34. Saba-(Sheba) Mecca 58 [54 verses]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَيَوْمَ
يَحْشُرُهُمْ
جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ
يَقُولُ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ...
34: 40. One day He will gather them all together, and say to the angels,
C3850. Here we have the case of the worship of angels or supposed Powers of Allah, or supposed beneficent spirits that men turn to instead of worshipping the true God. In fact these are mere names to the false worshippers. It is not the Good that they worship but the Evil, which leads them astray.
... أَهَؤُلَاء إِيَّاكُمْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ ﴿٤٠﴾
"Was it you that these men used to worship?"
قَالُوا
سُبْحَانَكَ
أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا
مِن دُونِهِم...
34: 41. They will say,
"Glory to thee! Our (tie) is with thee -- as Protector -- not with them.
C3851. Wali in Arabic may mean Friend either in the sense of Protector and Benefactor or in the sense of the Beloved.
The tie of benevolence, confidence, and friendship is implied, either active or passive.
The angels first proclaim their dependence on Allah and their need of His protection, and then disclaim any idea of their having protected or encouraged the false worshippers to worship beings other than Allah.
They go further, and suggest that when men pretended to worship angels, they worshipped, not angels, but Jinns.
See next note.
... بَلْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ...
Nay, but they worshipped the Jinns:
C3852. Jinns: see 6:100 and n. 929.
The false worshippers pretended to worship the bright and radiant angels of good, but in reality worshipped the dark and hidden forces of evil,-in the life around them.
They trusted and believed in such forces of evil, although such forces of evil had really no power.
... أَكْثَرُهُم بِهِم مُّؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٤١﴾
most of them believed in them."
Asad’s Version:
(34:40) And [as for those who now deny the truth,] one Day He will gather them all together, and will ask the angels, "Was it you that they were wont to worship?" 50
34:41 They will answer: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Thou [alone] art close unto us, not they! 51 Nay, [when they thought that they were worshipping us,] they were but [blindly] worshipping forces concealed from their senses; most of them believed in them." 52
[[ Asad’s notes - 50 This allegorical "question" - allegorical, because God is omniscient and has no need to "ask" - implies that many of "those who deny the truth" of God's messages delude themselves into believing that they are, nevertheless, worshipping spiritual forces, here comprised in the term "angels".
5 1 Implying that they (the angels) would never have accepted that worship which is due to God alone.
52 In this instance, I believe, the term jinn has its primary meaning of "that which is concealed from [man's] senses" (see Appendix III), thus including all manner of unknown forces, both real and imaginary, believed to be inherent in what we describe as "nature". Hence, the answer of the angels implies that the sinners' alleged worship of them had never been more than a subconscious screen for their fear of the invisible forces of nature and, ultimately, of the yet deeper fear of the Unknown that fear which sooner or later engulfs all who refuse to believe in the existence of God and, hence, cannot see any meaning or purpose in human life. (See also the last sentence of 10:28
and the corresponding note 46.) ]]
===================================
37. As-Saffat (Those Ranged In Ranks)
Mecca 56 [182 verses]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَمْ
لَكُمْ سُلْطَانٌ
مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٥٦﴾
37; 156. Or have ye an authority manifest?
فَأْتُوا
بِكِتَابِكُمْ
إِن كُنتُمْ
صَادِقِينَ
﴿١٥٧﴾
37; 157. Then bring ye your Book (of authority) if ye be truthful!
وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا...
37; 158. And they have invented a blood-relationship between Him and the Jinns:
C4132. The angels arc at least pure beings engaged in the service of Allah. But the Pagan superstitions not only connect them with Allah as daughters but even connect Allah by relationship with all kinds of spirits, good or evil! In some mythologies the most evil powers are gods or goddesses as if they belonged to the family of Allah the Creator and had some semblance of equality with Him! This, too, is repudiated in the strongest terms.
For Jinns see n. 929 to 6:100.
Asad’s Version:
37:156 Or have you, perchance, a clear evidence [for your assertions]?
(37:157) Produce, then, that divine writ of yours, if you are speaking the truth!
(37:158) And some people" have invented a kinship between Him and all manner of invisible forces 67 - although [even] these invisible forces know well that, verily, they [who thus blaspheme against God] shall indeed be arraigned [before Him on Judgment Day: for]
Yuksel’s Version:
37:158 They invented a kinship between Him and the Jinn. But the Jinn know that they will be gathered.
[[ Asad’s note - 66 Lit, "they".
67 See Appendix III. Whereas most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that the term al-jinnah denotes here the angels, since they - like all beings of this category - are imperceptible to man's senses, I believe that the above verse refers to those intangible forces of nature which elude all direct observation and manifest themselves only in their effects: hence their designation, in this context, by the plural noun al-jinnah, which primarily denotes "that which is concealed
from [man's] senses". Inasmuch as people who refuse to believe in God often tend to regard those elemental forces as mysteriously endowed with a purposeful creative power (cf Bergson's concept of the elan vital), the Qur'an states that their votaries invent a "kinship" between them and God, i.e., attribute to them qualities and powers similar to His. ]]