16. [an_nahl, Mecca 70]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَاللّهُ أَنزَلَ
مِنَ الْسَّمَاء
مَاء فَأَحْيَا
بِهِ الأَرْضَ
بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا...
16: 65. And Allah sends down rain from the skies, and gives therewith life to the earth after its death:
... إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَسْمَعُونَ ﴿٦٥﴾
verily in this is a Sign for those who listen.
C2092. When the earth with all its vegetation is well-nigh dead, parched and shriveled up, a vivifying shower of rain from above gives it new life.
This natural phenomenon is a sign of Allah's infinite power, especially of His power to resurrect the dead, and thereafter muster them for judgment. [Eds.]
Pickthall’s Version:
16: 65
Pickthall Allah sendeth down water from the sky and therewith revives the earth after her death! Lo! herein is indeed a portent for a folk who hear.
Transliteration Walla_hu anzala minas sama_'i ma_'an fa ahya_ bihil arda ba'da mautiha_, inna fi za_lika la a_yatal liqaumiy yasma'u_n(a).
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23. Surah Al-Muminun
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَأَنشَأْنَا
لَكُم بِهِ
جَنَّاتٍ مِّن
نَّخِيلٍ
وَأَعْنَابٍ...
23: 19. With it We grow for you gardens of date-palms and vines:
...لَّكُمْ فِيهَا فَوَاكِهُ كَثِيرَةٌ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ ﴿١٩﴾
in them have ye abundant fruits:
and of them ye eat (and have enjoyment) --
C2879. Cf. 7:19 and n. 776 to 5:66.
Asad’s Version:
23:19
And by means of this [water] We bring forth for you gardens of date-palms and vines, wherein
you have fruit abundant and whereof you eat, (23:20) as well as a tree that issues from [the
lands adjoining] Mount Sinai, 8 yielding oil and relish for all to eat.
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27. An-Naml (The Ants)
Mecca Period 48
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
قُلِ
الْحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ وَسَلَامٌ
عَلَى عِبَادِهِ
الَّذِينَ
اصْطَفَى...
27: 59. Say:
Praise be to Allah, and Peace on His servants whom He has chosen (for his Message).
C3292. Allah's revelation having been described as Light, Guidance, and Mercy, we ought all to be grateful to Allah for vouchsafing His revelation.
We ought also to appreciate the services of Allah's Messengers, who are chosen to deliver Ms Message: we ought to send salutations of Peace on them, instead of plotting, as the wicked do, for their removal or persecution, or banishment or death. For these Prophets of Allah undergo every kind of hardship and forego every kind of advantage or pleasure in life for serving mankind.
And Allah is truth and goodness, and all our fancies of false worship are falsehoods and evils. Shall we prefer falsehood and evil to truth and goodness? (R).
...آللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿٥٩﴾
(Who) is better? --
Allah or the false gods they associate with Him?
أَمَّنْ
خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضَ...
27: 60. Or, who has created the heaven and the earth,
C3293. The order, beauty, and grandeur of the Universe are appealed to. They show unity of design and purpose.
How can unjust, ignorant, foolish, heedless, false men think of a multiplicity of gods, or of any god, besides the One True God?
...وَأَنزَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاء مَاء...
and who sends you down rain from the sky?
...فَأَنبَتْنَا بِهِ حَدَائِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ...
Yea, with it We cause to grow well-planted orchards full of beauty and delight:
...مَّا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَن تُنبِتُوا شَجَرَهَا...
it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees in them.
C3294. To make a single seed germinate and grow into a tree is beyond man's power. When it comes to a great well-laid-out garden of beauty and delight, no one would think it grew up of itself without a Gardener's consummate art.
And the orchard is more than the trees in it: there is design and beauty in their arrangement: proper spaces have to be left between them for the growth of their roots, for the aeration of the soil beneath them, and for the penetration of air and sunlight between their branches.
How can any one then think of the wonderful Universe as a whole, without thinking of the far higher Unity of Design, the evidence of the One True Allah? (R).
...أَإِلَهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ ...
(Can there be another) god besides Allah?
...بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿٦٠﴾
Nay, they are a people who swerve from justice.
Asad’s Version:
27:59 SAY: "All praise is due to God, and peace be upon those servants of His whom He chose [to be His message-bearers]!" Is not God far better than anything to which men [falsely] ascribe a share in His divinity? 54
27:60 Nay - who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you [life-giving] water from the skies? For it is by this means that We cause gardens of shining beauty to grow - [whereas] it is not in your power to cause [even one single of] its trees to grow! Could there be any divine power besides God? Nay, they [who think so] are people who swerve [from the path of reason] !