28. Al-Qasas, (The Story)

Mecca Period 49

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاء وَيَخْتَارُ...

28: 68 Thy Lord does create and choose as He pleases:

C3397. As He pleases: according to His own Will and Plan.

Allah is not dependent on other people for advice or help. He has no partners. All creation is an act of His Will, and no one can direct Him how or why certain things should be, because He is supreme in wisdom and knowledge.

He chooses His messengers also by His own unfettered choice. Inspiration or spiritual knowledge and dignity cannot be judged of by our relative or temporary standards. Worldly greatness or even wisdom do not necessarily go with spiritual insight.

...مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ ...

no choice have they (in the matter):

...سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿٦٨﴾

Glory to Allah!

and far is He above the partners they ascribe (to Him)!

وَرَبُّكَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ ﴿٦٩﴾

28: 69. And thy Lord knows all that their hearts conceal and all that they reveal.

C3398. Men may form all sorts of vain wishes or conceal their designs. But Allah's Will is supreme, and nothing can withstand its fulfilment.

وَهُوَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ...

28: 70. And He is Allah:

there is no god but He.

...لَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي الْأُولَى وَالْآخِرَةِ...

To him be praise, at the first and at the last:

...وَلَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾

or Him is the Command, and to Him shall ye (all) be brought back.

Asad’s Version:

28:68 AND [thus it is:] thy Sustainer creates whatever He wills; and He chooses [for mankind] whatever is best for them. 74 Limitless is God in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity!

(28:69) And thy Sustainer knows all that their hearts conceal as well as all that they bring into the open:

(28:70) for He is God, save whom there is no deity. Unto Him all praise is due, at the beginning and at the end [of time] ; 75 and with Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back.

[[Asad’s notes - 74 Some of the classical commentators incline to interpret the ma in the phrase ma kana lahum al- khirah as a particle of negation and the noun khirah as "choice" or "freedom of choice", thus giving to this phrase the meaning of "He chooses, [but] they [i.e., human beings] have no freedom of choice". To my mind, however, this interpretation conflicts not only with the immediately preceding passages but with the tenor of the Qur'an as a whole, which insists throughout on man's responsibility for (and, hence, on relative freedom in) choosing between right and wrong - and this side by side with its stress on God's unlimited power to determine the factual course of events.

Hence, I prefer to base my rendering on the interpretation advanced and convincingly argued by Tabari, who regards the crucial particle ma not as a negation but as a relative pronoun synonymous with alladhi ("that which" or "whatever"), and understands the noun khirah in its primary significance of "that which is chosen" or "preferred", i.e., because it is considered to be the best: in another word, as a synonym of khayr. Zamakhshari refers to this interpretation with evident approval (without, however, mentioning

Tabari specifically), and enlarges upon it thus: "God chooses for mankind whatever is best (ma huwa khayr) and most beneficial (aslah) for them, for He knows better than they themselves do what is good for them."

75 Or: "in this first [i.e., present life] as well as in the life to come" ]]