Sura-20 [Taha Mecca 45 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ
بِالصَّلَاةِ
وَاصْطَبِرْ
عَلَيْهَا...
20:132. Enjoin prayer on thy people, and be constant therein.
...لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ...
We ask thee not to provide sustenance:
We provide it for thee.
C2657. Sustenance, in the sense of ordinary needs of life, the man of Allah does not worry about. That is provided by Allah for all, the just and the unjust.
But the special provision, the real Sustenance, the spiritual fruit, is for a righteous life in the service of Allah.
...وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى ﴿١٣٢﴾
But the (fruit of) the Hereafter is for Righteousness.
Asad’s Version:
20:132 [Taha, Mecca 45]
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[[Asad’s notes - 117 My interpolation of the words "for Us" is based on Razi's interpretation of the above sentence: "God makes it clear that He has enjoined this [i.e., prayer] upon men for their own benefit alone, inasmuch as He Himself is sublimely exalted above any [need of] benefits." In other words, prayer must not be conceived as a kind of tribute to a "jealous God" - as the Old Testament, in its present
corrupted form, frequently describes Him - but solely as a spiritual benefit for the person who prays.
118 Lit., "to God-consciousness".
119 I.e., in proof of his prophetic mission: cf 6:109 and, many other instances in which the deniers of the truth are spoken of as making their belief in the Qur'anic message dependent on tangible "miracles".
120 I.e., "Does not the Qur'an express the same fundamental truths as were expressed in the revelations]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 2657 Sustenance, in the sense of the ordinary needs of life, the man of Allah does not worry about. That is provided by Allah for all, the just and the unjust. But the special provision, the Real Sustenance, the spiritual fruit, is for a righteous life in the service of Allah. (20.132) ]]
24:36 [an-Nur, Medina 102]
IN THE HOUSES [of worship] which God has allowed to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, 56 there [are such as] extol His limitless glory at morn and evening –
(24:37) people whom neither [worldly] commerce nor striving after gain 57 can divert from the remembrance of God, and from constancy in prayer, and from charity: 58 [people] who are filled with fear [at the thought] of the Day on which all hearts and eyes will be convulsed,
(24:38) [and who only hope] that God may reward them in accordance with the best that they ever did, and give them, out of His bounty, more [than they deserve]: for, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning.
[[Asad’s notes - 56 Lit., "and [ordained] that His name ...", etc.: implying, as the sequence shows, that the spiritual purpose of those houses of worship is fulfilled only by some, and not all, of the people who are wont to congregate in them out of habit.
57 Lit., "bargaining" or "selling" or "buying and selling" (bay 1 ) - a metonym for anything that might bring worldly gain.
58 For this rendering of the term zakah, see surah 2, note 34. ]]
The Twenty-Ninth Surah
Al-'Ankabut (The Spider)
Period Uncertain
29:16
AND ABRAHAM, [too, was inspired by Us] when he said unto his people: "Worship God,
and be conscious of Him: this is the best for you, if you but knew it! (29: 17) You worship only [lifeless] idols instead of God, and [thus] you give visible shape to a lie!" Behold, those [things and beings] that you worship instead of God have it not in their power to provide sustenance for you: seek, then, all [your] sustenance from God, and worship Him [alone) and be grateful to Him: [for] unto Him you shall be brought back!
وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ
إِذْ قَالَ
لِقَوْمِهِ
اعْبُدُوا
اللَّهَ وَاتَّقُوهُ...
29:16 [Ali’s version] . And (We also saved) Abraham: Behold, he said to his people,
"Serve Allah and fear Him:
C3438. The story of Abraham has been told in various phases in different passages. The ones most germane to the present passage are:
21:51-72 (his being cast into the fire and being saved from it); and
19:41-49 (his voluntary exile from the home of his fathers).
Here the story is not told but is referred to in order to stress the following points;
- Abraham's people only responded to his preaching by threatening to burn him (29:16-18, 24);
- evil consorts with evil but will have a rude awakening (29:25);
- the good adhere to the good, and are blessed (29:26-27).
Note that the passage 29:19-23 is a parenthetical comment, though some Commentators treat a portion of it as part of Abraham's speech.
...ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٦﴾
that will be best for you -- if ye understand!
إِنَّمَا
تَعْبُدُونَ
مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ
أَوْثَانًا
وَتَخْلُقُونَ
إِفْكًا...
17. "For ye do worship idols besides Allah, and ye invent falsehood.
...إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا...
The things that ye worship besides Allah have no power to give you sustenance:
...فَابْتَغُوا عِندَ اللَّهِ الرِّزْقَ وَاعْبُدُوهُ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ...
then seek ye sustenance from Allah, serve Him, and be grateful to Him:
C3439. Sustenance: in the symbolic as well as the literal sense. Seek from Allah all that is necessary for your upkeep and development, and for preparing you for your future Destiny.
Lay all your hopes in Him and in no one else. Dedicate yourselves to His worship. He will give you all that is necessary for your growth and well being, and you should show your gratitude to Him by conforming your will entirely to His.
...إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿١٧﴾
to Him will be your return.
وَإِن
تُكَذِّبُوا
فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ
أُمَمٌ مِّن
قَبْلِكُمْ...
18. "And if ye reject (the Message), so did generations before you:
...وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ ﴿١٨﴾
and the duty of the messenger is only to preach publicly (and clearly)."
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30 Ar-Rum (The Byzantines)
Mecca Period [6-7 years before Hijra]
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30:40
IT IS GOD who has created you, and then has provided you with sustenance, and then will
cause you to die, and then will bring you to life again. Can any of those beings or powers to hom you ascribe a share in His divinity 37 do any of these things? Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!
51 Adh-Dhariyat (The Dust-Scattering Winds)
Mecca Period 67
Asad’s version
(51:57) [But withal,] no sustenance do I ever demand of them, nor do I demand that they feed Me:
(51:58) for, verily, God Himself is the Provider of all sustenance, the Lord of all might, the Eternal!
Ali’s version and the Arabic verse
مَا
أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم
مِّن رِّزْقٍ
وَمَا أُرِيدُ
أَن يُطْعِمُونِ
﴿٥٧﴾
57. No sustenance do I require of them nor do I require that they should feed Me.
C5033. Sustenance: in both the literal and the figurative sense; so also "Freed Me" at the end of the verse.
Allah is independent of all needs. It is therefore absurd to suppose that He should require any Sustenance, and still more absurd to suppose that we can feed Him! The gifts, the Sustenance, the goodness, all come from His side.
إِنَّ
اللَّهَ هُوَ
الرَّزَّاقُ
ذُو الْقُوَّةِ
الْمَتِينُ
﴿٥٨﴾
58. For Allah is He Who gives (all) Sustenance, Lord of Power, Steadfast (for ever).
C5034. Allah commands all power; therefore any power we seek must be from Him. And His power is steadfast, the same to-day as yesterday, and for ever. Therefore His help is always sure.
