4. Sura an-Nisa
Medina 92 [Hijra 4]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَيْنَمَا
تَكُونُواْ
يُدْرِككُّمُ
الْمَوْتُ
وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ
فِي بُرُوجٍ
مُّشَيَّدَةٍ...
4:78. "Wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!"
... وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُواْ هَـذِهِ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ...
If some good befalls them, they say, "This is from Allah;"
... وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُواْ هَـذِهِ مِنْ عِندِكَ...
but if evil, they say, "This is from thee"
... قُلْ كُلًّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللّهِ...
(O Prophet). "Say: "All things are from Allah.
C597. The Hypocrites were inconsistent, and in this reflect unregenerate mankind.
If a disaster happens, due to their own folly, they blame somebody else; but if they are fortunate, they claim reflected credit by pretending that Heaven has favoured them because of their own superior merits.
The modern critic discards even this pretence, eliminates Heaven altogether, and claims all credit direct to himself, unless he brings in blind Chance, but that he does mostly to "explain" misfortune.
If we look to the ultimate Cause of all things, all things come from Allah. But if we look to the proximate cause of things, our own merit is so small, that we can hardly claim credit for good ourselves with any fairness.
In Allah's hand is all good: 3:26. On the other hand, the proximate cause of our evil is due to some wrong in our own inner selves; for never are we dealt with unjustly in the very least: 4:77.
... فَمَا لِهَـؤُلاء الْقَوْمِ لاَ يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًا ﴿٧٨﴾
But what hath come to these people, that they fail to understand a single fact?
مَّا
أَصَابَكَ مِنْ
حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ
اللّهِ وَمَا
أَصَابَكَ مِن
سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن
نَّفْسِكَ...
4: 79. Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee, is from Allah; but whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul.
... وَأَرْسَلْنَاكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولاً ...
And We have sent thee as a Messenger to (instruct) mankind:
C598. To blame a man of God for our misfortunes is doubly unjust. For he comes to save us from misfortune, and it is because we flout him or pay no heed to him, that our own rebellion, brings its own punishment.
If we realise this truth we shall be saved from two sins:
1. the sin of injustice to Allah's Messengers, who come for our good, and not for our harm:
2. the sin of not realising our own shortcomings or rebellion, and thus living in spiritual darkness.
If the Message is from Allah, that carries its own authority:
"enough is Allah for a witness."
... وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ شَهِيدًا ﴿٧٩﴾
and enough is Allah for a witness.
4: 78
Asad Whatever you may be, death will overtake you – even though you be in towers raised high.” Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some [people] say, “This is form God,” whereas when evil befalls them, they say, “This is form you [O fellowman]!” [note 92] Say: “All is from God.” What, then, is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told? [note 93]
Pickthall Where so ever ye may be, death will overtake you, even though ye were in lofty towers. Yet if a happy thing befalleth them they say: This is from Allah; and if an evil thing befalleth them they say: This is of thy doing (O Muhammad). Say (unto them): All is from Allah. What is amiss with these people that they come not nigh to understand a happening?
Transliteration Ainama_ taku_nu_ yudrikkumul mautu wa lau kuntum fi buru_jim musyayyadah(tin), wa in tusibhum hasanatuy yaqu_lu_ ha_zihi min 'indilla_h(i), wa in tusibhum sayyi'atuy yaqu_lu_ ha_zihi min 'indik(a), qul kullum min 'indilla_h(i), fama_li ha_'ula_'il qaumi la_ yaka_du_na yafqahu_na hadisa_(n).
4: 79
Asad Whatever good happens to you is from God; and whatever evil befalls thee is from yourself. [note 94]
Pickthall Whatever of good befalleth thee ( O man ) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. We have sent thee ( Muhammad ) as a messenger unto mankind and Allah is sufficient as witness.
Ma_ asa_baka min hasanatin faminalla_h(i), wa ma_ asa_baka min sayyi'atin famin nafsik(a), wa arsalna_ka linna_si rasu_la_(n), wa kafa_ billa_hi syahida_(n).
[[Asad’s note 92 – I.e., they do not realize that the evil happening may possibly be a consequence of their own actions or their own wrong choice between several courses open to them, but are prone to attribute it to the failings of others.
note 94 – There is no contradiction between this statement and the preceding one that “all is from God”. In the world-view of the Quran, God is the ultimate source of all happening: consequently, all good tht comes to man and all evil that befalls him flows, in the last resort, from God’s will. However, not everything that man regards as “evil for tune” is really, in its final effect evil – for, “it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know” (2:216)……..spiritual growth suffering, and need not necessarily be the result of a wrong choice or a wrong deed on the part of the person thus afflicted.………suffering resulting from the actions or the behavior of the person concerned, and this in accordance with the natural law of cause and effect which God has decreed for all His creation, and which the Quran describes as “the way of God”(sunnat Allah). For all such suffering man has only himself to blame, since “God does not wrong anyone by as much at atom’s weight”(4:40).]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 595 Before the command for fighting was issued there were some who were impatient, and could scarcely be held back. They wanted fighting from human motives,- pugnacity, hatred against their enemies, the gaining of personal ends. Fighting from such motives is wrong at all times. When the testing time came, and they had to fight, not for their own hand, but for a Sacred Cause, in which there was much suffering and little personal gain, the Hypocrites held back and were afraid. (4.77)
596 "Our natural term of life," they would say, "is short enough; why should we jeopardize it by fighting in which there is no personal gain?" The answer is begun in this verse and continued in the next. Briefly, the answer is: (1) in any case the pleasures of this world are short; this life is fleeting; the first thing for a righteous man to do is to emancipate himself from its obsessions; (2) to do your duty is to do right; therefore turn your attention mainly to duty; (3) when duty calls for self-sacrifice, be sure that Allah's call is never unjust, and never such as to exceed your capacity; and (4) if you fear death, you will not by fear escape death; it will find you out wherever you are; why not face it boldly when duty calls? (4.77)
597 The Hypocrites were inconsistent, and in this reflect unregenerate mankind. If a disaster happens, due to their own folly, they blame somebody else; but if they are fortunate, they claim reflected credit by pretending that Heaven has favored them because of their own superior merits. The modern critic discards even this pretence, eliminates Heaven altogether, and claims all credit direct to himself, unless he brings in blind Chance, but that he does mostly to "explain" misfortune. If we look to the ultimate Cause of all things, all things come from Allah. But if we look to the proximate cause of things, our own merit is so small, that we can hardly claim credit for good ourselves with any fairness. In Allah's hand is all good: iii.26. On the other hand, the proximate cause of our evil is due to some wrong in our own inner selves; for never are we dealt with unjustly in the very least: iv. 77. (4.78) ]]
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