21. Surah Al Anbiya'

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَهَذَا ذِكْرٌ مُّبَارَكٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ...  

21:50.  And this is a blessed Message which We have sent down:

...أَفَأَنتُمْ لَهُ مُنكِرُونَ ﴿٥٠﴾

will ye then reject it?

C2711. Here is a Prophet and a Book, greater than Moses and his Book. Are you going to reject him and it? (R).

Other versions:

21:50

Wahatha thikrun mubarakun anzalnahu afaantum lahu munkiroona &#x21E8

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning Muhammad Asad   And [like those earlier revelations,] this one, too, is a blessed reminder which We have bestowed from on high: will you, then, disavow it? &#x21E8 M. M. Pickthall   This is a blessed Reminder that we have revealed: Will ye then reject it? &#x21E8 Shakir   And this is a blessed Reminder which We have revealed; will you then deny it? &#x21E8 Yusuf Ali   And this is a blessed Message which We have sent down: will ye then reject it? &#x21E8 Wahiduddin Khan   This is a blessed reminder that We have revealed to you. Will you then reject it? &#x21E8 [Al-Muntakhab]   And this -Quran- is a blessed Book We have revealed to guide into all truth; will you -infidels- reject and deny what is good and advantageous to attain and possess! &#x21E8 [Progressive Muslims]   And this is a blessed reminder which We have sent down. Will you be deniers of it &#

38. Surah Sad [88 verses]

Mecca Period 38

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

ص...

38:1. Sad:

C4146. Sad is a letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is used here as an Abbreviated Letter, for which see Appendix I (at the end of Sarah 2).

See also the second para, of n. 989 to 7:1 for this particular letter.

No dogmatism is permissible in trying to interpret Abbreviated Letters.

This Surah is concerned mainly with the stories of David and Solomon as illustrative of the relative positions of spiritual and worldly power.

Sale's note: "it may stand for Solomon": is a real howler; for in Arabic the letter Sad does not occur at all in the name of Solomon.

... وَالْقُرْآنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ ﴿١﴾

by the Qur'án, full of Admonition: (this is the Truth).

C4147. Full of admonition: the word zikr is far more comprehensive than any single word or phrase that I can think of in English: it implies

1. remembrance in a spirit of reverence;

2. recital, celebrating the praises of Allah;

3. teaching, admonition, warning;

4. Message, Revelation, as in Ah-luz-zikr, "those who possess the Message" (16:43, and n. 2069).

Devotional exercises are also called zikr, with reference to meaning (2) above.

Asad’s Version:

38:1 Sad.' CONSIDER 2 this Qur'an, endowed with all that one ought to remember! 3

38:1 [Yuksel] S90, and the Quran that contains the Reminder.*

[[ Yuksel’s note - 038:001 This letter/number plays an important role in the mathematical system of the Quran based on code 19. See 74:1-56; 1:1; 2:1; 13:38; 27:82; 38:1-8; 40:28-38; 46:10; 72:28.

038:001-15 S90. This letter/number plays an important role in the mathematical system of the Quran based on code 19. For the meaning of this letter, see 1:1; 2:1; 40:1; 13:38; 46:10; 74:1-56. Also see 6:124; 26:1-6; 40:28-38,78; 72:24-28.]]

[[Asad’s note - 2 For an explanation of this rendering of the adjurative particle wa, see first half of note 23 on 74:32.

3 Or: "endowed with eminence" (Zamakhshari), since the term dhikr (ht., "reminder" or

"remembrance") has also the connotation of "that which is remembered'" i.e., "renown", "fame" and, tropically, "eminence". As regards the rendering preferred by me, see 21:10, where the phrase fihi dhikrukum (relating, as above, to the Qur'an) has been translated as "wherein is found all that you ought to bear in mind", i.e., in order to attain to dignity and happiness.]]