7. [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَقَدْ
خَلَقْنَاكُمْ
ثُمَّ
صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ
...
7: 11. It is We who created you and gave you shape;
C996. Shape or form must be interpreted not only to refer to the physical form, which changes day by day, but also the various forms or shapes which our ideal and spiritual existence may take from time to time according to our inner experience; Cf. 82:8.
It was after Adam (as standing for all mankind) had been so taught that the angels were asked to prostrate to him, for, by Allah's grace, his status had actually been raised higher.
Note the transition from "you" (plural) in the first clause to "Adam" in the second clause: Adam and mankind are synonymous: the plural is reverted to in 7:14, 16-18. (R).
... ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلآئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لآدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ...
then We bade the angels bow down to Adam, and they bowed down; not so Iblis;
...لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ السَّاجِدِينَ ﴿١١﴾
he refused to be of those who bow down.
C997. Iblis not only refused to bow down: he refused to be of those who prostrated.
In other words he arrogantly despised the angels who prostrated as well as man to whom they prostrated and he was in rebellion against Allah for not obeying His order.
Arrogance, jealousy, and rebellion were his triple crime.
قَالَ
مَا
مَنَعَكَ
أَلاَّ
تَسْجُدَ
إِذْ
أَمَرْتُكَ...
7: 12. (Allah) said: "What prevented thee from bowing down when I commanded thee?"
...قَالَ أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ...
He said:
"I am better than he:
...خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ ﴿١٢﴾
thou didst create me from fire and him from clay."
C998. Notice the subtle wiles of Iblis: his egotism in putting himself above man, and his falsehood in ignoring the fact that Allah had not merely made man's body from clay, but had given him spiritual form, - in other words, had taught him the nature of things and raised him above the angels.
قَالَ
فَاهْبِطْ
مِنْهَا
فَمَا
يَكُونُ
لَكَ
أَن
تَتَكَبَّرَ
فِيهَا
...
7: 13. (Allah) said:
"Get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here:
C999. "This": the situation as it was then- a rebellious creature impertinent to His Creator. At every step Iblis falls lower;
- arrogance,
- jealousy,
- disobedience,
- egotism and
- untruth.
...فَاخْرُجْ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ ﴿١٣﴾
get out, for thou art of the meanest (of creatures)."
قَالَ
فَأَنظِرْنِي
إِلَى
يَوْمِ
يُبْعَثُونَ
﴿١٤﴾
7: 14. He said: "Give me respite till the day they are raised up."
قَالَ
إِنَّكَ
مِنَ
المُنظَرِينَ
﴿١٥﴾
7: 15. (Allah) said: "Be thou among those who have respite."
C1000. Are there others under respite?
Yes, Iblis has a large army of wicked seducers, and those men who are their dupes. For though degradation takes effect at once, its appearance may be long delayed.
قَالَ
فَبِمَا
أَغْوَيْتَنِي
لأَقْعُدَنَّ
لَهُمْ
صِرَاطَكَ
الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
﴿١٦﴾
7: 16. He said:
"Because Thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on Thy straight way.
C1001. Another instance of Iblis's subtlety and falsehood.
He waits till he gets the respite. Then he breaks out into a lie and impertinent defiance.
- The lie is in suggesting that Allah had thrown him out of the Way, in other words misled him: whereas his own conduct was responsible for his degradation.
- The defiance is in his setting snares on the Straight Way to which Allah directs men.
Iblis now falls a step lower than the five steps mentioned in n. 999. His sixth step is defiance.
ثُمَّ
لآتِيَنَّهُم
مِّن
بَيْنِ
أَيْدِيهِمْ
وَمِنْ
خَلْفِهِمْ
وَعَنْ
أَيْمَانِهِمْ
وَعَن
شَمَآئِلِهِمْ
...
7: 17. "Then will I assault them from before them and behind them from their right and their left:
...وَلاَ تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ ﴿١٧﴾
nor wilt Thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for Thy mercies).
C1002. The assault of evil is from all sides. It takes advantage of every weak point, and sometimes even our good and generous sympathies are used to decoy us into the snares of evil.
Man has every reason to be grateful to Allah for all His loving care and yet man in his folly forgets his gratitude and does the very opposite of what he should do.
قَالَ
اخْرُجْ
مِنْهَا
مَذْؤُومًا
مَّدْحُورًا...
7: 18. (Allah) said:
"Get out from this, disgraced and expelled.
...لَّمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ لأَمْلأنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ﴿١٨﴾
If any of them follow thee, hell will I fill with you all."
7: 11
Asad Yea, indeed, We have created you, and then formed you [note 9]; and then We said unto the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before adam!” –whereupon they [all prostrated themselves, save Iblis: he was not among those who prostrated themselves [note 10].
Pickthall And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration.
Transliteration Wa laqad khalaqna_kum summa sawwarna_kum summa qulna_ lil mala_'ikatisjudu_ li a_dama fasajadu_ illa_ iblis(a), lam yakum minas sa_jidin(a).
[[ Ruby’s note – There is much deeper meaning in this statement than is being explained and elaborated so far. I think what it means it that God has created the essence of a human being by creating the soul, the genetic formula that would help shape the human first and then the shape was given. The nature or the spirit was created first before the shape of a human being.]]
[[ Asad’s note 9 – The sequence of these two statements – “We have created you”……and then formed you” …is meant to bring about the fact of man’s gradual development, in the individual sense, from the embryonic stage to full-fledged existence, as well as of the evolution of the human race as such.
Note 10 – As regards God’s allegorical command to the angels to “prostrate themselves” before Adam, see 2:30-34, and the corresponding notes. The reference to all mankind which precedes the story of Adam in this surah makes it clear that his name symbolizes, in this context, the whole human race.]
[[ Ali’s notes - 996 It was after Adam (as standing for all mankind) had been so taught that the angels were asked to prostrate to him, for, by Allah's grace, his status had actually been raised higher. Note the transition from "you" (plural) in the first clause to "Adam" in the second clause: Adam and mankind are synonymous: the plural is reverted to in vii. 14, 16-18. (7.11)
997 Iblis not only refused to bow down: he refused to be of those who prostrated. In other words he arrogantly despised the angels who prostrated as well as man to whom they prostrated and he was in rebellion against Allah for not obeying His order. Arrogance, jealousy, and rebellion were his triple crime. (7.11)
7: 12
Asad [And God] said: “What has kept you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you?”
Answered [Iblis] : “I am better than he: You have created me out of fire, whereas him You have created out of clay.”
Pickthall He said: What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee? (Iblis) said: I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou didst create of mud.
Transliteration Qa_la ma_ mana'aka alla_ tasjuda iz amartuk(a), qa_la ana khairum minh(u), khalaqtani min na_riw wa khalaqtahu_ min tin(in).
7: 13
Asad [God] said: “Down with you, then, from this [state] – for it is not meet for you
to show arrogance here! Go forth, then: verily, among the humiliated shall you be!”
Pickthall He said: Then go down hence! It is not for thee to show pride here, so go forth! Lo! thou art of those degraded.
Transliteration Qa_la fahbit minha_ fama_ yaku_nu laka an tatakabbara fiha_ fakhruj innaka minas sa_girin(a).
7: 14
Asad Said [Iblis] : “Grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead.”
Pickthall He said: Reprieve me till the day when they are raised (from the dead).
Transliteration Qa_la anzirni ila_ yaumi yub'asu_n(a).
7: 15
Asad [And God] replied: “Verily, you shall be among those who are granted a respite.”
Pickthall He said: Lo! thou art of those reprieved.
Transliteration Qa_la innaka minal munzarin(a).
7: 16
Asad [Whereupon Iblis ] said: ‘Now that You have thwarted me, I shall most certainly lie in ambush for them all along your Straight way, and shall most certainly fall upon the openly as well as in a manner beyond their ken, and from their right and from their left:
and most of them You will find ungrateful.”
Pickthall He said : Now, because Thou hast sent me astray, verily I shall lurk in ambush for them on Thy Right Path.
Transliteration Qa_la fabima_ agwaitani la aq'udanna lahum sira_takal mustaqim(a).
7: 17
Pickthall Then I shall come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right bands and from their left hands, and Thou wilt not find most of them beholden (unto Thee).
Transliteration Summa la a_tiyannahum mim baini aidihim wa min khalfihim wa 'an aima_nihim wa 'an syama_'ilihim, wa la_ tajidu aksarahum sya_kirin(a).
7: 18
Asad [And God] said: “ God forth from here, disgraced and disowned ! [And ] as for such of them as follow you – I will most certainly fill hell with you all!
Pickthall He said: Go forth from hence, degraded, banished. As for such of them as follow thee, surely I will fill hell with all of you.
Transliteration Qa_lakhruj minha_ maz'u_mam madhu_ra_(n), laman tabi'aka minhum la'amla'anna jahannama minkum ajma'in(a).
===================================
20. [Taha, Mecca 45]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
20: 15. "Verily the Hour is coming --
C2545. The first need is to mend our lives and worship and serve Allah, as in the last verse.
The next is to realise the meaning of the Hereafter, when every soul will get the meed of its conduct in this life.
...أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا لِتُجْزَى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا تَسْعَى ﴿١٥﴾
My design is to keep it hidden -- for every soul to receive its reward by the measure of its endeavour.
C2546. Ukhfi may mean either "keep it hidden", or "make it manifest",
and the Commentators have taken, some one meaning and some the other.
- If the first is taken, it means that the exact hour or day when the Judgment comes is hidden from man;
- if the second, it means that the fact of the Judgment to come is made known, that man may remember and take warning.
I think that both meanings are implied. (R).
فَلاَ يَصُدَّنَّكَ
عَنْهَا مَنْ
لاَ يُؤْمِنُ
بِهَا وَاتَّبَعَ
هَوَاهُ...
20: 16. "Therefore let not such as believe not therein but follow their own lusts,
...فَتَرْدَى ﴿١٦﴾
divert thee therefrom, lest thou perish!"
C2547. Moses had yet to meet the formidable opposition of the arrogant, Pharaoh and his proud Egyptians, and latter, the rebellion of his own people. In receiving his commission, he is warned of both dangers. This relates to man's own soul:
when once the light reaches him, let him hold fast to it lest he perish.
He will be beset with dangers of all kinds around him, the worst will be the danger of unbelieving people who seem to thrive on their selfishness and in following their own vain desires! (R).
وَمَا
تِلْكَ بِيَمِينِكَ
يَا مُوسَى ﴿١٧﴾
20: 17. "And what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?"
20: 18. He said,
"It is my rod: on it I lean;
C2548. Now comes the miracle of the rod.
First of all, the attention of Moses himself is drawn to it, and he thinks of the ordinary uses to which he puts it in his daily life. (R).
...أَتَوَكَّأُ عَلَيْهَا وَأَهُشُّ بِهَا عَلَى غَنَمِي...
with it I beat down fodder for my flocks;
...وَلِيَ فِيهَا مَآرِبُ أُخْرَى ﴿١٨﴾
and in it I find other uses."
قَالَ
أَلْقِهَا يَا
مُوسَى ﴿١٩﴾
20: 19. (Allah) said, "Throw it, O Moses!"
20: 20. He threw it,
...فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَى ﴿٢٠﴾
and behold! it was a snake, active in motion.
C2549. Cf. 7:107, where a different word (thu'ban) is used for "snake", and the qualifying adjective is "plain (for all to see)".
The scene there is before Pharaoh and his magicians and people: the object is to show the hollowness of their magic by a miracle: the rod appears before them as a long and creeping writhing serpent.
Here there is a symbol to present Allah's power to Moses' mind and understanding: the rod becomes a Hayy (a live snake), and its "live motion is what is most to be impressed on the mind of Moses, for there were no other spectators. So the highest spiritual mysteries can be grasped, with Allah's gift of insight, from the most ordinary things of daily use. Once they are grasped, there is no question of fear. They really are the virtues of this life lifted up to the glorious spiritual plane.
We shall return it at once to its former condition"...
...سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَى ﴿٢١﴾
We shall return it at once to its former condition"...
وَاضْمُمْ
يَدَكَ إِلَى
جَنَاحِكَ
تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَاء
مِنْ غَيْرِ
سُوءٍ...
20: 22. "Now draw thy hand close to thy side:
it shall come forth white (and shining), without harm (or stain) --
C2550. The second of the greater Miracles shown to Moses was the "White (shining) Hand".
Ordinarily, when the skin becomes white, it is a sign of disease, leprosy or something loathsome. Here there was no question of disease: on the contrary, the hand was glorified, and it shone as with a divine light.
Such a miracle was beyond Egyptian or human magic. (R).
...آيَةً أُخْرَى ﴿٢٢﴾
as another Sign --
لِنُرِيَكَ
مِنْ آيَاتِنَا
الْكُبْرَى ﴿٢٣﴾
20: 23. "In order that We may show thee (two) of Our Greater Signs.
اذْهَبْ
إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ
إِنَّهُ طَغَى ﴿٢٤﴾
20: 24. "Go thou to Pharaoh, for he had indeed transgressed all bounds."
C2551. Moses, having been spiritually prepared now gets his definite commission to go to Pharaoh and point out the error of his ways.
So inordinate was Pharaoh's vanity that he had it in his mind to say: "I am your Lord Most High!" (79:24).
Asad’s Version:
20:115
AND, INDEED, long ago did We impose Our commandment on Adam; 102 but he forgot it, and We found no firmness of purpose in him.
20:116
For [thus it was:] when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" - they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused [to do it]; 103
(20:117) and thereupon We said: "O Adam! Verily, this is a foe unto thee and thy wife: so let him not drive the two of you out of this garden and render thee unhappy. 104
(20:118) Behold, it is provided for thee that thou shalt not hunger here or feel naked, 105
(20:119) and that thou shalt not thirst here or suffer from the heat of the sun."
[[Asad’s note -102 The relevant divine commandment - or, rather, warning - is spelled out in verse 117. The present passage connects with the statement in verse 99, "Thus do We relate unto thee some of the stories of what happened in the past", and is meant to show that negligence of spiritual truths is one of the recurrent characteristics of the human race (Razi), which is symbolized here - as in many other
places in the Qur'an - by Adam. ]]
[[Ali’s note - 2640 The spiritual fall of two individual souls, Pharaoh and the Samiri, having been referred to, the one through overweening arrogance, and the other through a spirit of mischief and false harking back to the past, our attention is now called to the prototype of Evil (satan) who tempted Adam, the original Man, and to the fact that though man was clearly warned that satan is his enemy and will only effect his ruin, he showed so little firmness that he succumbed to it at once at the first opportunity. (20.115) ]]
100 Lit., "be not hasty with the Qur'an" (see next note).
101 Although it is very probable that - as most of the classical commentators point out - this exhortation was in the first instance addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, there is no doubt that it applies to
every person, at all times, who reads the Qur'an. The idea underlying the above verse may be summed up thus: Since the Qur'an is the Word of God, all its component parts - phrases, sentences, verses
and surahs - form one integral, coordinated whole (cf the last sentence of 25 :32 and the corresponding note 27). Hence, if one is really intent on understanding the Qur'anic message, one must beware of
a "hasty approach" - that is to say, of drawing hasty conclusions from isolated verses or sentences taken out of their context - but should, rather, allow the whole of the Qur'an to be revealed to
one's mind before attempting to interpret single aspects of its message. (See also 75:16-19 and
the corresponding notes.)
102 The relevant divine commandment - or, rather, warning - is spelled out in verse 117. The present passage connects with the statement in verse 99, "Thus do We relate unto thee some of the stories of what happened in the past", and is meant to show that negligence of spiritual truths is one of the recurrent characteristics of the human race (Razi), which is symbolized here - as in many other places in the Qur'an - by Adam.
103 See 2:30-34 and the corresponding notes, especially 23, 25 and 26, as well as note 31 on 15:41. Since - as I have shown in those notes - the faculty of conceptual thinking is man's outstanding endowment, his "forgetting" God's commandment - resulting from a lack of all "firmness of purpose"
in the domain of ethics - is an evidence of the moral weakness characteristic of the human race (cf. 4:28 - "man has been created weak"): and this, in its turn, explains maris dependence on
unceasing divine guidance, as pointed out in verse 113 above.
1 04 Lit. , " so that thou wilt become unhappy" . Regarding the significance of "the garden" spoken of here, see surah 2, note 27.
105 Lit., "be naked": but in view of the statement inverse 121 (as well as in 7:22) to the effect that only after their fall from grace did Adam and Eve become "conscious of their nakedness", it is but logical to assume that the words "that thou shalt not... be naked" have a spiritual significance, implying that man, in his original state of innocence, would not feel naked despite all absence of clothing. (For the deeper implications of this allegory, see note 14 on 7:20.)
20:120
But Satan whispered unto him, saying: "O Adam! Shall I lead thee to the tree of life eternal;
and [thus] to a kingdom that will never decay?" 106
20:121
And so the two ate [of the fruit] thereof: and thereupon they became conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the garden. And [thus] did Adam disobey his Sustainer, and thus did he fall into grievous error. 107
20:122
Thereafter, [however,) his Sustainer elected him [for His grace], and accepted his repentance,and bestowed His guidance upon him,
(20:123) saying: "Down with you all 108 from this [state of innocence, and be henceforth] enemies unto one another! None the less, there shall most certainly come unto you guidance from Me: and he who follows My guidance will not go astray, and neither will he be unhappy.
(20:124) But as for him who shall turn away from remembering Me - his shall be a life of narrow scope; 109 and on the Day of Resurrection We shall raise him up blind. "
106 This symbolic tree is designated in the Bible as "the tree of life" and "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis ii, 9), while in the above Qur'anic account Satan speaks of it as "the tree of life eternal (al-khuld)". Seeing that Adam and Eve did not achieve immortality despite their tasting the forbidden fruit, it is obvious that Satan's suggestion was, as it always is, deceptive. On the other hand, the Qur'an tells us nothing about the real nature of that "tree" beyond pointing out that it was Satan who described it - falsely - as "the tree of immortality" : and so we may assume that the forbidden tree is simply an allegory of the limits which the Creator has set to man's desires and actions: limits beyond which he may not go without offending against his own, God-willed nature. Man's desire for immortality on earth implies a wishful denial of death and resurrection, and thus of the ultimate reality of what the Qur'an describes as "the hereafter" or "the life to come" (al-akhirah). This desire is intimately connected with Satan's insinuation that it is within man's reach to become the master of "a kingdom that will never decay" : in other words, to become "free" of all limitations and thus, in the last resort, of the very concept of God - the only concept which endows human life with real meaning and purpose.
107 Regarding the symbolism of Adam and Eve's becoming "conscious of their nakedness", see note 105 above as well as the reference, in 7:26-27, to "the garment of God-consciousness", the loss of whichmade man's ancestors "aware of their nakedness", i.e., of their utter helplessness and, hence, their dependence on God.
108 See surah 7, note 16.
109 I.e., sterile and spiritually narrow, without any real meaning or purpose: and this, as is indicated in the subsequent clause, will be a source of their suffering in the hereafter.