2. Surah Al Baqarah

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُم مَّنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُواْ اللّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا...

2: 200. So when ye have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate the praises of Allah, as ye used to celebrate the praises of your fathers, yea, with far more heart and soul.

C223. After the Pilgrimage, in Pagan times, the pilgrims used to gather in assemblies in which the praises of ancestors were sung.

As the whole of the pilgrimage rites were spiritualised in Islam, so this aftermath of the pilgrimage was also spiritualised. It was recommended for pilgrims to stay on two or three days after the pilgrimage, but they must use them in prayer and praise to Allah.

See 2:203 below. (R).

... فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاَقٍ ﴿٢٠٠﴾

There are men who say: "Our Lord! give us (thy bounties) in this world!" but they will have no portion in the Hereafter.

C224. If you hasten to get all the good things of the world, and only think of them and pray for them, you would lose the higher things of the future.

The proper Muslim attitude is neither to renounce this would nor to be so engrossed in it as to forget the spiritual future.

Other versions:

2: 200

Asad And when you have performed your acts of worship, [continue to] bear God in mind as you would bear your own fathers in mind – nay, with a yet keener remembrance! For there are people who [merely] pray, “O our Sustainer! Give us in this world” – and such shall not partake in the blessings of the life to come.

Yusuf Ali So when ye have accomplished your holy rites celebrate the praises of Allah as ye used to celebrate the praises of your fathers yea with far more heart and soul. There are men who say: "Our Lord! give us (thy bounties) in this world!" but they will have no portion in the hereafter.

Pickthall And when ye have completed your devotions, then remember Allah as ye remember your fathers or with a more lively remembrance. But of mankind is he who saith: "Our Lord! Give unto us in the world," and he hath no portion in the Hereafter.

Transliteration Fa iza_ qadaitum mana_sikakum fazkurulla_ha ka zikrikum a_ba_'akum au asyadda zikra_(n), fa minan na_si may yaqu_lu rabbana_ a_tina_ fid dunya_ wa ma_ lahu_ fil a_khirati min khala_q(in).

[Ali’s notes - 223 After the Pilgrimage, in Pagan times, the pilgrims used to gather in assemblies in which the praises of ancestors were sung. As the whole of the pilgrimage rites were spiritualized in Islam, so this aftermath of the pilgrimage was also spiritualized. It was recommended for pilgrims to stay on two or three days after the pilgrimage, but they must use them in prayer and praise to God. See ii. 203 below. (2.200)

224 If you hasten to get all the good things of the world, and only think of them and pray for them, you would lose the higher things of the future. The proper Muslim attitude is neither to renounce this world nor to be so engrossed in it as to forget the spiritual future. (2.200) ]