23.[al-Muminun, Mecca 74]
Asad’s Version:
23:65
[But they will be told:] "Cry not in supplication today: for, behold, you shall not be succoured by Us!
(23:66) Time and again 37 were My messages conveyed unto you, but [every time] you
would turn about on your heels
(23:67) [and,] impelled by your arrogance, you would talk senselessly far into the night." 38
23:68 Have they, then, never tried to understand this word [of God] ? Or has there [now] come to them something that never came to their forefathers of old
(23:69) Or is it, perchance, that they have not recognized their Apostle, and so they disavow him? (23:70) Or do they say, "There is madness in him"? Nay, he has brought them the truth - and the truth do most of them detest! 40
23:71 But if the truth 41 were in accord with their own likes and dislikes, the heavens and the earth would surely have fallen into ruin, and all that lives in them [would long ago have perished] ! " Nay, [in this divine writ] We have conveyed unto them all that they ought to bear in mind: 43 and from this their reminder they [heedlessly] turn away!
23:72 Or dost thou [O Muhammad] ask of them any worldly recompense? But [they ought to know that] a recompense from thy Sustainer is best, since He is the best of providers! 44
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
لَا
تَجْأَرُوا
الْيَوْمَ
إِنَّكُم مِّنَّا
لَا تُنصَرُونَ
﴿٦٥﴾
23: 65. It will be said:
"Groan not in supplication this day; for ye shall certainly not be helped by Us.
قَدْ
كَانَتْ آيَاتِي
تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ
فَكُنتُمْ عَلَى
أَعْقَابِكُمْ
تَنكِصُونَ
﴿٦٦﴾
23: 66. "My Signs used to be rehearsed to you, but ye used to turn back on your heels --
مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ
بِهِ
سَامِرًا تَهْجُرُونَ
﴿٦٧﴾
23: 67. "In arrogance: talking nonsense about the (Qur'án), like one telling fables by night."
C2917. Samir: one who remains awake by night, one who passes the night in talk or in the recital of stories of romances, a favourite amusement of the Days of Ignorance.
أَفَلَمْ
يَدَّبَّرُوا
الْقَوْلَ أَمْ
جَاءهُم مَّا
لَمْ يَأْتِ
آبَاءهُمُ
الْأَوَّلِينَ
﴿٦٨﴾
23: 68. Do they not ponder over the Word (of Allah), or has anything (new) come to them that did not come to their fathers of old?
C2918. If they ponder over the matter, they will find that Allah's Message to humanity is as old as Adam. It is good for all ages. It never grows old, and it is never new.
أَمْ
لَمْ يَعْرِفُوا
رَسُولَهُمْ
فَهُمْ لَهُ
مُنكِرُونَ
﴿٦٩﴾
23: 69. Or do they not recognize their Messenger, that they deny him?
أَمْ
يَقُولُونَ
بِهِ جِنَّةٌ...
23: 70. Or do they say, "He is possessed"?
...بَلْ جَاءهُم بِالْحَقِّ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ لِلْحَقِّ كَارِهُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾
Nay, he has brought them the Truth, but most of them hate the Truth.
وَلَوِ
اتَّبَعَ
الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءهُمْ
لَفَسَدَتِ
السَّمَاوَاتُ
وَالْأَرْضُ
وَمَن فِيهِنَّ...
23: 71. If the Truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption!
C2919. Allah is All-Wise and All-Good, and His architecture of the universe is on a perfect Plan. If these poor, low, selfish, ignorant creatures were to plan it according to their hearts' desires, it would be a dreadful world, full of confusion and corruption.
...بَلْ أَتَيْنَاهُم بِذِكْرِهِمْ فَهُمْ عَن ذِكْرِهِم مُّعْرِضُونَ ﴿٧١﴾
Nay, We have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition.
أَمْ
تَسْأَلُهُمْ
خَرْجًا ...
23: 72. Or is it that thou askest them for some recompense?
C2920. This is the last of the questions, beginning with 23:68 above, showing the absurdity of the position taken up by the Unbelievers.
1. The Message of Allah is as old as humanity: why do they fight shy of it?
2. They have known their Prophet to be true and righteous: why do they deny him?
3. Is it madness to bring the bitter Truth before them?
4. Does the Prophet ask any worldly reward from them? If not, why do they reject his unselfish efforts for their own good?
... فَخَرَاجُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ...
But the recompense of thy Lord is best:
...وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ ﴿٧٢﴾
He is the Best of those who give sustenance.
[[ Asad’s notes -
37 This is the meaning implied in the auxiliary verb kanat preceded by the particle qad.
38 Lit., "as one who keeps awake at night" (samiran). In combination with the phrase kuntum... tahjurun, this expression indicates the pursuit of endless, fruitless discussions divorced from all reality, or a mere play with words leading nowhere. (See also 31:6 and the corresponding note 4.)
39 Implying that the message of the Qur'an is but a continuation of all the divine messages ever revealed to man.
40 I.e., they hate to admit the truth: the reason being - as the sequence shows that the world-view propounded by the Qur'an is not in accord with their own likes and dislikes or preconceived notions.
41 I.e., the reality of all creation.
42 I.e., if the universe - and, especially, human life had been as devoid of meaning and purpose as they imagine, nothing could have endured, and everything would have long since perished in chaos.
43 For this rendering of the term dhikr; see note 13 on21:10.
44 The terms kharj and kharaj which occur in the above verse are more or less synonymous, both of them denoting "recompense". According to Zamakhshari, however, there is a slight difference between these two expressions, kharj being more restricted in its meaning than kharaj : hence, the first has been rendered as "worldly recompense" and the second as "recompense" without any restrictive definition, implying that a recompense from God is unlimited, relating both to this world and the hereafter. ]]