The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَوَلَمْ
يَرَوْا
أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا
حَرَمًا آمِنًا
وَيُتَخَطَّفُ
النَّاسُ مِنْ
حَوْلِهِمْ...
29:67 [Ali]. Do they not then see that We have made a Sanctuary secure, and that men are being snatched away from all around them?
C3500. If they want evidences of their folly in the phenomenal world itself, they will see sacred Sanctuaries where Allah's Truth abides safely in the midst of the Deluge of broken hopes, disappointed ambitions and unfulfilled plans in the world around.
The immediate reference was to the Sanctuary of Makkah and the gradual progress of Islam in the districts surrounding the Quraysh in the midst of the trying Makkan period.
But the general application holds good for all times and places.
...أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ يَكْفُرُونَ ﴿٦٧﴾
Then, do they believe in that which is vain, and reject the Grace of Allah?
وَمَنْ
أَظْلَمُ
مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى
عَلَى اللَّهِ
كَذِبًا أَوْ
كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ
لَمَّا جَاءهُ...
29:68 [Ali]. And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects the Truth when it reaches Him?
C3501. Cf. 6:21.
Even from a worldly point of view those who reject Allah's Truth are at a disadvantage. But those who deliberately invent lies and set up false gods for worship, what punishment can we imagine for them except a permanent deprivation of Allah's grace, and a home in Hell? (R).
...أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٦٨﴾
Is there not a home in Hell for those who reject Faith?
وَالَّذِينَ
جَاهَدُوا ...
29: 69. And those who strive in Our (Cause),
C3502. "Strive in Our Cause." All that man can do is to strive in Allah's Cause. As soon as he strives with might and main, with constancy and determination, the Light and Mercy of Allah come to meet him.
- They cure his defects and shortcomings.
- They provide him with the means by which he can raise himself above himself.
- They point out the Way, and all the Paths leading up to it.
See next note.
... فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا...
We will certainly guide them to Our Paths:
C3503. The Way of Allah (sirat-ul-Mustaqim) is a Straight Way. But men have strayed from it in all directions. And there are numerous Paths by which they can get back to the Right Way, the way in which the purity of their own nature, and the Will and Mercy of Allah require them to Walk.
All these numerous Paths become open to them if once they give their hearts in keeping to Allah and work in right Endeavour (Jihad) with all their mind and soul and resources. Thus will they get out of the Spider's web of this frail world and attain to eternal Bliss in the fulfillment of their true Destiny.
...وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٦٩﴾
for verily Allah is with those who do right.
Asad’s Version:
29:67 [Asad] Are they, then, not aware that We have set up a sanctuary secure [for those who believe in Us], the while all around them men are being carried away [by fear and despair]? 59 Will they, then, [continue to] believe in things false and vain, and thus God's blessings deny?
29:68 And who could be more wicked than he who attributes his own lying inventions to God, 60 or gives the lie to the truth when it comes unto him [through revelation]? Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who [thus] deny the truth?
29:69 But as for those who strive hard in Our cause - We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead unto Us:" for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.
[[Asad’s notes - 58. The particle li prefixed to the subsequent verbs yakfuru ("they show [utter] ingratitude") and yatarnatta'u- ("they enjoy [or "go on enjoying"] their worldly life") is not an indication of intent ("so that" or "in order that") but merely of a causal sequence; in the above context, it may be appropriately rendered as "and thus".
59 See note 58 on the second paragraph of 28:57. In contrast to the "sanctuary secure" - the inner peace and sense of spiritual fulfillment which God bestows on those who truly believe in Him - the atheist or agnostic is more often than not exposed to fear of the Unknown and a despair bom of the uncertainty as to what will happen to him after death.
60 I.e., by persuading himself that there is, side by side with God or even independently of Him, any "power" that could govern men's destinies.
61 Lit., "Our paths". The plural used here is obviously meant to stress the fact - alluded to often in the Qur'an - that there are many paths which lead to a cognizance (ma'rifah) of God. ]]