7. Sura al-Araf

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا الَّذِي...

7: 158. Say:

"O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah,

C1131. Our attention having been directed to various prophets, who were sent with missions to their several peoples, and in each of whose careers there is some prefigurement of the life of the last and greatest of them, we are now asked to listen to the proclamation of Muhammad's universal mission. We contemplate no longer, after this, partial truths.

It is not now a question of saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt, nor teaching Midian the ethics of business, nor reclaiming the people of Lut from sexual sin or Thamud from the sin of oppression in power, or 'Ad from arrogance and ancestor worship. Now are set forth plainly the issues of Life and Death, the Message of Allah, the One Universal God to all mankind.

...لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ...

to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth:

...لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ يُحْيِـي وَيُمِيتُ...

there is no god but He:

it is He that giveth both life and death.

...فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ...

So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believed in Allah and His words:

C1132. "Unlettered," as applied to the Prophet here and in verse 157 above, has three special significations.

1. He was not versed in human learning: yet he was full of the highest wisdom, and had a most wonderful knowledge of the previous Scriptures. This was a proof of his inspiration.

It was a miracle of the highest kind, a "Sign", which every one could test then, and every one can test now.

2. All organized human knowledge tends to be crystallized, to acquire a partial bias or flavour of some "school" of thought. The highest Teacher had to be free from any such taint, just as a clean slate is necessary if a perfectly clear and bold message has to be written on it.

3. In 3:20 and 62:2, the epithet is applied to the Pagan Arabs, because, before the advent of Islam, they were unlearned.

That the last and greatest of the Prophets should arise among them, and they and their language be made the vehicle of the new, full and universal light, has also a meaning, which is explained in C. 12-15.

...وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٨﴾

follow him that (so) ye may be guided."

Other versions:

7: 158

Asad Say [ O Muhammad]: “O humankind! Verily, I am an apostle of God to all of you,

Yusuf Ali Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all as the apostle of Allah to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His apostle the unlettered Prophet who believed in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."

Pickthall Say (O Muhammad): O mankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah to you all--(the messenger of) Him unto whom belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no God save Him. He quickeneth and He giveth death. So believe in Allah and His messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believeth in Allah and in His words and follow him that haply ye may be led aright.

Transliteration Qul ya_ ayyuhan na_su inni rasu_lulla_hi ilaikum jami'anillazi lahu_ mulkus sama_wa_ti wal ard(i), la_ ila_ha illa_ huwa yuhyi wa yumit(u), fa a_minu_ billa_hi wa rasu_lihin nabiyyil ummiyyil lazi yu'minu billa_hi wa kalima_tihi wattabi'u_hu la'allakum tahtadu_n(a).

[ Asad Note 126: This verse, placed parenthetically in the midst of the story of Moses and the children of Israel, is meant to elucidate the preceding passage. Each of the earlier prophets was sent to his, and only his, community: thus, the Old Testament addresses itlsef only to the children of Israel; and even Jesus, whose message had a wider bearing, speaks of himself as “ sent only unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” [Mathew XV, 24]. In contrast, the Message of the Quran is universal – that is, addressed to humankind as a whole -………….]