42. Ash-Shura (Consultation)

Mecca Period 53

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَمَا اخْتَلَفْتُمْ فِيهِ مِن شَيْءٍ فَحُكْمُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ...

42: 10. Whatever it be wherein ye differ, the decision thereof is with Allah:

C4538. In the highest issues of life men may see things differently. If their differences arise merely from selfish motives, or narrowness of vision, they are sinning against their own souls.

If their differences arise from sincere but mistaken notions, their proper course is not to form divisions and sects, or to increase contention and hatred among men, but to leave all things to Allah, trusting in Him and turning to Him in all difficulties. The final decision in all things is with Him.

...ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبِّي عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ ﴿١٠﴾

Such is Allah my Lord: in Him I trust, and to Him I turn.

فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ...

42:11. (He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth:

...جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ...

He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you:

C4539. The mystery of sex has not only its physical aspects, but its moral and spiritual aspects, and therefore mankind is in this respect differentiated from the lower animals, and among mankind the grades and qualities are suggested by the phrase "from among yourselves".

As regards cattle, they are specially mentioned among the animals, as having special relations with man and specially subserving his needs, not only in the physical sphere, but also in the matter of transport, which is the key to all civilization and culture:

Cf. 36:71-73;

also 23:21-22, where they are compared to ships, the symbol of international intercourse.

...لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ ﴿١١﴾

there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).

Asad’s Version:

42:10 AND ON WHATEVER you may differ, [O believers,] the verdict thereon rests with God. 8 [Say, therefore:] "Such is God, my Sustainer: in Him have I placed my trust, and unto Him do I always turn!"

(42:11) The Originator [is He] of the heavens and the earth. He has given you mates of your own kind' - just as [He has willed that] among the beasts [there be] mates - to multiply you thereby: [but) there is nothing like unto Him, and He alone is all-hearing, all- seeing. 10

[[Asad’s note - 10 The preceding allusion to the God- willed function of sex and, hence, to the polarity and multiplicity evident in all animated nature - man and animal alike - is meant to stress the above statement of the oneness and absolute uniqueness of God. The phrase "there is nothing like unto Him" implies that He is fundamentally - and not merely in His attributes - "different" from anything that exists or could exist, or anything that man can conceive or imagine or define (see note 88 on 6:100); and since "there is nothing that could be compared with Him" (1 12:4), even the "how" of His being "different" from everything else is beyond the categories of human thought. ]]