54 Al-Qamar (The Moon)
Mecca Period 37
Asad’s version
54:1 THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is I split asunder! 1
(54:2) But if they [who reject all thought of the Last Hour] were to see a sign [of its approach], they would turn aside and say, "An ever-recurring delusion!" –
(54:3) for they are bent on giving it the lie, 2 being always wont to follow their own desires. Yet everything reveals its truth in the end. 3
Ali’s version and the Arabic text
54:1. The hour (of Judgment) is nigh,
C5127. See Para 2 of the Introduction to Surah 53.
The idea of the Judgment being nigh at the beginning of this Sura connects it with the same idea at the end of the last Surah (verse 57), though the actual words used in the two cases are different.
... وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ﴿١﴾
and the moon is cleft asunder.
C5128. Three explanations are given in the Mufradat, and perhaps all three apply here:
that the moon once appeared cleft asunder in the valley of Makkah within sight of the Prophet, his Companions, and some Unbelievers;
that the prophetic past tense indicates the future, the cleaving asunder of the moon being a Sign of the Judgment approaching; and,
that the phrase is metaphorical, meaning that the matter has become clear as the moon.
That the first was noticed by contemporaries, including Unbelievers, is clear from verse 2. The second is an incident of the disruption of the solar system at the New Creation: Cf. 75:8-9.
And the third might well be implied as in eastern allegory, based on the other two.
وَإِن
يَرَوْا آيَةً
يُعْرِضُوا
وَيَقُولُوا
سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ
﴿٢﴾
54:2. But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say,
"This is (but) transient magic."
C5129. Mustamirr: continuous, or powerful; either meaning will apply.
The Unbelievers acknowledge the unusual appearance, but call it magic. They do not therefore profit by the spiritual lesson.
وَكَذَّبُوا
وَاتَّبَعُوا
أَهْوَاءهُمْ
وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ
مُّسْتَقِرٌّ
﴿٣﴾
3. They reject (the warning) and follow their (own) lusts but every matter has its appointed time.
C5130. The prevalence of sin and the persecution of truth may have its day, but it must end at last.
Yuksel’s version –
54:2 If they see a sign, they turn away and say, "Continuous magic!"
54:3 They rejected, and followed their desires, and every old tradition.*
[[Yuksel’s Note - The verse also may be read differently and understood as, "They denied and followed their wishful thinking. Indeed, every affair will find its right place."]]
[[Asad’s notes -
3 Lit., "everything is settled in its [own] being": i.e., everything has an intrinsic reality (haqiqah) of its own, and is bound to reveal that reality either in this world or in the next (Baghawi, on the authority of al-Kalbi); hence, everything must have a purpose or "goal" of its own (Zamakhshari). These two - mutually complementary - interpretations reflect the repeated Qur'anic statement that everything that exists or happens has a meaning and a purpose: cf. 3:191, 10:5 and 38:27 (particularly, see note 1 1 on 10:5). In the present context, the phrase relates both to the truth referred to in the preceding verses and to its rejection by those who are "wont to follow [but] their own desires" . ]]