4. Sura an-Nisa

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ...   

4: 64.  We sent not a Messenger, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of Allah.

... وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ ...

If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them,

... لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿٦٤﴾

they would have found Allah indeed Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

Asad’s Version:

4: 64

Asad for We have never sent any apostle save that he should be heeded by God’s leave [note 83]. If , then after having sinned against themselves, they would but come around to you and ask God to forgive them – with the Apostle, too, praying that they be forgiven –they would assuredly find that God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace.

Pickthall We sent no messenger save that he should be obeyed by Allah's leave. And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful.

Transliteration Wa maaa arsalnaa mir-Rasuulin illaa liyutaa-a bi-‘Iznillaah. Wa law annahum iz-zalamuuu anfusahum jaaa-uuka fastag-farullaaha was-tag-faralahumur-Rasuulu la-waja-dullaaha TawwaabarRahiimaa.

[[Asad’s note 83 – The expression “by God’s leave” is to be understood in this context as “with God’s help” or “by god’s grace” (Zamakhshari, Razi). as so often in the Quran, the sudden change, within one and the same sentence, from the pronoun “We” or “I” to “He”, or from “We” to “God”, is meant to impress upon the listener or reader of the Quranic fact that God is not a “person” but an all-embracing Power that cannot be defined or even adequately referred to within the limited range of any human language.]]