27. An-Naml (The Ants)

Mecca Period 48

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَإِنَّهُ لَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٧٧﴾

27: 77 And it certainly is a Guide and Mercy to those who believe.

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِي بَيْنَهُم بِحُكْمِهِ...

27: 78. Verily thy Lord will decide between them by His Decree:

C3310. Decree: hukm: the disputes between rival sects can only be settled by the Decree of Allah,

- in the form of a Revelation, as was done by the Quran, or

- by the logic of events, for hundreds of sects have been extinguished and forgotten in the course of time, and

- in the Decree of Judgment in the Hereafter, when all jarring sects will at length see their errors.

...وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ ﴿٧٨﴾

and He is Exalted in Might, All-Knowing.

. فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ...

27: 79. So put thy trust in Allah:

...إِنَّكَ عَلَى الْحَقِّ الْمُبِينِ ﴿٧٩﴾

for thou art on (the Path of) manifest Truth.

إِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَى وَلَا تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ الدُّعَاء إِذَا وَلَّوْا مُدْبِرِينَ ﴿٨٠﴾

27: 80. Truly thou canst not cause the Dead to listen, nor canst thou cause the Deaf to hear the call, (especially) when they turn back in retreat.

C3311. The Prophet's responsibility was to preach and show the way. Men and women of goodwill had faith and accepted the Message. But he was not responsible for the obstinacy and perversity of men who turned away from Allah's Signs and rejected the Truth.

وَمَا أَنتَ بِهَادِي الْعُمْيِ عَن ضَلَالَتِهِمْ...

27: 81. Nor canst thou be a guide to the Blind, (to prevent them) from straying;

...إِن تُسْمِعُ إِلَّا مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُم مُّسْلِمُونَ ﴿٨١﴾

only those wilt thou get to listen who believe in Our Signs, and they will bow in Islam.

وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ ...

27: 82. And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust),

C3312. The Word. the Decree or Sentence, the Decision to end the respite and restore the true values of right and wrong in a new world: their cup of iniquity will then have been full.

... أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ...

We shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them:

C3313. The Beast will be one of the Signs of the Last Days to come, before the present World passes away and the new World is brought into being.

In symbolic language it would represent gross Materialism. It will be the embodiment of fat worldly triumph, which will appeal to a misguided and degenerate world, because such a corrupt world will have no assured belief in the Signs of Allah or in spiritual Light. It will itself he a Sign or Portent, closing the door or repentance. I do not know whether this Beast has any reference to the symbolism in chapter xii of the Book of Revelation, which closes the New Testament.

...تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ ﴿٨٢﴾

he will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in our Signs.

If taklimuhum is read instead of tukallimuhum, it would mean that the Beast would wound them, symbolically, that Materialism would produce its own Nemesis.

Asad’s Version:

27:80 [But,] verily, thou caust not make the dead hear: and [so, too] thou canst not make the deaf [of heart] hear this call when they turn their backs [on thee] and go away, (27:81) just as thou canst not lead the blind [of heart] out of their error; none canst thou make hear save such as [are willing to] believe in Our messages, and thus surrender themselves unto Us. 72

[[Asad’s note - 72 This passage corresponds to the oft-repeated Qur'anic statement that "God guides him that wills [to be guided] (yahdi man yasha')". ]]

27:82

Now, [as for the deaf and blind of heart - I when the word [of truth] stands revealed against them, 73 We shall bring forth unto them out of the earth a creature which will tell them that mankind had no real faith in Our messages. 74

Yuksel’s Version:

27:81 Nor can you guide the blind from their misguidance. You can only make those who acknowledge Our signs hear you, for they have peacefully surrendered.

Other Versions:

27: 79

27: 80

[[Asad’s notes - 73 Lit., "comes to pass against them" - i.e., when the truth becomes obvious to them against all their expectations, and thus confounds them utterly: an allusion to the approach of the Last Hour, Resurrection and God's Judgment, all of which they were wont to regard as "fables of ancient times" (cf. verses 67-68 above). Alternatively, the phrase idha waqa'a al-qawi 'alayhim may be understood as "when the sentence [of doom] is passed on them", i.e., at the approach of the Last Hour, when it will be too late for repentance.

74 The "creature brought forth out of the earth" is apparently an allegory of maris "earthly" outlook on life - in other words, the soul-destroying materialism characteristic of the time preceding the Last Hour. This "creature" parabolically "tells" men that their submergence in exclusively materialistic values - and, hence, their approaching self-destruction - is an outcome of their lack of belief in God. (See also 7:175-176 and the corresponding note 141.) ]]