Surah 17. Al-Israa

or any [other] substance which, to your minds, appears yet farther removed [from life]!"⁵⁸ And [if] thereupon they ask, "Who is it that will bring us back [to life]?" - say thou: "He who has brought you into being in the first instance." And [if] thereupon they shake their heads at thee [in disbelief] and ask, "When shall this be?" - say thou: "It may well be soon,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "or any created matter which, in your hearts, appears yet more difficult" - i.e., even less susceptible of having or receiving life.

or even something harder than this that you may think of." Then they will ask: "Who will restore us?" Say: "The One Who created you the first time." Then they will shake their heads at you and ask: "Well, when will this be?" Say, "It may be quite soon!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or some created thing that is yet greater in your thoughts! Then they will say: Who shall bring us back (to life)? Say: He who created you at the first. Then will they shake their heads at thee, and say: When will it be? Say: It will perhaps be soon;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

on a Day when He will call you, and you will answer by praising Him, thinking all the while that you have tarried [on earth] but a little while."⁵⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Man's life on earth will appear to him "but as a little while" in comparison with the unlimited duration of the life in the hereafter (Tabari, Zamakhshari). A further implication is that man's concept of "time" is earthbound and, hence, has no meaning in the context of ultimate reality. The preceding reference to the erstwhile deniers of the possibility of resurrection as "answering God's call by praising Him" implies that as soon as they are resurrected they will become fully aware of His existence and almightiness.

It will be on the Day when He will call you and you will raise up in response to it, with His praise, and you will think that you remained in the state of death but a little while."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

A day when He will call you and ye will answer with His praise, and ye will think that ye have tarried but a little while.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND TELL My servants that they should speak in the most kindly manner [unto those who do not share their beliefs]:⁶⁰ verily, Satan is always ready to stir up discord between men⁶¹ - for, verily, Satan is man's open foe!

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {16: 125} (and the corresponding note [149]) as well as 29:46 .

Lit., "Satan stirs up discord between them".

Tell My servants that they should speak only what is the best. Surely shaitan stirs up trouble among them. The fact is that shaitan is an open enemy to mankind.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Tell My bondmen to speak that which is kindlier. Lo! the devil soweth discord among them. Lo! the devil is for man an open foe.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Your Sustainer is fully aware of what you are [and what you deserve]: if He so wills, he will bestow [His] grace upon you; and if He so wills, He will chastise you. Hence, We have not sent thee [unto men, O Prophet,] with the power to determine their fate,⁶²

  - Mohammad Asad

For my rendering of the term wakil, in this context, as "one who has the power to determine the fate [of another being]", see note [4] on verse {2} of this surah. An alternative, equally acceptable rendering of the above phrase would be, "We have not sent thee charged with responsibility for their conduct."

Your Rabb is fully aware of your circumstances. He may be merciful to you if He wants, or He may punish you if He pleases. O Prophet, We have not sent you to be their guardian.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Your Lord is best aware of you. If He will, He will have mercy on you, or if He will, He will punish you. We have not sent thee (O Muhammad) as a warden over them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

seeing that thy Sustainer is fully aware of [what is in the minds of] all beings that are in the heavens and on earth. But, indeed, We did endow some of the prophets more highly than others⁶³ - just as We bestowed upon David a book of divine wisdom [in token of Our grace]⁶⁴ .

  - Mohammad Asad

This seems to be an allusion to the role of Muhammad as the Last Prophet (Zamakhshari, Baydawi): despite his personal inability to "determine the fate" of the people to whom he conveyed God's message, that message is destined to remain alive forever.

I.e., just as David's "book of divine wisdom" (the Psalms) had outlived the glory of his earthly kingdom, so will Muhammad's message, the Qur'an, outlive all the changing fortunes of his followers.

Your Rabb is fully aware of all that is in the heavens and in the earth. We have exalted some prophets above the others and gave Zaboor (the Psalms) to Dawood.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And thy Lord is best aware of all who are in the heavens and the earth. And we preferred some of the Prophets above others, and unto David We gave the Psalms.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

SAY:⁶⁵ "Call upon those [beings] whom you imagine [to be endowed with divine powers] beside Him⁶⁶ - and [you will find that] they have it not in their power to remove any affliction from you, or to shift it [elsewhere].⁶⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "to those who believe in the existence of any divine power apart from God".

As the sequence shows, this relates to the worship of saints or angels.

I.e., to transfer it unto themselves: obviously an allusion to the Christian doctrine of "vicarious atonement".

Say: "Pray if you will to those whom you assert besides Him; they have neither the power to relieve you from any distress nor to change it."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Cry unto those (saints and angels) whom ye assume (to be gods) beside Him, yet they have no power to rid you of misfortune nor to change.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those [saintly beings] whom they invoke are themselves striving to obtain their Sustainer's favour - [even] those among them who are closest [to Him]⁶⁸ - hoping for His grace and dreading His chastisement: for, verily, thy Sustainer's chastisement is something to beware of!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the greatest of the prophets, as well as the angels.

Those to whom they pray, themselves seek the means of access to their Rabb - trying as to who can be more near - they hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment, for the punishment of your Rabb is terrible indeed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them shall be the nearest; they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [bear in mind:] there is no community which We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection,⁶⁹ or chastise [even earlier, if it proves sinful,] with suffering severe: all this is laid down in Our decree.⁷⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., since everything in this world is ephemeral and bound to perish, man ought to be conscious of the life to come.

Lit., "in the decree" - i.e., in accordance with the immutable laws which God has laid down for His creation.

There is not a town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it with a severe punishment; this fact has been recorded in the Eternal Record.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There is not a township but We shall destroy it ere the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with dire punishment. That is set forth in the Book (of Our decrees).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that the people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them:⁷¹ thus, We provided for [the tribe of] Thamud the she-camel as a light-giving portent, and they sinned against it.⁷² And never did We send those signs for any other purpose than to convey a warning.

  - Mohammad Asad

This highly elliptic sentence has a fundamental bearing on the purport of the Qur'an as a whole. In many places the Qur'an stresses the fact that the Prophet Muhammad, despite his being the last and greatest of God's apostles, was not empowered to perform miracles similar to those with which the earlier prophets are said to have reinforced their verbal messages. His only miracle was and is the Qur'an itself - a message perfect in its lucidity and ethical comprehensiveness, destined for all times and all stages of human development, addressed not merely to the feelings but also to the minds of men, open to everyone, whatever his race or social environment, and bound to remain unchanged forever. Since the earlier prophets invariably appealed to their own community and their own time alone, their teachings were, of necessity, circumscribed by the social and intellectual conditions of that particular community and time; and since the people to whom they addressed themselves had not yet reached the stage of independent thinking, those prophets stood in need of symbolic portents or miracles (see surah {6}, note [94]) in order to make the people concerned realize the inner truth of their mission. The message of the Qur'an, on the other hand, was revealed at a time when mankind (and, in particular, that part of it which inhabited the regions marked by the earlier, Judaeo-Christian religious development) had reached a degree of maturity which henceforth enabled it to grasp an idealogy as such without the aid of those persuasive portents and miraculous demonstrations which in the past, as the above verse points out, only too often gave rise to new, grave misconceptions.

See the second paragraph of 7:73 and the corresponding note [57]. Although there is absolutely no indication in the Qur'an that the she-camel referred to was of miraculous origin, it was meant to be a test for the people of Thamud (cf. 54:27 ), and thus a "light-giving portent" (mubsirah).

We refrain from sending signs (miracles) only because the men of former generations treated them as false. For example, We sent the she-camel to the people of Thamud - a manifest sign - but they laid violent hands on her. We send the signs only by way of warning, and if people reject the sign after receiving it, they are doomed.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Naught hindereth Us from sending portents save that the folk of old denied them. And We gave Thamud the she-camel--a clear portent--but they did wrong in respect of her. We send not portents save to warn.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And lo! We said unto thee, [O Prophet:] "Behold, thy Sustainer encompasses all mankind [within His knowledge and might]: and so We have ordained that the vision which We have shown thee⁷³ - as also the tree [of hell,] cursed in this Qur'an - shall be but a trial for men.⁷⁴ Now [by Our mentioning hell] We convey a warning to them: but [if they are bent on denying the truth,] this [warning] only increases their gross, overweening arrogance."

  - Mohammad Asad

The vision (ru'ya) mentioned here is the Prophet's experience of the Ascension, preceded by the Night Journey (see Appendix IV). In as much as this experience was and is open to most conflicting interpretations and, hence, may give rise to doubts regarding its objective reality, it becomes - as stated in the sequence - "a trial for men": the weak of faith and the superficial are shaken in their belief in Muhammad's veracity and, thus, in his prophethood; whereas those who firmly believe in God see in it an extraordinary evidence of the spiritual grace which He bestows on His chosen ones, and are, therefore, strengthened in their faith in the message of the Qur'an.

As regards "the tree cursed in this Qur'an", there is no doubt that it is the "tree of deadly fruit" (shajarat az-zaqquim) spoken of in 37:62 ff. and 44:43 ff. as one of the manifestations of hell (see {37:62-63} and the corresponding notes [22] and [23], the latter of which explains why this "tree" has become "a trial for men"). In the above context it is described as "cursed" because it obviously symbolizes hell itself. The reason why only "hell" - and no other manifestation of the hereafter - is specifically alluded to here becomes evident in the subsequent statement that it is meant to convey a warning.

Remember, O Muhammad! We told you that your Rabb encompasses mankind. We have made the Vision which We showed you, and the cursed tree of Zaqqum which is mentioned in the Qur'an, a test for these people of Makkah. We are giving them warning to be fearful but it only increases their inordinate transgression.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (it was a warning) when We told thee: Lo! thy Lord encompasseth mankind, and We appointed the vision which We showed thee as an ordeal for mankind, and (likewise) the Accursed Tree in the Qur'an. We warn them, but it increaseth them in naught save gross impiety.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND LO! We said unto the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam" - whereupon they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis.⁷⁵ Said he: "Shall I prostrate myself before one whom Thou hast created out of clay?"

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of the allegory of Adam and the angels, see {2:30-34}, {7:11-18} and {15:26-41}, as well as the corresponding notes. In the present instance, as in Al-A'raf and Al-Hijr, the accent is on the contempt of Iblls for Adam (which is obviously a metonym for the whole human race): hence, this passage apparently connects with the end of verse {53} above - "verily, Satan is man's open foe!" The stress on man's dignity - expressed in God's commandment to the angels to "prostrate themselves before Adam" - links this allegory with verses {70-72}.

Recall the occasion when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam." They all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan), who replied: "Should I prostrate to the one whom You have created from clay?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis, he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And] he added: "Tell me, is this [foolish being] the one whom Thou hast exalted above me? Indeed, if Thou wilt but allow me a respite till the Day of Resurrection, I shall most certainly cause his descendants - all but a few - to obey me blindly!"⁷⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {7:16-17}. The verb hanaka denotes, literally, "he put a rope around the lower jaw (hanak) [of a horse]", i.e., in order to lead it; hence, the form ihtanaka means "he made [another being] follow him submissively" or "obey him blindly".

Then he asked: "Tell me, is this the one whom You have honored above me? If You give me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will certainly uproot all but a few of his descendants."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Seest Thou this (creature) whom Thou hast honored above me, if Thou give me grace until the Day of Resurrection I verily will seize his seed, save but a few.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[God] answered: "Go [the way thou hast chosen]! But as for such of them as shall follow thee - behold, hell will be the recompense of you [all], a recompense most ample!

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "Go away! Hell is your reward, and the reward of those who follow you, an ample reward it shall be.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Go, and whosoever of them followeth thee--lo! Hell will be your payment, ample payment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Entice, then, with thy voice such of them as thou canst, and bear upon them with all thy horses and all thy men,⁷⁷ and be their partner in [all sins relating to] worldly goods and children,⁷⁸ and hold out [all manner of] promises to them: and [they will not know that] whatever Satan promises them is but meant to delude the mind.⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

This is an idiomatically established metaphor, signifying "with all thy might".

An allusion to possessions acquired by sinful means or spent on sinful purposes, and to the begetting of children through fornication or adultery. (It must, however, be pointed out that in the ethics and the canon law of Islam no moral stigma and no legal disability whatever attaches to the child thus begotten.)

Cf. 4:120 and the corresponding note [142].

You may try to allure whomsoever you can with your seductive voice, muster against them all your cavalry and infantry, be their partner in their riches and their children, and promise them what you will - the promises of shaitan are nothing but deception

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And excite any of them whom thou canst with thy voice, and urge thy horse and foot against them, and be a partner in their wealth and children, and promise them. Satan promiseth them only to deceive.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"[And yet,] behold, thou shalt have no power over [such of] My servants [as place their trust in Me]:⁸⁰ for none is as worthy of trust as thy Sustainer."

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "thou shalt have no real power over them", as brought out in 14:22 and 15:42 .

- as for My servants, you shall have no authority over them. Your Rabb is sufficient as their Guardian."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! My (faithful) bondmen--over them thou hast no power,--and thy Lord sufficeth as (their) guardian.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall