7. Sura al-Araf

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَاسْتَكْبَرُواْ عَنْهَا...

7 : 40. To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance,

لاَ تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاء وَلاَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى يَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِي سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ...

no opening will there be of the gates of heaven nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle:

...وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿٤٠﴾

such is Our reward for those in sin.

لَهُم مِّن جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ وَمِن فَوْقِهِمْ غَوَاشٍ...

7: 41. For them there is hell, as a couch (below) and folds and folds of covering above:

...وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿٤١﴾

such is Our requital of those who do wrong.

Other versions:

7: 40

Asad Verily, unto those who give the lie to Our messages and scorn them in their pride, the gates of heaven shall not be opened [note 31]; and they shall not enter paradise any more than a twisted rope can pass through a needle’s eye [note 32]: for thus do We require such as are lost in sin.

Yusuf Ali To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance no opening will there be of the gates of heaven nor will they enter the garden until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: such is Our reward for those in sin.

Pickthall Lo! they who deny Our revelations and scorn them, for them the gates of Heaven will not be opened nor will they enter the Garden until the camel goeth through the needle's eye. Thus do We requite the guilty.

Transliteration Innallazina kazzabu_ bi a_ya_tina_ wastakbaru_ 'anha_ la_ tufattahu lahum abwa_bus sama_'i wa la_ yadkhulu_nal jannata hatta_ yalijal jamalu fi sammil khiya_t(i), wa kaza_lika najzil mujrimin(a).

7: 41

Asad Hell will be their resting –place and their covering as well ….

Yusuf Ali For them there is hell as a couch (below) and folds and folds of covering above: such is Our requital of those who do wrong.

Pickthall Theirs will be a bed of Hell, and over them coverings (of Hell). Thus do We requite wrong doers.

Transliteration Lahum min jahannama miha_duw wa min fauqihim gawa_sy(in), wa kaza_lika najziz za_limin(a).

[[ Ruby’s note – There is a metaphor implying that it is an impossibility from a human point of view. But God can do anything. Therefore He may allow passing a rope through the eye of a needle and therefore also forgive the sinners.]]

[[ Asad’s note 31 – According to Ibn Abbas (as quoted by Razi), this metaphor signifies that God will not accept any of the good deeds of such sinners, nor their subsequent supplications.

Note 32 - ………….As for the word “jamal” occurring in this sentence, there is hardly any doubt that its translation, in this context, as “camel” is erroneous. ……..used to read the word in the spelling “jummal”, which signifies “a thick rope” or “a twisted cable”; It is to be noted that there are also several other dialectical spellings of this word, namely, jumal, juml, jumul and , finally jamal….-all of them signifying “a thick, twisted rope”(Jawhari), and all of them used in this sense by some of the Prophet’s companions or their immediate successors (tabiun). Ibn Abbas is also quopted by Zamakhshari as having said that God could not have coined so inappropriate a metaphor…-meaning there is no relationship whatsoever between a camel and a needle’s eye.]]