Surah 51. Az-Zariyat

they who blunder along, in ignorance lost -

  - Mohammad Asad

those who are engulfed in ignorance and heedlessness.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

those who are 'steeped' in ignorance, totally heedless.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who are careless in an abyss!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those who (flounder) heedless in a flood of confusion: ⁴⁹⁹⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They are in great spiritual danger: yet they care not.

they who [mockingly] ask, "When is that Day of Judgment to be?"

  - Mohammad Asad

They ask: "when will the Day of Judgment be?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They ask 'mockingly', 'When is this Day of Judgment?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They ask: When is the Day of Judgment?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They ask "when will be the Day of Judgment and Justice?"

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire,⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

This "trial (fitnah) by the fire" is in tune with several Qur'anic allusions to the effect that the otherworldly suffering described as "hell" is not to be eternal: see in this connection note [114] on 6:128 , note [10] on 40:12 and note [53] on 43:74 .

It will be the Day when they will be punished in the fire,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'It is' the Day they will be tormented over the Fire.

  - Mustafa Khattab

(It is) the day when they will be tormented at the Fire,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(It will be) a Day when they will be tried (and tested) over the Fire!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[and will be told:] "Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking for!"⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

A reference to their one-time sarcastic demand that they should be punished for their rejection of the Qur'anic message: cf. {6:57-58} and 8:32 .

and it will said: "Taste your chastisement! This is what you were seeking to haste."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'They will be told,' 'Taste your torment! This is what you sought to hasten.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

(And it will be said unto them): Taste your torment (which ye inflicted). This is what ye sought to hasten.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Taste ye your trial! this is what ye used to ask to be hastened!" ⁴⁹⁹⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They used to say scoffingly, "if there is to be punishment for our sins, let it come at once!" When it comes, they will know what a terrible thing it is! Cf. xxvi. 204, n. 3230.

[But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs,

  - Mohammad Asad

As to the righteous, they will be in the midst of gardens and springs,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, the righteous will be amid Gardens and springs,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! those who keep from evil will dwell amid gardens and watersprings.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As to the Righteous they will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs ⁴⁹⁹⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Gardens and Springs are the two most frequent examples for the highest satisfaction and bliss.

enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past:¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "before that [Day]".

joyfully receiving what their Rabb shall give them; for they were before that (during their life on earth) righteous people,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'joyfully' receiving what their Lord will grant them. Before this 'reward' they were truly good-doers 'in the world':

  - Mustafa Khattab

Taking that which their Lord giveth them; for lo! aforetime they were doers of good;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Taking joy in the things which their Lord gives them because before then they lived a good life.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night,

  - Mohammad Asad

They used to sleep but little in the night time,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

they used to sleep only little in the night,

  - Mustafa Khattab

They used to sleep but tittle of the night,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night ⁴⁹⁹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were engaged most of the night in worship and in the planning of good deeds. They preferred activity to idleness, the service of Allah and His creatures to the indulgence of Self.

from their innermost hearts;¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [10] on 3:17 .

pray for forgiveness in the early morning,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and pray for forgiveness before dawn.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Optional prayers before dawn are recommended, and are more likely to be accepted.

And ere the dawning of each day would seek forgiveness,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And in the hours of early dawn They (were found) praying for Forgiveness; ⁵⁰⁰⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were up early before dawn, ready for their devotions. The praying for Forgiveness and Mercy does not necessarily imply that they had committed fresh sins. Indeed they began the day with such devotions, showing their great humility before Allah and their anxious care for others, for whom they prayed as much as for themselves. See the last sentence of n. 21 to i. 5.

and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer privation.¹²

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "but could not beg" - and this applies to all living creatures, whether human beings or mute animals (Razi), irrespective of whether the need is of a physical or an emotional nature.

and share their wealth with the needy who asked for it, and those who could not ask.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And in their wealth there was a rightful share 'fulfilled' for the beggar and the poor.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And in their wealth the beggar the outcast had due share.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy) him who asked and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking). ⁵⁰⁰¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

True charity remembers not only those in need who ask, but also those who are prevented by some reason from asking. The man of true charity seeks out the latter. There may be various reasons which prevent a man from asking for help: (1) he may be ashamed to ask, or his sense of honour may prevent him from asking; (2) he may be so engrossed in some great ideal that he may not think of asking; (3) he may even not know that he is in need, (4) he may not know that you possess the things that can supply his needs; and (5) he may be a dumb and helpless creature, whether a human being or a dumb animal, or any creature within your ken or power. Charity in the higher sense includes all help, from one better endowed to one less well endowed. Cf. n. 179 to ii. 177; also ii. 273-274, and notes 322 and 323.

AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God's existence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty,

  - Mohammad Asad

In the earth, there are signs for the firm believers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There are 'countless' signs on earth for those with sure faith,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

On the earth are Signs for those of assured Faith

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves:¹³ can you not, then, see?

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [3] on 45:4 .

and also in your own selves; can you not see?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

as there are within yourselves. Can you not see?

  - Mustafa Khattab

And (also) in yourselves. Can ye then not see?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As also in your own selves: will ye not then see? ⁵⁰⁰²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Signs and Evidence of Allah are in all nature and within the body and soul of man, if man has but the spiritual eyes to see. Cf. xli. 53.

And in heaven is [the source of] your sustenance [on earth]¹⁴ and [of] all that you are promised [for your life after death]:

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., both physical (rain) and spiritual (truth and guidance).

In heaven is your sustenance and all that you are promised.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In heaven is your sustenance and whatever you are promised.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And in the heaven is your providence and that which ye are promised;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And in heaven is your Sustenance as (also) that which ye are promised. ⁵⁰⁰³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Sustenance", here as elsewhere, includes physical sustenance, as well as spiritual sustenance. Similarly heaven or sky has both the physical and the spiritual meaning. The physical sustenance grows from rain from the sky; the spiritual sustenance comes from divine aid, grace, and mercy, and includes the Good News and the Warning which come from Revelation about the Hereafter.

for, by the Sustainer of heaven and earth, this [life after death] is the very truth - as true as that you are endowed with speech!¹⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "even as you speak" or "are able to speak": an allusion to man's ability to think conceptually and to express himself - that is, to something of which man is absolutely, axiomatically conscious.

I swear by the Rabb of heaven and earth that this is true, as certain as you are speaking now!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then by the Lord of heaven and earth! 'All' this is certainly as true as 'the fact that' you can speak!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And by the Lord of the heavens and the earth, it is the truth, even as (it is true) that ye speak.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then by the Lord of heaven and earth this is the very Truth as much as the fact that ye can speak intelligently to each other. ⁵⁰⁰⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Attention having been called to the Signs or Evidences of Allah's working on the earth, within ourselves, and in the heavens, in verses 20-22, an appeal is made to our own inner conscience, in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth, to acknowledge and act up to the truth of Revelation, and turn to the spiritual Realities. For they are as real as our own conscious and self-intelligent existence, on which is based all our knowledge. As a philosopher (Descartes) has said: "I think; therefore I am."

AND HAS the story of Abraham's honoured guests ever come within thy ken?¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

This story (as well as the subsequent mention of what happened to Lot's people and to the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud, of Moses and Pharaoh's people, and of Noah's people) is connected with the preceding references to the "signs", visible and conceptual, of God's existence and almightiness and the inflexible moral causality apparent in what the Qur'an describes as "the way of God" (sunnat Allah). The story of Abraham's angelic guests appears also in 11:69 ff. and - in a somewhat shorter version - in 15:51 ff. as well.

Have you heard the story of Ibrahim's honored guests?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Has the story of Abraham's honoured guests reached you 'O Prophet'?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Hath the story of Abraham's honored guests reached thee (O Muhammad)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Has the story reached thee of the honored guests of Abraham? ⁵⁰⁰⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xi. 69-73 and notes, where further details of the story will be found. Cf. also xv. 51-56.

When those [heavenly messengers] came unto him and bade him peace, he answered, "[And upon you be] peace!" - [saying to himself,] "They are strangers."¹⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "unknown people' - i.e., not realizing that they were angels.

When they came to him and said: "Peace be upon you!" "Peace be upon you also!", he answered, and seeing that they were strangers,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Remember' when they entered his presence and greeted 'him with', 'Peace!' He replied, 'Peace 'be upon you'!' 'Then he said to himself,' ''These are' an unfamiliar people.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

When they came in unto him and said: Peace! he answered, Peace! (and thought): Folk unknown (to me).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold they entered His presence and said: "Peace!" He said "Peace!" (and thought "these seem) unusual people." ^{5006 5007}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were angels, who appeared suddenly before him at his tent-door in the guise of men, and saluted him with the salutation of peace. He returned the salutation, but felt, from their appearance and their manner, that they were unusual, not ordinary, strangers.

Munkar: unknown, uncommon, unusual, not customary, (hence by derived meaning, not applicable here, not fair or just); opposite in both primary and secondary meanings to maraf, well-known, usual, customary, just. Cf. xv. 62.