25.Surah Al Furqan

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ السَّمَاء بِالْغَمَامِ وَنُزِّلَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ تَنزِيلًا ﴿٢٥﴾

25: 25. [Ali] The Day the heaven shall be rent asunder with clouds, and angels shall be sent down, descending (in ranks) --

C3082. It will be a new world, and the way to describe it must necessarily draw upon our present experience of the finest things in nature.

The sky, which now appears remote and unpeopled will be rent asunder. There will appear clouds of glory -angels and spiritual Lights of all grades and ranks- and the true majesty and goodness of Allah will be visible as it should be in reality, and as it is not now, on account of "our muddy vesture of decay". (R).

25:26

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَنِ...

25: 26. That Day, the dominion as of right and truth, shall be (wholly) for (Allah) Most Merciful:

C3083. See last note.

... وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا ﴿٢٦﴾

it will be a day of dire difficulty for the disbelievers.

وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ...

25: 27. The Day that the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, He will say,

... يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا ﴿٢٧﴾

"Oh! would that I had taken a (straight) path with the Messenger!

C3084. The words are general, and for us the interest is in a general sense.

A man who actually receives the Truth and is on the right path is all the more culpable if he is diverted from that path by the machinations of a worldly friend.

The particular person whom some Commentators mention in this connection was one 'Uqba who received the light of Islam, but was misled afterwards by a worldly friend into apostasy and blasphemy. He came to an evil end afterwards.

يَا وَيْلَتَى لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا ﴿٢٨﴾

25: 28. "Ah! woe is me! would that I had never taken such a one for a friend!

لَقَدْ أَضَلَّنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءنِي...

25: 29. "He did lead me astray from the Message (of Allah) after it had come to me!

... وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا ﴿٢٩﴾

Ah! the Evil One is but a traitor to man!

C3085. The seductive wiles of the Satan are merely meant for snares. There is fraud and treachery in them. The deceived ones are left in the lurch after the way of escape is made impossible for them.

وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا ﴿٣٠﴾

25: 30. Then the Messenger will say:

"O my Lord! truly my people took this Qur'án for just foolish nonsense."

C3086. "My people" are of course the unbelieving Quraish. They treated the Quran with neglect, i.e., something to be discarded. But they were only a handful of people whose vested interests were touched by the beneficent reforms initiated by Islam.

They soon passed away, and all Arabic-speaking or Arabic-understanding people have considered the Quran as a treasury of Truths expressed in the most beautiful possible language, with a meaning that grows deeper with research. (R).

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا مِّنَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ...

25: 31. Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy among the sinners:

... وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ هَادِيًا وَنَصِيرًا ﴿٣١﴾

but enough is thy Lord to guide and to help.

C3087. It is the nature of sin to be hostile to truth and righteousness, but such hostility will not harm the righteous and need cause no misgiving because Allah will guide and help those who work in His cause.

And what could he better or more effective than His guidance and help?

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ الْقُرْآنُ جُمْلَةً وَاحِدَةً...

25: 32. Those who reject Faith say: "Why is not the Qur'án revealed to him all at once?"

... كَذَلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهِ فُؤَادَكَ وَرَتَّلْنَاهُ تَرْتِيلًا ﴿٣٢﴾

Thus (is it revealed), that We may strengthen thy heart thereby,

and We have rehearsed it to thee in slow, well-arranged stages, gradually.

C3088. Three reasons are given for the gradual revelation of the Quran.

- "To strengthen thy heart": the tremendous task of winning the Arab nation, and, through them, the whole world, to Islam, required superhuman patience, constancy, and firmness, and these qualities were strengthened by the gradual promulgation of solutions to each difficulty as it arose.

- "Slow, well-arranged stages": though the stages were gradual, as the occasion demanded from time to time, in the course of twenty-three years, the whole emerged, when completed, as a well-arranged scheme of spiritual instruction, as we have seen in following the arrangement of the Suras.

- Questions put and answers given: see next note.

وَلَا يَأْتُونَكَ بِمَثَلٍ إِلَّا جِئْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ وَأَحْسَنَ تَفْسِيرًا ﴿٣٣﴾

25: 33. And no question do they bring to thee but We reveal to thee the truth and the best explanation (thereof).

C3089. Divine knowledge is a fathomless ocean. But glimpses of it can be obtained by any individuals sincerely searching for the Truth. Their progress will be in grades. If they ask questions, and answers are then furnished to them, they are more likely to apprehend the Truth, as they have already explored the part of the territory in which they are interested.

In the same way, when concrete questions arise by the logic of events, and they are answered not only for the occasion, but from a general stand-point, the teaching has a far greater chance of penetrating the human intelligence and taking shape in practical conduct. And this is the usual way of instruction in the Quran.

Asad’s Version:

25:25

And on the Day on which the skies, together with the clouds, shall burst asunder, and the angels are made to descend in a mighty descent –

(25:26) on that Day [it will become obvious to all that] true sovereignty belongs to the Most Gracious [alone]: hence, a Day of distress will it be for all who deny the truth,

(25:27) and a Day on which the evildoer will bite his hands (in despair], exclaiming: "Oh, would that I had followed the path shown to me by the apostle! 21

(25:28) Oh, woe is me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for a friend!

(25:29) Indeed, he led me astray from the remembrance (of God] after it had come unto me!" For (thus it is:] Satan is ever a betrayer of man. 22

25:30

AND (on that Day] the Apostle will say: 23 "0 my Sustainer! Behold, [some of] my people have come to regard this Qur'an as something [that ought to be] discarded !" 24

(25:31) For so it is that against every prophet We have set up enemies from among those who are lost in sin: 25 yet none can guide and give succour as thy Sustainer does!

25:32

Now they who are bent on denying the truth are wont to ask, "Why has not the Qur'an been bestowed on him from on high in one single revelation?" 26 (It has been revealed] in this manner so that We might strengthen thy heart thereby - for We have so arranged its component parts that they form one consistent whole. 27 –

(25:33) and [that] they [who deny the truth] might never taunt thee with any deceptive half-truth 28 without Our conveying to thee the [full] truth and [providing thee] with the best explanation. 29