24. [an-Nur, Medina 102]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فِي بُيُوتٍ ...

24: 36. (Lit is such a light) in houses,

C3004. The punctuation of the Arabic text makes it necessary to carry back the adverbial clause "in houses", to something in the last verse, say "Lit from a blessed Tree", the intervening clauses being treated as parenthetical.

... أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ...

which Allah hath permitted to be raised to honor; for the celebration, in them of His name:

C3005. That is, in all places of pure worship;

but some Commentators understand special Mosques, such as the Ka'bah in Makkah or Mosques in Madinah or Jerusalem; for these are specially held in honour.

...يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ ﴿٣٦﴾

in them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings, (again and again) --

C3006. In the evenings: the Arabic word is Asal, a plural of a plural, to imply emphasis:

I have rendered that shade of meaning by adding the words "again and again".

رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ...

24: 37. By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah,

C3007. "Remembrance of Allah" is wider than Prayer:

it includes;

- silent contemplation, and

- active service of Allah and His creatures.

... وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ ...

nor from regular Prayer, nor from the practice of regular Charity:

The regular Prayers and regular Charity are the social acts performed through the organised community.

...يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ ﴿٣٧﴾

their (only) fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new) --

C3008. Some renderings suggest the effects of terror on the Day of Judgment. But here we are considering the case of the righteous, whose "fear" of Allah is akin to love and reverence and who (as the next verse shows) hope for the best reward from Allah. But the world they will meet will be a wholly changed one.

لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ...

24: 38. That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace:

C3009. The best of the righteous do not deserve the reward that they get: all their faults are forgiven, and only their best actions are considered in the reward that they get.

Nay, more!

Out of the unbounded Grace of Allah even more is added to them. For in giving rewards, Allah's bounty is boundless.

...وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاء بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ﴿٣٨﴾

for Allah doth provide for those whom He will, without measure.

Asad’s Version:

24:36

IN THE HOUSES [of worship] which God has allowed to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, 56 there [are such as] extol His limitless glory at morn and evening –

(24:37) people whom neither [worldly] commerce nor striving after gain 57 can divert from the remembrance of God, and from constancy in prayer, and from charity: 58 [people] who are filled with fear [at the thought] of the Day on which all hearts and eyes will be convulsed,

(24:38) [and who only hope] that God may reward them in accordance with the best that they ever did, and give them, out of His bounty, more [than they deserve]: for, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning.

[[Asad’s notes - 56 Lit., "and [ordained] that His name ...", etc.: implying, as the sequence shows, that the spiritual purpose of those houses of worship is fulfilled only by some, and not all, of the people who are wont to congregate in them out of habit.

57 Lit., "bargaining" or "selling" or "buying and selling" (bay 1 ) - a metonym for anything that might bring worldly gain.

58 For this rendering of the term zakah, see surah 2, note 34. ]]