3. [al-I’Imran, Medina 89 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَفَغَيْرَ
دِينِ اللّهِ
يَبْغُونَ...
3: 83. Do they seek for other than the Religion of Allah?
...وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا ...
While all creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed to His Will (accepted Islam),
C417. Allah's Truth is manifest, and all that is good and true and sane and normal accepts it with joy.
But even where there is "disease in the heart" (2:10), or judgment is obscured by perversity, every creature must eventually see and acknowledge Allah and His power (2:167).
Cf. R. Bridges: "Testament of Beauty": iv. 1419-22:-
"For God's love is unescapable as nature's environment, which if a man ignore or think to thrust it off, he is the ill-natured fool that runneth blindly on death."
All Nature adores Allah, and Islam asks for nothing peculiar or sectarian; it but asks that we follow our nature and make our will conformable to Allah's Will as seen in Nature, history, and revelation.
Its message is universal.
... وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٨٣﴾
and to Him shall they all be brought back.
3: 83 Asad Do they seek, perchance, a faith other than in God (note 66), although it is unto Him that whatever is in the heavens and on earth surrenders itself, willingly or unwillingly, since unto Him all must return.
Pickthall Seek they other than the religion of Allah, when unto Him submitteth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly, or unwillingly, and unto Him they will be returned.
Yuksel Is it other than God's system that they desire, when those in the heavens and the earth have peacefully surrendered to Him voluntarily or by force? To Him they will be returned.
Transliteration Afagaira dinilla_hi yabgu_na wa lahu_ aslama man fis sama_wa_ti wal ardi tau'aw wa karhaw wa ilaihi yurja'u_n(a).
[ Ali’s note -417 Allah's Truth is manifest, and all that is good and true and sane and normal accepts it with joy. But even where there is "disease in the heart" (Q. ii. 10), or judgment is obscured by perversity, every creature must eventually see and acknowledge Allah and His power (ii. 167). Cf. R. Bridges: "Testament of Beauty": iv. 1419-22:-"For God's love is unescapable as nature's environment, which if a man ignore or think to thrust it off, he is the ill-natured fool that runneth blindly on death." All Nature adores Allah, and Islam asks for nothing peculiar or sectarian; it but asks that we follow our nature and make our will conformable to Allah's Will as seen in Nature, history, and revelation. Its message is universal. (3.83) ]
[ Asad note 67: …see 13:15 and the corresponding notes.]
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7. [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّ
رَبَّكُمُ
اللّهُ
الَّذِي
خَلَقَ
السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضَ
فِي
سِتَّةِ
أَيَّامٍ
...
7: 54. Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days,
C1031. A sublime verse, comparable to the Throne Verse 2:255.
The Creation in six Days is of course metaphorical. In 45:14, "the Days of Allah" refer not so much to time as to the growth in us of a spiritual sense, a sense of sin and a sense of Allah's Mercy.
In 22:47, we are told that a Day in the sight of Allah is like a thousand years of our reckoning, and in 70:4, the comparison is with 50,000 of our years.
In the history of our material earth, we may reckon six great epochs of evolution.
The significance of the figure six will be discussed in connection with 41:9:12, where the ,matter is referred to in more detail.
... ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ...
and is firmly established on the throne (of authority):
C1032. Here, we are told of the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days. But lest we should be obsessed with the Jewish idea that Allah rested on the seventh day, we are told that the Creation was but a prelude to Allah's work: for His authority is exercised constantly by the laws which He establishes and enforces in all parts of His Creation.
The beautiful imagery of night and day seeking out each other in rapid succession is still further enforced in the Arabic by the double accusative of the verb yugshi, showing the mutual interactions of the day and the night, each covering the other in turn. The heavenly bodies show an order which is evidence of His constant care and government.
Not only that, but it is only He Who creates, maintains, and governs, and no one else. (R).
...يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا...
He draweth the night as a veil O'er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession:
...وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ...
He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under His command.
...أَلاَ لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالأَمْرُ تَبَارَكَ اللّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٥٤﴾
Is it not His to create and to govern?
Blessed be Allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds!
Other Versions:
7: 54
Asad Verily, your Sustainer is God, who has created the heavens and earth in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness [note 43]. He covers the day with the night in swift pursuit, with the sun and the moon and the stars subservient to His command: oh, verily, His is all creation and all command. Hallowed is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!
Pickthall Lo! your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then mounted He the Throne. He cover the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it, and hath made the sun and the moon and the stars subservient by His command. His verily is all creation and commandment Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
Transliteration Inna rabbakumul lazi khalaqas sama_wa_ti wal arda fi sittati ayya_min summastawa_ 'alal 'arsy(i), yugsyil lailan naha_ra yatlubuhu_ hasisa_(w), wasy syamsa wal qamara wan nuju_ma musakhkhara_tim bi amrih(i), ala_ lahul khalqu wal amr(u), taba_rakalla_hu rabbul 'a_lamin(a).
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13. Surah Ar Ra'd
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلِلّهِ
يَسْجُدُ مَن
فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضِ ...
13: 15. Whatever beings there are in the heavens and the earth do prostrate themselves to Allah (acknowledging subjection)
C1824. Notice that the original of what I have translated "whatever being" is the personal pronoun man, not ma.
This then refers to beings with a personality, e.g., angels, spirits, human beings, and possibly other things of objective (not necessarily material) existence, as contrasted with their Shadows or Simulacra or Appearances, or Phantasms, mentioned at the end of the verse.
Both these Beings and their Shadows are subject to the Will of Allah.
See notes 1825 and 1827.
C1825. "Prostrate themselves": the posture means that they recognise their subjection to Allah's Will and Law, whether they wish it or not.
... طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا...
-- with good will or in spite of themselves:
C1826. "In spite of themselves": Satan and Evil.
They would like to get away from the control of the All-good Allah, but they cannot, and they have to acknowledge His supremacy and lordship over them.
...وَظِلالُهُم بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ ﴿١٥﴾
so do their shadows in the mornings and evenings.
C1827. Even the Shadows -creations of the Imagination, or projections from other things and dependent on the other things for their existence, as shadows are to substance- even such shadows are subject to Allah's Laws and Will, and cannot arise or have any effect on our minds except by His permission.
The Shadows are longest and therefore most prominent when the sun is level, and tend to disappear as the sun approaches the zenith. But even when they are longest and most prominent, they are still subject to Allah's Will and Law. (R).
Other Versions:
13: 15
Asad willingly or unwillingly, all that are in the heavens and on earth, as do their shadows in the mornings and the evenings.
Pickthall And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours.
Transliteration Wa lilla_hi yasjudu man fis sama_wa_ti wal ardi tau'aw wa karhaw wa zila_luhum bil guduwwi wala a_sa_l(i).
[asad note 33: The expression “yasjud” [prostrates himself or prostrate themselves] is a metonym for the complete submission to His will (Zamakhshari), that is, to the natural laws decreed by Him with regard to everything that exists.
Note 34: ……….the shadow….depend on the position of the sun in relation to the earth; and since the earth’s rotation around the sun is – as everything else in the universe-an outcome of god’s creative will,…..] ]
[Ali’s notes:]
1824 Notice that the original of what I have translated "whatever being" is the personal pronoun man, not ma. This then refers to beings with a personality, e.g., angels, spirits, human beings, and possibly other things of objective (not necessarily material) existence, as contrasted with their Shadows or Simulacra or Appearances, or Phantasms, mentioned at the end of the verse. Both these Beings and their Shadows are subject to the Will of Allah. See notes 1825 and 1827. (13.15)
1825 "Prostrate themselves": the posture means that they recognise their subjection to Allah's Will and Law, whether they wish it or not. (13.15)
1826 "In spite of themselves": Satan and Evil. They would like to get away from the control of the All-good Allah, but they cannot, and they have to acknowledge His supremacy and lordship over them. (13.15)
1827 Even the Shadows-creations of the Imagination, or projections from other things and dependent on the other things for their existence, as shadows are to substance- even such shadows are subject to Allah's Laws and Will, and cannot arise or have any effect on our minds except by His permission. The Shadows are longest and therefore most prominent when the sun is level, and tend to disappear as the sun approaches the zenith. But even when they are longest and most prominent, they are still subject to Allah's Will and Law. (13.15)
1828 The meaning of "Rabb" is explained in n. 20, to i. 2. (13.16) ]
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16. Sura al-Nahl
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْاْ
إِلَى مَا خَلَقَ
اللّهُ مِن
شَيْءٍ...
16: 48. Do they not look at Allah's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things --
C2074. 1 take "things" here to be inanimate things, for the next verse speaks of living, "moving creatures"and angels.
By a metaphor even such inanimate things are spoken of as recognising Allah and humbly worshipping Him. Even their shadows turn round from right and left according to the light from above, and they humbly prostrate themselves on the ground to celebrate the praises of Allah.
The "shadow" suggest how all things in this life are mere shadows of the true Reality in heaven, and they should turn and move in accordance with the divine light, as the shadows of trees and buildings move in one direction or another, and lengthen or shorten according to the light from heaven.
... يَتَفَيَّأُ ظِلاَلُهُ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَالْشَّمَآئِلِ سُجَّدًا لِلّهِ...
how their (very) shadows turn round, from the right and the left, prostrating themselves to Allah,
The "shadow" suggest how all things in this life are mere shadows of the true Reality in heaven, and they should turn and move in accordance with the divine light, as the shadows of trees and buildings move in one direction or another, and lengthen or shorten according to the light from heaven.
... وَهُمْ دَاخِرُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾
and that in the humblest manner?
وَلِلّهِ
يَسْجُدُ مَا
فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ
مِن دَآبَّةٍ
وَالْمَلآئِكَةُ...
16: 49. And to Allah doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and on earth, whether moving (living) creatures or the angels:
C2075. Moving creatures, i.e., living creatures,
"All that is in the heavens or earth," includes every created thing. And created things are mentioned in three classes:
1. inanimate things,
2. ordinary living things, and
3. angels.
Even the highest angels are not arrogant; they bow down and serve their Lord, and so does all Creation.
... وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ ﴿٤٩﴾
for none are arrogant (before their Lord).
يَخَافُونَ
رَبَّهُم مِّن
فَوْقِهِمْ
وَيَفْعَلُونَ
مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ ﴿٥٠﴾
16: 50. They all revere their Lord, high above them,
and they do all that they are commanded.
C2076. Allah is so high above the highest of His creatures, that they all look up to him in awe and reverence. And they joyfully do their duty in serving Him.
This is the meaning of the "fear of the Lord."
Pickthall’s Version:
16: 48
Pickthall Have they not observed all thing that Allah hath created, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto Allah, and they are lowly?
Transliteration Awalam yarau ila_ ma_ khalaqalla_hu min syai'iy yatafayya'u zila_luhu_ 'anil yamini wasy syama_'ili sujjadal lilla_hi wa hum da_khiru_n(a).
16: 49
Pickthall And unto Allah maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels (also), and they are not proud.
Transliteration Wa lilla_hi yasjudu ma_ fis sama_wa_ti wa ma_ fil ardi min da_bbatiw wal mala_'ikatu wa hum la_ yastakbiru_n(a).
16: 50
Pickthall They fear their Lord above them, and do what they are bidden.
Transliteration Yakha_fu_na rabbahum min fauqihim wa yaf'alu_na ma_ yu'maru_n(a).