6. [al-Anam, Cattle, Mecca 55]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُل رَّبُّكُمْ ذُو رَحْمَةٍ وَاسِعَةٍ...

6: 147. If they accuse thee of falsehood, say:

"Your Lord is full of Mercy All-embracing;

...وَلاَ يُرَدُّ بَأْسُهُ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿١٤٧﴾

but from people in guilt never will His wrath be turned back.

سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ لَوْ شَاء اللّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلاَ آبَاؤُنَا وَلاَ حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَيْءٍ...

6: 148. Those who give partners to Allah will say,

"If Allah had wished, we should not have given partners to Him, nor would our father;

nor should we have had any taboos."

C972. As used by the Pagans, the argument is false, for it implies;

a. that men have no personal responsibility,

b. that they are the victims of a Determinism against which they are helpless, and

c. that they might therefore go on doing just what they liked.

It is also inconsistent, for if (b) is true, (c) cannot be true. Nor is it meant to be taken seriously.

...كَذَلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم حَتَّى ذَاقُواْ بَأْسَنَا...

So did their ancestors argue falsely, until they tasted of Our wrath.

...قُلْ هَلْ عِندَكُم مِّنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا...

Say:

"Have ye any (certain) Knowledge?

If so, produce it before us.

...إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنتُمْ إَلاَّ تَخْرُصُونَ ﴿١٤٨﴾

Ye follow nothing but conjecture:

Ye do nothing but lie."

قُلْ فَلِلّهِ الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ ...

6: 149. Say:

"With Allah is the argument that reaches home:

C973. On the other hand, the argument cuts true and deep, as from Allah to His creatures.

Allah is Omnipotent, and can do all that we can conceive. But He, in His Plan, has given man some responsibility, and some choice in order to train man's will. If man fails, he is helped in various ways by Allah's mercy and grace. But man cannot go on sinning, and in a state of sin, expect Allah to be pleased with him (6:147).

... فَلَوْ شَاء لَهَدَاكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ﴿١٤٩﴾

if it had been his will, he could indeed have guided you all."

قُلْ هَلُمَّ شُهَدَاءكُمُ الَّذِينَ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ اللّهَ حَرَّمَ هَـذَا...

6: 150. Say:

"Bring forward your witnesses to prove that Allah did forbid so and so."

...فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَلاَ تَشْهَدْ مَعَهُمْ...

If they bring such witnesses, be not thou amongst them:

C974. The Pagan superstitions were of course baseless, and in many cases harmful and debasing. If Allah's name was taken as supporting them, no true man of God could be taken in, or join in support simply because Allah's name was taken in vain.

...وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاء الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا...

nor follow thou the vain desires of such as treat Our Signs as falsehoods,

...وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ وَهُم بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿١٥٠﴾

and such as believe not in the Hereafter:

for they hold others as equal with their Guardian-Lord.

C975. Cf. 6:1.

Allah, who created and who cherishes and cares for all, should have the first claim on our attention. Those who set up false gods fail to understand Allah's true governance of their own true destiny.

Other Versions:

6: 147

Asad And if they give thee the lie [note 140], say: “Limitless is your Sustainer in His grace; but His punishment shall not be averted from people who are lost in sin.”

Pickthall So if they give the lie to thee (Muhammad), say: Your Lord is a Lord of all embracing mercy, and His wrath will never be withdrawn from guilty folk.

Transliteration Fa in kazzabu_ka faqur rabbukum zu_ rahmatiw wa_si'ah(tin), wa la_ yuraddu ba'suhu_ 'anil qaumil mujrimin(a).

[[Ruby’s note – Here the predestination is refuted. God is all mighty and therefore can override human will and events. However He willingly allow human will to dictate in some limited way. A human will cannot dictate the universe but can dictate his/her many choices and actions. A human is responsible only up to the limit of his/her ability and freedom that God has given humans. This declaration is confirming both God’s overriding omnipotent power at the same time human’s limited power and responsibility. A human would bear the consequences of his/he choices only for what, how and when he/she can choose.] And one he/she cannot avoid this responsibility by saying that he/she does not have really any choice it is God’s will that dictates everything. The truth is that God wills a choice for man and he exercises that choice and then he cannot absolve the responsibility. However, he may not know the exact limitation and how his/her free will works with the greater overriding Will of God. A human operates within that unknowable factor accepting the knowable responsibility that there is a limited free will. How limited it is, is not known.]]

6: 148

Asad ……….” Had God so willed, we would not have ascribed divinity to aught but Him, nor would our forefathers………….” Even so did those who lived before them give the lie to the truth [note 141] – until they came to taste Our punishment! Say: “Have you any [certain] knowledge which you could proffer to us? You follow but [other people’s] conjectures, and you yourselves do nothing but guess.”

Pickthall They who are idolaters will say: Had Allah willed, we had not ascribed (unto Him) partners neither had our fathers, nor had we forbidden aught. Thus did those who were before them give the lie (to Allah's messengers) till they tasted of the fear of Us. Say: Have ye any knowledge that ye can adduce for us? Lo! ye follow naught but an opinion. Lo! ye do but guess.

Transliteration Sayaqu_lul lazina asyraku_ lau sya_'alla_hu ma_ asyrakna_ wa la_ a_ba_'una_ wa la_ harramna_ min syai'(in), kaza_lika kazzabal lazina min qablihim hatta_ za_qu_ ba'sana_, qul hal 'indakum min 'ilmin fa tukhriju_hu lana_, in tattabi'u_na illaz zanna wa in antum illa_ takhrusu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note 141 – I.e., the truth that God has endowed man with the ability to choose between right and wrong. The above verse constitute a categorical rejection of the doctrine of “predestination” in the commonly-accepted sense of this term.]]

6: 149

Asad Say: “[Know,] then, that the final evidence [of all truth] rests with God alone; and had He so willed, He would have guided you all right.” [Note 143]

Pickthall Say--For Allah's is the final argument--Had He willed He could indeed have guided all of you.

Transliteration Qul fa lilla_hil hujjatul ba_ligah(tu), fa lau sya_'a lahada_kum ajma'in(a).

6: 150

Pickthall Say: Come, bring your witnesses who can bear witness that Allah forbade (all) this. And if they bear witness, do not thou bear witness with them. Follow thou not the whims of those who deny Our revelations, those who believe not in the Hereafter and deem (others) equal with their Lord.

Transliteration Qul halumma syuhada_'akumul lazina yasyhadu_na annalla_ha harrama ha_za_, fa in syahidu_ fala_ tasyhad ma'ahum, wa la_ tattabi' ahwa_'al lazina kazzabu_ bi a_ya_tina_ wallazina la_ yu'minu_na bil a_khirati wa hum bi rabbihim ya'dilu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note – In other words, the real relationship between God’s knowledge of the future ……on the one side, and man’s free will, on the other – two proposition which, on the face of it, seem to contradict one another – is beyond man’s comprehension;…………Had God so willed, every being would have been forced to live righteously; but this would have amounted to depriving man of his free will, and morality of all its meaning.]]

[[ Ruby’s note – Re: Asad’s note above – both of these propositions are not exclusive of each other and failing to comprehension is due to our limitation of capacity to know. We do not know exactly how man’s limited free will works within God’s overriding greater Will. We do not know exactly when, how and where man’s will is limited and therefore responsible. Only God knows that and therefore only God can judge man. The exclusive right to judge a man as to the total worth of a life belong to God: trespassing this limit would be a transgression on the part of a human. Even though a human does not know the exact relationship and working of his/her free will nonetheless he/she must know that it exists and take responsibility of it to the best of his/her ability and seek constant guidance from God about it. A human in order to be right and righteous therefore is dependant on God’s guidance. This is expounded through the famous prayer which seeks God’s guidance in knowing what is within one’s power to change and what is not and to have the wisdom to know the difference. That prayer manifests the true spirit of truth and spirituality. It manifests the spirit of the limited free will of a human being without knowing where, how and when it ends and God’s greater Will take over. This unknowable factor is a human limitation that a human must accept and work within. ]]

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7. [al-Araf, Mecca 39]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ لاَ نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا...

7: 42. But those who believe and work righteousness, no burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear,

...أُوْلَـئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٤٢﴾

they will be companions of the garden, therein to dwell (for ever).

وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمُ الأَنْهَارُ...

7: 43. And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury; beneath them will be rivers flowing;

C1021. A man who may have suffered or been disappointed may have a lurking sense of injury it the back of his mind, which may spoil his enjoyment on account of past memory intruding in the midst of felicity. In such cases memory itself is pain. Even sorrow is intensified by memory: as Tennyson says,

"A sorrow's crown of sorrows is remembering happier things."

But that is in this our imperfect life. In the perfect felicity of the righteous, all such feelings will be blotted out. No "heartaches" then and no memories of them! The clouds of the past will have dissolved in glorious light, and no past happiness will be comparable with the perfect happiness which will have then been attained. Nor will any sense of envy or shortcoming be possible in that perfect bliss.

...وَقَالُواْ الْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللّهُ...

and they shall say:

"Praise be to Allah, Who hath guided us to this (felicity): never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of Allah:

...لَقَدْ جَاءتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ ...

indeed it was the truth that the Messengers of our Lord brought unto us."

...وَنُودُواْ أَن تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٤٣﴾

And they shall hear the cry:

"Behold! the garden before you! Ye have been made its inheritors, for your deeds (of righteousness)."

C1022. Jesus said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth": Matt. 5:5.

Here we are told: blessed are the righteous, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. The stress here is on actual practical deeds of righteousness: whether they find their rewards on earth or not is immaterial: their attention is directed to an infinitely greater reward, the kingdom of heaven.

In the Sermon on the Mount this is promised to the "poor in spirit": Matt. 5:3.

Other Versions:

7: 42

Asad But those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds – [and] We do not burden any human being with more than he is well to bear - they are destined for paradise, therein to abide, 7: 43 after We shall have removed whatever unworthy thoughts or feelings may have been in their bosoms. Running waters will flow at their feet; and they will say: All praise is due to God, who has guided us unto this; for we would certainly not have found the right path unless God had guided us ! Indeed, our Sustainer’s apostles have told us the truth!”

Pickthall But (as for) those who believe and do good works We tax not any soul beyond its scope. Such are rightful owners of the Garden. They abide therein.

Transliteration Wallazina a_manu_ wa 'amilus sa_liha_ti la_ nukallifu nafsan illa_ wus'aha_ ula_'ika asha_bul jannah(ti), hum fiha_ kha_lidu_n(a).

7: 43

Pickthall And We remove whatever rancor may be in their hearts. Rivers flow beneath them. And they say: The praise to Allah, Who hath guided us to this. We could not truly have been led aright if Allah had not guided us. Verily the messengers of our Lord did bring the Truth. And it is cried unto them: This is the Garden. Ye inherit it for what ye used to do.

Transliteration Wa naza'na_ ma_ fi sudu_rihim min gillin tajri min tahtihimul anha_r(u), wa qa_lul hamdu lilla_hil lazi hada_na_ liha_za_, wa ma_ kunna_ linahtadiya lau la_ an hada_nalla_h(u), laqad ja_'at rusulu rabbina_ bil haqq(i), wa nu_du_ an tilkumul jannatu u_ristumu_ha_ bima_ kuntum ta'malu_n(a).

[[ Ali’s notes-

1021 A man who may have suffered or been disappointed may have a lurking sense of injury in the back of his mind, which may spoil his enjoyment on account of past memory intruding in the midst of felicity. In such cases memory itself is pain. Even sorrow is intensified by memory: as Tennyson says, "A sorrow's crown of sorrows is remembering happier things." But that is in this our imperfect life. In the perfect felicity of the righteous, all such feelings will be blotted out. No "heartaches" then and no memories of them! The clouds of the past will have dissolved in glorious light, and no past happiness will be comparable with the perfect happiness which will have then been attained. Nor will any sense of envy or shortcoming be possible in that perfect bliss. (7.43)

1022 Jesus said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth": Matt. v. 5. Here we are told: blessed are the righteous, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. The stress here is on actual practical deeds of righteousness: whether they find their rewards on earth or not is immaterial: their attention is directed to an infinitely greater reward, the kingdom of heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount this is promised to the "poor in spirit": Matt. v, 3. (7.43) ]]

[[ Asad ‘s note 34 –Lit., “beneath them”: i.e., all blessings will be at their command.]]