60. Al-Mumtahanah (The Examined One)
Medina Period [91]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
رَبَّنَا
لَا تَجْعَلْنَا
فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا ...
60: 5. "Our Lord! Make us not a (test and) trial for the Unbelievers,
C5417. In n. 1198 to 8:25, I have explained the shades of meaning in the word Fitnah.
In 2:102 Harut and Marut were a trial to test the righteous who trusted in Allah from the unrighteous who resorted to evil and superstition.
Here the prayer to Allah is that we should be saved from becoming so weak as to tempt the Unbelievers to try to attack and destroy us.
... وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا رَبَّنَا ...
but forgive us, our Lord!
... إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴿٥﴾
For Thou art the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
لَقَدْ
كَانَ لَكُمْ
فِيهِمْ أُسْوَةٌ
حَسَنَةٌ لِمَن
كَانَ يَرْجُو
اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ
الْآخِرَ ...
60: 6. There was indeed in them an excellent example for you to follow -- for those whose hope is in Allah and in the Last Day.
C5418. In them: i.e. in their attitude of prayer and reliance on Allah, and of dissociation from evil.
... وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ﴿٦﴾
But if any turn away, truly Allah is Free of all Wants, Worthy of all Praise.
C5419. If any one rejects Allah's Message or Law, the loss is his own. It is not Allah Who needs him or his worship or his sacrifice or his praise. Allah is independent of all wants, and His attributes are inherently deserving of all praise, whether the wicked give such praise or not, in word or deed.
عَسَى
اللَّهُ أَن
يَجْعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ
وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ
عَادَيْتُم
مِّنْهُم
مَّوَدَّةً ...
60: 7. It may be that Allah will grant love (and friendship) between you and those whom ye (now) hold as enemies:
C5420. Apparent religious hatred or enmity or persecution may be due to ignorance or over-zeal in a soul, which Allah will forgive and use eventually in His service, as happened in the case of Hadhrat 'Umar, who was a different man before and after his conversion.
As stated in n. 5414 above, we should hate evil, but not men as such.
وَاللَّهُ قَدِيرٌ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٧﴾
for Allah has power (over all things);
and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Asad’s Version:
60:5 O our Sustainer! Make us not a plaything 7 for those who are bent on denying the truth! And forgive us our sins, O our sustainer: for Thou alone art, almighty, truly wise!"
(60:6) In them, indeed, you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe 8 ] to God and the Last Day. And if any turns away, [let him know that] God is truly self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due."
60:7 [But] it may well be that God will bring about [mutual] affection between you [O believers] and some of those whom you [now] face as enemies: for, God is all-powerful - and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
[[Asad’s note -7 Lit., "temptation to evil" (fitnah): cf. 10:85, where the term fitnah has the same meaning as in the present instance.
8 As in the similar phrase in 33 :21 , this double connotation is implied in the verb rajawa and all the noun-forms derived from it. ]]