22. Sura al-Hajj
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
22: 32. Such (is his state):
...وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ ...
and whoever holds in honor the Symbols of Allah, (in the sacrifice of animals),
C2807. Sha'air, symbols, signs, marks by which something is known to belong to some particular body of men, such as flags.
In 2:158 the word was applied to Safa and Marwa: see n. 160 there.
Here it seems to be applied to the rites of sacrifice. Such sacrifice is symbolical: it should betoken dedication and piety of heart.
See below, 22:37.
... فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ ﴿٣٢﴾
such (honor) should come truly from piety of heart.
لَكُمْ
فِيهَا
مَنَافِعُ إِلَى
أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى...
22: 33. In them ye have benefits for a term appointed:
C2808. In them: in cattle, or animals offered for sacrifice.
It is quite true that they are useful in many ways to man, e.g., camels in desert countries are useful as mounts or for carrying burdens, or for giving milk, and so for horses and oxen: and camels and oxen are also good for meat, and camel's hair can be woven into cloth; goats and sheep also yield milk and meat, and hair or wool. But if they are used for sacrifice, they become symbols by which men show that they are willing to give up some of their own benefits for the sake of satisfying the needs of their poorer brethren.
...ثُمَّ مَحِلُّهَا إِلَى الْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ ﴿٣٣﴾
in the end their place of sacrifice is near the Ancient House.
C2809. Ila: towards, near.
The actual sacrifice is not performed in the Ka'bah, but at Mina, five or six miles off, where the Pilgrims encamp:
see n. 217 to 2:197.
Thumma: then, finally, in the end; i.e., after all the rites have been performed, Tawaf, Safa and Marwa, and 'Arafat.
Asad’s Version:
22:32
This is [to be borne in mind]. And anyone who honours the symbols set up by God 47 [shall know that,] verily, these [symbols derive their value] trom the God-consciousness in the [believers'] hearts.
22:32
|
|
||
|
Thalika waman yuAAaththim shaAAa-ira Allahi fa-innaha min taqwa alquloobi |
||
Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning |
|||
|
This is [to be borne in mind]. And anyone who honours the symbols set up by God [shall know that] verily, these [symbols derive their value] from the God-consciousness in the [believers’] hearts. |
||
|
That (is the command). And whoso magnifieth the offerings consecrated to Allah, it surely is from devotion of the hearts, |
||
|
That (shall be so); and whoever respects the signs of Allah, this surely is (the outcome) of the piety of hearts. |
||
|
Such (is his state): and whoever holds in honour the symbols of Allah, (in the sacrifice of animals), such (honour) should come truly from piety of heart. |
||
|
Thus it is. He who honours the symbols set up by God shows the piety of his heart. |
||
|
So be it, and he who honours Allah's sacred acts and rites and turns his thoughts upon the duties owed to Him will have won Allah's affection; for honouring Allah's rites is an endearment of the hearts reflective of piety. |
||
|
Thus, and whoever honours the decrees of God, then it is from the piety of the hearts. |
||
Asad’s Version:
(22:33) In that [God-consciousness] you shall find benefits until a term set [by Him is fulfilled], 48 and [you shall know that] its goal and end is the Most Ancient Temple. 4 '
Other Versions:
لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَنَافِعُ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ثُمَّ مَحِلُّهَا إِلَى الْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ |
|
||
|
Lakum feeha manafiAAu ila ajalin musamman thumma mahilluha ila albayti alAAateeqi |
||
Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning |
|||
|
In that [God-consciousness] you shall find benefits until a term set [by Him is fulfilled], and [you shall know that] its goal and end is the Most Ancient Temple. |
||
|
Therein are benefits for you for an appointed term; and afterward they are brought for sacrifice unto the ancient House. |
||
|
You have advantages in them till a fixed time, then their place of sacrifice is the Ancient House. |
||
|
In them ye have benefits for a term appointed: in the end their place of sacrifice is near the Ancient House. |
||
|
You may benefit from the animals for an appointed time. Then they must be sacrificed at the Ancient House. |
||
|
You advantage yourselves of them up to a determined point of time then they are taken to where they belong, the Ancient Sacrosanct House, where they are sacrificed and pilgrimage will have had all its rites. |
||
|
In them are benefits to an appointed time, then their place is to the ancient sanctuary. |
|
|
[[ Asad’s notes -
47 Lit., "God's symbols (sha'a'ir)" - an expression which in this context refers to the rites of pilgrimage (see the second half of note 4 on 5:2). This stress on the symbolic character of all the rites connected with the pilgrimage is meant to draw the believer's attention to the spiritual meaning of those rites, and thus to warn him against making, unthinkingly, a sort of fetish of them. - The assumption of some of the commentators that the "symbols" referred to here relate specifically to the sacrificial animals, resp. their sacrifice as such, is not warranted by the text. As Tabari explains in his commentary on this and the next verse, the term sha'a'ir comprises all the rites, actions and places connected with the pilgrimage (all of which have a symbolic meaning), and cannot be restricted to any one of them.
48 I.e., "until the end of your lives" (Baydawi).
49 The noun mahill, derived from the verb halla (lit., "he untied" or "undid" [e.g., a knot]", or "he loosened [a load]", or "he alighted"), denotes primarily a "destination", as well as "the time or place at which an obligation [e.g., a debt] falls due" (Taj al-'Arus). In the above context, in which this term obviously relates to the "God-consciousness" (taqwa) unequivocally mentioned in the preceding verse, it has the tropical meaning of "goal and end", implying that the realization of God's oneness and uniqueness - symbolized by the Ka'bah (the "Most Ancient Temple") - is
the goal and end of all~rue God-consciousness.]]
[[Ali’s translation and notes -
