44. Surah Ad-Dukhan (the Smoke)
59 verses, Mecca 64
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّ
الْمُتَّقِينَ
فِي مَقَامٍ
أَمِينٍ ﴿٥١﴾
44: 51. As to the Righteous (they will be) in a position of Security,
C4725. There will be no uncertainty, as on this earth; no danger of discontinuance: no possibility of their satisfaction being terminated.
فِي
جَنَّاتٍ
وَعُيُونٍ ﴿٥٢﴾
44: 52. Among Gardens and Springs;
يَلْبَسُونَ
مِن سُندُسٍ
...
44: 53. Dressed in fine silk,
C4726. Cf. 18:31, and n. 2373.
... وَإِسْتَبْرَقٍ مُّتَقَابِلِينَ ﴿٥٣﴾
and in rich brocade, they will face each other;
C4727. Everything will be open and in social companionship: for all the petty feelings of jealousy or exclusiveness will have passed away.
كَذَلِكَ
...
44: 54. Moreover,
وَزَوَّجْنَاهُم ...
and We shall Join them to Companions...
C4728. The Maidens, like the scene, the dress, the outlook, and the fruit, will be beautiful. There will be life, but free from all earthly grossness. The women as well as the men of this life will attain to this indescribable bliss. (R).
... بِحُورٍ عِينٍ ﴿٥٤﴾
... with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes.
C4729. Hur implies the following ideas:
- purity,
- beauty, especially of eyes, where the intense white of the eye-balls stands out against the intense black of the pupil, thus giving the appearance of lustre, and intense feeling, as opposed to dullness or want of expression; and
- truth and goodwill.
يَدْعُونَ
فِيهَا بِكُلِّ
فَاكِهَةٍ
آمِنِينَ ﴿٥٥﴾
44: 55. There can they call for every kind of fruit in peace and security;
C4730. The signification is explained in n. 4671 to 43:73.
لَا
يَذُوقُونَ
فِيهَا الْمَوْتَ
إِلَّا الْمَوْتَةَ
الْأُولَى ...
44: 56. Nor will they there taste Death, except the first Death;
C4731. First Death: the ordinary natural death from this life, which brought them to the Garden of Felicity: there will be no further death after that.
... وَوَقَاهُمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِ ﴿٥٦﴾
and He will preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire
C4732. In Islam we are taught that salvation is not possible by our unaided efforts. Certainly, striving on our part is an indispensable condition: but it is the Mercy of Allah which comes to our help and keeps us from the Fire of final Punishment.
This is mentioned last as the foundation on which is built our eternal felicity and our positive spiritual joys. (R).
فَضْلًا
مِّن رَّبِّكَ
ذَلِكَ هُوَ
الْفَوْزُ
الْعَظِيمُ
﴿٥٧﴾
44: 57. As a Bounty from thy Lord!
That will be the supreme achievement!
C4733. This is our idea of Salvation; the negative avoidance of all the consequences of evil, and the positive attainment of all-and more than all-that our hearts could possibly desire. For Allah's Bounty outstrips anything that our eyes have seen, or our ears have heard of, or our imagination can conceive.
Asad’s Version:
44:51 [As against this -] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves in a state secure,
(44:52) amid gardens and springs,
(44:53) wearing [garments] of silk and brocade, facing one another [in love]. 2 '
(44:54) Thus shall it be. And We shall pair them with companions pure, most
beautiful of eye. 30
(44:55) In that [paradise] they shall [rightfully] claim all the fruits [of their
past deeds], 31 resting in security;
(44:56) and neither shall they taste death there after having passed through their erstwhile death. 32 Thus will He have preserved them from all suffering through the blazing fire –
(44:57) an act of thy Sustainer's favour: 33 and that, that will be the
triumph supreme!
[[Asad’s notes - 29 For these particular allegories of life in paradise, see note 41 on 18:31.
30 For the rendering of hur 'in as "companions pure, most beautiful of eye", see scrah 56, notes 8 and 1 3 . It is to be noted that the noun zawj (lit., "a pair" or - according to the context - "one of a pair") applies to either of the two sexes, as does the transitive verb zawaja, "he paired" or "joined", i.e., one person with another.
31 Cf. 43:73.
32 Lit., "except [or "beyond"] the first [i.e., erstwhile] death" (cf. 37:58-59).
33 I.e., by His having offered them guidance, of which they availed themselves: thus, the attainment of ultimate felicity is the result of an interaction between God and man, and of man's communion with Him.]]