Surah 30. Ar-Rum

And [thus it is:] when we let men taste [Our] grace, they rejoice in it; but if evil befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought³³ - lo! they lose all hope!

  - Mohammad Asad

See 4:79 and the corresponding note [94].

When We give mankind a taste of blessing, they rejoice, but when some evil afflicts them because of their own misdeeds, lo! They are in despair.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when We cause mankind to taste of mercy they rejoice therein; but if an evil thing befall them as the consequence of their own deeds, lo! they are in despair!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Are they, then, not aware that it is God who grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills? In this, behold, there are messages indeed for peo-ple who will believe!

  - Mohammad Asad

Do they not see that it is Allah Who gives abundantly to whom He pleases and sparingly to whom He wills? Surely there are signs in this example for those who believe.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

See they not that Allah enlargeth the provision for whom He will, and straiteneth (it for whom He will). Lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who believe.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, give his due to the near of kin, as well as to the needy and the wayfarer;³⁴ this is best for all who seek God's countenance: for it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state!

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 17:26 .

O believers, give what is due to your relatives, the needy and the traveller in need. That is best for those who seek the pleasure of Allah and it is they who will attain felicity.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So give to the kinsman his due, and to the needy, and to the wayfarer. That is best for those who seek Allah's countenance. And such are they who are successful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [remember:] whatever you may give out in usury so that it might increase through [other] people's possessions will bring [you] no increase in the sight of God³⁵ -whereas all that you give out in charity, seeking God's countenance, [will be blessed by Him:³⁶ ] for it is they, they [who thus seek His countenance] that shall have their recompense multiplied!

  - Mohammad Asad

This is the earliest mention of the term and concept of riba in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation. In its general, linguistic sense, this term denotes an "addition" to or an "increase" of a thing over and above its original size or amount; in the terminology of the Qur'an, it signifies any unlawful addition, by way of interest, to a sum of money or goods lent by one person or body of persons to another. Considering the problem in terms of the economic conditions prevailing at or before their time, most of the early Muslim jurists identified this "unlawful addition" with profits obtained through any kind of interest-bearing loans irrespective of the rate of interest and the economic motivation involved. With all this - as is evidenced by the voluminous juridical literature on this subject - Islamic scholars have not yet been able to reach an absolute agreement on the definition of riba: a definition, that is, which would cover all conceivable legal situations and positively respond to all the exigencies of a variable economic environment. In the words of Ibn Kathir (in his commentary on 2:275 ), "the subject of riba is one of the most difficult subjects for many of the scholars (ahl al-'ilm)". It should be borne in mind that the passage condemning and prohibiting riba in legal terms ({2:275-281}) was the last revelation received by the Prophet, who died a few days later (cf. note [268] on 2:281 ; hence, the Companions had no opportunity to ask him about the shar'i implications of the relevant injunction - so much so that even 'Umar ibn al-Khattab is reliably reported to have said: " The last [of the Qur'an] that was revealed was the passage [lit., "the verse"] on riba; and, behold, the Apostle of God passed away without [lit., "before"] having explained its meaning to us" (Ibn Hanbal, on the authority of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab). Nevertheless, the severity with which the Qur'an condemns riba and those who practice it furnishes - especially when viewed against the background of mankind's economic experiences during the intervening centuries - a sufficiently clear indication of its nature and its social as well as moral implications. Roughly speaking, the opprobrium of riba (in the sense in which this term is used in the Qur'an and in many sayings of the Prophet) attaches to profits obtained through interest-bearing loans involving an exploitation of the economically weak by the strong and resourceful: an exploitation characterized by the fact that the lender, while retaining full ownership of the capital loaned and having no legal concern with the purpose for which it is to be used or with the manner of its use, remains contractually assured of gain irrespective of any losses which the borrower may suffer in conseqence of this transaction. With this definition in mind, we realize that the question as to what kinds of financial transactions fall within the category of riba is, in the last resort, a moral one, closely connected with the socio-economic motivation underlying the mutual relationship of borrower and lender; and, stated in purely economic terms, it is a question as to how profits and risks may be equitably shared by both partners to a loan transaction. It is, of course, impossible to answer this double question in a rigid, once-for-all manner: our answers must necessarily vary in accordance with the changes to which man's social and technological development - and, thus, his economic environment - is subject. Hence, while the Qur'anic condemnation of the concept and practice of riba is unequivocal and final, every successive Muslim generation is faced with the challenge of giving new dimensions and a fresh economic meaning to this term which, for want of a better word, may be rendered as "usury". - In the present instance (which, as I have mentioned, is the earliest in the history of the Qur'an), no clear-cut prohibition is as yet laid down; but the prohibition appearing in 2:275 ff. is already foreshadowed by the reference to the immoral hope of increasing one's own substance "through [other] people's

Cf. 2:276 .

That usury which you give to increase the wealth of people, does not increase with Allah: but the Zakah that you give to seek the pleasure of Allah, shall be repaid to you many times over.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

That which ye give in usury in order that it may increase on (other) people's property hath no increase with Allah; but that which ye give in charity, seeking Allah's countenance, hath increase manifold.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

IT IS GOD who has created you, and then has provided you with sustenance, and then will cause you to die, and then will bring you to life again. Can any of those beings or powers to whom you ascribe a share in His divinity³⁷ do any of these things? Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "any of your [God-]partners". Cf. note [15] on 6:22 .

It is Allah Who has created you, then provides you your daily bread, then He causes you to die, and then He will bring you back to life. Is there any of your shoraka' (associates you have set up besides Allah) who can do any of these things? Glory be to Him, and exalted be He above the shirk these people commit.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah is He Who created you and then sustained you, then causeth you to die, then giveth life to you again. Is there any of your (so-called) partners (of Allah) that doeth aught of that? Praised and exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Since they have become oblivious of God,] corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of what men's hands have wrought: and so He will let them taste³⁸ [the evil of] some of their doings, so that they might return [to the right path].³⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

The prefix li in li-yudhiqahum does not indicate here a purport or intent ("so that" or "in order that"), but is a lam al-'aqibah, i.e., a prefix expressing a factual consequence (best rendered as "thereupon" or "and so").

Thus, the growing corruption and destruction of our natural environment, so awesomely - if as yet only partially - demonstrated in our time, is here predicted as "an outcome of what men's hands have wrought", i.e., of that self-destructive - because utterly materialistic - inventiveness and frenzied activity which now threatens mankind with previously unimaginable ecological disasters: an unbridled pollution of land, air and water through industrial and urban waste, a progressive poisoning of plant and marine life, all manner of genetic malformations in men's own bodies through an ever-widening use of drugs and seemingly "beneficial" chemicals, and the gradual extinction of many animal species essential to human well-being. To all this may be added the rapid deterioration and decomposition of man's social life, the all-round increase in sexual perversion, crime and violence, with, perhaps, nuclear annhihilation as the ultimate stage: all of which is, in the last resort, an outcome of man's oblivion of God and, hence, of all absolute values, and their supersession by the belief that material "progress" is the only thing that matters.

Mischief (war between Roman and Persian empires) has appeared in the land and the sea in consequence of man's own misdeeds. Through such wars Allah let people taste the fruit of their deeds, so that they may turn back from evil.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Go all over the earth, and behold what! happened in the end to those [sinners] who lived before [you]: most of them were wont to ascribe divine qualities to things or beings other than God "⁴⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., they worshipped material comfort and power, and thus lost sight of all spiritual values and, in the end, destroyed themselves.

O Prophet, tell them: "Travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who have passed away before you: most of them were mushrikin (worshipped other gods besides Allah)".

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): Travel in the land, and see the nature of the consequence for those who were before you! Most of them were idolaters.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Set, then, thy face steadfastly towards the one ever-true faith,⁴¹ ere there come from God a Day [of reckoning- the Day] which cannot be averted. On that Day all will be sundered:

  - Mohammad Asad

See verse {30} above, as well as the corresponding notes; also 3:19 - "the only [true] religion in the sight of God is [man's] self-surrender unto Him".

Therefore stand firm in your devotion to the true faith before that Day arrives on which there will be no chance of averting from Allah. On that Day, they shall be divided in two groups.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So set thy purpose resolutely for the right religion, before the inevitable day cometh from Allah. On that day mankind will be sundered--

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

he who has denied the truth will have to bear [the burden of] his denial, whereas all who did what is right and just will have made goodly provision for themselves,

  - Mohammad Asad

Those who disbelieved will bear the burden of their disbelief, and those who have done good deeds will be made ready for their home in paradise,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso disbelieveth must (then) bear the consequences of his disbelief, while those who do right make provision for themselves--

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

so that He might reward, out of His bounty, those who have attained to faith and done righteous deeds. Verily, He does not love those who refuse to acknowledge the truth-

  - Mohammad Asad

so that He may, out of His mercy, reward those who have believed and done good deeds. Surely He does not like the disbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

That He may reward out of His bounty those who believe and do good works. Lo! He loveth not the disbelievers (in His guidance).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for among His wonders is this: He sends forth [His messages as He sends forth] the winds that bear glad tidings,⁴² so that He might give you a taste of His grace [through life-giving rains], and that ships might sail at His behest, and that you might go about in quest of some of His bounties, and that you might have cause to be grateful.

  - Mohammad Asad

The mention of God's messages, interpolated by me between brackets, is justified by the verses which precede and follow this passage. Moreover, it is only by means of such an interpolation that the symbolic purport of the above reference to "the winds that bear glad tidings" can be made fully obvious.

Of His signs is that He sends the winds as bearers of good news, and that He may let you taste His blessing, and your ships may sail by His command, and that you may seek of His bounty, and that you may be grateful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And of His signs is this: He sendeth herald winds to make you taste His mercy, and that the ships may sail at His command, and that ye may seek His favor, and that haply ye may be thankful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And indeed, [O Muhammad, even] before thee did We send forth apostles - each one unto his own people⁴³ -and they brought them all evidence of the truth: and then, [by causing the believers to triumph,] We inflicted Our retribution upon those who [deliberately] did evil: for We had willed it upon Our-selves to succour the believers.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit.. "did We send apostles to their [own] people": see note [96] on 10:74 .

We sent before you Rasools to their respective people, and they brought them clear signs. Some rejected them while others believed, then We subjected the guilty ones to Our retribution and We aided the believers - it is due on Us to help the Believers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Verily We sent before thee (Muhammad) messengers to their own folk. They brought them clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty). Then We took vengeance upon those who were guilty (in regard to them). To help believers is incumbent upon Us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is God who sends forth the winds [of hope],⁴⁴ so that they raise a cloud - whereupon He spreads it over the skies as He wills, and causes it to break up so that thou seest rain issue from within it: and as soon as He causes it to fall upon whomever He wills of His servants-lo! they rejoice,

  - Mohammad Asad

As in verse {46} above, the reference to "the winds" has here a symbolic significance, namely, spiritual life and hope; hence my interpolation.

It is Allah Who sends the winds to raise the clouds, then He spreads them in the sky and breaks them into fragments as He pleases, then you see raindrops falling from their midst. When He showers this rain upon those of His servants whom He pleases, lo! They are filled with joy,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah is He who sendeth the winds so that they raise clouds, and spreadeth them along the sky as pleaseth Him, and causeth them to break and thou seest the rain downpouring from within them. And when He maketh it to fall on whom He will of His bondmen, lo! they rejoice;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

even though a short while ago, [just] before it was sent down upon them, they had abandoned all hope!

  - Mohammad Asad

though before its coming they may have lost all hope.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Though before that, even before it was sent down upon them, they were in despair.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold, then, [O man,] these signs of God's grace - how He gives life to the earth after it had been lifeless! Verily, this Selfsame [God] is indeed the One that can bring the dead back to life: for He has the power to will anything!

  - Mohammad Asad

Just look at the traces of Allah's Mercy! How He gives life to the earth after its death. Surely the same way He will give life to the dead; for He has power over all things.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Look, therefor, at the prints of Allah's mercy (in creation): how He quickeneth the earth after her death. Lo! He verily is the Quickener of the Dead, and He is Able to do all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall