Surah 26. Ash-Shuara

"And forgive my father - for, verily, he is among those who have gone astray⁴⁰ -

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {19:47-48}.

forgive my father, for he is from among those who have gone astray,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And forgive my father. Lo! he is of those who err.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and do not put me to shame on the Day when all shall be raised from the dead:⁴¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "by letting me see my father among the damned" (Zamakhshari).

do not hold me up in shame on the Day when everybody will be raised back to life

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And abase me not on the day when they are raised,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

the Day on which neither wealth will be of any use, nor children,

  - Mohammad Asad

- the Day when neither wealth nor sons will avail anyone,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

The day when wealth and sons avail not (any man)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and when] only he [will be happy] who comes before God with a heart free of evil!"

  - Mohammad Asad

and when none shall be saved except him who will come before Allah with a pure heart,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Save him who bringeth unto Allah a whole heart.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, [on that Day,] paradise will be brought within sight of the God-conscious,

  - Mohammad Asad

when paradise shall be brought in the sight of the righteous;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the Garden will be brought nigh for those who ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereas the blazing fire witl be laid open before those who had been lost in grievous error;

  - Mohammad Asad

while hell shall be spread open to the straying

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And hell will appear plainly to the erring.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and they will be asked: "Where now is all that you were wont to worship

  - Mohammad Asad

and they will be asked: "Now, where are those whom you worshipped

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it will be said unto them: Where is (all) that ye used to worship

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

instead of God?⁴² Can these [things and beings] be of any help to you or to themselves?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "beside God". Whenever the relative pronoun ma ("that which" or "all that which") is used in the Qur'an with reference to false objects of worship, it indicates not merely inanimate things (like idols, fetishes, supposedly "holy" relics, etc.) or falsely deified saints, dead or alive, but also forces of nature, real or imaginary, as well as man's "worship" of wealth, power, social position, etc. (See also {10:28-29} and the corresponding notes.)

besides Allah? Can they help you or even help themselves?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Instead of Allah? Can they help you or help themselves?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thereupon they will be hurled into hell⁴³ - they, as well as all [others] who had been lost in grievous error,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "into it".

Then they will be toppled into it, both they and those who misled them,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then they will be hurled therein, they and the seducers

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and the hosts of Iblis - all together.⁴⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {2: 24}- "the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones" - and the corresponding note [16]. The "hosts of Iblis" are the forces of evil ("satan ") frequently mentioned in the Qur'an in connection with man's sinning (see note [10] on 2:14 , the first half of note [16] on {15: 17}, as well as note [52] on 19:68 ; also cf. 19:83 and the corresponding note [72]).

together with all the armies of Iblees.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the hosts of Iblis, together.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And there and then, blaming one another,⁴⁵ they [who had grievously sinned in life] will exclaim:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "while they quarrel with one another".

Wherein they will argue with one another

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they will say, when they are quarrelling therein:

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"By God, we were most obviously astray

  - Mohammad Asad

saying: " By Allah, we were indeed in manifest error,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By Allah, of a truth we were in error manifest

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

when we deemed you [false deities] equal to the Sustainer of all the worlds-

  - Mohammad Asad

when we made you equals with the Rabb of the Worlds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When we made you equal with the Lord of the Worlds.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

yet they who have seduced us [into believing in you] are the truly guilty ones!⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "yet none but those guilty ones (al-mujrimun) have led us astray": cf. 7:38 , {33:67-68}, {38:60-61} and the corresponding notes.

It was the criminals who led us astray.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It was but the guilty who misled us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And now we have none to intercede for us,

  - Mohammad Asad

Now we have no intercessors,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Now we have no intercessors

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

nor any loving friend.

  - Mohammad Asad

and no loving friends.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nor any loving friend.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Would that we had a second chance [in life],⁴⁷ so that we could be among the believers!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "would that there were a return for us". See also {6:27-28} and the corresponding note.

If we could but once return to our worldly life, we would be of the true believers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Oh, that we had another turn (on earth), that we might be of the believers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In all this, behold, there is a message [unto men], even though most of them will not believe [in it].

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely in this narration there is a great lesson, but most of these people do not learn a lesson to become believers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! herein is indeed a portent, yet most of them are not believers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But, verily, thy Sustainer - He alone - is almiahtv, a dispenser of grace!⁴⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and He may grant forgiveness to whomever He wills".

The fact is that your Rabb is the Mighty as well as the Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo, thy Lord! He is Indeed the Mighty, the Merciful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

THE PEOPLE of Noah [too] gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers

  - Mohammad Asad

The people of Nuh, also, rejected the Rasools.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Noah's folk denied the messengers (of Allah),

  - Marmaduke Pickthall