Illusions of Life & Reality
3. Sura al-Imran
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَانقَلَبُواْ
بِنِعْمَةٍ
مِّنَ
اللّهِ
وَفَضْلٍ
...
3: 174. And they returned with Grace and Bounty from Allah:
... لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُواْ رِضْوَانَ اللّهِ ...
no harm ever touched them; for they followed the good pleasure of Allah:
...وَاللّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ ﴿١٧٤﴾
and Allah is the Lord of bounties unbounded.
إِنَّ
الَّذِينَ
اشْتَرَوُاْ
الْكُفْرَ
بِالإِيمَانِ
لَن
يَضُرُّواْ
اللّهَ
شَيْئًا
...
3: 177. Those who purchase unbelief at the price of faith, not the least harm will they do to Allah,
... وَلهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿١٧٧﴾
but they will have a grievous punishment.
مَّا
كَانَ
اللّهُ
لِيَذَرَ
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
عَلَى
مَآ
أَنتُمْ
عَلَيْهِ
حَتَّىَ
يَمِيزَ
الْخَبِيثَ
مِنَ
الطَّيِّبِ...
3: 179. Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good.
C481. The testing of good men by calamities and evil men by leaving them in the enjoyment of good things is part of the trials of Allah, in which some freedom of choice is left to man.
The psychological and subjective test is unfailing, and the separation is effected partly by the operation of the human wills, to which some freedom is allowed. But it must be effected, if only in the interests of the good.
...وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ ...
Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen.
C482. Man in his weak state would be most miserable if he could see the secrets of the Future or the secrets of the Unseen. But things are revealed to him from time to time as may be expedient for him, by Messengers chosen for the purpose.
Our duty is to hold fast by faith and lead a good life.
... وَلَكِنَّ اللّهَ يَجْتَبِي مِن رُّسُلِهِ مَن يَشَاء...
But He chooses of His Messengers (for the purpose) whom He pleases.
...فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ...
So believe in Allah and His Messengers:
...وَإِن تُؤْمِنُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَلَكُمْ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿١٧٩﴾
and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure.
Asad’s Version:
3:174 ..and they should not think - they who are bent on denying the truth - that Our giving them rein is good for them: We give them rein only to let them grow in sinfulness; and shameful suffering awaits them.
3: 177 Verily, they who have bought a denial of the truth at the price of faith……..
3:179 It is nit God's will………………to give you insight into that which is beyond the reach of human perception:………
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6. Sura al-Anam
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَقَدْ
أَرْسَلنَآ
إِلَى
أُمَمٍ
مِّن
قَبْلِكَ
...
6: 42. Before thee We sent (Messengers) to many nations
...فَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِالْبَأْسَاء وَالضَّرَّاء لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَضَرَّعُونَ ﴿٤٢﴾
and We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might learn humility.
فَلَوْلا
إِذْ
جَاءهُمْ
بَأْسُنَا
تَضَرَّعُواْ...
6: 43. When the suffering reached them from Us, why then did they not learn humility?
C861. Sorrow and suffering may (if we take them rightly) turn out to be the best gifts of Allah to us. According to the Psalms (94:12), "Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord!"
Through suffering we learn humility, the antidote to many vices and the fountain of many virtues. But if we take them the wrong way, we grumble and complain: we become faint-hearted; and Satan gets his opportunity to exploit us by putting forward the alluring pleasures of his Vanity Fair.
...وَلَـكِن قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٤٣﴾
On the contrary their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them.
فَلَمَّا
نَسُواْ
مَا
ذُكِّرُواْ
بِهِ
فَتَحْنَا
عَلَيْهِمْ
أَبْوَابَ
كُلِّ
شَيْءٍ...
6: 44. But when they forget the warning they had received, We opened to them the gates of all (good) things,
C862. Learning the inner truth of ourselves and the world presupposes a certain advanced stage of sensitiveness and spiritual development. There is a shallower stage, at which prosperity and the good things of life may teach us sympathy and goodness and cheerfulness like that of Mr. Cheeribyles in Dickens. In such cases the Message takes root. But there is another type of character which is puffed up in prosperity.
For them prosperity is a trial or even a punishment from the higher point of view. They go deeper and deeper into sin, until they are pulled up of a sudden, and then instead of being contrite they merely become desperate.
...حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُواْ بِمَا أُوتُواْ أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ ﴿٤٤﴾
until, in the midst of their enjoyment of Our gifts, on a sudden, We called them to account, when lo! they were plunged in despair!
فَقُطِعَ
دَابِرُ
الْقَوْمِ
الَّذِينَ
ظَلَمُواْ...
6: 45. Of the wrongdoers the last remnant was cut off.
...وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٤٥﴾
Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds.
C863. Allah's punishment of wrong-doers is a measure of justice, to protect the true and righteous from their depredations and maintain His righteous decrees. It is an aspect of His character which is emphasised by the epithet "Cherisher of the Worlds".
Asad’s Version:
6: 42 And, indeed We sent Our messages unto people before thy time, and visited them with misfortune and hardship so that they might humble themselves:
6: 43 yet when the misfortune decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves, but rather grew hard, for Satan had made all their doings seem goodly to them.
6: 44 Then, when they had forgotten all that they had been told to take to heart, We threw open to t hem the gates of all [good] things, until –even as they were rejoicing in what they been granted – We suddenly took them to task: and lo! They were broken in spirit;
6: 45 and [in the end] the last remnant of those folk who had been bent on evil doing was wiped out. For all praise is due to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds.