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).

Yuksel’s Version:

Relating Back to the Beginning of the Chapter

17:104 We said after him to the Children of Israel: "Dwell in the land, then, when the time of the second promise comes, We will bring you all together as a mixed crowd."*

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).

[[Ruby’s note – Does this mix crowd means different ethnicity? Two thousand years ago, the Jews people were more homogenous as to their ethnicity. In two thousand years they spread out in the world and became different in ethnicity. In Israel today there are many different ethnic Jews. May be that is what is meant here?]

[[ Yuksel’s notes - 017:104 Compared to their small population, the Jewish influence is immense in its global platform, financially, politically and culturally. Disproportional to their population, Jews have exhibited astonishing examples in both good and bad, in both success and blunder, and they have enjoyed a vivid presence in world politics for millennia. This explains why the Quran mentions them so frequently both in negative (3:71; 4:46; 5:78-82; 5:60-65; 7:166) and positive terms (2:47,62; 3:33; 5:20).

After being subjected to genocide and atrocious tortures by Europian fascist forces, Jews were scattered around the world as immigrants. Yet, they did not disappear from the global scene or take centuries to recover, as many other nations would do. A prophecy of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 30:4-20 was fulfilled. Not surprisingly, with the help of the major powers of the time, they were able to establish their own independent state in 1948, soon after their almost utter annihilation; a state not in Germany, but in their historical land, which has once again become the focal point of a global conflict, stirring the world by showcasing human aggression, greed, hatred, cruelty, racism, and terror. As it seems, some are determined to use any means possible to get the promised lands of their ancestors (Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 1:6-8; 30:4-5; Joshua 1:1-5), while disregarding the warnings and conditions related to the promise (Joshua 1:6-7; Deuteronomy 16:18-20; 30:15-20; 31:16-17). A question regarding the promised land: since Arabs too are the children of Abraham, why aren't they considered to be the subject of this Biblical promise? If the Bible discriminated against the children of Ishmael, then what was their crime?]]