19. [Maryam, Mecca 44]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
مَا كَانَ
لِلَّهِ أَن
يَتَّخِذَ مِن
وَلَدٍ سُبْحَانَهُ...
19: 35. It is not befitting to (the majesty of) God that He should beget a son.
Glory be to Him!
...إِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ ﴿٣٥﴾
When He determines a matter, He only says to it,
"Be,"
and it is.
C2487. Begetting a son is a physical act depending on the needs of men's animal nature. Allah Most High is independent of all needs, and it is derogatory to Him to attribute such an act to Him. It is merely a relic of pagan and anthropomorphic materialist superstitions.
وَإِنَّ
اللَّهَ رَبِّي
وَرَبُّكُمْ
فَاعْبُدُوهُ
هَذَا صِرَاطٌ
مُّسْتَقِيمٌ ﴿٣٦﴾
19: 36. Verily, Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye:
this is a Way that is straight.
C2488. As opposed to the crooked superstitions which take refuge in all sorts of metaphysical sophistries to prove three in one and one in three. In the Quran there is no crookedness (18:1). Christ's teaching was simple, like his life, but the Christians have made it crooked.
فَاخْتَلَفَ
الْأَحْزَابُ
مِن بَيْنِهِمْ...
19: 37. But the sects differ among themselves:
...فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن مَّشْهَدِ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ ﴿٣٧﴾
and woe to the Unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a momentous Day!
C2489. Judgment. the word in the original is Mash-had, which implies many things:
- the time or place where evidence is taken, as in a Court of Judgment;
- the time or place where people are produced (to be judged); and
- the occasion for such production for the taking of evidence.
A very expressive phrase for the Day of Judgment.
أَسْمِعْ
بِهِمْ وَأَبْصِرْ
يَوْمَ يَأْتُونَنَا...
19: 38. How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us!
...لَكِنِ الظَّالِمُونَ الْيَوْمَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿٣٨﴾
But the unjust today are in error manifest!
C2490. Cf. 50:22. and that whole passage, where the Resurrection is described.
وَأَنذِرْهُمْ
يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ
إِذْ قُضِيَ
الْأَمْرُ...
19: 39. But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined:
C2491. Hasrat: Sighs, sighing, regrets, distress.
...وَهُمْ فِي غَفْلَةٍ وَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٣٩﴾
for (behold), they are negligent and they do not believe!
إِنَّا
نَحْنُ نَرِثُ
الْأَرْضَ
وَمَنْ عَلَيْهَا ...
19: 40. It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon:
C2492. Cf. 3:180. n. 485; 15:23, n. 1964,
Material property passes from one to another: when one dies, another inherits it. Allah gives life and death, and all that survives after physical death goes back to Allah, the original source of all things.
... وَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٤٠﴾
to Us will they all be returned.
Other Versions:
19: 35
Asad It is not conceivable that God should have taken unto Himself a son: limitless is He in His glory! When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it “Be” – and it is!
Pickthall It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
Transliteration Ma_ ka_na lil la_hi ay yat takhidza miw waladin subha_nah idza_ qadha_ amran fa in nama_ yaqu_lu lahu_ kun fayaku_n
19: 36 And [thus it was that Jesus always said]: “Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship [none but] Him: this [alone] is a straight way.”
Pickthall And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path.
Transliteration Wa in nal la_ha rab bi wa rab bukum fa'budu_h ha_dza_ shira_thum mustaqim
[ Ruby’s notes: This is simple. The Creator who created everything, why He would become part of His own creation? The Almighty who is the Sustainer of everything, why He would manifest Himself as one of the thing or person He Sustains? The One who is infinite and beyond comprehension, why He would reveal Himself as a finite thing or person? These questions are rational questions and the answers should be simple: it does not make any sense to think and worship an infinite unseen Supreme Being as a finite person in flesh and blood. The concept of Trinity does not stand a chance before the concept Islam offers about God. And this very idea of God and worship of Him should be the foundation from of life and its work. This then should constitute the true submission, the Straight Path, the Religion for mankind defined in the Quran in 30:30. ]
[ Ali’s note : 2487 Begetting a son is a physical act depending on the needs of men's animal nature. Allah Most High is independent of all needs, and it is derogatory to Him to attribute such an act to Him. It is merely a relic of pagan and anthropomorphic materialist superstitions. (19.35)
2488 As opposed to the crooked superstitions which take refuge in all sorts of metaphysical sophistries to prove three in one and one in three. In the Qur-an there is no crookedness (xviii. 1). Christ's teaching was simple, like his life, but the Christians have made it crooked. (19.36) ]
19: 37
Asad And yet, the sects [that follow the Bible] are at variance among themselves [about the nature of Jesus]! Woe, then, unto all who deny the truth when that awesome Day will appear!
Pickthall The sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful Day.
Transliteration Fakh talafal ahza_bu mim bainihim fawailul lil lazina kafaru_ mim mashadi yaumin 'azhim
19: 38
Asad How well will they hear and see [the truth] on the Day when they come before Us! Today, however, these evildoers are obviously lost in error:
Pickthall See and hear them on the Day they come unto Us! Yet the evil-doers are today in error manifest.
Transliteration Asmi'bihim wa abshir yauma ya'tu_nana_ la_kiniz zha_limu_nal yauma fi dhala_lim mubin
19: 39
Asad hence, warn them of [the coming of] the day of Regrets, when everything will have been decided – for as yet they are heedless, and they do not believe [in it].
Pickthall And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided. Now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not.
Transliteration Wa andzirhum yaumal hasrati idz qudhiyal amr wa hum fi ghaflatiw wahum la_ yu'minu_n
19: 40
Asad Behold, We alone shall remain after the earth and all who live on it have passed away, and [when] unto Us all will have been brought back.
Pickthall Lo! We inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned.
Transliteration In na_ nahnu naritsul ardha wa man alaiha_ wa ilaina_ yurja'u_n
[ Asad’s note 30: Lit., “WE alone shall the earth and all who are on it”………………see 15:23 note 22………on the use of the term “inheritor” or “heir” in the sense of “one who remains after his predecessor has passed away” – in this case, after all creation has perished. (Cf the expression “the heritage of the heaven and the earth” used with reference to God, in d:180 and 57:10)]
[ Ruby’s note: This is a profound revelation regarding the nature of things we see in reality and the nature of God. What essentially conveyed here is that God is the ultimate reality on which all other transitory realities are based. When the physical base of the Universe is destroyed or recapitulated, what remains is the Essential Being, the source OR CAUSE of all existence, He is the ONLY eternal EXISTENCE. In science the concept of Big Bang gives the implication of this profound truth of our existence and this reality. May be one day science -- by understanding how energy transformed into matter and what happened in the millionth second after the Big Bang—could shed more light into this idea of the Ultimate Existence. ]