11. Surah Hud
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَوْ شَاء
رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ
النَّاسَ أُمَّةً
وَاحِدَةً...
11: 118. If thy Lord had so willed He could have made mankind one People:
C1622. Cf. 10:19.
All mankind might have been one. But in Allah's Plan man was to have a certain measure of free-will, and this made difference inevitable.
This would not have mattered if all had honestly sought Allah. But selfishness and moral wrong came in, and people's disputations became mixed up with hatred, jealousy, and sin, except in the case of those who accepted Allah's grace, which saved them.
The object of their creation was to raise them up spiritually by Allah's grace. But if they will choose the path of evil and fall into sin, Allah's decree must be fulfilled, and His justice will take its course. In the course of that justice Hell will be filled with men and jinns, such is the number of those who go astray.
...وَلاَ يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ ﴿١١٨﴾
but they will not cease to dispute,
11: 118 [Hud, Mecca 52]
Pickthall And if thy Lord had willed, He verily would have made mankind one nation, yet they cease not differing,
Yuksel Had your Lord wished, He could have made all the people one nation, but they still would continue to disagree;
Transliteration Wa lau sya_'a rabbuka laja'alan na_sa ummataw wa_hidataw wa la_ yaza_lu_na mukhtalifin(a),
11: 118
Asad And had thy Sustainer so willed, He could surely have made all mankind one single community: but they continue to hold divergent views-
[Asad note 150: ………see sure 2, note 197-198, 2: 253 and note 245 note, 5: 48, note 66-67. Thus the Quran stresses once again that the unceasing differentiation in men’s views and ideas is not incidental but represents a God-willed, basic factor of human existence. If God, has willed that all human beings should be of one persuasion, all intellectual progress would have been ruled out, and “they would have been similar in their social life to the bees and the ants, while in their spiritual life they would have been like the angels, constrained by their nature always t obelieve in what is true and always to obey God” [ Manar XII, 193] – that is to say devoid of that relative free will which enables man to choose between right and wrong and thus endows his life ……”]
11: 119
Asad Save those upon whom thy Sustainer has bestowed His grace. And to this end has He created them [all]. But [as for those who refuse to avail themselves of divine guidance,] that word of thy Sustainer shall be fulfilled: “ Most certainly will I fill hell with invisible beings as well as with humans, all together!”
[Asad note 151: I.e., those who avail themselves of His grace, consisting of the God-given ability to realize His existence [cf. 7: 172 …and note 139] and the guidance which He offers to mankind through His prophets [Razi]. ]
11: 119
Yusuf Ali Except those on whom He hath bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them: and the Word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled: "I will fill Hell with jinns and men all together."
Pickthall Save him on whom thy Lord hath mercy; and for that He did create them. And the Word of thy Lord hath been fulfilled: Verily I shall fill hell with the jinn and mankind together.
Yuksel Except whom your Lord has mercy upon; and for that He has created them. The word of your Lord came true: "I will fill hell with the Jinn and the humans together!"*
Transliteration Illa_ mar rahima rabbuk(a), wa liza_lika khalaqahum, wa tammat kalimatu rabbika la'amla'anna jahannama minal jinnati wan na_si ajma'in(a).