15. Surah Al Hijr

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِلاَّ عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴿٤٠﴾

15: 40.  "Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace)."

قَالَ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ عَلَيَّ مُسْتَقِيمٌ ﴿٤١﴾

15: 41.  (Allah) said:

"This (Way of My sincere servants) is indeed a Way that leads straight to Me.

C1976. To be sincere in the worship of Allah is to obtain purification from all stain of evil and exemption from all influence of evil. It changes the whole nature of man. After that, evil cannot touch him. Evil will acknowledge him to be beyond its power and will not even tempt him.

Apart from such purified souls, everyone who worships Allah invites Allah's grace to protect him. But if he puts himself in the way of wrong and deliberately chooses evil, he must take the consequences. The blame is not even on Satan, the power of evil, it is on the sinner himself, who puts himself into his power; 14:22: 15:42.

إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ...   

15: 42.  "For over My servants no authority shalt thou have,

...إِلاَّ مَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ ﴿٤٢﴾

except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee."

Pickthall’s Version:

15: 40

Pickthall Save such of them as are Thy perfectly devoted slaves.

Transliteration Illa_ 'iba_daka minhumul mukhlasin(a).

15: 41

Pickthall He said: This is a right course incumbent upon Me:

Transliteration Qa_la ha_za_ sira_tun 'alayya mustaqim(un).

15: 42

Asad verily, you shall have no power over My creatures – unless it be such as are lost in grievous error and follow you;

Pickthall Lo! as for My slaves, thou hast no power over any of them save such of the froward as follow thee,

Transliteration Inna 'iba_di laisa laka 'alaihim sulta_nun illa_ man-ittaba'aka minal ga_win(a).