17. [al-Israa, Mecca 50 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَقُلْنَا مِن
بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِي
إِسْرَائِيلَ
اسْكُنُواْ
الأَرْضَ...
17: 104. And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, "Dwell securely in the land (of promise)":
C2313. The Israelites were taken to the Promised Land in Palestine, and they established their own kingdom there, but they forfeited Allah's favour by their sins and backslidings and will have to answer like all souls by the law of personal responsibility at the Day of Judgment.
...فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ الآخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفًا ﴿١٠٤﴾
but when the second of the warnings came to pass, We gathered you together in a mingled crowd.
C2314. The second of the warnings:
- the first was probably that mentioned above, in 17:5 and
- the second that mentioned in 17:7 (middle).
When this second warning due to the rejection of Jesus came to pass, the Jews were gathered together in a mingled crowd.
Some Commentators understand the second warning to be the Day of Judgment, the Promise of the Hereafter. (R).
17: 104
Transliteration Wa qulna_ mim ba'dihi li bani isra_'ila-skunul arda fa iza_ ja_'a wa'dul a_khirati ji'na_ bikum lafifa_(n).
Asad And after that We said unto the children of Israel: “Dwell now securely on earth- but after when the promise of the Last Day shall come to pass, We will bring you forth as [parts of] a motley crowd!
Pickthall And We said unto the Children of Israel after him: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter cometh to pass we shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations.
[ Asad note - 125: According to Razi, the expression ‘Lafif’ denotes a human crown composed of innumerable heterogeneous elements, ………mankind in all its aspects. It is obviously used here to refute, once again, the idea that the children of Israel are a ‘chosen people’ by virtue of their Abrahamic descent…………The Quran rejects this claim by stating that on Resurrection Day all humankind will be judged, and none will have a privileged position.]