Surah 18. Al-Kahf

And neither do I think that the Last Hour will ever come. But even if [it should come, and] I am brought before my Sustainer,⁴³ I will surely find something even better than this as [my last] resort!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "brought back [or "referred"] to my Sustainer" - i.e., for judgment.

Nor do I believe that the Hour of Judgment will ever come. Even if I am returned to my Rabb, I will surely find even a better place than this."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I think not that the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back unto my Lord I surely shall find better than this as a resort.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And his friend answered him in the course of their argument: "Wilt thou blaspheme against Him who has created thee out of dust,⁴⁴ and then out of a drop of sperm, and in the end has fashioned thee into a [complete] man?

  - Mohammad Asad

See second half of note [47] on {3: 59}, and note [4] on {23: 12}.

His companion replied while still conversing with him: "Do you disbelieve in Him Who created you from dust, from a drop of semen, and fashioned you into a perfect man?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And his comrade, while he disputed with him, exclaimed: Disbelievest thou in Him Who created thee of dust, then of a drop (of seed), and then fashioned thee a man?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But as for myself, [I know that] He is God, my Sustainer; and I cannot attribute divine powers to any but my Sustainer."⁴⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "I shall not [or "do not"] associate anyone [or "anything"] with my Sustainer" - i.e., "I cannot associate in my mind wealth or poverty with any power or creative cause other than Him" (Qiffal, as quoted by Razi).

As for myself, Allah is the One Who is my Rabb and I do not associate anyone with Him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But He is Allah, my Lord, and I ascribe unto my Lord no partner.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [he continued:] "Alas,⁴⁶ if thou hadst but said, on entering thy garden, Whatever God wills [shall come to pass, for] there is no power save with God!' Although, as thou seest, I have less wealth and offspring than thou,

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of my rendering of law-la as "alas", see note [119] on {10: 98}.

When you entered your garden why did you not say: `It is as Allah pleased, no one has power except Allah!' Though you see me poorer than yourself in wealth and children,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If only, when thou enteredst thy garden, thou hadst said: That which Allah willeth (will come to pass)! There is no strength save in Allah! Though thou seest me as less than thee in wealth and children.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

yet it may well be that my Sustainer will give me something better than thy garden - just as He may let loose a calamity out of heaven upon this [thy garden], so that it becomes a heap of barren dust

  - Mohammad Asad

yet my Rabb may give me a garden better than yours, and may send down thunderbolts from sky upon your garden, turning it into a barren wasteland.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Yet it may be that my Lord will give me better than thy garden, and will send on it a bolt from heaven, and some morning it will be a smooth hillside,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

or its water sinks deep into the ground, so that thou wilt never be able to find it again!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Or its' water may dry out and you may never be able to find it."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or some morning the water thereof will he lost in the earth so that thou canst not make search for it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [thus it happened:] his fruitful gardens were encompassed [by ruin], and there he was, wringing his hands over all that he had spent on that: which now lay waste, with its trellises caved in; and he could but say, "Oh, would that I had not attributed divine powers to any but my Sustainer!"

  - Mohammad Asad

It so happened that all his fruit produce was destroyed and the vines tumbled down upon their trellises, so he wrung his hands with grief for all that he had spent on it. He cried: "I wish I had not associated anyone with my Rabb!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And his fruit was beset (with destruction). Then began he to wring his hands for all that he had spent upon it, when (now) it was all ruined on its trellises, and to say: Would that I had ascribed no partner to my Lord!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for now he had nought⁴⁷ to succour him in God's stead, nor could he succour himself.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit.. "he had no host whatever".

He was so helpless that he could neither find anyone to help him beside Allah, nor could he himself avert that catastrophe

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And he had no troop of men to help him as against Allah, nor could he save himself.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For thus it is: all protectve power belongs to God alone, the True One. He is the best to grant recompense, and the best to determine what is to be.⁴⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the best as regards the consequence".

it was then that he realized that the real protection comes only from Allah. His is the best reward and His is the best requital.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In this case is protection only from Allah, the True. He is best for reward, and best for consequence.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND PROPOUND unto them the parable of the life of this world: [it is] like the water which We send down from the skies, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth: but [in time] they turn into dry stubble which the winds blow freely about. And it is God [alone] who determines all things.

  - Mohammad Asad

O Prophet! Give them the similitude of the life of this world. It is like the vegetation of the earth that flourishes with the rain from the sky, but afterwards the same vegetation turns into dry stubble which is blown away by the winds. Allah is the One Who has power over everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And coin for them the similitude of the life of the world as water which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingleth with it and then becometh dry twigs that the winds scatter. Allah is Able to do all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Wealth and children are an adornment of this world's life: but good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever, are of far greater merit in thy Sustainer's sight, and a far better source of hope.⁴⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "are better in thy Sustainer's sight as regards merit, and better as regards hope". The expression al-baqiyat as-salihat ("good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever") occurs in the Qur'an twice - in the above verse as well as in {19: 76}.

Likewise, wealth and children are an attraction of this worldly life; yet honorable deeds that last forever are better rewarded by your Rabb and hold for you a better hope of salvation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Wealth and children are an ornament of life of the world. But the good deeds which endure are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, [bear in mind] the Day on which We shall cause the mountains to disappear and thou shalt behold the earth void and bare: for [on that Day] We will [resurrect the dead and] gather them all together, leaving out none of them.

  - Mohammad Asad

You should prepare for that Day when We will set the mountains in motion and you will see the earth as a barren waste; when We shall assemble mankind all together, leaving not even a single soul behind.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (bethink you of) the Day when We remove the hills and ye see the earth emerging, and We gather them together so as to leave not one of them behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they will be lined up before thy Sustainer, [and He will say:⁵⁰ ] "Now, indeed, you have come unto Us [in a lonely state], even as We created you in the first instance⁵¹ - although you were wont to assert that We would never appoint for you a meeting [with Us]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., to those who in their lifetime denied the truth of resurrection.

Cf. 6:94 .

They all will be brought before your Rabb standing in rows and Allah will say: "Well! You see that you have returned to Us as We created you at first: even though you claimed that We had not fixed any time for the fulfillment of this promise of meeting with Us!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they are set before thy Lord in ranks (and it is said unto them): Now verily have ye come unto Us as We created you at the first. But ye thought that We had set no tryst for you.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the record [of everyone's deeds] will be laid open; and thou wilt behold the guilty filled with dread at what [they see] therein; and they will exclaim: "Oh, woe unto us! What a record is this! It leaves out nothing, be it small or great, but takes everything into account!" For they will find all that they ever wrought [now] facing them, and [will know that] thy Sustainer does not wrong anyone.

  - Mohammad Asad

Then the book of their deeds will be placed before them. At that time you will see the sinners in great terror because of what is recorded therein. They will say: "Woe to us! What kind of a book is this? It leaves out nothing small or large: all is noted down!" They will find all that they did recorded therein. Your Rabb will not be unjust to anyone in the least.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the Book is placed, and thou seest the guilty fearful of that which is therein, and they say: What Kind of a book is this that leaveth not a small thing nor a great thing but hath counted it! And they find all that they did confronting them, and thy Lord wrongeth no one.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [remember that] when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam,"⁵² they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis: he too was one of those invisible beings,⁵³ but then he turned away from his Sustainer's command. Will you, then, take him and his cohorts⁵⁴ for [your] masters instead of Me, although they are your foes? How vile an exchange on the evildoers' part!⁵⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

This short reference to the oft-repeated allegory of God's command to the angels to "prostrate themselves before Adam" is meant, in the above context, to stress man's inborn faculty of conceptual thinking (see {2: 31-34} and the corresponding notes) and, thus, his ability and obligation to discern between right and wrong. Since man's deliberate choice of a morally wrong course - of which the preceding passages speak - is almost invariably due to his exaggerated attachment to the allurements of worldly life, attention is drawn here to the fact that this attachment is the means by which Satan (or Iblis) induces man to forgo all moral considerations and thus brings about his spiritual ruin.

Denoting, in this instance, the angels (see Appendix III).

Lit., "his offspring" - a metonym for all who follow him.

Lit., "for the evildoers". As regards Satan's symbolic "rebellion" against God, see note [26] on 2:34 and note [31] on 15:41 .

When We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourself before Adam," all prostrated themselves except Iblees (Shaitan), who was one of the Jinns and chose to disobey the command of his Rabb. Would you then take him and his children as your protectors rather than Me, even though they are your enemies? What a bad substitute the wrongdoers have chosen!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command. Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil doers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall