Sura 7, al-Araf
The Quranic text and Ali’s version
قُلْ
يَا
أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ
إِنِّي
رَسُولُ
اللّهِ
إِلَيْكُمْ
جَمِيعًا
الَّذِي...
7:158. Say:
"O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah,
C1131. Our attention having been directed to various prophets, who were sent with missions to their several peoples, and in each of whose careers there is some prefigurement of the life of the last and greatest of them, we are now asked to listen to the proclamation of Muhammad's universal mission. We contemplate no longer, after this, partial truths.
It is not now a question of saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt, nor teaching Midian the ethics of business, nor reclaiming the people of Lut from sexual sin or Thamud from the sin of oppression in power, or 'Ad from arrogance and ancestor worship. Now are set forth plainly the issues of Life and Death, the Message of Allah, the One Universal God to all mankind.
...لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ...
to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth:
...لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ يُحْيِـي وَيُمِيتُ...
there is no god but He:
it is He that giveth both life and death.
...فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ...
So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believed in Allah and His words:
C1132. "Unlettered," as applied to the Prophet here and in verse 157 above, has three special significations.
1. He was not versed in human learning: yet he was full of the highest wisdom, and had a most wonderful knowledge of the previous Scriptures. This was a proof of his inspiration.
It was a miracle of the highest kind, a "Sign", which every one could test then, and every one can test now.
2. All organized human knowledge tends to be crystallized, to acquire a partial bias or flavour of some "school" of thought. The highest Teacher had to be free from any such taint, just as a clean slate is necessary if a perfectly clear and bold message has to be written on it.
3. In 3:20 and 62:2, the epithet is applied to the Pagan Arabs, because, before the advent of Islam, they were unlearned.
That the last and greatest of the Prophets should arise among them, and they and their language be made the vehicle of the new, full and universal light, has also a meaning, which is explained in C. 12-15.
...وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٨﴾
follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
50 Qaf [45 verses]
Mecca Period 34
50:43 Verily, it is We who grant life and deal death; and with Us will be all journeys' end
(50:44) on the Day when the earth is riven asunder all around them as they hasten forth [towards God's judgment]: that gathering will be easy for Us [to encompass].
50:45 Fully aware are We of what they [who deny resurrection] do say; and thou canst by no means force them [to believe in it]. Yet none the less, remind, through this Qur'an, all such as may fear My warning.
The Quranic text and Ali’s version
إِنَّا
نَحْنُ نُحْيِي
وَنُمِيتُ
وَإِلَيْنَا
الْمَصِيرُ
﴿٤٣﴾
43. Verily it is We Who give Life and Death; and to Us is the Final Goal --
يَوْمَ
تَشَقَّقُ
الْأَرْضُ
عَنْهُمْ سِرَاعًا
ذَلِكَ حَشْرٌ
...
44. The Day when the Earth will be rent asunder, from (men) hurrying out: that will be a gathering together --
C4983. Men will hurry out from all corners of the earth to answer the call, and the earth itself will be rent asunder.
In 25:25 the imagery used was the heaven being rent asunder, and angels coming out in ranks: see n. 3082. Cf. also 84:1-4.
... عَلَيْنَا يَسِيرٌ ﴿٤٤﴾
quite easy for Us.
C4984. It may seem to our material imaginations a difficult task to collect together the souls of all sorts of men, who died in all sorts of conditions at different times, but it will be a different kind of world and creation altogether, and to Allah all things are not only possible but easy.
نَحْنُ
أَعْلَمُ بِمَا
يَقُولُونَ
وَمَا أَنتَ
عَلَيْهِم
بِجَبَّارٍ...
45. We know best what they say; and thou art not one to overawe them by force.
C4985. People may throw all sorts of doubts about the Judgment and the Hereafter. The Prophet's task is not to force them to accept anything. His task is to deliver the Message of the Quran, and admonish those who are spiritually fit and ready to receive admonition and to prepare themselves for the new and higher life destined for man.
...فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَن يَخَافُ وَعِيدِ ﴿٤٥﴾
So admonish with the Qur'án such as fear My Warning!
Yuksel’s version
50:43 We are the Ones who give life and bring death, and to Us is the destiny.
50:44 The day when the earth will rapidly crumble away from them; that will be a gathering which is easy for Us.
50:45 We are totally aware of what they say, and you are not to be a tyrant over them. So remind with the Quran those who fear My promise.
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53 An-Najm (The Unfolding)
Mecca Period [23]
(53:43) and that it is He alone who causes [you] to laugh and to weep;
(53:44) and that it is He alone who deals death and grants life;
Ali’s version and the Arabic text
وَأَنَّهُ
هُوَ أَضْحَكَ
وَأَبْكَى
﴿٤٣﴾
43. That it is He who Granteth Laughter and Tears;
وَأَنَّهُ
هُوَ أَمَاتَ
وَأَحْيَا
﴿٤٤﴾
44. That it is He who Granteth Death and Life;