1. Surah Al Fatihah

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (٢)

1: 2.     Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;

C20. The Arabic word Rabb, usually translated Lord, has also the meaning of cherishing, sustaining, bringing to maturity.  Allah cares for all the worlds He has created.

There are many worlds;

-        astronomical and physical worlds,

-        worlds of thought,

-         piritual world, and so on.

In every one of them, Allah is all-in-all. We express only one aspect of it when we say:

"In Him we live, and move, and have our being."

The mystical division between:

1.      Nasut: the human world knowable by the senses.

2.      Malakut: the invisible world of angels, and

3.     Lahut: the divine world of Reality, requires a whole volume to explain it.

الرَّحْمـنِ الرَّحِيم (٣)  

1: 3.     Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Asad’s Version:

1:2

Alll hamdu lillahe Rabbil lalamin

ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds, 2 (1:3) the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace,

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20. Sura Taha, Mecca 45

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ...   

20: 8.     Allah! there is no god but He!

...لَهُ الْأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى ﴿٨﴾

To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.

C2539. Cf. 17:110 and n. 2322.

Allah is The One and the most beautiful things we can think of are referable to Him. His names refer to His attributes which are like titles of Honour and Glory. (R).

Asad’s Version:

20:8

God - there is no deity save Him; His [alone] are the attributes of perfection! 5

[[ Asad’s note – 20:8 - 5 For an explanation of this rendering of al-asma' al-husna, see surah 7, note 145.

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28. Al-Qasas, (The Story)

Mecca Period 49

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

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:

(28:70) 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.