3. [al-i-Imran, Medina 89 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّ
اللّهَ
لاَ
يَخْفَىَ
عَلَيْهِ
شَيْءٌ
فِي
الأَرْضِ
وَلاَ
فِي
السَّمَاء
﴿٥﴾
3: 5. From Allah, verily nothing is hidden on earth or in the heavens.
هُوَ
الَّذِي
يُصَوِّرُكُمْ
فِي
الأَرْحَامِ
كَيْفَ
يَشَاء...
3: 6. He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases.
C346. Who can penetrate the mystery of life when a new life is just being born, except Allah?
The reference to the mystery of birth prepares us for the mystery of the birth of Jesus mentioned in 3:41 and the following verses.
...لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴿٦﴾
There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Pickthall’s Version:
3: 5
Pickthall Lo! nothing in the earth or in the heavens is hidden from Allah.
Transliteration Innalla_ha la_ yakhfa_ 'alaihi syai'un fil ardi wa la_ fis sama_'(i).
3: 6
Pickthall He it is who fashioneth you in the wombs as pleaseth Him. There is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise.
Transliteration Huwal lazi yusawwirukum fil arha_mi kaifa yasya_'(u), la_ ila_ha illa_ huwal 'azizul hakim(u).
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4. [an-Nisaa, Medina 92 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ
اتَّقُواْ
رَبَّكُمُ
الَّذِي
خَلَقَكُم
مِّن
نَّفْسٍ
وَاحِدَةٍ
...
4: 1. O mankind!
reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person,
C504. Nafs may mean:
- soul;
- self;
- person, living person;
- will, good pleasure, as in 4:4 below.
... وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا ....
created, of like nature, his mate,
Minha: I follow the construction suggested by Imam Razi.
The particle min would then suggest here a species, a nature, a similarity.
The pronoun ha refers of course to Nafs. (R).
.. وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء...
and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;
... وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ ...
reverence Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights),
C505. All our mutual rights and duties are referred to Allah. We are His creatures: His Will is the standard and measure of Allah; and our duties are measured by our conformity with His Will.
"Our wills are ours, to make them Thine," says Tennyson (In Memoriam).
Among ourselves (human beings) our mutual rights and duties arise out of Allah's Law, the sense of Right that is implanted in us by Him.
... وَالأَرْحَامَ ...
and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you):
C506. Among the most wonderful mysteries of our nature is that of sex.
The unregenerate male is apt, in the pride of his physical strength, to forget the all-important part which the female plays in his very existence, and in all the social relationships that arise in our collective human lives.
The mother that bore us must ever have our reverence. The wife, through whom we enter parentage, must have our reverence.
Sex, which governs so much of our physical life, and has so much influence on our emotional and higher nature, deserves-not our fear, or our contempt, or our amused indulgence, but-our reverence in the highest sense of the term.
With this fitting introduction we enter on a discussion of women, orphans, and family relationships.
... إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا ﴿١﴾
for Allah ever watches over you.
4: 1 Asad O Mankind! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women [note 1]. and remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God ever watchful over you!
Pickthall O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim ( your rights ) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bore you ). Lo! Allah hath been a Watcher over you.
Transliteration Ya_ ayyuhan na_suttaqu_ rabbakumul lazi khalaqakum min nafsiw wa_hidatiw wa khalaqa minha_ zaujaha_ wa bassa minhuma_ rija_lan kasiraw wa nisa_'a(n), wattaqulla_hal lazi tasa_'alu_na bihi wal arha_m(a), innalla_ha ka_na'alaikum raqiba_(n).
[ Ali’s notes - 504 Nafs may mean: (1) soul; (2) self; (3) person, living person; (4) will, good pleasure, as in iv. 4 below. Minha: I follow the construction suggested by Imam Razn. The particle min would then suggest here a species, a nature, a similarity. The pronoun ha refers of course to Nafs. (4.1)
505 All our mutual rights and duties are referred to Allah. We are His creatures: His Will is the standard and measure of Allah; and our duties are measured by our conformity with His Will. "Our wills are ours, to make them Thine," says Tennyson (In Memoriam). Among ourselves (human beings) our mutual rights and duties arise out of Allah's Law, the sense of Right that is implanted in us by Him. (4.1)
506 Among the most wonderful mysteries of our nature is that of sex. The unregenerate male is apt, in the pride of his physical strength, to forget the all-important part which the female plays in his very existence, and in all the social relationships that arise in our collective human lives. The mother that bore us must ever have our reverence. The wife, through whom we enter parentage, must have our reverence. Sex, which governs so much of our physical life, and has so much influence on our emotional and higher nature, deserves-not our fear, or our contempt, or our amused indulgence, but-our reverence in the highest sense of the term. With this fitting introduction we enter on a discussion of women, orphans, and family relationships. (4.1) ]
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13. [ar-R’ad, Medina 96]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
اللّهُ يَعْلَمُ
مَا تَحْمِلُ
كُلُّ أُنثَى
وَمَا تَغِيضُ
الأَرْحَامُ
وَمَا تَزْدَادُ...
13: 8. Allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear, by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed.
C1813. The female womb is just an example, a type, of extreme secrecy. Not even the female herself knows what is in the womb,-whether it is a male young or a female young, whether it is one or more, whether it is to be born short of the standard time or to exceed the standard time.
But the most hidden and apparently unknowable things are clear to Allah's knowledge: there is no mere chance; all things are regulated by Allah in just measure and proportion.
The general proposition comes in the last sentence: "every single thing is with Him in (due) proportion."
...وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ عِندَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ ﴿٨﴾
Every single thing is before His sight, in (due) proportion.
Other Versions:
13: 8
Asad ……..for with Him everything is in accordance with its scope and purpose.
Pickthall Allah knoweth that which every female beareth and that which the wombs absorb and that which they grow. And everything with Him is measured.
Yuksel God knows what every female carries, and how short her pregnancy or how long. Everything with Him is measured.*
Transliteration Alla_hu ya'lamu ma_ tahmilu kullu unsa_ wa ma_ tagidul arha_mu wa ma_ tazda_d(u), wa kullu syai'in bi miqda_r(in).
[[ Yuksel’s note - 013:008 See 4:119. The verse does not assert that only God knows these. See 42:49; 31:34.]]
[[ Ali’s note-
1813 The female womb is just an example, a type, of extreme secrecy. Not even the female herself knows what is in the womb,-whether it is a male young or a female young, whether it is one or more, whether it is to be born short of the standard time or to exceed the standard time. But the most hidden and apparently unknowable things are clear to Allah's knowledge: there is no mere chance; all things are regulated by Allah in just measure and proportion. The general proposition comes in the last sentence: "every single thing is with Him in (due) proportion." (13.8) ]]
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16. [an-Nahl, Mecca 70]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَاللّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم
مِّن بُطُونِ
أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ
لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
شَيْئًا...
16: 78. It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing;
... وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْسَّمْعَ وَالأَبْصَارَ وَالأَفْئِدَةَ ...
and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections:
C2112. Literally, 'hearts,' which are considered the centres of the affections, and in Arabic idiom, of intelligence also.
We should therefore give thanks to Allah, not to imaginary deities or powers or forces.
... لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٧٨﴾
that ye may give thanks (to Allah).
Other Versions:
16: 78
Pickthall And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks.
Yuksel God brought you out of your mothers’ wombs while you knew nothing. He made for you the hearing and the eyesight and the heart, perhaps you would be thankful.
Transliteration Walla_hu akhrajakum mim butu_ni ummaha_tikum la_ ta'lamu_na syai'a_(w), wa ja'ala lakumus sam'a wal absa_ra wal af'idah(ta), la'allakum tasykuru_n(a).
[[ Ali’s note - 2112 Literally, 'hearts,' which are considered the centres of the affections, and in Arabic idiom, of intelligence also. We should therefore give thanks to Allah, not to imaginary deities or powers or forces. (16.78) ]]
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22. Sura al-Hajj
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ
إِن كُنتُمْ
فِي رَيْبٍ
مِّنَ الْبَعْثِ...
22: 5. O mankind!
if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection,
C2773. If they really have doubts in their minds about the life after death, they have only to turn their attention either to their own nature, or to the nature around.
How wonderful is their own physical growth, from lifeless matter, to seed, fertilised ovum, foetus, child youth, age, and death!
How can they doubt that the Author of all these wonderful stages in their life here can also give them another kind of life after the end of this life?
Or, if they look at external nature, they see the earth dead and barren and Allah's fertilising showers bring it in to life, growth and beauty in various forms.
The Creator of this great pageant of Beauty can surely create yet another and a newer world.
...فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ... ...
(consider) that We created you out of dust,
...ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ... ...
then out of sperm,
...ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍ...
then out of a leech-like clot,
...ثُمَّ مِن مُّضْغَةٍ مُّخَلَّقَةٍ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍ لِّنُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ...
then out a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (Our Power) to you;
C2774. The stages of man's physical growth from nothing till he completes the cycle of this life are described in words whose accuracy, beauty, and comprehensiveness can only be fully understood by biologists.
Parallel to the physical growth, may be understood man's inner growth, also by stages and by Allah's creative artistry.
...وَنُقِرُّ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَاء إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى...
and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term,
C2775. That is,
- a male or a female child,
- a fair or an ugly child,
- a good or a rebellious child, etc,
involving countless mysteries of genetics and heredity.
...ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوا أَشُدَّكُمْ...
then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength;
...وَمِنكُم مَّن يُتَوَفَّى...
and some of you are called to die,
...وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَا يَعْلَمَ مِن بَعْدِ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا...
and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much).
C2776. Cf. 16:70.
In that passage the mystery of our life was used to illustrate Allah abundant mercies and favours to us.
Here it is used to illustrate Allah's power in giving us a future Life of even greater promise.
...وَتَرَى الْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةً...
And (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless,
...فَإِذَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاء اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنبَتَتْ مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ ﴿٥﴾
but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).
C2777. A beautiful nature passage so pregnant in meaning that the earnest student wonders what magic and truth have been conveyed in so few words.
M. Pickthall's Egyptian colleague Prof. Ghamrawi (see M. Pickthall's note on this passage) was but expressing the feelings of every careful student of the Quran.
The "subtlety and wealth of meaning" are indeed marvellous.
