The Twenty-Ninth Surah
Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)
Period Uncertain
Asad’s Version:
29:65 And so, when they embark on a ship [and find themselves in danger], they call unto God, [at that moment] sincere in their faith in Him alone; but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, they [begin to] ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity:
(29:66) and thus 38 they show utter ingratitude for all that We have vouchsafed them, and go on [thoughtlessly] enjoying their worldly life.
29:67 Are they, then, not aware that We have set up a sanctuary secure [for those who believe in Us], the while all around them men are being carried away [by fear and despair]? 5 ' Will they, then, [continue to] believe in things false and vain, and thus God's blessings deny?
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَإِذَا
رَكِبُوا
فِي الْفُلْكِ
دَعَوُا اللَّهَ
مُخْلِصِينَ
لَهُ الدِّينَ...
29:65. Now, if they embark on a boat, they call on Allah, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to Him;
C3498. Cf. 7:29, where I have slightly varied the English phrase according to the context.
It was shown in the last verse that the life of this world is fleeting, and that the true life-that which matters-is the Life in the Hereafter.
In contrast with this inner reality is now shown the shortsighted folly of man. Where he faces the physical dangers of the sea, which are but an incident in the phenomenal world, he actually and sincerely seeks the help of Allah; but when he is safely back on land, he forgets the Realities, plunges into the pleasures and vanities of fleeting phenomena, and his devotion, which should be given exclusively to Allah, is shared by idols and vanities of his own imagination. (R).
...فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾
but when He had delivered them safely to (dry) land, Behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!
لِيَكْفُرُوا
بِمَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ
وَلِيَتَمَتَّعُوا...
29:66. Disdaining ungratefully Our gifts and giving themselves up to (worldly) enjoyment!
C3499. Such folly results in the virtual rejection (even though it may not be express) of Allah and His Grace. It plunges man into the pleasures and vanities that merely delude and are bound to pass away.
This delusion, however, will come to an end when the true Reality of the Hereafter will shine forth in all its splendor.
...فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٦٦﴾
But soon will they know.
أَوَلَمْ
يَرَوْا
أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا
حَرَمًا آمِنًا
وَيُتَخَطَّفُ
النَّاسُ مِنْ
حَوْلِهِمْ...
29:67. Do they not then see that We have made a Sanctuary secure, and that men are being snatched away from all around them?
C3500. If they want evidences of their folly in the phenomenal world itself, they will see sacred Sanctuaries where Allah's Truth abides safely in the midst of the Deluge of broken hopes, disappointed ambitions and unfulfilled plans in the world around.
The immediate reference was to the Sanctuary of Makkah and the gradual progress of Islam in the districts surrounding the Quraysh in the midst of the trying Makkan period.
But the general application holds good for all times and places.
...أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ ﴿٦٧﴾
Then, do they believe in that which is vain, and reject the Grace of Allah?
[[Asad’s notes - 58. The particle li prefixed to the subsequent verbs yakfuru ("they show [utter] ingratitude") and yatarnatta'u- ("they enjoy [or "go on enjoying"] their worldly life") is not an indication of intent ("so that" or "in order that") but merely of a causal sequence; in the above context, it may be appropriately rendered as "and thus".
59 See note 58 on the second paragraph of 28:57. In contrast to the "sanctuary secure" - the inner peace and sense of spiritual fulfillment which God bestows on those who truly believe in Him - the atheist or agnostic is more often than not exposed to fear of the Unknown and a despair bom of the uncertainty as to what will happen to him after death.]]
30 Ar-Rum (The Byzantines)
Mecca Period [6-7 years before Hijra]
[[Ruby’s note – Splitting religion into sects is mentioned here with men’s tendency of shirk or associating false things to God for a reason I think. People splits or deviates from truth because by blind following of others and/or allegiance to a group etc. These can fall into the category of shirk and the allegiance to God is superseded by other consideration other than God’s moral laws and truths.]]
Asad’s Version:
(30:32) [or] among those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighting in but what they themselves hold [by way of tenets]. 29
NOW [thus it is:] when affliction befalls men, they cry out unto their Sustainer, turning unto Him [for help]; but as soon as He lets them taste of His grace, lo! some of them [begin to ascribe to other powers a share in their Sustainer's divinity, 30 (30:34) [as if] to prove their ingratitude for all that We have granted them!
Enjoy, then, your [brief] life: but in time you will come to know [the truth] !
[[Asad’s notes - 29 See 6:159, 21 :92-93 and 23:52-53, as well as the corresponding notes.
30 See note 61 on 16:54. ]]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
مِنَ
الَّذِينَ
فَرَّقُوا
دِينَهُمْ
وَكَانُوا
شِيَعًا...
30:32. Those who split up their Religion, and become (mere) Sects, --
...كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ ﴿٣٢﴾
each party rejoicing in that which is with itself!
C3544. A good description of self-satisfied sectarianism as against real Religion.
See n. 3542 above.
وَإِذَا
مَسَّ النَّاسَ
ضُرٌّ دَعَوْا
رَبَّهُم مُّنِيبِينَ
إِلَيْهِ...
30: 33. When trouble touches men, they cry to their Lord, turning back to Him in repentance:
C3545. Cf. 10:12.
It is trouble, distress, or adversity that makes men realize their helplessness and turns their attention back to the true Source of all goodness and happiness.
But when they are shown special Mercy -often more than they deserve- they forget themselves and attribute it to their own cleverness, or to the stars, or to some false ideas to which they pay court and worship, either to the exclusion of Allah or in addition to the lip-worship which they pay to Allah.
Their action in any case amounts to gross ingratitude; but in the circumstances it looks as if they had gone out of their way to show ingratitude.
...ثُمَّ إِذَا أَذَاقَهُم مِّنْهُ رَحْمَةً إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُم بِرَبِّهِمْ يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿٣٣﴾
but when He gives them a taste of Mercy as from Himself, behold, some of them pay part-worship to other gods besides their Lord. --
لِيَكْفُرُوا
بِمَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ...
30: 34. (As if) to show their ingratitude for the (favors) We have bestowed on them!
...فَتَمَتَّعُوا فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٣٤﴾
Then enjoy (your brief day); but soon will ye know (your folly).
C3546. Cf. 16:54.
They are welcome to their fancies and false worship, and to the enjoyment of the pleasures of this Life, but they will soon be disillusioned. Then they will realize the true values of the things they neglected and the things they cultivated.
31 Luqman
Mecca Period [57]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَإِذَا
غَشِيَهُم
مَّوْجٌ كَالظُّلَلِ
دَعَوُا اللَّهَ
مُخْلِصِينَ
لَهُ الدِّينَ...
31: 32. When a wave covers them like the canopy (of clouds), they call to Allah, offering Him sincere devotion.
C3621. Cf. 7:29. Unlike the people mentioned in the last verse, who constantly seek Allah's help and give thanks for His mercies by using them aright and doing their duty, there is a class of men whose worship is merely inspired by terror.
When they are in physical danger-the only kind of danger they appreciate,-e.g. in a storm at sea, they genuinely think of Allah. But once the danger is past, they become indifferent or wish to appear good while dallying with evil. See next verse.
...فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ فَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ...
But when He has delivered them safely to land, there are among them those that halt between (right and wrong).
C3622. They halt between two opinions.
- They are not against good, but they will not eschew evil.
- They are a contrast to those who "constantly persevere and give thanks".
But such an attitude amounts really to "perfidious ingratitude".
...وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا كُلُّ خَتَّارٍ كَفُورٍ ﴿٣٢﴾
But none reject Our Signs except only a perfidious ungrateful (wretch)!
Asad’s Version:
(31:32) For [thus it is with most men:] when the waves engulf them like shadows [of death], they call unto God, sincere [at that moment] in their faith in Him alone: but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, some of them stop half-way [between belief and unbelief]. 2 ' Yet none could knowingly reject Our messages unless he be utterly perfidious, ingrate. O MEN! Be conscious of your Sustainer, and stand in awe of the Day on which no parent will be of any avail to his child, nor a child will in the least avail his parent! Verily, God's promise [of resurrection] is true indeed: let not, then, the life of this world delude you, and let not [your own] deceptive thoughts about God delude you! 30
[[ Asad’s notes - 29 Cf. 17:67, as well as 29:65, which says - in a similar context - that "they [begin to) ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity" (yushrikun). The parable of a storm at sea is, of course, a metonym applying to every kind of danger that may beset man in life.
30 For instance, the self-deluding expectation, while deliberately committing a sin, that God will forgive it (Sa'id ibn Jubayr, as quoted by Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari). According to Tabari, the term gharur denotes "anything that deludes" (ma gharra) a person in the moral sense, whether it be Satan, or another human being, or an abstract concept, or (as in 57:14) "wishful thinking". ]]