Surah 20. Ta-Ha

for I have chosen thee for Mine Own service.

  - Mohammad Asad

I have moulded you for My service.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And I have attached thee to Myself.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Go forth, [then,] thou and thy brother, with My messages, and never tire of remembering Me:

  - Mohammad Asad

You and your brother should go with My Signs and do not neglect to mention Me.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Go, thou and thy brother, with My tokens, and be not faint in remembrance of Me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

go forth. both of you, unto Pharaoh: for, verily, he has transgressed all bounds of equity!

  - Mohammad Asad

Go both of you to Fir'on, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Go, both of you, unto Pharaoh. Lo! he hath transgressed (the bounds).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But speak; unto him in a mild manner, so that he might bethink himself or [at least] be filled with apprehension."²⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "or [that he might] fear" - i.e., that there is some truth in the words of Moses. Since God knows the future, the tentative form in the above phrase-"so that he might (la'allahu) bethink himself", etc.,-obviously does not imply any "doubt" on God's part as to Pharoah's future reaction: it implies no more than His command to the bearer of His message to address the sinner with a view to the latter's bethinking himself: in other words, it relates to the intention or hope with which the message-bearer should approach his task (Razi). And since every Qur'anic narrative aims at bringing out an eternal truth or truths or at elucidating a universal principle of human behaviour, it is evident that God's command to Moses to speak to one particular sinner "in a mild manner, so that he might [have a chance to] bethink himself" retains its validity for all times and all such attempts at conversion.

Speak to him in gentle words; perhaps he may take heed of the reminder or fear Our punishment."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The two [brothers] said: "O our Sustainer! Verily, we fear lest he act hastily with regard to us,²⁹ or lest he [continue to] transgress all bounds of equity."

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "lest he prevent us, by banishing or killing us outright, from delivering Thy message fully".

Musa and Haroon said: "Our Rabb! We fear that he may behave towards us unjustly or may cross all bounds."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: Our Lord! Lo! we fear that he may be beforehand with us or that he may play the tyrant.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Answered He: "Fear not! Verily, I shall be with you two, hearing and seeing [all].

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah said: "Do not be afraid, I shall be with you both. I hear everything and see everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Fear not. Lo! I am with you twain, Hearing and Seeing.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Go, then, you two unto him and say, 'Behold, we are apostles sent by thy Sustainer: let, then, the children of Israel go with us, and cause them not to suffer [any longer].³⁰ We have now come unto thee with a message from thy Sustainer; and [know that His] peace shall be [only] on those who follow [His] guidance:

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 2:49 , 7:141 and 14:6 . For a more detailed description of this Pharaonic oppression of the Israelites, see Exodus i, X-22.

So go to him and say `Surely we both are Rasools of your Rabb. Let the Children of Israel go with us and oppress them no more. We have brought you a Sign from your Rabb; may peace be upon him who follows the guidance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So go ye unto him and say: Lo! we are two messengers of thy Lord. So let the Children of Israel go with us, and torment them not. We bring thee a token from thy Lord And peace will be for him who followeth right guidance.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, behold, it has been revealed to us that [in the life to come] suffering shall befall all who give the lie to the truth and turn away [from it]!'"

  - Mohammad Asad

Indeed it has been revealed to us that the scourge will fall on those who deny this fact and turns away'."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! it hath been revealed unto us that the doom will be for him who denieth and turneth away.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But when God's message was conveyed unto Pharaoh,] he said: "Who, now, is this Sustainer of you two, O Moses?"

  - Mohammad Asad

When Musa and Haroon went to Fir'on and delivered this message , he said: "Well, who is your Rabb O Musa?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Pharaoh) said: Who then is the Lord of you twain, O Moses?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He replied: "Our Sustainer is He who gives unto every thing [that exists] its true nature and form, and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfilment]."³¹

  - Mohammad Asad

In the original, this sentence appears in the past tense ("has given" and "has guided"); but as it obviously relates to the continuous process of God's creation, it is independent of the concept of time and denotes, as in so many other places in the Qur'an, an unceasing present. The term khalq signifies in this context not merely the inner nature of a created thing or being but also the outward form in which this nature manifests itself; hence my composite rendering of khalqahu as "its true nature and form". The idea underlying the above sentence is expressed for the first time in {87:2-3}, i.e., in a surah which belongs to the earliest period of Qur'anic revelation.

Musa replied: "Our Rabb is He Who has given a distinctive form to all creatures and then rightly guided them."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Our Lord is He Who gave unto evening its nature, then guided it aright.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [Pharaoh]: "And what of all the past generations?"³²

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "who used to worship a plurality of deities: are they, in thy view, irretrievably doomed?"

Fir'on asked: "What do you say about the condition of previous generations?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said : What then is the state of the generations of old?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Moses] answered: "Knowledge thereof rests with my Sustainer [alone, and is laid down] in His decree;³³ my Sustainer does not err, and neither does He forget."³⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., He alone decrees their destiny in the life to come, for He alone knows their motives and understands the cause of their errors, and He alone can appreciate their spiritual merits and demerits.

According to Razi, the dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh ends here for the time being, with verses {53-55} representing a direct Qur'anic discourse addressed to man in general.

Musa replied: "That knowledge is with my Rabb, duly recorded in a Book. He neither makes a mistake nor does He forget."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in a Record. My Lord neither erreth nor forgetteth,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

HE IT IS who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has traced out for you ways [of livelihood] thereon,³⁵ and [who] sends down waters from the sky: and by this means We bring forth various kinds³⁶ of plants.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "has provided you with ways and means - both material and intellectual - to gain your livelihood on earth and from it".

Lit., "pairs" (azwaj), a term which in this context apparently denotes "kinds"; but see also 13:3 and the corresponding note [7].

He is the One Who has made the earth a cradle for you, traced the roads on it for you to walk on; and sends down water from the sky with which We produce pairs of various kinds of vegetation

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Who hath appointed the earth as a bed and hath threaded roads for you therein and hath sent down water from the sky and thereby We have brought forth divers kinds of vegetation,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Eat, [then, of this produce of the soil,] and pasture your cattle [thereon]. In all this, behold, there are messages indeed for those who are endowed with reason:

  - Mohammad Asad

- eat from these yourselves and pasture your cattle. Surely there are Signs in it for those who use their brains.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Saying): Eat ye and feed your cattle. Lo! herein verily are portents for men of thought.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

out of this [earth] have We created you, and into it shall We return you, and out of it shall We bring you forth once again.³⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding the creation of man's body "out of the earth", see the second half of note [47] on {3: 59}, as well as note [24] on 15:26 ; its "return into it" signifies the dissolution of this body, after death, into the elementary organic and inorganic substances of which it was composed; and all these facts- creation, subsistence and dissolution -contain the message of God's almightiness, of the ephemeral nature of man's life on earth, and of his future resurrection.

We have created you from the earth, into it We shall return you and from it We shall bring you back to life once again.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thereof We created you, and thereunto we return you and thence We bring you forth a second time.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall