Surah 17. Al-Israa

Whenever We intend to destroy a society, We command its elite 'to obey Allah' but they act rebelliously in it. So the decree 'of punishment' is justified, and We destroy it utterly.

  - Mustafa Khattab

When We decide to destroy a population We (first) send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then (it is) We destroy them utterly. ^{2192 2193}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's Mercy gives every chance to the wicked to repent. When wickedness gets so rampant that punishment becomes inevitable, even then Allah's Mercy and Justice act together. Those who are highly gifted from Allah-it may be with wealth or position, or it may be with talents and opportunities-are expected to understand and obey. They are given a definite order and warning. If they still transgress there is no further room for argument. They cannot plead that they were ignorant. The command of the Lord is proved against them, and its application is called for beyond doubt. Then it is that their punishment is completed.

Qaul here has the sense of word, order, law, charge framed against one under a definite law.

'Imagine' how many peoples We have destroyed after Noah! And sufficient is your Lord as All-Aware and All-Seeing of the sins of His servants.

  - Mustafa Khattab

How many generations have We destroyed after Noah? And enough is thy Lord to note and see the sins of His servants. ^{2194 2195}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Noah's Flood is taken as a new starting point in history. But even after that hundreds of empires, towns, and generations have perished for their wickedness.

Let not the wicked think, because they are given a lease of life and luxury for a time, that their wickedness has escaped notice. Allah notes and sees all things, both open and secret. He knows the hidden motives and thoughts of men, and He has no need of any other evidence. His knowledge and sight are all-sufficient.

Whoever desires this fleeting world 'alone', We hasten in it whatever We please to whoever We will; then We destine them for Hell, where they will burn, condemned and rejected.

  - Mustafa Khattab

If any do wish for the transitory things (of this life) We readily grant them--such things as We will to such persons as We will: in the end have We provided Hell for them: they will burn therein disgraced and rejected. ^{2196 2197}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

An explanation is now given of how it is that prosperity sometimes seems to attend the wicked. The explanation is threefold: (1) the transitory things of this life are worth little in the eternal scheme of things; (2) even they are provided, not just because their recipients wish for them, but according to a definite Plan of Allah; and (3) in the end there is for the wicked the eternal Misery and deprivation of grace,-the Hell which is worse than destruction in the terms of this world.

All the pride and insolence will then be brought low. The disgrace and the exclusion from the "sight of the Face of Allah" will by themselves be punishments of which the magnitude cannot be measured in the terms of our present material life.

But whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it accordingly, and is a 'true' believer, it is they whose striving will be appreciated.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter and strive therefor with all due striving and have Faith they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to Allah). ^{2198 2199}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is in contrast to the last verse. Those who wish for mere earthly good sometimes get it and misuse it. Those whose eyes are fixed on the Hereafter, they too share in their Lord's bounty provided they fulfil the conditions explained in the next note; but their wishes and endeavours are more acceptable in the sight of Allah.

A mere wish for moral and spiritual good is not enough. It must be backed up by hard endeavour and supported by a lively Faith. On those conditions the wishes are accepted by Allah.

We provide both the former and the latter from the bounty of your Lord. And the bounty of your Lord can never be withheld.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Of the bounties of thy Lord We bestow freely on all these as well as those: the bounties of thy Lord are not closed (to anyone). ²²⁰⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's favours are showered on all,-the just and the unjust, the deserving and the undeserving. But there is a difference as explained in the last two verses.

See how We have favoured some over others 'in this life', but the Hereafter is certainly far greater in rank and in favour.

  - Mustafa Khattab

See how We have bestowed more on some than on others; but verily the Hereafter is more in rank and gradation and more in excellence. ²²⁰¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nor should man suppose that all gifts are of equal value. The spiritual ones rank far higher in dignity and real worth than the transitory ones. Therefore it is altogether wrong to compare the worldly prosperity of a wicked man with the apparent want of it to a man of spiritual worth. There is no comparison between them when measured by right standards.

Do not set up any other god with Allah, or you will end up condemned, abandoned.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Take not with Allah another object of worship; or thou (O man!) wilt sit in disgrace and destitution. ^{2202 2203}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The seeming inequality of gifts to men might make short-sighted men impugn the impartiality of Allah. But the fault lies with such men's own want of knowledge and want of Faith. There is no excuse for them to seek other objects of worship than Allah. For there is none worthy of worship except Allah.

If foolish men turn to false objects of worship, they will not only be disappointed, but they will lose the respect of their own fellow-men, and spiritually they will be reduced to destitution. All their talents and their works will be of no avail.

For your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And honour your parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, never say to them 'even' 'ugh,' nor yell at them. Rather, address them respectfully.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life say not to them a word of contempt nor repel them but address them in terms of honor. ²²⁰⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The spiritual and moral duties are now brought into juxtaposition. We are to worship none but Allah, because none but Allah is worthy of worship, not because "the Lord thy God is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me" (Exod. xx. 5). Note that the act of worship may be collective as well as individual; hence the plural ta'buda. The kindness to parents is an individual act of piety; hence the singular taqul, qul, etc.

And be humble with them out of mercy, and pray, 'My Lord! Be merciful to them as they raised me when I was young.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And out of kindness lower to them the wing of humility and say: "My Lord! bestow on them Thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." ^{2205 2206}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xv. 88 and n. 2011. The metaphor is that of a high-flying bird which lowers her wing out of tenderness to her offspring. There is a double aptness. (1) When the parent was strong and the child was helpless, parental affection was showered on the child: when the child grows up and is strong, and the parent is helpless, can he do less than bestow similar tender care on the parent? (2) But more: he must approach the matter with gentle humility: for does not parental love, remind him of the great love with which Allah cherishes His creatures? There is something here more than simple human gratitude; it goes up into the highest spiritual region.

Note that we are asked to honour our father and mother, not "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Exod. xx. 12), but upon much higher and more universal grounds, such as befit a perfected revelation. In the first place, not merely respect, but cherishing kindness, and humility to parents, are commanded. In the second place, this command is bracketed with the command to worship the One True God. Parental love should be to us a type of divine love: nothing that we can do can ever really compensate for that which we have received. In the third place (see next verse) our spiritual advancement is tested by this: we cannot expect Allah's forgiveness if we are rude or unkind to those who unselfishly brought us up.

Your Lord knows best what is within yourselves. If you are righteous, He is certainly All-Forgiving to those who 'constantly' turn to Him.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Your Lord knoweth best what is in your hearts: if ye do deeds of righteousness verily He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again (in true penitence). ²²⁰⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is the heart, and its hidden and secret motives, by which we are judged: for Allah knows them all.

Give to close relatives their due, as well as the poor and 'needy' travellers. And do not spend wastefully.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And render to the kindred their due rights as (also) to those in want and to the wayfarer: but squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. ^{2208 2209}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In the Jewish Decalogue, which was given to a primitive and hard-hearted people, this refinement of Kindness,-to those in want and to wayfarers (i.e., total strangers whom you come across) finds no place. Nor was there much danger of their wasting their substance out of exuberance. Even the command "to honour thy father and mother" comes after the ceremonial observance of the Sabbath. With us, the worship of Allah is linked up with kindness-to parents, kindred, those in want, those who are far from their homes though they may be total strangers to us. It is not mere verbal kindness. They have certain rights which must be fulfilled.

All charity , kindness, and help are conditioned by our own resources. There is no merit if we merely spend out of bravado or for idle show. How many families are ruined by extravagant expenses at weddings, funerals, etc., or (as they may call it) to "oblige friends or relatives", or to give to able-bodied beggars? To no one was this command more necessary than it is to Muslims of the present day.

Surely the wasteful are 'like' brothers to the devils. And the Devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord (Himself) ungrateful. ²²¹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Spendthrifts are not merely fools. They are of the same family as the Satans. And the Satan himself-fell by his ingratitude to Allah. So those who misuse or squander Allah's gifts are also ungrateful to Allah.

But if you must turn them down 'because you lack the means to give'- while hoping to receive your Lord's bounty- then 'at least' give them a kind word.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And even if thou hast to turn away from them in pursuit of the Mercy from thy Lord which thou dost expect yet speak to them a word of easy kindness. ²²¹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

You may have to "turn away" from people for two reasons. (1) You may not have the wherewithal with which to entertain them and give them their rights; or (2) you may have to give them a wide berth because their thoughts are not as your thoughts. In either case there is no need to speak harshly to them. Your words should be those of "easy kindness", i.e., the sort of kindness (not merely frigid politeness) which flows from pity and understanding and smooths over unnecessary difficulties in human intercourse.

Do not be so tight-fisted, for you will be blameworthy; nor so open-handed, for you will end up in poverty.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Make not thy hand tied (like a niggard's) to thy neck nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach so that thou become blameworthy and destitute. ²²¹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. the phrase for niggardliness in v. 64. We are not to be so lavish as to make ourselves destitute and incur the just censure of wise men, nor is it becoming to keep back our resources from the just needs of those who have a right to our help. Even strangers have such a right, as we saw in xvii. 26 above. But we must keep a just measure between our capacity and other people's needs.

Surely your Lord gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills. He is certainly All-Aware, All-Seeing of His servants.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Verily thy Lord doth provide sustenance in abundance for whom He pleaseth and He provideth in a just measure: for He doth know and regard all His servants. ²²¹³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If a foolish spendthrift pretends that his generosity, even if it ruins himself, is good for other people, he is reminded that Allah will take care of all. He knows every one's true needs and cares for them. He gives in abundance to some, but in all cases He gives in just measure. Who are we to pretend to greater generosity?