shall question those unto whom (Our message) hath been sent, and verily We shall question the messengers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and thereupon We shall most certainly reveal unto them Our knowledge [of their doings]:⁷ for never have We been absent [from them].

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "relate to them with knowledge".

Then We shall tell their whole story as an eye witness for We were never absent at any time or from any place.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then verily We shall narrate unto them (the event) with knowledge, for verily We were not absent, (when it came to pass).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And true will be the weighing on that Day: and those whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance - it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state;

  - Mohammad Asad

On that Day, the scale of justice shall be established. Those whose scale of good deeds will be heavy, they are the ones who will attain felicity,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

The weighing on that day is the true (weighing). As for those whose scale is heavy, they are the successful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereas those whose weight is light in the balance - it is they who will have squandered their own selves by their wilful rejection of Our messages.⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "for that they were wont to act wrongfully with regard to Our messages".

and those whose scale is light, they shall find themselves in loss for they had done injustice to Our revelations.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And as for those whose scale is light: those are they who lose their souls because they disbelieved Our revelations.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

YEA, INDEED, [O men,] We have given you a [bountiful] place on earth, and appointed thereon means of livelihood for you: [yet] how seldom are you grateful!

  - Mohammad Asad

We are the One Who established you on earth, and provided you means of your sustenance therein: yet little it is that you pay thanks.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We have given you (mankind) power in the earth, and appointed for you therein a livelihood. Little give ye thanks!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yea, indeed, We have created you, and then formed you;⁹ and then We said unto the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" - whereupon they [all] prostrated themselves, save Iblis: he was not among those who prostrated themselves.¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

The sequence of these two statements - "We have created you [i.e., "brought you into being as living organisms"] and then formed you" [or "given you your shape", i.e., as human beings] - is meant to bring out the fact of man's gradual development, in the individual sense, from the embryonic stage to full-fledged existence, as well as of the evolution of the human race as such.

As regards God's allegorical command to the angels to "prostrate themselves" before Adam, see {2:30-34}, and the corresponding notes. The reference to all mankind which precedes the story of Adam in this surah makes it clear that his name symbolizes, in this context, the whole human race. Western scholars usually take it for granted that the name "Iblis" is a corruption of the Greek word diabolos, from which the English "devil" is derived. There is, however, not the slightest evidence that the pre-Islamic Arabs borrowed this or any other mythological term from the Greeks - while, on the other hand, it is established that the Greeks derived a good deal of their mythological concepts (including various deities and their functions) from the much earlier South-Arabian civilization (cf. Encyclopaedia of Islam I, 379 f.). One may, therefore, assume with something approaching certainty that the Greek diabolos is a Hellenized form of the Arabic name for the Fallen Angel, which, in turn, is derived from the root-verb ablasa, "he despaired" or "gave up hope" or "became broken in spirit" (see Lane I, 248). The fact that the noun diabolos ("slanderer" - derived from the verb diaballein, "to throw [something] across") is of genuinely Greek origin does not, by itself, detract anything from this hypothesis: for it is conceivable that the Greeks, with their well-known tendency to Hellenize foreign names, identified the name "Iblls" with the, to them, much more familiar term diabolos. - As regards Iblis' statement, in the next verse, that he had been created "out of fire", see surah {38}, note [60].

Indeed We created you, then We fashioned you, then We asked the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam." They all prostrated accordingly except Iblees (Shaitan) who did not join those who prostrated.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And God] said: "What has kept thee from prostrating thyself when I commanded thee?" Answered [Iblis]: "I am better than he: Thou hast created me out of fire, whereas him Thou hast created out of clay."

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" He replied: "I am better than he; you created me from fire and him from clay."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee? (Iblis) said: I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou didst create of mud.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[God] said: "Down with thee, then, from this [state] - for it is not meet for thee to show arrogance here! Go forth, then: verily, among the humiliated shalt thou be!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "Get down from here. You have no right to brag here of your superiority. Get out, henceforth you are of the petty ones."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Then go down hence! It is not for thee to show pride here, so go forth! Lo! thou art of those degraded.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [Iblis]: "Grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead."

  - Mohammad Asad

Shaitan requested: "Give me respite till the Day of Resurrection."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Reprieve me till the day when they are raised (from the dead).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And God] replied: "Verily, thou shalt be among those who are granted a respite."

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "The respite you requested is hereby granted."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Lo! thou art of those reprieved.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Whereupon Iblis] said: "Now that Thou hast thwarted me,¹¹ I shall most certainly lie in ambush for them all along Thy straight way,

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "allowed me to fall into error". The term aghwahu denotes both "he caused [or "allowed"] him to err" or "he caused him to be disappointed" or "to fail in attaining his desire" (cf. Lane VI, 2304f.). Since, in this case, the saying of Iblis refers to the loss of his erstwhile position among the angels, the rendering adopted by me seems to be the most appropriate.

Shaitan declared: "Since You let me deviate, now I will lie in ambush for mankind on Your Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said : Now, because Thou hast sent me astray, verily I shall lurk in ambush for them on Thy Right Path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and shall most certainly fall upon them openly as well as in a manner beyond their ken,¹² and from their right and from their left: and most of them Thou wilt find ungrateful."

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "from between their hands and from behind them". Regarding this idiomatic expression and my rendering of it, see the similar phrase in 2:255 ("He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them"). The subsequent phrase "from their right and from their left" signifies "from all directions and by all possible means".

I Will come upon them from the front, from the rear, from the right, and from the left, and You will not find most of them to be grateful."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then I shall come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right bands and from their left hands, and Thou wilt not find most of them beholden (unto Thee).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And God] said: "Go forth from here, disgraced and disowned! [And] as for such of them as follow thee - I will most certainly fill hell with you all!

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "Get out from here, you despicable outcast; I will certainly fill hell with you and all of them who follow you."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Go forth from hence, degraded, banished. As for such of them as follow thee, surely I will fill hell with all of you.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [as for thee], O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden, and eat, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become evildoers!"¹³

  - Mohammad Asad

See 2:35 and 20:120 , as well as the corresponding notes.

Allah said: "O Adam! Dwell with your wife in paradise and eat any fruit you please; but never approach this tree or you shall both become wrongdoers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (unto man): O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden and eat from whence ye will, but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thereupon Satan whispered unto the two with a view to making them conscious of their nakedness of which [hitherto] they had been unaware;¹⁴ and he said: "Your Sustainer has but forbidden you this tree lest you two become [as] angels, or lest you live forever."¹⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "so as to make manifest to them that of their nakedness which [hitherto] had been imperceptible to them": an allegory of the state of innocence in which man lived before his fall from grace - that is, before his consciousness made him aware of himself and of the possibility of choosing between alternative courses of action, with all the attending temptations towards evil and the misery which must follow a wrong choice.

Lit., "or [lest] you become of those who are enduring": thus instilling in them the desire to live forever and to become, in this respect, like God. See note [106] on 20:120 .

But Shaitan tempted them so that he might reveal to them the private parts of their bodies which they had never seen before. He told them: "Your Rabb has forbidden you to approach this tree only to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then Satan whispered to them that he might manifest unto them that which was hidden from them of their shame, and he said: Your Lord forbade you from this tree only lest ye should become angels or become of the immortals.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall