32. As-Sajdah (Prostration), 30 verses

Mecca Period 75

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِنَّمَا يُؤْمِنُ بِآيَاتِنَا الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهَا خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا...

32: 15 Only those believe in Our Signs who, when they are recited to them, fall down in adoration,

C3647. "In adoration": Sujjadan, or in a posture of prostration, expressive of deep humility and faith. This is the keyword of the Surah, which bears the title of Sajdah.

All the Signs of Allah lead our thoughts upwards towards Him, and when they are expounded, our attitude should be one of humble gratitude to Allah. At this passage it is usual to make a prostration. (R).

... وَسَبَّحُوا بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ...

and celebrate the praises of their Lord,

... وَهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ ﴿١٥﴾

nor are they (ever) puffed up with pride.

تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ...

32: 16. Their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep,

C3648. Junub: sides, on which men sleep and turn in their sleep: I have translated this "limbs" for shortness. Holy Men and women "breathless with adoration" shun soft, comfortable beds, and luxurious sleep. Their limbs are better exercised in offices of devotion and prayer, especially by night.

Commentators specially refer this to Prayers called Tahajjud, which are offered after midnight in the small hours of the morning, in twelve rak'at.

... يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا...

the while they call on their Lord, in Fear and Hope:

C3649. In Fear and Hope: in spiritual fear lest their dedication to Allah should not be sufficiently worthy to be accepted, and a spiritual longing or hope that their shortcomings will be overlooked by the Mercy of Allah.

And their adoration is not shown only in Prayer, but also in practical Service and Charity, out of whatever gifts they may have received from Allah.

... وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ ﴿١٦﴾

and they spend (in charity) out of the sustenance which We have bestowed on them.

فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ...

32: 17. Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them --

C3650. Delights of the eye: an idiom for that which pleases most and gives most satisfaction.

In our present state we can scarcely imagine the real Bliss that will come to us in the Future.

...جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٧﴾

as a reward for their (good) Deeds.

أَفَمَن كَانَ مُؤْمِنًا كَمَن كَانَ فَاسِقًا...

32: 18. Is then the man who believes no better than the man who is rebellious and wicked?

C3651. The Future of the two classes-the Blessed and the Wicked-is described in verses 19-22.

...لَّا يَسْتَوُونَ ﴿١٨﴾

No equal are they.

Asad’s Version:

32;15

ONLY THEY [truly] believe in Our messages who, whenever they are conveyed to them, fall down, prostrating themselves in adoration, and extol their Sustainer's limitless glory and praise; and who are never filled with false pride;

(32: 16) [and] who are impelled to rise 14 from their beds [at night] to call out to their Sustainer in fear and hope; and who spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance.

32:17

And [as for all such believers,] no human being can imagine what blissful delights, as yet hidden, await them [in the life to come] 15 as a reward for all that they did.

(32: 18) Is, then, he who [in his earthly life] was a believer to be compared with one who was iniquitous? [Nay,] these two are not equal!

32:19

As for those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds - gardens of rest await them, as a welcome [from God], in result of what they did;

[[Asad’s notes - 14 Lit., "whose sides [i.e.. bodies] restlessly rise".

15 Lit., "what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of maris really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith; "God says: 'I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived'"

(Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse' (cf Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f). ]