32 As-Sajdah (Prostration), 30 verses

Mecca Period 75

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا فَمَأْوَاهُمُ النَّارُ...

32: 20. As to those who are rebellious and wicked, their abode will be the Fire:

...كُلَّمَا أَرَادُوا أَن يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا أُعِيدُوا فِيهَا...

every time they wish to get away therefrom, they will be forced thereinto,

C3653. Cf. 22:22.

Just as the gardens is the type of Bliss, so is the Fire the type of Penalty and suffering. There will be no getting away from it.

What will be the thoughts of those who had earned it?

"We used to reject the idea of the Consequences as a mere chimera: and now we find it to be true!"

What will be their feelings then?

How will they like it!

...وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ ذُوقُوا عَذَابَ النَّارِ الَّذِي كُنتُم بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ ﴿٢٠﴾

and it will be said to them:

"Taste ye the Penalty of the Fire, the which ye were wont to reject as false."

Asad’s Version:

(32:20) but as for those who are lost in iniquity - their goal is the fire: as oft as they will try to come out of it, they will be thrown back into it; and they will be told, "Taste [now] this suffering through fire which you were wont to call a lie!"

37 As-Saffat (Those Ranged In Ranks)

Mecca 56 [182 verses]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءلُونَ ﴿٥٠﴾

37: 50. Then they will turn to one another and question one another.

C4066. Cf. above, 37:27, where the same phrase is used in the reverse conditions.

In each case there is a going back to the earlier memories or experiences of this life.

قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِّنْهُمْ إِنِّي كَانَ لِي قَرِينٌ ﴿٥١﴾

37: 51. One of them will start the talk and say:

"I had an intimate companion (on the earth),

C4067. This companion was a skeptic, who laughed at Religion and a Hereafter. How the tables are now turned! The devout man backed up his Faith with a good life and is now in Bliss: the other was a cynic and made a mess of his life, and is now burning in the Fire. (R).

يَقُولُ أَئِنَّكَ لَمِنْ الْمُصَدِّقِينَ ﴿٥٢﴾

37: 52. "Who used to say,

'What! art thou amongst those who bear witness to the truth (of the Message)?

أَئِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَئِنَّا لَمَدِينُونَ ﴿٥٣﴾

37: 53. "'When we die and become dust and bones, shall we indeed receive rewards and punishments?'"

قَالَ هَلْ أَنتُم مُّطَّلِعُونَ ﴿٥٤﴾

37: 54. (A voice) said: "Would ye like to look down?"

فَاطَّلَعَ فَرَآهُ فِي سَوَاء الْجَحِيمِ ﴿٥٥﴾

37: 55. He looked down and saw him in the midst of the Fire.

C4068. He is allowed a peep into the state which he so narrowly escaped by the grace of Allah.

Asad’s Version:

37:50 And they will all turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. 21

(37:51) One of them speaks thus: "Behold, I had [on earth] a close companion

(37:52) who was wont to ask [me], 'Why - art thou really one of those who believe it to be true

(37:53) [that] after we have died and become mere dust and bones we shall, forsooth, be brought to judgment?'"

37:54 [And] he adds: "Would you like to look [and see him]?" –

(37:55) and then he looks and sees that [companion of his] in the midst of the blazing fire,