Surah 30. Ar-Rum

[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

But thus it is: if⁴⁵ We send a wind [that scorches their land], and they see it turn yellow, they begin, after that [erstwhile joy], to deny the truth [of Our almightiness and grace]!⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

The particle la'in (lit., "indeed, if . . .") is often used in the Qur'an to express the recurrent, typical character of the attitude or situation referred to in the sequence; in all such cases it may be suitably rendered as "thus it is: if . . .", etc.

For a full explanation of this verse, see 11:9 and the corresponding notes [16-19].

And if We send a wind which turns their crops yellow, behold they will become even more firm in their disbelief.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if We sent a wind and they beheld it yellow; they verily would still continue in their disbelief.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, verily, thou canst not make the dead hear: and [so, too,] thou canst not make the deaf [of heart] hear this call when they turn their backs [on thee] and go away,

  - Mohammad Asad

O Prophet, you cannot make the dead hear you, nor can you make the deaf hear your call especially when they have turned their backs and are running away;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

For verily thou (Muhammad) canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call when they have turned to flee.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

just as thou canst not lead the blind [of heart] out of their error: none canst thou make hear [thy call] save such as [are willing to] believe in Our messages, and thus surrender themselves unto Us.⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. the identical passage in {27:80-81} and the corresponding note [72].

nor can you guide the blind out of their error. None will hear you save those who believe in Our revelations and submit themselves as Muslims.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nor canst thou guide the blind out of their error. Thou canst make none to hear save those who believe in Our revelations so that they surrender (unto Him).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

IT IS GOD who creates you [all in a state] of weak-ness, and then, after weakness, ordains strength [for you], and then, after [a period of] strength, ordains [old-age] weakness and grey hair.⁴⁸ He creates what He wills; and He alone is all-knowing, infinite in His power.

  - Mohammad Asad

In the original, this sentence is formulated in the past tense ("has created you" and "has ordained"), stressing the recurrent character of man's life-phases. In translation, this recurrence can be suitably expressed by using the present tense.

It is Allah Who has created you in a state of helplessness as a baby, then gave you strength to come out of helplessness in youth, then after strength again helplessness and grey hair in old age. He creates whatever He wills and it is He Who is the All-knowing, the Almighty.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah is He who shaped you out of weakness, then appointed after weakness strength, then, after strength, appointed weakness and grey hair. He createth what He will. He is the Knower, the Mighty.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[He it is who will cause you to die, and in time will resurrect you.]⁴⁹ And when the Last Hour dawns, those who had been lost in sin will swear that they had not tarried [on earth] longer than an hour: thus were they wont to delude themselves [all their lives]!⁵⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

This interpolation - the meaning of which is elliptically implied here - shows the connection of the present passage with the preceding one, as well as with verses {11-16} and {27}.

The illusory character of man's earthbound concept of "time" is brought out in the Qur'an in several places. In the above context stress is laid, firstly, on the relativity of this concept - i.e., on the infinitesimal shortness of our life on earth as compared with the timeless duration of life in the hereafter (cf., for instance, 10:45 or 17:52 ) - and, secondly, on the resurrected sinners' self-deluding excuse that their life on earth had been too short to allow them to realize their errors and mend their ways. It is to this second aspect of the problem that the Qur'an alludes in the words, "thus were they wont to delude themselves" (lit., "to be turned away", i.e., from the truth). For an explanation of the verb yu'fikun, see surah {5}, note [90].

On the Day when the Hour of Judgement will be established, the criminals will swear that they did not stay in this world more than an hour; thus are they ever deluded.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And on the day when the Hour riseth the guilty will vow that they did tarry but an hour-- thus were they ever deceived.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall