21. Surah Al Anbiya'
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَقَدِ
اسْتُهْزِئَ
بِرُسُلٍ مِّن
قَبْلِكَ...
21: 41. Mocked were (many) Messengers before thee;
...فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِينَ سَخِرُوا مِنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِؤُون ﴿٤١﴾
but their scoffers were hemmed in by the thing that they mocked.
C2701. The same verse occurs at 6:10, where see n. 843.
'What they are mocking at now will be in a position to mock them in due time.'
قُلْ
مَن يَكْلَؤُكُم
بِاللَّيْلِ
وَالنَّهَارِ
مِنَ الرَّحْمَنِ...
21: 42. Say,
"Who can keep you safe by night and by day from (the Wrath of) (Allah) Most Gracious?"
C2702. 'Allah is most Gracious: if, in spite of His great mercy, you are so rebellious and depraved as to incur His Wrath, who is there who can save you?
His Wrath can descend on you at any time, by night or by day.'
...بَلْ هُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ رَبِّهِم مُّعْرِضُونَ ﴿٤٢﴾
Yet they turn away from the mention of their Lord.
أَمْ
لَهُمْ
آلِهَةٌ
تَمْنَعُهُم
مِّن دُونِنَا
لَا...
21: 43. Or have they gods that can guard them from Us?
...يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَا هُم مِّنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ ﴿٤٣﴾
They have no power to aid themselves,
nor can they be defended from Us.
C2703. Ashaba: to join as companion: with 'an or min it has also the meaning of to defend or remove from someone.
The full signification can only be got by a long paraphrase: 'they are not fit to be mentioned in the same breath with Us, nor can they be defended from Us.'
بَلْ
مَتَّعْنَا
هَؤُلَاء وَآبَاءهُمْ
حَتَّى طَالَ
عَلَيْهِمُ
الْعُمُرُ...
21: 44. Nay,
We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long
We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them;
C2704. 'Umr or 'Umur: age, generation, period, time, life.
Here "period" is most appropriate, as it covers many generations, "these men and their fathers."
...أَفَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَنَّا نَأْتِي الْأَرْضَ نَنقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا ...
see they not that we gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders?
The particular signification is that Islam spread from the outer borders, social and geographical, gradually inwards.
The social fringe was the humbler people, such as slaves and poor men.
The geographical reference is to Madinah and tribes away from the Makkah centre. The proud and unbelieving Quraish were the last to come in when the circle was gradually drawn tighter and tighter around them.
The general signification applies to all times. Allah's Truth makes its way first among the poor and the lowly, those whose minds are unsoiled by prejudices of false pride or false knowledge, but it gradually hems in the obstinate, until it prevails in the end.
...أَفَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ ﴿٤٤﴾
Is it then they who will win?
قُلْ
إِنَّمَا
أُنذِرُكُم
بِالْوَحْيِ...
21: 45. Say, "I do but warn you according to revelation":
...وَلَا يَسْمَعُ الصُّمُّ الدُّعَاء إِذَا مَا يُنذَرُونَ ﴿٤٥﴾
but the deaf will not hear the call, (even) when they are warned!
C2706. According to the English saying. "none is so deaf as those who will not hear".
When they deliberately shut their ears to warning from the Merciful Allah, meant for their own good, the responsibility is their own. But their cowardice is shown in the next verse by their behaviour when the first breath of the Wrath reaches them.
Asad’s Version:
21:41
And, indeed, [O Muhammad, even] before thy time have [God's] apostles been derided - but those who scoffed at them were [in the end] overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride. 52
(2 1 :42} Say: "Who could protect you, by night or by day, from the Most Gracious?" 53 And yet, from a remembrance of their Sustainer do they stubbornly turn away!
21:43
Do they [really think that they] have deities that could shield them from Us? Those [alleged deities] are not [even] able to succour themselves: hence, neither can they [who worship them hope to] be aided [by them] against Us.
21:44
Nay, We have allowed these [sinners] - as [We allowed] their forebears - to enjoy the good things of life for a great length of time: 54 but then - have they never yet seen how We visit the earth [with Our punishment], gradually depriving it of all that is best thereon? 55 Can they, then, [hope to] be the winners?
21:45
SAY [unto all men]: "I but warn you on the strength of divine revelation!" But the deaf [of heart] will not hearken to this call, however often they are warned. 5 '