42. Sura ash-Shura
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
اللَّهُ
لَطِيفٌ ...
42: 19. Gracious is Allah
C4552. Latif so kind, gracious, and understanding, as to bestow gifts finely suited to the needs of the recipients.
For the various meanings of Latif, see n. 2844 to 22:63.
Cf. also 12:100.
... بِعِبَادِهِ ...
to His servants:
C4553. "Servants" here seems to include all men, just and unjust, for Allah provides for them all.
... يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاء...
He gives Sustenance to whom He pleases:
C4554. Sustenance, i.e., provision for all needs.
"To whom He pleases" is not restrictive, but modal, 'Allah provides for all, but His provision is according to His wise Will and Plan, and not according to people's extravagant demands.' He can provide for all, because He has complete power and can carry out His Will.
A further comment will be found in the next verse.
...وَهُوَ الْقَوِيُّ العَزِيزُ ﴿١٩﴾
and He has Power and can carry out His Will.
مَن
كَانَ يُرِيدُ
حَرْثَ الْآخِرَةِ
نَزِدْ لَهُ
فِي حَرْثِهِ...
42: 20. To any that desires the tilth of the Hereafter, We give increase in his tilth;
...وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِن نَّصِيبٍ ﴿٢٠﴾
and to any that desires the tilth of this world, We grant somewhat thereof, but he has no share or lot in the Hereafter.
C4555. The parable is from the efforts of the husbandman, who ploughs and prepares the soil, sows the seed, weeds in due season, and reaps the harvest, You reap as you sow. But Allah will add manifold advantages for spiritual tilth. To those who are only engrossed in the vanities of this world, something may accrue in this world, but the next world is closed to them.
أَمْ
لَهُمْ شُرَكَاء
شَرَعُوا لَهُم
مِّنَ الدِّينِ
مَا لَمْ يَأْذَن
بِهِ اللَّهُ...
42: 21. What!
have they partners (in godhead), who have established for them some religion without the permission of Allah?
C4556. Nothing can exist without the permission of Allah. Can people, who indulge in false worship say: "Why does Allah permit it?"
The answer is: "a certain latitude is allowed with the grant of a limited form of free will. When the time for Judgment comes, the Punishment is sure."
See n. 1810 to 13:6.
Decree (or Word) of Judgment: See n. 1407 to 10:19.
...وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةُ الْفَصْلِ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٢١﴾
Had it not been for the Decree of Judgement, the matter would have been decided between them (at once): but verily the wrongdoers will have a grievous Penalty.
تَرَى
الظَّالِمِينَ
مُشْفِقِينَ
مِمَّا كَسَبُوا
وَهُوَ وَاقِعٌ
بِهِمْ..
42:.
22. Thou wilt see the wrongdoers in fear on account of what they have earned, and (the burden of) that must (necessarily) fall on them.
C4557. The chief feature of the punishment of wrong-doing is that the minds of the wrong-doers are haunted with terror on account of their own guilty conscience. They cannot possibly escape the weight of that terror.
...وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فِي رَوْضَاتِ الْجَنَّاتِ...
But those who believe and work righteous deeds will be in the luxuriant meads of the Gardens:
C4558. In contrast with the withering terror of the wrong-doers is the ease and rational happiness of those who do good. "On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" (2:38).
...لَهُم مَّا يَشَاؤُونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الكَبِيرُ ﴿٢٢﴾
they shall have before their Lord, all that they wish for: that will indeed be the magnificent Bounty (of Allah).
Their wills will have been purified, and they shall have all that they shall desire, "before their Lord". That is, their highest Bliss will be the sight of their Lord. No higher Bounty can they wish for.
Asad’s Version:
42:19
GOD is most kind unto His creatures: He provides sustenance for whomever He wills - for He alone is powerful, almighty!
(42:20) To him who desires a harvest in the life to come, We shall grant an increase in his harvest; whereas to him who desires [but] a harvest in this world, We [may] give something thereof - but he will have no share in [the blessings of] the life to come. 24
42:21
Is it that they [who care for no more than this world] believe in forces supposed to have a share in God's divinity,- which enjoin upon them as a moral law something that God has never allowed? 28 Now were it not for [God's) decree dn the final judgment, 27 all would indeed have been decided between them [in this world]: 27 but, verily, grievous suffering awaits the evildoers [in the life to come].
42:22 [In that life to come,] thou wilt see the evildoers full of fear at [the thought of] what they have earned: for [now] it is bound to fall back upon them. And in the flowering meadows of the gardens [of paradise thou wilt see] those who have
attained to faith and done righteous deeds: all that they might desire shall they have with their Sustainer: [and] this, this is the great bounty –
[[ Asad’s note - 24 I.e., whereas those who live righteously and turn their endeavours towards spiritual ends are sure to receive in the hereafter more than they are hoping for, those who strive exclusively after worldly rewards may - but not necessarily will - achieve something, and not necessarily all, of their aims, without having any reason to expect "a share in the blessings" that await the righteous in the hereafter.
27 Lit., "word of decision"; i.e., that His final judgment shall be postponed until the Day of Resurrection (see next note).
28 I.e., God would have made a clear-cut distinction, in this world, between those who look forward to the hereafter and those who care for no more than worldly success, by granting unlimited happiness to the former and causing the latter to suffer: but since it is only in the hereafter that maris life is to be truly fulfilled, God has willed to postpone this distinction until then. ]]