39.Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)
Period Uncertain
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَمَا
كُنتَ
تَتْلُو مِن
قَبْلِهِ مِن
كِتَابٍ وَلَا
تَخُطُّهُ
بِيَمِينِكَ...
39:48. And thou wast not (able) to recite a Book, before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand:
C3478. The holy Prophet was not a learned man. Before the Quran was revealed to him, he never claimed to proclaim a Message from Allah. He was not in the habit of preaching eloquent truths as from a Book, before he received his Revelation, nor was he able to write or transcribe with his own hand.
If he had had these worldly gifts, there would have been some plausibility in the charge of the talkers of vanities that he spoke not from inspiration but from other people's books, or that he composed the beautiful verses of the Quran himself and committed them to memory in order to recite them to people.
The circumstances in which the Quran came bear their own testimony to its truth as from Allah.
...إِذًا لَّارْتَابَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾
in that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted.
بَلْ
هُوَ
آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ
فِي صُدُورِ
الَّذِينَ
أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ...
39:49. Nay, here are Signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge:
C3479. "Knowledge" ('ilm) means both power of judgment in discerning the value of truth and acquaintance with previous revelations. It implies both literal and spiritual insight.
sadr, "breast".
...وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الظَّالِمُونَ ﴿٤٩﴾
and none but the unjust reject Our Signs.
C3480. Cf. the last clause of verse 47 above. There the argument was that the rejection of the Quran was a mark of Unbelief.
Now the argument is carried a stage farther. Such rejection is also a mark of injustice, a deliberate perversity in going against obvious Signs, which should convince all honest men.
وَقَالُوا
لَوْلَا أُنزِلَ
عَلَيْهِ آيَاتٌ
مِّن رَّبِّهِ...
39;50. Yet they say: "Why are not Signs sent down to him from his Lord?"
...قُلْ إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّمَا أَنَا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٥٠﴾
Say:
"The Signs are indeed with Allah: and I am indeed a clear Warner."
C3481. See last note.
In the Quran, as said in verse 49, are Signs which should carry conviction to all honest hearts. And yet the Unbelievers ask for Signs! They mean some special kinds of Signs or Miracles, such as their own foolish minds dictate.
Everything is possible for Allah, but Allah is not going to humor the follies of men or listen to their disingenuous demands. He has sent a Messenger to explain His Signs clearly, and to warn them of the consequences of rejection.
Is it not enough?
أَوَلَمْ
يَكْفِهِمْ
أَنَّا أَنزَلْنَا
عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ
يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ...
39: 51. And is it not enough for them that We have sent down to thee the Book which is rehearsed to them?
...إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَرَحْمَةً وَذِكْرَى لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٥١﴾
Verily, in it is Mercy and Reminder to those who believe.
C3482. The perspicuous Quran, explained in detail by Allah's Messenger, in conjunction with Allah's Signs in nature and in the hearts of men, should be enough for all. It is mere fractious opposition to demand vaguely something more.
Asad’s Version:
(39:48) for, [O Muhammad,] thou hast never been able to recite any divine writ ere this one [was revealed], nor didst thou ever transcribe one with thine own hand 44 - or else, they who try to disprove the truth [of thy revelation] 47 might indeed have had cause to doubt [it].
39:49 Nay, but this [divine writ] consists of messages clear to the hearts of all who are gifted with [innate] knowledge 48 - and none could knowingly reject Our messages unless it be such as would do wrong [to themselves].
[[ Asad’s note - 47 The participial noun mubtil is derived from the verb abt ala, "he made a false [or "vain"] claim", or "tried to disprove the truth [of something]", or "to reduce [something] to nothing", or "to prove [it] to be of no account", or "null and Void", or "unfounded", "false", "spurious", etc.; irrespective of whether the object is true or false, authentic or spurious, valid or unfounded (Lisan al-'Arab and Taj al-'Arus). ]]
[[ Asad’s notes - 44 I.e., "they to whom We grant the ability to understand this divine writ".
45 This rendering of the verb jahada in the present instance and in verse 49 below (as well as in 31:32,
46 Lit., "with thy right hand" - the term yamin being used here metonymically, denoting no more than one's "own hand". - It is historically established that Muhammad, the "unlettered prophet" (cf. 7:157 and 1 58), could neither read nor write, and could not, therefore, have derived his extensive knowledge of the contents of earlier revelations from the Bible or other scriptures: which - as the Qur'an points out - ought to convince any unprejudiced person that this knowledge must have come to him through divine revelation.
47 The participial noun mubtil is derived from the verb abt ala, "he made a false [or "vain"] claim", or "tried to disprove the truth [of something]", or "to reduce [something] to nothing", or "to prove [it] to be of no account", or "null and Void", or "unfounded", "false", "spurious", etc.; irrespective of whether the object is true or false, authentic or spurious, valid or unfounded (Lisan al-'Arab and Taj al-'Arus).
48 Lit., "self-evident (bayyinat) in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge" - the term 'ilm having here the connotation of intuitive, spiritual perception. ]]
39:50 [Asad] And yet they say, "Why have no miraculous signs ever been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer?" Say: "Miracles are in the power of God alone; 49 and as for me - 1 am but a plain warner.
39:51
Why - is it not enough for them that We have bestowed this divine writ on thee from on high, to be conveyed [by thee] to them? 50 For, verily, in it is [manifested Our] grace, and a reminder to people who will believe.