21. Surah Al Anbiya'
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّ
هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ
أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً
...
21: 92. Verily, this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood,
C2749. Ummah: this is best translated by Brotherhood here.
"Community", "race", and "nation." and "people" are words which import other ideas and do not quite correspond to "Ummah".
"Religion" and "Way of Life" are derived meanings, which could be used in other passages, but are less appropriate here.
Our attention has been drawn to people of very different temperaments and virtues, widely different in time, race, language, surroundings, history, and work to be performed, but forming the closest brotherhood as being men and women united in the highest service of Allah. They prefigure the final and perfected Brotherhood of Islam.
... وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونِ ﴿٩٢﴾
and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me (and no other).
وَتَقَطَّعُوا
أَمْرَهُم
بَيْنَهُمْ...
21: 93. But (later generations) cut off their affair (of unity), one from another:
C2750. Allah's Message was and ever is one; and His Messengers treated it as one. It is people of narrower views who come later and trade on the earlier names, that break up the Message and the Brotherhood into jarring camps and sects.
...كُلٌّ إِلَيْنَا رَاجِعُونَ ﴿٩٣﴾
(yet) will they all return to Us.
Other versions:
(21:93]
But men have torn their unity wide asunder, 90 [forgetting that] unto Us they all are bound to return.
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[[ Asad’s notes - 89 After calling to mind, inverses 48-91, some of the earlier prophets, all of whom stressed the oneness and uniqueness of God, the discourse returns to that principle of oneness as it ought to be reflected in the unity of all who believe in Him. (See 23:51 ff.)
90 This is the meaning of the idiomatic phrase, taqatta'u amrahum baynahum. As Zamakhshari points out, the sudden turn of the discourse from the second person plural to the third person is indicative of God's severe disapproval - His "turning away", as it were, from those who are or were guilty of breaking the believers' unity. (See also 23:53 and the corresponding note 30.) ]]
[[ Ruby’s notes – I disagree with Asad in his interpretation that what is meant here is disunity among believers. I believe the way these few verses sequenced it definitely means those who seek division and dissentions among humanity. There is One God and one humanity, there should be unity in the fundamental ideas of living and society and the pursuit of doing the right things and purpose. The divisions are created often on the smallest of issues or relatively unimportant issues.]]
[[ See the previous verse ]]
21:92 [al-Anbiyaa, Mecca 73]
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[[ Ruby’s note – Since the verse 51 is addressing all the Messengers then the ‘umma’ or people mentioned in the next verse 52 must mean all the people or humankind or humanity.]]
23 . Sura Al-Muminun
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَيُّهَا
الرُّسُلُ
كُلُوا مِنَ
الطَّيِّبَاتِ
وَاعْمَلُوا
صَالِحًا...
23:51. O ye Messengers! enjoy (all) things good and pure, and work righteousness:
C2908. Literally, "eat". See n. 776 to 5:66.
The prophets of Allah do not pose as ascetics, but receive gratefully all Allah's gifts, and show their gratitude by their righteous lives. (R).
...إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٥١﴾
for I am well-acquainted with (all) that ye do.
وَإِنَّ
هَذِهِ
أُمَّتُكُمْ
أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً...
Wa-inna hathihi ommatukum ommatan wahidatan |
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23: 52. And verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood,
C2909. Cf. 21:92-93.
All prophets form one Brotherhood: their message is one, and their religion and teaching are one; they serve the One True God, Who loves and cherishes them; and they owe their duty to Him and Him alone.
...وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاتَّقُونِ ﴿٥٢﴾
waana rabbukum faittaqooni
and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore fear Me (and no other).
فَتَقَطَّعُوا
أَمْرَهُم
بَيْنَهُمْ
زُبُرًا...
23: 53. But people have cut off their affair (of unity), between them, into sects:
...كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ ﴿٥٣﴾
each party rejoices in that which is with itself.
C2910. The people who began to trade on the names of the prophets cut off that unity and made sects; and each sect rejoices in its own narrow doctrine, instead of taking the universal teaching of Unity from Allah. But this sectarian confusion is of man's making. It will last for a time, but the rays of Truth and Unity will finally dissipate it.
فَذَرْهُمْ
فِي غَمْرَتِهِمْ
حَتَّى حِينٍ
﴿٥٤﴾
23: 54. But leave them in their confused ignorance for a time.
أَيَحْسَبُونَ
أَنَّمَا
نُمِدُّهُم
بِهِ مِن مَّالٍ
وَبَنِينَ ﴿٥٥﴾
23: 55. Do they think that because We have granted them abundance of wealth and sons,
نُسَارِعُ
لَهُمْ فِي
الْخَيْرَاتِ...
23: 56. We would hasten them on in every good?
...بَل لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴿٥٦﴾
Nay, they do not understand.
C2911. Worldly wealth, power, and influence may be but trials. Let not their possessors think that they are in themselves things that will necessarily bring them happiness.
Other versions:
23:51 [al-Muminun, Mecca 74 - Asad]
O YOU APOSTLES! Partake of the good things of life, 27 and do righteous deeds: verily, I have full knowledge of all that you do.
Ya ayyuha alrrusulu kuloo mina alttayyibati waiAAmaloo salihan innee bima taAAmaloona AAaleemun |
Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning |
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O YOU APOSTLES! Partake of the good things of life, and do righteous deeds: verily, I have full knowledge of all that you do. |
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O ye messengers! Eat of the good things, and do right. Lo! I am Aware of what ye do. |
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O messengers! eat of the good things and do good; surely I know what you do. |
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O ye messengers! enjoy (all) things good and pure, and work righteousness: for I am well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. |
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O you Messengers! Eat of what is good and do as one in accord with morality. Truly, I am Knowing of what you do. |
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Messengers, eat what is wholesome and do good deeds: I am well aware of what you do. |
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0 messengers, eat wholesome things and act honorably; I am Aware of anything you do. |
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-We said to each and all Our Messengers- "O you Messengers:" exhort your people to: eat of all that has been rendered lawful and all that is worthy, good and wholesome and imprint your deeds with wisdom and piety, for I am 'AlimUn (Omniscient) of all that you do. |
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"O messengers, eat from what is good, and do righteous work. I am aware of what you do." |
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[[Asad’s note - 27 This rhetorical apostrophe to all of God's apostles is meant to stress their humanness and mortality, and thus to refute the argument of the unbelievers that God could not have chosen "a mortal like ourselves" to be His message-bearer: an argument which overlooks the fact that only human beings who themselves "partake of the good things of life" are able to understand the needs and motives of their fellow-men and, thus, to guide them in their spiritual and social concerns. ]]
28 As in 21 :92, the above verse is addressed to all who truly believe in God, whatever their historical denomination. By the preceding reference to all of God's apostles the Qur'an clearly implies that all of them were inspired by, and preached, the same fundamental truths,
notwithstanding all the differences in the ritual or the specific laws which they propounded in accordance with the exigencies of the time and the social development of their followers. (See notes 66-68 on the second paragraph of 5:48.) ]]
(23:52) And, verily, this community of yours is one
single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all: remain, then, conscious of Me! 28
Wa-inna hathihi ommatukum ommatan wahidatan waana rabbukum faittaqooni |
Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning |
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And, verily, this community of yours is one single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all: remain, then, conscious of Me! |
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And lo! this your religion is one religion and I am your Lord, so keep your duty unto Me. |
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And surely this your religion is one religion and I am your Lord, therefore be careful (of your duty) to Me. |
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And verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore fear Me (and no other). |
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And, truly, this, your community is one community and I am your Lord so be Godfearing. |
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Your religion is but one religionand I am your only Lord, therefore, fear Me. |
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This nation of yours [forms] one community while I am your Lord, so heed me! |
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"All of you are but one people and you constitute one nation. Allah's message is one. His system of faith and worship is one and I am Allah, your Creator, therefore, I exact from you obedience and that you entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Me." |
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"And this is your nation, one nation, and I am your Lord so be aware." |
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23:52 [Ali]
23:53 [al-Muminin, Mecca 74, Asad]
But they [who claim to follow you] have torn their unity wide asunder, 29 ' piece by piece, each
group delighting in [but] what they themselves possess [by way of tenets]. 30
(23:54) But leave
them alone, lost in their ignorance, until a [future] time. 31
[[ Asad’s note - 29 Cf. 21:93.
30 Lit.; "in what they have [themselves]". In the first instance, this verse refers to the various religious groups as such: that is to say, to the followers of one or another of the earlier revelations who, in the course of time, consolidated themselves within different "denominations", each of them jealously guarding its own set of tenets, dogmas and rituals and intensely intolerant of all other ways of worship (manasik, see 22:67). In the second instance, however, the above condemnation applies to the breach of unity within each of the established religious groups; and since it applies to the followers of all the prophets, it includes the latter-day followers of Muhammad as well, and thus constitutes a prediction and condemnation of the doctrinal disunity prevailing in the world of Islam in our times - cf. the well- authenticated saying of the Prophet quoted by Ibn Hanbal, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi and Darimi: "The Jews have been split up into seventy-one sects, the Christians into seventy-two sects, whereas my community will be split up into seventy-three sects. " (It should be remembered that in classical Arabic usage the number seventy" often stands for "many" -just as "seven" stands for "several" or "various" - and does not necessarily denote an actual figure; hence, what the Prophet meant to say was that the sects and divisions among the Muslims of later days would become many, and even more numerous than those among the Jews and the Christians.)
31 I.e., until they themselves realize their error. This sentence is evidently addressed to the last of the apostles, Muhammad, and thus to all who truly follow him.]]
23:55
Do they think that by all the wealth and offspring with which We provide them
(23:56) We [but want to] make them vie with one another in doing [what they consider] good works? 32 Nay, but they do not perceive ftheir error]!
[[Asad’s note - 32 I.e., "Do they think that by bestowing on them worldly prosperity God but wants them to vie with one another in their race after material goods and comforts, which they mistakenly identify with 'doing good works'?" Another - linguistically permissible - rendering of the above two verses would be: "Do they think that by all the wealth and offspring with which We provide them We (but] hasten on [the coming] to them of all that is good?" Either of these two renderings implies, firstly, that worldly prosperity is not the ultimate good, and, secondly, that the breach of the unity spoken of in the preceding passage was, more often than not, an outcome of mere worldly greed and of factional striving after power. ]]
