Surah 55. Ar-Rahman

[before Him] prostrate themselves the stars and the trees.

  - Mohammad Asad

The shrubs and the trees prostrate in adoration.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

The stars and the trees bow down 'in submission'.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 lit., prostrate.

The stars and the trees adore.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the herbs and the trees-both (alike) bow in adoration. ^{5175 5176}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Najm: may mean stars collectively, or herbs collectively: perhaps both meanings are implied.

All nature adores Allah. Cf. xxii. 18, and n. 2790; xiii. 15; and xvi. 48-49.

And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure,³

  - Mohammad Asad

The noun mizan, usually denoting a "balance", has here the more general connotation of "measure" or "measuring" by any means whatsoever (Zamakhshari), in both the concrete and abstract senses of the word. (Cf. also the parabolic use of the term mizan in 42:17 and 57:25 .)

He has raised the heaven on high and created the balance:

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

As for the sky, He raised it 'high', and set the balance 'of justice'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the sky He hath uplifted; and He hath set the measure,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the Firmament has He raised high and He has set up the balance (of Justice) ⁵¹⁷⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The "balance of justice" in this verse is connected with "the Balance" in the next two verses, that men may act justly to each other and observe due balance in all their actions, following the golden mean and not transgressing due bounds in anything. But the Balance is also connected figuratively with the heavens above in three symbols: (1) Justice is a heavenly virtue: (2) the heavens themselves are sustained by mathematical balance; and (3) the constellation Libra (the Balance) is entered by the sun at the middle of the zodiacal year.

so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right]:

  - Mohammad Asad

don’t ever tamper with this balance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

so that you do not defraud the scales.

  - Mustafa Khattab

That ye exceed not the measure,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In order that ye may not transgress (due) balance.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short!

  - Mohammad Asad

Therefore, you also establish weight with justice and do not give less measure.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Weigh with justice, and do not give short measure.

  - Mustafa Khattab

But observe the measure strictly, nor fall short thereof.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance. ⁵¹⁷⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

To be taken both literally and figuratively. A man should be honest and straight in every daily matter, such as weighing out things which he is selling: and he should be straight, just and honest, in all the highest dealings, not only with other people, but with himself and in his obedience to Allah's Law. Not many do either the one or the other when they have an opportunity of deceit. Justice is the central virtue, and the avoidance of both excess and defect in conduct keeps the human world balanced just as the heavenly world is kept balanced by mathematical order.

And the earth has He spread out for all living beings,

  - Mohammad Asad

He laid out the earth for His creatures,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He laid out the earth for all beings.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the earth hath He appointed for (His) creatures,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures: ⁵¹⁷⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

How can Allah's favours be counted? Look at the earth alone. Life and the conditions here are mutually balanced for Allah's creatures. The vegetable world produces fruit of various kinds and corn or grain of various kinds for human food. The grain harvest yields with it fodder for animals in the shape of leaves and straw, as well as food for men in the shape of grain. The plants not only supply food but sweet-smelling herbs and flowers. Raihan is the sweet basil, but is here used in the generic sense, for agreeable produce in the vegetable world, to match the useful produce already mentioned.

with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates],

  - Mohammad Asad

with all its fruits and palms having sheathed clusters,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In it are fruit, palm trees with date stalks,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Wherein are fruit and sheathed palm trees

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Therein is fruit and date-palms producing spathes (enclosing dates):

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants.

  - Mohammad Asad

and grain with husk and scented herbs.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and grain with husks, and aromatic plants.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Husked grain and scented herb.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Also corn with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder and sweet-smelling plants.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

The majority of the classical commentators interpret the dual form of address appearing in this phrase - rabbikuma ("the Sustainer of you two") and tukadhdhiban ("do you [or "can you"] two disavow") - as relating to the worlds of men and of the "invisible beings" (jinn - see Appendix III); but the most obvious explanation (mentioned, among others, by Razi) is that it refers to the two categories of human beings, men and women, to both of whom the Qur'an is addressed. The plural noun ala', rendered by me as "powers", signifies literally "blessings" or "bounties"; but as the above refrain, which is repeated many times in this surah, bears not only on the bounties which God bestows on His creation but, more generally, on all manifestations of His creativeness and might, some of the earliest commentators - e.g., Ibn Zayd, as quoted by Tabari - regard the term ala', in this context, as synonymous with qudrah ("power" or "powers").

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you 'humans and jinn' both deny?¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This question is repeated thirty-one times in this sûrah: eight times after reminders of Allah’s favours, seven times in the passage talking about the punishment of the deniers of judgment (which is the number of the gates of Hell), and eight times in each of the two following passages talking about Paradise, which has eight gates.

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord, that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny? ⁵¹⁸⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Both the pronoun "your" and the verb "will ye deny" are in the Arabic in the Dual Number. The whole Sura is a symphony of Duality, which leads up to Unity, as explained in the Introduction. All creation is in pairs: li. 49, and notes 5025-26; xxxvi. 36, n. 3981. Justice is the conciliation of two opposites to unity, the settlement of the unending feud between Right and Wrong. The things and concepts mentioned in this Sura are in pairs: man and outer nature; sun and moon; herbs and trees; heaven and earth; fruit and corn; human food and fodder for cattle; things nourishing and things sweet-smelling; and so on throughout the Sura. Then there is man and Jinn, for which see n. 5182 below. "Will ye deny?" that is, fail to acknowledge either in word or thought or in your conduct. If you misuse Allah's gifts or ignore them, that is equivalent to ingratitude or denial or refusal to profit by Allah's infinite Grace.

He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery,⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

See 15:26 and the corresponding note [24].

He created man from sounding clay similar to pottery,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He created humankind from 'sounding' clay like pottery,

  - Mustafa Khattab

He created man of clay like the potter's,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He created man from sounding clay like unto pottery. ⁵¹⁸¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See n. 1966 to xv. 26. The creation of men and Jinns is contrasted. Man was made of sounding clay, dry and brittle like pottery. The Jinn (see next note) was made from a clear flame of fire. Yet each has capacities and possibilities which only Allah's Grace bestows on them. How can they deny Allah's favours?

whereas the invisible beings He has created out of a confusing flame of fire.⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 15:27 - "the fire of scorching winds (nar as-samum)" - thus stressing their non-corporeal origin and composition. The significance of the term jinn ("invisible beings") has been touched upon briefly in note [86] on 6:100 and note [67] on 37:158 ; for a more detailed explanation, see Appendix III.

and created jinns from smokeless fire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and created jinn from a 'smokeless' flame of fire.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the Jinn did He create of smokeless fire.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And He created Jinns from fire free of smoke: ⁵¹⁸²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For the meaning of Jinn, see n. 929 to vi. 100. They are spirits, and therefore subtle like a flame of fire. Their being free from smoke implies that they are free from grossness, for smoke is the grosser accompaniment of fire.

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?

  - Mohammad Asad

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord, that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny? ⁵¹⁸³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Part of the idea of this refrain will be found in xvi. 71, 72; xl. 81; and liii. 55 (where see n. 5122).

[He is] the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunrise, and the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunset.⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., of the extreme points of sunrise and sunset in summer and in winter (see 37:5 and 70:40 ), including "all that is between them": a metonym for God's being the Ultimate Cause of the orbital movement within the universe.

He is Rabb of the two easts and the Rabb of the two wests.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'He is' Lord of the two easts and the two wests.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The two points of sunrise and sunset in the summer and the winter.

Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests: ⁵¹⁸⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The two Easts are the two extreme points where the sun rises during the year, and includes all the points between. Similarly the two Wests include the two extreme points of the sun's setting and all the points between. The Dual Number fits with the general atmosphere of Duality in this Sura. Allah is Lord of every region of the earth and sky, and He scatters His bounties everywhere. See also n. 4641 to xliii. 38, and n. 4034 to xxxvii. 5.

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?

  - Mohammad Asad

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord, that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

He has given freedom to the two great bodies of water, so that they might meet:

  - Mohammad Asad

He has made the two oceans apparently meeting together,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He merges the two bodies of 'fresh and salt' water,

  - Mustafa Khattab

He hath loosed the two seas. They meet.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He has let free the two bodies of flowing water meeting together: ⁵¹⁸⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See xxv. 53, and n. 3111, where it is explained how the two bodies of water, salt and sweet, meet together, yet keep separate, as if there was a barrier or partition between them. This is also one of the favours of Allah. Sea-water is a sanitating agent, while fresh water is sweet and palatable to drink.

[yet] between them is a barrier which they may not transgress.⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

See 25:53 and the corresponding notes [41] and [42].

yet between them is a barrier which they cannot cross.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

yet between them is a barrier they never cross.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 25:53.

There is a barrier between them. They encroach not (one upon the other).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?

  - Mohammad Asad

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord: that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Out of these two [bodies of water] come forth pearls, both great and small.

  - Mohammad Asad

He produces pearls and coral from both of them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Out of both 'waters' come forth pearls and coral.

  - Mustafa Khattab

There cometh forth from both of them the pearl and coral stone.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Out of them come Pearls and Coral: ⁵¹⁸⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Pearls are produced by the oyster and coral by the polyp, a minute marine creature, which, working in millions, has by its secretions produced the reefs, islands, and banks in and on both sides of the Red Sea and in other parts of the world. The pearl has a translucent lustre, usually white, but sometimes pink or black. Coral is usually opaque, red or pink, but often white, and is seen in beautiful branching or cup-like shapes as visitors to Port Sudan will recall. Both are used as gems and stand here for gems generally. Mineral gems, such as agate and cornelian, are found in river-beds. Pearl oysters are also found in some rivers.

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?

  - Mohammad Asad

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord, that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And His are the lofty ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas.⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "in the sea like mountains". The reference to ships as "belonging to God" is meant to stress the God-given nature of man's intelligence and inventiveness - a reflection of God's creative powers - which expresses itself in all that man is able to produce. (See also {42:32-34} and the corresponding notes.)

His are the ships looming up like mountains on the sea.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

To Him belong the ships with raised sails, sailing through the seas like mountains.

  - Mustafa Khattab

His are the ships displayed upon the sea, like banners.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And His are the Ships sailing smoothly through the seas lofty as mountains: ^{5187 5188}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The ships-sailing ships and steamers, and by extension of analogy, aeroplanes and airships majestically navigating the air-are made by man, but the intelligence and science which made them possible are given by man's Creator; and therefore the Ships also are the gifts of Allah.

Lofty as mountains: both in respect of the high sails, or masts, and in respect of the height to which the top of the ship towers above the surface of the sea. The 'Queen Mary'-the biggest ship afloat in 1936-has a height, from the keel to the top of the superstructure, of 135 ft. and from keel to the mast-head, of 234 ft.

Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?

  - Mohammad Asad

So, O jinn and men, which of your Rabb’s favors will both of you deny?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Which is it, of the favors of your Lord, that ye deny?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali