25. [al-Furqan, Mecca 42]
Asad’s Version:
(25:41) Hence, whenever they consider thee, [O Muhammad,] they but make thee a target of their mockery, [saying:] "Is this the one whom God has sent as an apostle?
(25:42) Indeed, he would well-nigh have led us astray from our deities, had we not been [so] steadfastly attached to them!" But in time, when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will come to know who it was that went farthest astray from the path [of truth]!
25:43 Hast thou ever considered [the kind of man] who makes his own desires his deity? Couldst thou, then, [O Prophet,] be held responsible for him?
(25:44) Or dost thou think that most of them listen [to thy message] and use their reason? Nay, they are but like cattle - nay, they are even less conscious of the right way! 37
[[Asad’s notes - 37 Lit., "they are farther astray from the path [of truth]": see note 144 on 7:179.
38 I.e., "We cause it to contract in accordance with the 'laws of nature' which We Ourselves have instituted." As in so many other instances in the Qur'an, the abrupt change from the third-person pronoun "He" to "We" is meant to illustrate the fact that God is undefinable, and that it is only the inadequacy of human speech - and, hence, of the human mind - that makes it necessary to refer to the Supreme Being by pronouns which in reality are applicable only to finite-created "persons" (cf. Foreword,note 2).]]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَإِذَا
رَأَوْكَ إِن
يَتَّخِذُونَكَ
إِلَّا هُزُوًا...
25: 41. When they see thee, they treat thee no otherwise than in mockery:
... أَهَذَا الَّذِي بَعَثَ اللَّهُ رَسُولًا ﴿٤١﴾
"Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a messenger?"
إِن
كَادَ
لَيُضِلُّنَا
عَنْ آلِهَتِنَا
لَوْلَا أَن
صَبَرْنَا
عَلَيْهَا...
25: 42. "He indeed would well-nigh have misled us from our gods, had it not been that we were constant to them!"
... وَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ حِينَ يَرَوْنَ الْعَذَابَ مَنْ أَضَلُّ سَبِيلًا ﴿٤٢﴾
Soon will they know, when they see the Penalty, who it is that is most misled in Path!
C3096. "Path" (Sabil) is almost equivalent here to conduct, way of life.
أَرَأَيْتَ
مَنِ اتَّخَذَ
إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ
...
25:43. Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)?
... أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا ﴿٤٣﴾
Couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him?
C3097. The man who worships his own passions or impulses or desires is the most hopeless to teach or lead or guide.
If it were anything else the matter with him, the Prophet could argue with him. But Reason cannot prevail over blind passion. It is vain to hope that such a man could be led, until his mad desires are killed. No one could undertake any responsibility for him, for he obeys no law and follows no advice. He is worse than brute beasts, which may not understand, but at least follow the wholesome instincts implanted in them by Allah. The lawless man has killed his instincts and is unwilling to submit to guidance.
أَمْ
تَحْسَبُ
أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ
يَسْمَعُونَ
أَوْ يَعْقِلُونَ...
25: 44. Or thinkest thou that most of them listen or understand?
... إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا كَالْأَنْعَامِ ...
They are only like cattle; --
... بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ سَبِيلًا ﴿٤٤﴾
nay, they are worse astray in Path.
45 Al-Jathiyah (Kneeling Down)
Mecca Period 65
Asad’s version:
45:23 HAST THOU ever considered [the kind of man) who makes his own desires his deity, and whom God has [thereupon] let go astray, knowing [that his mind is closed to all guidance], 24 and whose hearing and heart He has sealed, and upon whose sight He has placed a veil? 25 Who, then, could guide him after God [has abandoned him]? Will you not, then, bethink yourselves?
45:24 And yet they say: "There is nothing beyond our life in this world. We die as we come to life, 26 and nothing but time destroys us." But of this they have no knowledge whatever: they do nothing but guess. (45:25) And [so,) whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, their only argument is this: 27 "Bring forth our forefathers [as witnesses), if what you claim is true!" 28
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَفَرَأَيْتَ
مَنِ
اتَّخَذَ
إِلَهَهُ
هَوَاهُ
...
45:23. Then seest thou such a one as takes as his god his own vain desire?
C4761. If a man follows, not the laws of Allah, which are also the laws of his own pure nature as made by Allah, but the desires of his own distorted self, as shaped by the rebellion of his will, the inevitable consequence will be the withdrawal of Allah's grace and guidance. All his faculties will then be debased, and there will be nothing to guide him, unless he turns in repentance again to Allah.
... وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ...
Allah has, knowing (him as such), left him astray,
...وَخَتَمَ عَلَى سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَى بَصَرِهِ...
and sealed His hearing and his heart (and understanding), and put a cover on his sight.
...غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ....
Who, then, will guide him after Allah (has withdrawn Guidance)?
.. أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٢٣﴾
Will ye not then receive admonition?
وَقَالُوا
مَا
هِيَ
إِلَّا
حَيَاتُنَا
الدُّنْيَا
نَمُوتُ
...
45: 24. And they say:
"What is there but our life in this world?
... وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ...
We shall die and we live, and nothing but Time can destroy us."
C4763. Cf. 23:37, and n. 2896.
The additional touch here, "And nothing but Time can destroy us", suggests the materialist philosophy that Matter and Time are eternal backwards and forwards; and possibly also that though each individual perishes, the race lasts till Time destroys it. This is not knowledge but conjecture. Why not accept light from Him Who knows all.
...وَمَا لَهُم بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ ﴿٢٤﴾
But of that they have no knowledge: they merely conjecture:
وَإِذَا
تُتْلَى
عَلَيْهِمْ
آيَاتُنَا
بَيِّنَاتٍ
مَّا
كَانَ
حُجَّتَهُمْ
إِلَّا
أَن
قَالُوا...
45: 25. And when Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, their argument is nothing but this: they say,
...ائْتُوا بِآبَائِنَا إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ﴿٢٥﴾
"Bring (back) our forefathers, if what ye say is true!"
C4764. Cf. 44:36.
It is no argument to say, "If there is a future life, bring back our forefathers and let us see them here and now!"
It is not for a man to raise the dead when and where he pleases. It is for Allah to command. And His promise is about the general Resurrection for the Day of Judgment. In His hands are the keys of life and death.