Sura 50, Qaf, Mecca Period 34

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ ...

50:16. It was We who created man and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him:

C4952. Allah created man, and gave him his limited free-will. Allah knows the inmost desires and motives of man even better than man does himself. He is nearer to a man than the man's own jugular vein.

The jugular vein is the big trunk vein, one on each side of the neck, which brings the blood back from the head to the heart. The two jugular veins correspond to the two carotid arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the head.

... وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ ﴿١٦﴾

for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.

As the blood-stream is the vehicle of life and consciousness, the phrase "nearer than the jugular vein" implies that Allah knows more truly the innermost state of our feeling and consciousness than does our own ego.

Asad’s version

50:16 NOW, VERILY, it is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his neck-vein.

(50:17) [And so,] whenever the two demands [of his nature] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left,"

(50:18) not even a word can he utter but there is a watcher with him, ever-present. 12

Shabbir Ahmed

And so it may happen that two conflicting demands in his mind, sitting in opposite directions, pull him apart. (His reason, and his emotions (50:21)).

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ ...

50:16. It was We who created man and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him:

... وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ ﴿١٦﴾

for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.

إِذْ يَتَلَقَّى الْمُتَلَقِّيَانِ ...

17. Behold, two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (his doings) learn (and note them),

C4953. Two angels are constantly by him to note his thoughts, words, and actions.

... عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ قَعِيدٌ ﴿١٧﴾

one sitting on the right and one on the left.

One sits on the right side and notes his good deeds and the other on the left, to note his bad deeds; corresponding to the Companions of the Right and the Companions of the Left mentioned in 56:27 and 41. (R).

مَا يَلْفِظُ مِن قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ ﴿١٨﴾

18. Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it).

C4954. Then each "word" spoken is taken down by a guardian (raqib).

This has been construed to mean that the guardian only records words, not thoughts which are not uttered.

Thoughts may be forgiven if not uttered, and still more if they do not issue in action. At the stage at which we clothe a thought in words, we have already done an action.

The Recorders mentioned in the last verse make a complete Record, in order to supply motives and springs of action, which will affect the degrees or status in the Hereafter.

The three together, individuals or kinds, make the honourable Recorders, Kiraman Katibin, (plural, not dual number) mentioned in 82:11.

Yuksel’s version

50:16 We have created the human being and We know what his person whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.

50:17 When the two receivers meet on the right and on the left.

50:18 He does not utter a word except with having a constant recorder.

[[Asad’s notes - 9 I.e., by the creation of the universe or, more specifically, of man.

10 Lit, "they".

1 1 The first part of the above sentence - i.e., the phrase yatalaqqa al— mutalaqqiyan - may be understood in either of two senses: "the two that are meant to receive do receive", or "the two that aim at meeting each other do meet" . The classical commentators adopt, as a rule, the first sense and, consequently, interpret the passage thus: the two angels that are charged with recording man's doings - do record them, sitting on his right and on his left". In my opinion, however, the second of the two possible meanings ("the two that aim at meeting each other") corresponds better with the preceding verse, which speaks of what man's innermost self (nafs) - whispers within him", i.e., voices his subconscious desires.

Thus, "the two that aim at meeting" are, I believe, the two demands of, or, more properly, the two fundamental motive forces within man's nature: his primal, instinctive urges and desires, both sensual and non-sensual (all of them comprised in the modern psychological term "libido"), on the one side, and his reason, both intuitive and reflective, on the other. The "sitting (qa'id) on the right and on the

left" is, to my mind, a metaphor for the conflicting nature of these dual forces which strive for predominance within every human being: hence, my rendering of qa'id as "contending". This interpretation is, moreover, strongly supported by the reference, in verse 21, to man's appearing on Judgment Day with "that which drives and that which bears witness" - a phrase which undoubtedly alludes to man's instinctive urges as well as his conscious reason (see note 14 below).

12 I.e., his conscience, The "uttering of a word" is conceptually connected with the "whispering" within man's psyche spoken of in the preceding verse. ]]