27. Surah Al-naml
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَإِذَا
وَقَعَ
الْقَوْلُ
عَلَيْهِمْ
...
27: 82. And when the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust),
C3312. The Word. the Decree or Sentence, the Decision to end the respite and restore the true values of right and wrong in a new world: their cup of iniquity will then have been full.
... أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ...
We shall produce from the earth a beast to (face) them:
C3313. The Beast will be one of the Signs of the Last Days to come, before the present World passes away and the new World is brought into being.
In symbolic language it would represent gross Materialism. It will be the embodiment of fat worldly triumph, which will appeal to a misguided and degenerate world, because such a corrupt world will have no assured belief in the Signs of Allah or in spiritual Light. It will itself he a Sign or Portent, closing the door or repentance. I do not know whether this Beast has any reference to the symbolism in chapter xii of the Book of Revelation, which closes the New Testament.
...تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ ﴿٨٢﴾
he will speak to them, for that mankind did not believe with assurance in our Signs.
If taklimuhum is read instead of tukallimuhum, it would mean that the Beast would wound them, symbolically, that Materialism would produce its own Nemesis.
وَيَوْمَ
نَحْشُرُ
مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ
فَوْجًا مِّمَّن
يُكَذِّبُ
بِآيَاتِنَا
فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ
﴿٨٣﴾
27:83. [Ali] One Day We shall gather together from every people a troop of those who reject Our Signs, and they shall be kept in ranks --
حَتَّى
إِذَا
جَاؤُوا قَالَ
أَكَذَّبْتُم
بِآيَاتِي...
27: 84. Until, when they come (before the Judgment-Seat), Allah will say:
"Did ye reject My Signs,
...وَلَمْ تُحِيطُوا بِهَا عِلْمًا ...
though ye comprehended them not in knowledge,
C3314. The charge against them will be:
'You had no knowledge, and yet you arrogantly rejected My Signs: is that true, or have you any plea in your defence?'
... أَمَّاذَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٨٤﴾
or what was it ye did?"
وَوَقَعَ
الْقَوْلُ
عَلَيْهِم بِمَا
ظَلَمُوا فَهُمْ
لَا يَنطِقُونَ
﴿٨٥﴾
27: 85. And the Word will be fulfilled against them, because of their wrongdoing, and they will be unable to speak (in plea).
C3315. There will be no plea, because the charge will be only too true.
The Decree will be passed and executed.
Others version:
27:82 [Asad]
Now, [as for the deaf and blind of heart - I when the word [of truth] stands revealed against them, 73 We shall bring forth unto them out of the earth a creature which will tell them that mankind had no real faith in Our messages.
27:82 [Asad] Now, [as for the deaf and blind of heart - I when the word [of truth] stands revealed against them, 75 We shall bring forth unto them out of the earth a creature which will tell them that mankind had no real faith in Our messages. 74
27:83 [Asad] And on that Day We shall gather from within every community a host of those who gave the lie to Our messages; and they will be grouped [according to the gravity of their sins]
(27:84) until such a time as they shall come [to be judged. And] He will say: "Did you give the lie to My messages even though you failed to encompass them with [your] knowledge? 75 Or what was it that [you thought] you were doing?"
[[Asad’s notes - 73 Lit., "comes to pass against them" - i.e., when the truth becomes obvious to them against all their expectations, and thus confounds them utterly: an allusion to the approach of the Last Hour, Resurrection and God's Judgment, all of which they were wont to regard as "fables of ancient times" (cf. verses 67-68 above). Alternatively, the phrase idha waqa'a al-qawi 'alayhim may be understood as "when the sentence [of doom] is passed on them", i.e., at the approach of the Last Hour, when it will be too late for repentance.
74 The "creature brought forth out of the earth" is apparently an allegory of maris "earthly" outlook on life - in other words, the soul-destroying materialism characteristic of the time preceding the Last Hour. This "creature" parabolically "tells" men that their submergence in exclusively materialistic values - and, hence, their approaching self-destruction - is an outcome of their lack of belief in God. (See also 7:175-176 and the corresponding note 141.) ]]
Yuksel
- When the punishment has been deserved by them, We will bring out for them a creature made of earthly material, it will speak to them that the people have been unaware regarding Our signs.*
[[ Yuksel’s note - 027:082 Note that the creature mentioned here is described as dabbatan min al-ard (creature from earth), which means either a creature coming out of earth or a creature made of earthly materials. Could it refer to the computer that became the tool for the discovery of the code 19 and declaration of its message?
Unlike the creatures made of water (24:45), this one is made from earthly elements. After the discovery of the code 19, and from the context of this verse, this creature (DaBBa) might be understood as a reference to the computer that uses silicon as its essential part. In traditional books, there are bizarre descriptions of this prophesied creature. Contrary to the Quran’s positive depiction of the earth-based creature, hadith books contain negative descriptions.
Some may object to our interpretation by saying that the word DaBBa implies something alive that moves. This objection is reasonable. But, we prefer the computer to an animal since we can understand the phrase dabbatan min al-ard not as a creature geographically from earth, but rather a creature made of earth. Thus, we can accept some differences in mobility between the "dabba from water" and "dabba from earth." Since a computer has many moving parts, from its hard disk to the information carried by trillions of electrons, it is not a far-fetched understanding of DaBBa. See 72:24-28. ]]
27:83 [Asad] And on that Day We shall gather from within every community a host of those who gave the lie to Our messages; and they will be grouped [according to the gravity of their sins]
(27:84) until such a time as they shall come [to be judged. And] He will say: "Did you give the lie to My messages even though you failed to encompass them with [your] knowledge? 75 Or what was it that [you thought] you were doing?"
(27:85) And the word [of truth] will stand revealed against them in the face of 6 all the wrong which they had committed, and they will not [be able to] utter a single word [of excuse]:
Yuksel
27:82 When the punishment has been deserved by them, We will bring out for them a creature made of earthly material, it will speak to them that the people have been unaware regarding Our signs.*
27:83 The day We gather from every nation a party that denied Our signs, then they will be driven.
27:84 Until they have come, He will say, "Have you denied My signs while you had no explicit knowledge of them? What were you doing?"*
27:85 The punishment was deserved by them for what they transgressed, for they did not speak.