39 Az-Zumar (The Throngs)
Mecca Period 59 [75 verses]
Asad’s Version:
39:54 Hence, turn towards your Sustainer [alone] and surrender yourselves unto Him ere the suffering [of death and resurrection] comes upon you, for then you will not be succoured. 59
(39:55) And ere that suffering comes upon you of a sudden, without your being aware [of its approach], follow the most goodly [teaching] that has been revealed unto you by your Sustainer,
(39:56) lest any human being 60 should say [on Judgment Day], "Alas for me for
having been remiss in what is due to God, and for having been indeed one of those who
scoffed [at the truth]!" –
(39:57) or lest he should say, "If God had but guided me, I would surety have been among those who are conscious of Him!" –
(39:58) or lest he should say, when he becomes aware of the suffering [that awaits him], "Would that I had a second chance [in life], so that I could be among the doers of good!""
39:59 [But God will reply:] "Yea, indeed! My messages did come unto thee; but thou gavest them the lie, and were filled with false pride, and wert among those who deny the truth!"
(39:60) And [so,] on the Day of Resurrection thou wilt see all who invenied lies about God [with] their faces darkened [by grief and ignominy]. 62 Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who are given to false pride?"
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَوْ
تَقُولَ
لَوْ
أَنَّ
اللَّهَ
هَدَانِي
لَكُنتُ
مِنَ
الْمُتَّقِينَ
﴿٥٧﴾
39:57. "Or (lest) it should say:
'If only Allah had guided me, I should certainly have been among the righteous!' --
C4328. In the second place, we might be inclined to say,
'I wish I had received warning or guidance'. But this would not be true, because the warning and guidance are being conveyed in the clearest manner in Allah's Revelation. "that is the force of 'lest it should say'. It could have said so, had it not seen that the objection is clearly anticipated in the call to repent and in the seaming about the Hereafter.
أَوْ
تَقُولَ
حِينَ
تَرَى
الْعَذَابَ
...
39:58. "Or (lest) it should say when it (actually) sees the Penalty:
C4329. In the third place, when we stand face to face with the Penalty of our own deeds, we might say, 'I wish I had another chance' But not one, but many, chances are being given, especially when we are told (verse 53 above): 'Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful'. The force of 'lest it should say' here is the same as explained in the last note.
... لَوْ أَنَّ لِي كَرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٥٨﴾
'If only I had another chance I should certainly be among those who do good!'
بَلَى
قَدْ
جَاءتْكَ
آيَاتِي...
39: 59. "(The reply will be)
C4330. The reply explains how all such pleas have been anticipated and met. It was deliberate rejection that will deserve and meet its consequences. It is further explained that the motive of sin, as with Satan, was haughtiness and Self. (R).
... فَكَذَّبْتَ بِهَا...
and thou didst reject them:
... وَاسْتَكْبَرْتَ...
thou wast haughty,
... وَكُنتَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٥٩﴾
and became one of those who reject Faith!'"
C4331. Cf. 2:34.
The example of the arch-sinner illustrates what happens in a minor degree in every kind of sinner.
[[Asad’s notes - 59 Cf. 4:18 - "repentance shall not be accepted from those who do evil deeds until their dying hour, and then say, 'Behold, I now repent'; nor from those who die as deniers of the truth".
60 Whenever there is no clear indication that the term nafs has another meaning, it signifies a "human being"; hence, the personal pronouns relating to this term (which is feminine in Arabic) are masculine in my rendering. ]]