Amman jaAAala al-arda qararan wajaAAala khilalaha anharan wajaAAala laha rawasiya wajaAAala bayna albahrayni hajizan a-ilahun maAAa Allahi bal aktharuhum la yaAAlamoona
27. An-Naml (The Ants)
Mecca Period 48
أَمَّن جَعَلَ الْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَارًا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا ۗ أَإِلَٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ ۚ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Amman jaAAala al-arda qararan wajaAAala khilalaha anharan wajaAAala laha rawasiya wajaAAala bayna albahrayni hajizan a-ilahun maAAa Allahi bal aktharuhum la yaAAlamoona |
Yuksel
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The One who made the Earth a habitat, and He made in it rivers and He made for it stabilizers, and He made between the two seas a barrier. Is there a god with God No. But most of them do not know. |
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَمَّن
جَعَلَ
الْأَرْضَ
قَرَارًا...
27: 61. Or, who has made the earth firm to live in;
...وَجَعَلَ خِلَالَهَا أَنْهَارًا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَاسِيَ ...
made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable;
C3295. Cf. 16:15 and notes 2038 and 2039.
The terra firma, the flowing water, and the cycle of water circulation-sea, vapour, clouds, rain, rivers, and sea again,-all one and yet all distinct, with a sort of wonderful barrier between salt water and fresh water: can man see all this and yet be ignorant of Allah?
... وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا...
and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water?
C3296. Cf. 25:53 and n. 3111 and n. 3112.
...أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ...
(Can there be another) god besides Allah?
...بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٦١﴾
Nay, most of them know not.
أَمَّن
يُجِيبُ
الْمُضْطَرَّ
إِذَا دَعَاهُ...
27: 62. Or, who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him,
...وَيَكْشِفُ السُّوءَ ...
and who relieves its suffering,
C3297. Besides the evidence of external nature, there is the still more intimate evidence in man's inner conscience and heart.
Allah listens to man's cry of agony and relieves his suffering, and He has given him superiority over other creation on this earth, through his mind and soul. Is man then going to run after inferior beings and forget Allah?
... وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَاء الْأَرْضِ...
and makes you (mankind) inheritors of the earth?
...أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ...
(Can there be another) god besides Allah?
...قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٦٢﴾
Little it is that ye heed!
أَمَّن
يَهْدِيكُمْ
فِي ظُلُمَاتِ
الْبَرِّ
وَالْبَحْرِ...
27: 63. Or, who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea,
...وَمَن يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ...
and who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy?
After external nature, our attention was drawn to our inner consciousness; after that, it is drawn here to our social and collective life, in which we use the forces of nature for international intercourse, trade, agriculture, production, and economic well-being generally.
In the next verse, we are asked to contemplate creation from its primeval stages, through its intermediate processes, to the final Destiny in a new Creation-a new heaven and a new earth.
...أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ...
(Can there be another) god besides Allah? --
...تَعَالَى اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿٦٣﴾
high is Allah above what they associate with Him!
Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning |
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Nay - who is it that has made the earth a fitting abode [for living things], and has caused running waters [to flow] in its midst, and has set upon it mountains firm, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water? Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, most of those [who think so] do not know [what they are saying]! |
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Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not! |
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Or, Who made the earth a restingplace, and made in it rivers, and raised on it mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier. Is there a god with Allah? Nay! most of them do not know! |
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Or, Who has made the earth firm to live in; made rivers in its midst; set thereon mountains immovable; and made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water? (can there be another) god besides Allah? Nay, most of them know not. |
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Who made the earth a stopping place and made rivers in the midst and made firm mountains for it and made between the two sees that which hinders? Is there a god besides God? Nay! But most of them know not! |
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Who is it that made the earth a stable place to live in? Who made rivers flow through it? Who set mountains upon it and placed a barrier between the two seas? Is there another deity besides God? Indeed, most of them have no knowledge. |
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Who set the earth up as a residence, laced it with rivers and planted headlands on it, and laid an isthmus between both seas? Is there any (other) deity alongside God? Rather most of them do not know. |
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Who was He Who set the earth at Creation in the order of a settled habitation** where you established your abode and He permeated into it rivers and placed in it stays –mountains*- in a certain setting, fixed as with an anchor, and installed a natural barrier*** between the two waters -the fresh and the salt-! Was it another Ilah with the Almighty Allah! The truth is that most of them are ignorant of the facts. |
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Asad’s Version:
27:61 Nay - who is it that has made the earth a fitting abode 55 [for living things], and has caused running waters [to flow] in its midst, and has set upon it mountains firm, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water? 54 Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, most of those [who think so] do not know
[what they are saying] !
27:62 Nay - who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth? 57
Could there be any divine power besides God? How seldom do you keep this in mind!
27:63 Nay - who is it that guides you in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea, 58 and sends forth the winds as a glad tiding of His coming grace?" Could there be any divine power besides God? Sublimely exalted is God above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
[[ Asad’s notes-
51 See note 65 on 7:82.
52 See note 66 on 7 : 83 ; also 11:81 and 66 : 1 0, and the corresponding notes.
53 Cf. 26:173 and the corresponding note 73.
54 Lit., "Is God better, or that to which they ascribe...", etc.: thus including, by implication, not only deified beings or forces of nature, but also false social and moral values to which custom and ancestral tradition have lent an almost "religious" sanction.
55 Lit., "place of rest" (qarar). But see also 77:25-26 and the corresponding note 9.
56 See 25:53 and the corresponding notes 41 and 42.
57 Cf. 2:30 and the corresponding note 22. In the present instance the accent is on God's having caused man to "inherit the earth" by endowing him with specific faculties and abilities an implicit denial of man's claim that he is independent and "master of his fate". ]]
