7. Sura al-Araf, Mecca 39

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا فِي هَـذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ إِنَّا هُدْنَـا إِلَيْكَ...

7: 156. "And ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the hereafter:

for we have turned unto Thee."

...قَالَ عَذَابِي أُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ أَشَاء وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ...

He said:

"With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things.

C1125. Allah's mercy is in and for all things. All nature subserves a common purpose, which is for the good of all His creatures.

Our faculties and our understandings are all instances of His grace and mercy. Each unit or factor among his creatures benefits from the others and receives them as Allah's mercy to itself: and in its turn, each contributes to the benefit of the others and is thus an instance of Allah's mercy to them.

His mercy is universal and all-pervasive; while His justice and punishment are reserved for those who swerve from His plan and (to use a mediaeval juridical formula) go out of His Peace.

...فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَـاةَ...

That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those

- who do right,

- and practice regular charity,

...وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٥٦﴾

- and those who believe in Our signs;

C1126. The personal grace and mercy -and their opposite- are referred to the singular pronoun "I" while the impersonal Law, by which Allah's Signs operate in His universe, is referred to the plural pronoun of authority and dignity, "We".

Other Versions:

7: 156

Asad And ordain You for us what is good in this world as well as in the life to come: behold, unto You have we turned in repentance!” [God] answered: “With My chastisement do I afflict whom I will – but My grace overspreads everything [123]: and so I shall confer it on those who are conscious of me and spend in charity, and who believe in Our messages -

Pickthall And ordain for us in, this world that which is good, and in the Hereafter (that which is good), Lo! We have turned unto Thee. He said: I smite with My punishment whom I will, and My mercy embraceth all things, therefore I shall ordain It for those who ward off (evil) and pay the poor due, and those who believe Our revelations;

Transliteration Waktub lana_ fi ha_zihid dunya_ hasanataw wa fil a_khirati inna_ hudna_ ilaik(a), qa_la 'aza_bi usibu bihi man asya_'(u), wa rahmati wasi'at kulla syai'(in), fa sa'aktubuha_ lillazina yattaqu_na wa yu'tu_naz zaka_ta wallazina hum bi a_ya_tina_ yu'minu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note 123 – Cf. 6:12 (and the corresponding 10), as well as 6:54.]]