7. Sura al-Araf
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَأَوْرَثْنَا
الْقَوْمَ
الَّذِينَ
كَانُواْ
يُسْتَضْعَفُونَ
مَشَارِقَ
الأَرْضِ
وَمَغَارِبَهَا
الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا
فِيهَا ...
7: 137. And We made a people, considered weak (and of no account), inheritors of lands in both east and west, lands whereon We sent down our blessings.
...وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ الْحُسْنَى عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَآئِيلَ بِمَا صَبَرُواْ...
The fair promise of the Lord was fulfilled for the children of Israel, because they had patience and constancy,
...وَدَمَّرْنَا مَا كَانَ يَصْنَعُ فِرْعَوْنُ وَقَوْمُهُ وَمَا كَانُواْ يَعْرِشُونَ ﴿١٣٧﴾
and We levelled to the ground the great works and fine buildings which Pharaoh and his people erected (with such pride).
C1096. Israel, which was despised, became a great and glorious nation under Solomon. He had goodly territory, and was doubly blest. His land and people were prosperous, and he wits blessed with wisdom from Allah. His sway and his fame spread east and west. And thus Allah's promise to Israel was fulfilled.
Note that Syria and Palestine had once been under the sway of Egypt. At the same time the proud and rebellious Pharaoh and his people were brought low. The splendid monuments which they had erected with so much skill and pride were mingled with the dust. Their great cities-Thebes (or No-Ammon), Memphis (or Noph, sacred to the Bull of Osiris), and the other splendid cities, became as if they had not existed, and archaeologists have had to dig up their ruins from the sands.
The splendid monuments-temples, palaces, tombs, statues, columns, and stately structures of all kinds-were buried in the sands. Even monuments like the Great Sphinx, which seem to defy the ages, were partly buried in the sands, and owe their rescue to the comparatively recent researches of archaeologists.
As late as 1743 Richard Pococke in his Travels in Egypt (p. 41), remarked:
"Most of those pyramids are very much ruined." (R).
وَجَاوَزْنَا
بِبَنِي إِسْرَآئِيلَ
الْبَحْرَ ...
7: 138. We took the children of Israel (with safety) across the sea.
... فَأَتَوْاْ عَلَى قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَى أَصْنَامٍ لَّهُمْ...
They came upon a people devoted entirely to some idols they had.
C1097. Who were these people?
We are now in the Sinai Peninsula. Two conjectures are possible.
1. The Amalekites of the Sinai Peninsula were at perpetual war with the Israelites. They were probably an idolatrous nation, but we have very little knowledge of their cult.
2. From Egyptian history we know that Egypt had worked from very ancient times some copper mines in Sinai. An Egyptian settlement may have been here. Like all mining camps it contained from the beginning the dregs of the population.
When the mines ceased to be worked, the settlement, or what remained of it, must have degenerated further. Cut off from civilisation, its cult must have become still narrower, without the refining influences which a progressive nation applies even to its idolatry.
Perhaps Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis, lost all its allegorical meaning for them, and only gross and superstitious rites remained among them.
The text speaks of "some idols they had," implying that they had merely a detached fragment of a completer religion.
This was a snare in the path of the Israelites, whom many generations of slavery in Egypt had debased into ignorance and superstition.
...قَالُواْ يَا مُوسَى اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَـهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ...
They said: "O Moses! fashion for us a god like unto the gods they have."
...قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ ﴿١٣٨﴾
He said: "Surely ye are a people without knowledge.
إِنَّ
هَـؤُلاء مُتَبَّرٌ
مَّا هُمْ فِيهِ
...
7: 139. "As to these folk, the cult they are in is (but) a fragment of a ruin,
C1098. If conjecture 2 in the last note is correct, this idolatrous worship was but the fragment of a ruin from Egypt, and Moses' reproach is biting:
"You, who have been rescued from the bondage of living Egypt, -do you hanker after the bondage of a dead cult debased even from that from which you have been rescued?"
Mutabbar: broken in pieces, smashed into fragments, destroyed.
... وَبَاطِلٌ مَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٣٩﴾
and vain is the (worship) which they practice."
قَالَ
أَغَيْرَ اللّهِ
أَبْغِيكُمْ
إِلَـهًا...
7: 140. He said:
"Shall I seek for you a god other than the (true) Allah,
...وَهُوَ فَضَّلَكُمْ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿١٤٠﴾
when it is Allah who hath endowed you with gifts above the nations?"
وَإِذْ
أَنجَيْنَاكُم
مِّنْ آلِ فِرْعَونَ
يَسُومُونَكُمْ
سُوَءَ الْعَذَابِ...
7: 141. And remember, We rescued you from Pharaoh's people, who afflicted you with the worst of penalties,
...يُقَتِّلُونَ أَبْنَاءكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَاءكُمْ...
who slew your male children and saved alive your females:
...وَفِي ذَلِكُم بَلاء مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ ﴿١٤١﴾
in that was a momentous trial from your Lord.
C1099. This is Allah's reminder to Israel through the mouth of Moses. There was a double trial:
1. while the bondage lasted, the people were to learn patience and constancy in the midst of affliction:
2. when they were rescued, they were to learn humility; justice, and righteous deeds of prosperity.
وَوَاعَدْنَا
مُوسَى ثَلاَثِينَ
لَيْلَةً
وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا
بِعَشْرٍ...
7: 142. We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and completed (the period) with ten (more):
...فَتَمَّ مِيقَاتُ رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً...
thus was completed the term (of communion) with his Lord, forty nights.
C1100. The forty nights' exclusion of Moses on the Mount may be compared with the forty days fast of Jesus in the wilderness before he took up his ministry (Matt. 4:2).
In each case the Prophets lived alone apart from their people, before they came into the full blaze of the events of their Ministry.
...وَقَالَ مُوسَى لأَخِيهِ هَارُونَ اخْلُفْنِي فِي قَوْمِي...
And Moses had charged his brother Aaron (before he went up): "Act for me amongst my people:
...وَأَصْلِحْ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ ﴿١٤٢﴾
do right, and follow not the way of those who do mischief."
C1101. When for any reason the man of God is absent from his people, his duty of leadership (Khalifah) should be taken up by his brother, -not necessarily a blood-brother, but one of his society or brotherhood.
The deputy should discharge it in all humility, remembering three things:
1. that he is only a deputy, and bound to follow the directions of his Principal,
2. that right and justice are of the essence of power, and
3. that mischief gets its best chance to raise its head in the absence of the Principal, and that the deputy should always guard against the traps laid for him in the Principal's absence.
وَلَمَّا
جَاء مُوسَى
لِمِيقَاتِنَا
وَكَلَّمَهُ
رَبُّهُ...
7: 143. When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him,
...قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ...
He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee."
C1102. Even the best of us may be betrayed into overweening confidence of spiritual ambition not yet justified by the stage we have reached, Moses had already seen part of the glory of Allah in his Radiant White Hand, that shone with the glory of Divine light (7:108, n. 1076). But he was still in the flesh, and the mission to his people was to begin after the Covenant of Sinai. It was premature of him to ask to see Allah.
...قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَـكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ ...
Allah said: "By no means canst thou see Me (direct);
C1103. But Allah -the Cherisher of all His creatures- treats even our improper requests with mercy, compassion, and understanding.
Even the reflected glory of Allah is too great for the grosser substance of matter. The peak on which it shone became as powder before the ineffable glory, and Moses could only live by being taken out of his bodily senses.
When he recovered from his swoon, he saw the true position, and the distance between our grosser bodily senses and the true splendour of Allah's glory. He at once turned in penitence to Allah, and confessed his faith.
Having been blinded by the excessive Glory, he could not see with the physical eye. But he could get a glimpse of the reality through faith, and he hastened to proclaim his faith. (R).
... فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي...
but look upon the mount; if it abide in its place then shalt thou see Me."
...فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا...
When his Lord manifested his glory on the mount, He made it as dust and Moses fell down in a swoon.
...فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ...
When he recovered his senses he said:
...سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ ...
"Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance,
... وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٤٣﴾
and I am the first to believe."
C1104. "First to believe." Cf. the expression;
"first of those who bow to Allah in Islam" in 6:14 and 6:163.
"First" means here not the first in time, but most zealous in faith.
It has the intensive and not the comparative meaning.
قَالَ
يَا مُوسَى
إِنِّي اصْطَفَيْتُكَ
عَلَى النَّاسِ
...
7: 144. (Allah) said: "O Moses! I have chosen thee above (other) men,
C1105. "Above (other) men": i.e. among his contemporaries.
He had a high mission, and he had the honour of speaking to Allah.
... بِرِسَالاَتِي وَبِكَلاَمِي...
by the mission I (have given thee) and the words I (have spoken to thee):
...فَخُذْ مَا آتَيْتُكَ وَكُن مِّنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ ﴿١٤٤﴾
take then the (revelation) which I give thee, and be of those who give thanks."
C1106. Allah's revelation is for the benefit of His creatures, who should receive it with reverence and gratitude.
While Moses was having these great spiritual experiences on the Mount, his people below were ungrateful enough to forget Allah and make a golden calf for worship (7:147).
وَكَتَبْنَا
لَهُ فِي الأَلْوَاحِ
مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
مَّوْعِظَةً
وَتَفْصِيلاً
لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ...
7: 145. And We ordained laws for him in the tablets in all matters, both commanding and explaining all things,
...فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُواْ بِأَحْسَنِهَا...
(and said): "Take and hold these with firmness, and enjoin thy people to hold fast by the best in the precepts:
C1107. The Tablets of the Law contained the essential Truth, from which were derived tile positive injunctions and prohibitions, explanations and interpretations, which it was the function of the prophetic office to hold up for the people to follow.
The precepts would contain, as the Shariah does,
- matters absolutely prohibited,
- matters not prohibited but disapproved,
- matters about which there was no prohibition or injunction, but in which conduct was to be regulated by circumstances;
- matters of positive and universal duty,
- matters recommended for those whose zeal was sufficient to enable them to work on higher than minimum standards.
No soul is burdened beyond its capacity; but we are asked to seek the best and highest possible for us in conduct.
...سَأُرِيكُمْ ...
soon shall I show you
C1108. Notice the transition from the "We" of authority and honour and impersonal dignity, to the "I" of personal concern in specially guiding the righteous.
... دَارَ الْفَاسِقِينَ ﴿١٤٥﴾
the homes of the wicked, (how they lie desolate)."
C1109. There are two meanings, one literal and the other figurative.
- Literally, the homes of the wicked, both individuals and nations, lie desolate, as in the case of the ancient Egyptians, the 'Ad., and the Thamud.
- Figuratively, the "home" shows the inner and more intimate condition of people. If you are dazzled by the outward prosperity of the ungodly, examine their inner anguish and fear and insecurity, and you will thank Allah for His gracious guidance.
سَأَصْرِفُ
عَنْ آيَاتِيَ
الَّذِينَ
يَتَكَبَّرُونَ
فِي الأَرْضِ
بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ...
7: 146. Those who behave arrogantly on the earth in defiance of right,
وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ آيَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا...
them will I turn away from My signs, they will not believe in them;
C1110. The argument may be simplified thus in paraphrase.
The right is established on the earth as Allah created it: Nature recognises and obeys Allah's law as fixed for each portion of Creation. But man, because of the gift of Will, sometimes upsets this balance. The root-cause is his arrogance, as it was in the case of Iblis.
Allah's Signs are everywhere, but if they are rejected with scorn and blasphemy, Allah will withdraw His grace, for sin hardens the heart and makes it impervious to the truth.
Want of faith produces a kind of blindness to spiritual facts, a kind of deafness to the warnings of a Day of Account. If we had contumaciously rejected faith, can we hope for anything but justice,-the just punishment of our sins? (R).
...وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ لاَ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً...
and if they see the way of right conduct, they will not adopt it as the way;
...وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ الْغَيِّ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً...
but if they see the way of error that is the way they will adopt;
...ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُواْ عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ ﴿١٤٦﴾
for they rejected Our signs, and failed to take warning from them.
C1111. Rejected Our Signs: again a return to the Plural of impersonal Dignity and Authority, from the singular of personal concern in granting grace and guidance to the Righteous.
وَالَّذِينَ
كَذَّبُواْ
بِآيَاتِنَا
وَلِقَاء الآخِرَةِ
حَبِطَتْ
أَعْمَالُهُمْ...
7: 147. Those who reject Our signs and the meeting in the hereafter, vain are their deeds:
...هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلاَّ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٤٧﴾
can they expect to be rewarded except as they have wrought?
وَاتَّخَذَ
قَوْمُ مُوسَى
مِن بَعْدِهِ
مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ
عِجْلاً ...
7: 148. The people of Moses made in his absence, out of their ornaments,
C1112. The making of the golden calf and its worship by the Israelites during the absence of Moses on the Mount were referred to in 2:51, and some further details are given in 20:95-97.
Notice how in each case only those points are referred to which are necessary to the argument in hand.
A narrator whose object is mere narration, tells the story in all its details, and is done with it. A consummate artist, whose object is to enforce lessons, brings out each point in its proper place. Master of all details, he does not ramble, but with supreme literary skill, just adds the touch that is necessary in each place to complete the spiritual picture. His object is not a story but a lesson.
Here notice the contrast between the intense spiritual communion of Moses on the Mount and the simultaneous corruption of his people in his absence. We can understand his righteous indignation and bitter grief (7:150).
The people had melted all their gold ornaments, and made the image of a calf like the bull of Osiris in the city of Memphis in the wicked Egypt that they had turned their backs upon.
... جَسَدًا لَّهُ خُوَارٌ...
the image of a calf, (for worship):
C1113. Image of a Calf: Jasad is literally a body, especially the body of a man according to Khalil quoted by Ragib.
In 21:8, it is used obviously for the human body, as also in 38:34; but in the latter case, the idea of an image, without any real life or soul, is also suggested.
In the present passage I understand many suggestions:
1. that it was a mere image, without life-,
2. as such, it could not low, therefore the appearance of lowing, mentioned immediately afterwards, was a fraud:
3. unlike its prototype, the bull of Osiris, it had not even the symbolism of Osiris behind it;
the Osiris myth, in the living religion of Egypt, had at least some ethical principles behind it.
...أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ أَنَّهُ لاَ يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلاَ يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلاً...
it seemed to low: did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor show them the way?
C1114. The lowing of the golden calf was obviously a deception practised by the promoters of the cult.
Lytton in his "Last Days of Pompeii" exposes the deception practised by the priests of Isis. Men hidden behind images imposed on the credulity of the commonalty.
...اتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُواْ ظَالِمِينَ ﴿١٤٨﴾
They took it for worship and they did wrong.
وَلَمَّا
سُقِطَ فَي
أَيْدِيهِمْ
وَرَأَوْاْ
أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ
ضَلُّواْ قَالُواْ...
7: 149. When they repented, and saw that they had erred, they said:
...لَئِن لَّمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ﴿١٤٩﴾
"If our Lord have not mercy upon us and forgive us, we shall indeed be of those who perish."
وَلَمَّا
رَجَعَ مُوسَى
إِلَى قَوْمِهِ
غَضْبَانَ
أَسِفًا...
7: 150. When Moses came back to his people, angry and grieved,
...قَالَ بِئْسَمَا خَلَفْتُمُونِي مِن بَعْدِيَ أَعَجِلْتُمْ أَمْرَ رَبِّكُمْ...
he said:
"Evil it is that ye have done in my place in my absence:
did ye make haste to bring on the judgment of your Lord?"
C1115. Did ye make haste... ?
'In your impatience, could you not wait for me?
Your lapse into idolatry has only hastened Allah's wrath. If you had only waited, I was bringing to you in the Tablets the most excellent teaching in the commands of Allah.'
There is subtle irony in the speech of Moses.
There is also a play upon words:
- 'ijl: calf: and
- 'ajila: to make haste:
no translation can bring out these niceties.
...وَأَلْقَى الألْوَاحَ ...
He put down the tablets,
C1116. Put down the Tablets:
we are not told that the Tablets were broken: in fact 7:154 (below) shows that they were whole. They contained Allah's Message. There is a touch of disrespect (if not blasphemy) in supposing that Allah's Messenger broke the Tablets in his incontinent rage, as is stated in the Old Testament:
"Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and brake them beneath the Mount." (Exod. 32:19).
On this point and also on the point that Aaron (in the Old Testament story) ordered the gold to be brought, made a molten calf, fashioned it with a graving tool, and built an altar before the calf (Exod. 32:2-5), our version differs from that of the Old Testament.
We cannot believe that Aaron, who was appointed by Allah to assist Moses as Allah's Messenger, could descend so low as to seduce the people into idolatry, whatever his human weaknesses might be.
... وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ يَجُرُّهُ إِلَيْهِ...
seized his brother by (the hair of) his head, and dragged him to him.
C1117. Moses was but human. Remembering the charge he had given to Aaron (7:142) he had a just grievance at the turn events had taken. But he did not wreak his vengeance on the Tablets of Allah's law by breaking them. He laid hands on his brother, and his brother at once explained.
...قَالَ ابْنَ أُمَّ إِنَّ الْقَوْمَ اسْتَضْعَفُونِي وَكَادُواْ يَقْتُلُونَنِي...
Aaron said:
"Son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slaying me!
...فَلاَ تُشْمِتْ بِيَ الأعْدَاء وَلاَ تَجْعَلْنِي مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿١٥٠﴾
make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune,
nor count thou me amongst the people of sin."
C1118. Aaron's speech is full of tenderness and regret. He addresses Moses as "son of my mother." -an affectionate term.
He explains how the turbulent people nearly killed him for resisting them. And he states in the clearest terms that the idolatry neither originated with him nor had his consent.
In 20:85, we are told that a fellow described as the Samiri had led them astray. We shall discuss this when we come to that passage.
قَالَ
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ
لِي وَلأَخِي
وَأَدْخِلْنَا
فِي رَحْمَتِكَ...
7: 151. Moses prayed:
"O my Lord! forgive me and my brother! admit us to Thy mercy!
C1119. As Moses was convinced that his brother was guiltless, his wrath was turned to gentleness. He prayed for forgiveness -for himself and his brother:
- for himself because of his wrath and
- for his brother because he had been unable to suppress idolatry among his people.
And like a true leader that he is, he identifies himself with his lieutenant for all that has happened.
Even more, he identifies himself with his whole people in his prayer in verse 155 below.
Herein, again, is a type of what the Holy Prophet Muhammad did for his people.
...وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ ﴿١٥١﴾
for Thou art the Most Merciful of those who sow mercy!"
إِنَّ
الَّذِينَ
اتَّخَذُواْ
الْعِجْلَ
سَيَنَالُهُمْ
غَضَبٌ مِّن
رَّبِّهِمْ
وَذِلَّةٌ فِي
الْحَياةِ
الدُّنْيَا...
7: 152. Those who took the calf (for worship) will indeed be overwhelmed with wrath from their Lord, and with shame in this life:
C1120. The consequences were twofold:
- spiritual, in that Allah's grace is withdrawn, and
- even in the present life of this world, in that godly men also shun the sinner's company, and he is isolated.
...وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُفْتَرِينَ ﴿١٥٢﴾
thus do We recompense those who invent (falsehoods).
وَالَّذِينَ
عَمِلُواْ
السَّيِّئَاتِ
ثُمَّ تَابُواْ
مِن بَعْدِهَا
وَآمَنُواْ...
7: 153. But those who do wrong but repent thereafter and (truly) believe,
...إِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِن بَعْدِهَا لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٥٣﴾
verily Thy Lord is thereafter Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
وَلَمَّا
سَكَتَ عَن
مُّوسَى الْغَضَبُ
أَخَذَ الأَلْوَاحَ...
7: 154. When the anger of Moses was appeased, he took up the tablets:
...وَفِي نُسْخَتِهَا هُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِرَبِّهِمْ يَرْهَبُونَ ﴿١٥٤﴾
in the writing thereon was guidance and mercy for such as fear their Lord.
وَاخْتَارَ
مُوسَى قَوْمَهُ
سَبْعِينَ
رَجُلاً لِّمِيقَاتِنَا...
7: 155. And Moses chose seventy of his people for Our place of meeting:
C1121. Seventy of the elders were taken up to the Mount, but left at some distance from the place where Allah spoke to Moses.
They were to be silent witnesses, but their faith was not yet complete, and they dared to say to Moses: "We shall never believe in thee until we see Allah in public" (2:55).
They were dazed with thunder and lightning, and might have been destroyed but for Allah's mercy on the intercession of Moses.
...فَلَمَّا أَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ قَالَ ...
when they were seized with violent quaking, he prayed:
C1122. Rajfah: violent quaking, earthquake.
I take it to refer to the same event as is described by the word Sd'iqat in 2:55, the thunder and lightning that shook the mountainside.
... رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُم مِّن قَبْلُ وَإِيَّايَ...
"O my Lord! if it had been Thy will Thou couldst have destroyed, long before, both them and me:
...أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَاء مِنَّا...
wouldst Thou destroy us for the deeds of the foolish one among us?
...إِنْ هِيَ إِلاَّ فِتْنَتُكَ...
This is no more than Thy trial:
C1123. Moses was guiltless, but he identifies himself with his whole people, and intercedes with Allah on their behalf.
He recognises that it was a trial, in which some of his people failed to stand the test. Such failure was worthy of punishment. But he pleads for mercy for such as erred from weakness and not from contumacy, and were truly repentant, although all who erred were in their several degrees worthy of punishment.
...تُضِلُّ بِهَا مَن تَشَاء ...
by it Thou causest whom Thou wilt to stray,
C1124. Cf. 2:26.
... وَتَهْدِي مَن تَشَاء ...
and Thou leadest whom Thou wilt into the right path.
...أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا...
Thou art our protector: so forgive us and give us Thy mercy;
...وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ ﴿١٥٥﴾
for Thou art the best of those who forgive.
وَاكْتُبْ
لَنَا فِي هَـذِهِ
الدُّنْيَا
حَسَنَةً وَفِي
الآخِرَةِ
إِنَّا هُدْنَـا
إِلَيْكَ...
7: 156. "And ordain for us that which is good, in this life and in the hereafter:
for we have turned unto Thee."
...قَالَ عَذَابِي أُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ أَشَاء وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ...
He said:
"With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things.
C1125. Allah's mercy is in and for all things. All nature subserves a common purpose, which is for the good of all His creatures.
Our faculties and our understandings are all instances of His grace and mercy. Each unit or factor among his creatures benefits from the others and receives them as Allah's mercy to itself: and in its turn, each contributes to the benefit of the others and is thus an instance of Allah's mercy to them.
His mercy is universal and all-pervasive; while His justice and punishment are reserved for those who swerve from His plan and (to use a mediaeval juridical formula) go out of His Peace.
...فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَـاةَ...
That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those
- who do right,
- and practice regular charity,
...وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٥٦﴾
- and those who believe in Our signs;
C1126. The personal grace and mercy -and their opposite- are referred to the singular pronoun "I" while the impersonal Law, by which Allah's Signs operate in His universe, is referred to the plural pronoun of authority and dignity, "We".
الَّذِينَ
يَتَّبِعُونَ
الرَّسُولَ
النَّبِيَّ
الأُمِّيَّ...
7: 157. "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet,
...الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنْجِيلِ...
whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures); in the law and the Gospel;
C1127. In this verse is a prefiguring, to Moses, of the Arabian Messenger, the last and greatest of the messengers of Allah. Prophecies about him will be found in the Tawrah and the Injil.
In the reflex of the Tawrah as now accepted by the Jews, Moses says: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me" (Deut. 18:15):
the only Prophet who brought a Shariah like that of Moses was Muhammad Al-Mustafa, and he came of the house of Ismail the brother of Isaac the father of Israel.
In the reflex of the Gospel as now accepted by the Christians, Christ promised another Comforter (John 14:16): the Greek word Paraclete which the Christians interpret as referring to the Holy Spirit is by our Doctors taken to be Periclyte, which would be the Greek form of Ahmad. See 61:6.
...يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ...
for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil:
...وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَآئِثَ...
he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure);
...وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالأَغْلاَلَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ......
He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them.
C1128. Aglal: plural of gullun, a yoke, an iron collar.
In the formalism and exclusiveness of the Jews there were many restrictions which were removed by Islam, a religion of freedom in the faith of Allah, of universality in the variety of races, languages, manners and customs.
...فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُواْ النُّورَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ...
So it is those who believe in him, honor him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,
C1129. Light which is sent down with him: the words are "with him", not "to him", emphasizing the fact that the Light which he brought illumines every one who has the privilege of joining his great and universal Fellowship.
...أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾
it is they who will prosper."
C1130. Falah: prosperity in its general sense as well as in its spiritual sense.
- In the general sense it means that right conduct is the only door to happiness and well-being.
- In the spiritual sense it means that Faith and its fruits (right conduct) are the only gates to salvation.
قُلْ
يَا أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ إِنِّي
رَسُولُ اللّهِ
إِلَيْكُمْ
جَمِيعًا الَّذِي...
7: 158. Say:
"O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah,
C1131. Our attention having been directed to various prophets, who were sent with missions to their several peoples, and in each of whose careers there is some prefigurement of the life of the last and greatest of them, we are now asked to listen to the proclamation of Muhammad's universal mission. We contemplate no longer, after this, partial truths.
It is not now a question of saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt, nor teaching Midian the ethics of business, nor reclaiming the people of Lut from sexual sin or Thamud from the sin of oppression in power, or 'Ad from arrogance and ancestor worship. Now are set forth plainly the issues of Life and Death, the Message of Allah, the One Universal God to all mankind.
...لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ...
to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth:
...لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ يُحْيِـي وَيُمِيتُ...
there is no god but He:
it is He that giveth both life and death.
...فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ...
So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believed in Allah and His words:
C1132. "Unlettered," as applied to the Prophet here and in verse 157 above, has three special significations.
1. He was not versed in human learning: yet he was full of the highest wisdom, and had a most wonderful knowledge of the previous Scriptures. This was a proof of his inspiration.
It was a miracle of the highest kind, a "Sign", which every one could test then, and every one can test now.
2. All organized human knowledge tends to be crystallized, to acquire a partial bias or flavour of some "school" of thought. The highest Teacher had to be free from any such taint, just as a clean slate is necessary if a perfectly clear and bold message has to be written on it.
3. In 3:20 and 62:2, the epithet is applied to the Pagan Arabs, because, before the advent of Islam, they were unlearned.
That the last and greatest of the Prophets should arise among them, and they and their language be made the vehicle of the new, full and universal light, has also a meaning, which is explained in C. 12-15.
...وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٨﴾
follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
وَمِن
قَوْمِ مُوسَى
أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ
بِالْحَقِّ
وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ
﴿١٥٩﴾
7: 159. Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth.
وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمُ
اثْنَتَيْ
عَشْرَةَ أَسْبَاطًا
أُمَمًا...
7: 160. We divided them into twelve tribes or nations.
C1133. We now come to some incidents in Jewish history, which have been referred to in 2:57-60. Here they have special reference to their bearing on the times when early Islam was preached.
The Twelve Tribes and the parable drawn from them have been explained in n. 73 to 2:60.
...وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى إِذِ اسْتَسْقَاهُ قَوْمُهُ أَنِ اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْحَجَرَ...
We directed Moses by inspiration, when his (thirsty) people asked him for water:
"Strike the rock with thy staff":
...فَانبَجَسَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَّشْرَبَهُمْ ...
out of it there gushed forth twelve springs:
each group knew its own place for water.
...وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الْغَمَامَ وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى...
We gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna and quails, (saying):
...كُلُواْ مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ...
"Eat of the good things We have provided for you":
...وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ ﴿١٦٠﴾
(but they rebelled): to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
وَإِذْ
قِيلَ لَهُمُ
اسْكُنُواْ
هَـذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ
وَكُلُواْ
مِنْهَا حَيْثُ
شِئْتُمْ ...
7: 161. And remember it was said to them:
"Dwell in this town and eat therein as ye wish,
C1135. As in 7:19, we may construe "eat" here to mean not only eating literally, but enjoying the good things of life.
...وَقُولُواْ حِطَّةٌ وَادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا نَّغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطِيئَاتِكُمْ... ...
but say the word of humility and enter the gate in a posture of humility; We shall forgive you your faults;
...سَنَزِيدُ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٦١﴾
We shall increase (the portion of) those who do good."
وَإِذ
نَتَقْنَا
الْجَبَلَ
فَوْقَهُمْ
كَأَنَّهُ
ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّواْ
أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ
بِهِمْ...
7: 171. When We shook the mount over them, as if it had been a canopy, and they thought it was going to fall on them
...خُذُواْ مَا آتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ ...
(We said): "Hold firmly, to what We have given you
... وَاذْكُرُواْ مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٧١﴾
and bring (even) to remembrance what is therein; perchance ye may fear Allah."
C1145. Therein: in the Book or Revelation, in "what We have given you."
Other versions:
7: 137
Asad ……We gave as their heritage the eastern and western parts of the land that We had blessed.
Yusuf Ali And We made a people considered weak (and of no account) inheritors of lands in both east and west lands whereon We sent down our blessings. The fair promise of the Lord was fulfilled for the children of Israel because they had patience and constancy and We levelled to the ground the great works and fine buildings which Pharaoh and his people erected (with such pride).
Pickthall And We caused the folk who were devised to inherit the eastern parts of the land and the western parts thereof which We had blessed. And the fair word of the Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of their endurance; and We annihilated (all) that Pharaoh and his folk had done and that they had contrived.
Transliteration Wa aurasnal qumal lazina ka_nu_ yustad'afu_na masya_riqal ardi wa maga_ribahal lati ba_rakna_ fiha_, wa tammat kalimatu rabbikal husna_ 'ala_ bani isra_'ila bima_ sabaru_, wa dammarna_ ma_ ka_na yasna'u fir'aunu wa qaumuhu_ wa ma_ ka_nu_ ya'risyu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 98 – Palestine is spoken of as “blessed” ……
Note 100 - The story of the suffering of the Israelites during their bondage in Egypt, their deliverance through Moses, their crossing of the Red Sea (or …the Gulf of Suez)…….is narrated in considerable detail in the Bible (Exodus i-xiv). The Quran, on the other hand, does not give us a consecutive narrative: for ……………it does so exclusively with a view to bringing out elements that are relevant to the ethical teachings which it propounds. ]]
7: 138
Yusuf Ali We took the children of Israel (with safety) across the sea. They came upon a people devoted entirely to some idols they had. They said: "O Moses! fashion for us a god like unto the gods they have." He said: "surely ye are a people without knowledge.
Pickthall And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea, and they came unto a people who were given up to idols which they had. They said: O Moses! Make for us a god even as they have gods. He said: Lo! ye are a folk who know not.
Transliteration Wa ja_wazna_ bi bani isra_'ilal bahra fa atau 'ala_ qaumiy ya'kufu_na 'ala_ asna_mil lahum, qa_lu_ ya_ mu_saj'al lana_ ila_han kama_ lahum a_lihah(tun), qa_la innakum qaumun tajhalu_n(a).
7: 139
Asad As for these here- verily, their way of life is bound to lead to destruction; and worthless is all that hey have ever done!”
Yusuf Ali "As to these folk the cult they are in is (but) a fragment of a ruin and vain is the (worship) which they practice."
Pickthall Lo! as for these, their way will be destroyed and all that they are doing is in vain.
Transliteration Inna ha_'ula_'i mutabbarum ma_ hum fihi wa ba_tilum ma_ ka_nu_ ya'malu_n(a).
7: 140
Asad [And] he said: “Am I to seek for you a deity other than God, although it is He who has favored you above all other people? [note 102]
Yusuf Ali He said: "Shall I seek for you a god other than the (true) Allah when it is Allah who hath endowed you with gifts above the nations?"
Pickthall He said : Shall I seek for you a god other than Allah when He hath favored you above (all) creatures?
Transliteration Qa_la agairalla_hi abgikum ila_haw wa huwa faddalakum 'alal 'a_lamin(a).
[[ Asad’s note 102 – I.e., by having raised so many prophets out of their midst.]]
[[ Ruby’s note – It is not clear what is meant by this special favor to Jews. It is possible what Asad points out in his note 102. However, it may be that at that time Moses was sent to them and not another people. And through Moses Israelites were saved from the Egyptian bondage. It is not clear this special “status” or endowment took place only at that time and in the past or it is meant for all time to come? From historical point of view Jews actually have not been a dominant power or culture in the world. Most of the history they did not have a land to rule, the religion did not spread worldwide as Christianity and Islam, they have been repeatedly persecuted and suffered at the hands of others and dominated by others. Therefore the highest favor or gift that is implied could only belong to at the time of Moses. Also may be the special favor was taken away because of their arrogance and corruption of God’s message later down the line.]]
7: 141
Asad And [he reminded them of this word of God]: Lo, We saved you from Pharaoh’s people who afflicted you with cruel suffering, slaying your sons in great numbers and sparing [only] your women – which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer [note 103].”
Yusuf Ali And remember We rescued you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with the worst of penalties who slew your male children and saved alive your females: in that was a momentous trial from your Lord.
Pickthall And (remember) when We did deliver you from Pharaoh's folk who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, slaughtering your sons and sparing your women. That was a tremendous trial from your Lord.
Transliteration Wa iz anjaina_kum min a_li fir'auna yasu_mu_nakum su_'al 'aza_b(i), yuqattilu_na abna_'akum wa yastahyu_na nisa_'akum, wa fi za_likum bala_'um mir rabbikum 'azim(un).
[[ Ali’s note-1099 This is Allah's reminder to Israel through the mouth of Moses. There was a double trial: (1) while the bondage lasted, the people were to learn patience and constancy in the midst of affliction: (2) when they were rescued, they were to learn humility; justice, and righteous deeds of prosperity. (7.141)]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1088 Their superstition ascribed the punishment of their own wickedness to some evil omen. They thought Moses and his people brought them ill-luck. They did not look within themselves to see the root of evil, and the cause of their punishment! So it happens in all ages. People blame the righteous for something which they do, different from other men, instead of searching out their own lapses from rectitude, which are punished by Allah. (7.131)
1089 A type of obstinacy and resistance to Allah's message. As they believed in sorcery and magic, they thought anything unusual was but sorcery and magic, and hardened their hearts against Truth. (7.132)
1090 Tufan = a widespread calamity, causing wholesale death and destruction. It may be a flood, or a typhoon, or an epidemic, among men or cattle. Perhaps the last is meant, if we may interpret by the Old Testament story. See also Exod. ix. 3, 9, 15; xii. 29. (7.133)
1093 The intercession of Moses was to pray. Each plague or penalty had its appointed term in Allah's decree. That term was duly fulfilled before the plague ceased. The intercession meant two things: (1) that Allah's name was invoked and His presence duly brought home to the mind and heart of the sinner who promised repentance, and (2) that the sinner was given a further chance when the prayer was accepted. This again is a universal truth. (7.135)
1094 When at last Pharaoh let Israel go, they selected, not the highway to Canaan, along the Mediterranean and by Gaza, because they were unarmed and would have encountered immediate opposition there, but by way of the wilderness of Sinai. They crossed the Red Sea, while Pharaoh's host which came in pursuit was drowned. Cf. ii. 50. (7.136)
1095 Where was the Council of Pharaoh held in which Moses addressed Pharoah? Egypt's primary capital in the XVIIIth Dynasty was Thebes (=Not-Ammon), but that was more than 400 miles to the south of the Delta, in whose corner Israel dwelt. Memphis, on the apex of the Delta, a little south of where Cairo is now, was also over 100 miles from Israel's habitations. The interview must have been either in a Palace near Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, or in Zoan (=Tanis), the Deltaic capital built by a former dynasty, which was of course still available for the reigning dynasty, and which was not far from the Israelite settlement. (7.136)
1096 Israel, which was despised, became a great and glorious nation under Solomon. He had goodly territory, and was doubly blest. His land and people were prosperous, and he was blessed with wisdom from Allah. His sway and his fame spread east and west. And thus Allah's promise to Israel was fulfilled. Note that Syria and Palestine had once been under the sway of Egypt. At the same time the proud and rebellious Pharaoh and his people were brought low. The splendid monuments which they had erected with so much skill and pride were mingled with the dust. Their great cities-Thebes (or No-Ammon), Memphis (or Noph, sacred to the Bull of Osiris), and the other splendid cities, became as if they had not existed, and archaeologists have had to dig up their ruins from the sands. The splendid monuments-temples, palaces, tombs, statues, columns, and stately structures of all kinds-were buried in the sands. Even monuments like the Great Sphinx, which seem to defy the ages, were partly buried in the sands, and owe their rescue to the comparatively recent researches of archaeologists. As late as 1743 Richard Pococke in his Travels in Fgypt (p. 41), remarked: "Most of those pyramids are very much ruined." (7.137)
1097 Who were these people? We are now in the Sinai Peninsula. Two conjectures are possible. (1) The Amalekites of the Sinai Peninsula were at perpetual war with the Israelites. They were probably an idolatrous nation, but we have very little knowledge of their cult. (2) From Egyptian history we know that Egypt had worked from very ancient times some copper mines in Sinai. An Egyptian settlement may have been here. Like all mining camps it contained from the beginning the dregs of the population. When the mines ceased to be worked, the settlement, or what remained of it, must have degenerated further. Cut off from civilisation, its cult must have become still narrower, without the refining influences which a progressive nation applies even to its idolatry. Perhaps Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis, lost all its allegorical meaning for them, and only gross and superstitious rites remained among them. The text speaks of "some idols they had," implying that they had merely a detached fragment of a completer religion. This was a snare in the path of the Israelites, whom many generations of slavery in Egypt had debased into ignorance and superstition. (7.138)
1098 If conjecture 2 in the last note is correct, this idolatrous worship was but the fragment of a ruin from Egypt, and Moses's reproach is biting: "You, who have been rescued from the bondage of living Egypt,-do you hanker after the bondage of a dead cult debased even from that from which you have been rescued?" Mutabbar = broken in pieces, smashed into fragments, destroyed. (7.139) ]]
7: 142
Yusuf Ali We appointed for Moses thirty nights and completed (the period) with ten (more): thus was completed the term (of communion) with his Lord forty nights. And Moses had charged his brother Aaron (before he went up): "Act for me amongst my people: do right and follow not the way of those who do mischief."
Pickthall And when We did appoint for Moses thirty nights (of solitude), and added to them ten, and he completed the whole time appointed by his Lord of forty nights; and Moses said unto his brother: Take my place among the people. Do right, and follow not the way of mischief makers.
Transliteration Wa wa_'adna_ mu_sa_ sala_sina lailataw wa atmamna_ha_ bi 'asyrin fa tamma miqa_tu rabbihi arba'ina lailah(tan), wa qa_la mu_sa_ li akhihi ha_ru_nakhlufni fi qaumi wa aslih wa la_ tattabi' sabilal mufsidin(a).
[[ Asad’s note 104 – According to several of the Prophet’s Companions, and particularly Ibn Abbas, the first thirty nights were to be spent by Moses in spiritual preparation, including fasting, whereupon the Law would be revealed to him in the remaining ten (Zamakhshari and Razi); see also Manar IX, 119 ff.). In Arabic usage, a period of time designated as “nights” comprises the days as well.]]
[[ Ruby’s note – The above Asad’s explanation is not tenable. These 40 nights were before Moses even came to the mountain where the law was give not during these 40 days in his original place.]]
7: 143
Asad ……..Said [God]: “Never can you see Me. However, behold this mountain: if it remains firm in its place then – only then will you see Me.”
And as soon as his Sustainer revealed His glory to the mountain, He caused it to crumble to dust; and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he came to himself, he said: “Limitless are You in Your glory! Unto You do I turn in repentance; and I shall [always] be the first to believe in You! [note 106]
Yusuf Ali When Moses came to the place appointed by Us and his Lord addressed him He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me that I may look upon thee." Allah said: "by no means canst thou see Me (direct); but look upon the mount; if it abide in its place then shalt thou see Me." When his Lord manifested his glory on the mount He made it as dust and Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to Thee! to thee I turn in repentance and I am the first to believe." (Allah) said: "O Moses! I have chosen thee above (other) men by the mission I (have given thee) and the words I (have spoken to thee): take then the (revelation) which I give thee and be of those who give thanks."
Pickthall And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers.
Transliteration Wa lamma_ ja_'a mu_sa_ limiqa_tina_ wa kallamahu_ rabbuh(u_), qa_la rabbi arini anzur ilaik(a), qa_la lantara_ni wa la_kininzur ilal jabali fa inistaqarra maka_nahu_ fa saufa tara_ni, falamma_ tajalla_ rabbuhu_ lil jabali ja'alahu_ dakkaw wa kharra mu_sa_ sa'iqa_(n), falamma_ afa_qa qa_la subha_naka tubtu ilaika wa ana awwalul mu'minin(a).
[[ Ruby’s note – 7:143 – Regarding “first to believe” I think is not literal: it is of intensity after such an awesome experience by a human being many centuries ago and his realizing the immensity of the Presence and his belief of that tremendousness of the unseen power. This is an assertion of a new and better realization of that incomprehensible power. ]]
[[ Asad’s note 106 – Since Moses was already a believer, his words do not merely allude to belief in God’s existence but, rather, belief in the impossibility of man’s seeing God …..]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1100 The forty nights' exclusion of Moses on the Mount may be compared with the forty days fast of Jesus in the wilderness before he took up his ministry (Matt. iv, 2). In each case the Prophets lived alone apart from their people, before they came into the full blaze of the events of their Ministry. (7.142)
1101 When for any reason the man of God is absent from his people, his duty of leadership (khilafat) should be taken up by his brother,-not necessarily a blood-brother, but one of his society or brotherhood. The deputy should discharge it in all humility, remembering three things: (1) that he is only a deputy, and bound to follow the directions of his Principal, (2) that right and justice are of the essence of power, and (3) that mischief gets its best chance to raise its head in the absence of the Principal, and that the deputy should always guard against the traps laid for him in the Principal's absence. (7.142)
1102 Even the best of us may be betrayed into overweening confidence of spiritual ambition not yet justified by the stage we have reached. Moses had already seen part of the glory of Allah in his Radiant White Hand, that shone with the glory of Divine light (vii. 108, n. 1076). But he was still in the flesh, and the mission to his people was to begin after the Covenant of Sinai. (7.143)
1103 But Allah-the Cherisher of all His creatures-treats even our improper requests with mercy, compassion, and understanding. Even the reflected glory of Allah is too great for the grosser substance of matter. The peak on which it shone became as powder before the ineffable glory, and Moses could only live by being taken out of his bodily senses. When he recovered from his swoon, he saw the true position, and the distance between our grosser bodily senses and the true splendour of Allah's glory. He at once turned in penitence to Allah, and confessed his faith. (7.143)
1104 "First to believe." Cf. the expression "first of those who bow to Allah in Islam" in vi. 14 and vi. 163. "First" means here not the first in time, but most zealous in faith. It has the intensive and not the comparative meaning. (7.143) ]]
7: 144
Asad Said [God]: “Moses! Behold, I have raised you above all people by virtue of the messages which I have entrusted to you, and by virtue of My speaking [unto you]:………
Yusuf Ali (Allah) said: "O Moses! I have chosen thee Above (other) men By the mission I (have Given thee) and the words I (have spoken to thee): Take then the (revelation) Which I give thee And be of those Who give thanks."
Pickthall He said : O Moses ! I have preferred thee above mankind by My messages and by My speaking (unto thee). So hold that which I have given thee, and be among the thankful.
Transliteration Qa_la ya_ mu_sa_ innistafaituka 'alan na_si bi risa_la_ti wa bikala_mi, fa khuz ma_ a_taituka wa kum minasy sya_kirin(a).
7: 145
Asad And We ordained for him in the tablets [of the Law] all manner of admonition, clearly spelling out everything [note 108]. And [We said:] “Hold fast unto them with [all your] strength, and bid your people to hold fast to their most goodly rules. I will show you the way the iniquitous shall go [note 109].
Yusuf Ali And We ordained laws for him in the tablets in all matters both commanding and explaining all things (and said): "take and hold these with firmness and enjoin thy people to hold fast by the best in the precepts: soon shall I show you the homes of the wicked (how they lie desolate)."
Pickthall And We wrote for him, upon the tablets, the lesson to be drawn from all things and the explanation of all things, then (bade him): Hold it fast; and command thy people (saying): Take the better (course made clear) therein. I shall show thee the abode of evil-livers.
Transliteration Wa katabna_ lahu_ fil alwa_hi min kulli syai'im mau'izataw wa tafsilal likulli syai'(in), fa khuzha_ bi quwwatiw wa'mur qaumaka ya'khuzu_ bi ahsaniha_, sa urikum da_ral fa_siqin(a).
7: 146
Asad From My messages shall I cause to turn away all those who, without any right, behave haughtily on earth: for, though they may see every sign [of the truth], they do not believe in it, and though they may see the path of rectitude, they do not choose to follow it – whereas, if they see a path of error, they take it for their own: this, because they have given the lie to Our messages, and have remained heedless of them [note 110].
Yusuf Ali Those who behave arrogantly on the earth in defiance of right them will I turn away from My signs they will not believe in them; and if they see the way of right conduct they will not adopt it as the way; but if they see the way of error that is the way they will adopt; for they rejected Our signs and failed to take warning from them.
Pickthall I shall turn away from My revelations those who magnify themselves wrongfully in the earth, and if they see each token believe it not, and if they see the way of righteousness choose it not for (their) way, and if they see the way of error choose it for (their) way. That is because they deny Our revelations and are used to disregard them.
Transliteration Sa asrifu 'an a_ya_tiyal lazina yatakabbaru_na fil ardi bi gairil haqq(i), wa iy yarau kulla a_yatil la_ yu'minu_ biha_, wa iy yarau sabilar rusydi la_ yattakhizu_hu sabila_(n), wa iy yarau sabilal gayyi yattakhizu_hu sabila_(n), za_lika bi annahum kazzabu_ bi a_ya_tina_ wa ka_nu_ 'anha_ ga_filin(a).
7: 147
Asad Hence, all who give the lie to Our messages, and [thus] to the truth of the life to come – in vain shall be all their doings: [for] are they to be rewarded for aught but what they were wont to do?
Yusuf Ali Those who reject Our signs and the meeting in the hereafter vain are their deeds: can they expect to be rewarded except as they have wrought?
Pickthall Those who deny Our revelations and the meeting of the Hereafter, their works are fruitless. Are they requited aught save what they used to do?
Transliteration Wallazina kazzabu_ bi a_ya_tina_ wa liqa_'il a_khirati habitat a'ma_luhum, hal yujzauna illa_ ma_ ka_nu_ ya'malu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s notes: 108 see surah 6, note 156.
109 - ……….the meaning of ‘dar’ (“abode”) in this context, see surah 6, note118. …..the plural form of address in “I will show you” makes it more probable that it is the beginning of a parenthetic passage connected, no doubt, with the preceding one, but having a general import not confined to Moses.
110 – As so often in the Quran, God’s “causing” the sinners to sin is shown to be a consequence of their own behavior and the result of their free choice. By “those who, without any right, behave haughtily on earth” are obviously meant people who think that their own judgment as to what constitutes right and wrong is the only valid one, and therefore refuse to submit their personal concerns to the criterion of absolute (i.e., revealed) moral standards: cf. 96: 6-7-“man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient”.]]
[[ Ali’s notes -1105 "Above (other) men": i.e. among his contemporaries. He had a high mission, and he had the honour of speaking to Allah. (7.144)
1106 Allah's revelation is for the benefit of His creatures, who should receive it with reverence and gratitude. While Moses was having these great spiritual experiences on the Mount, his people below were ungrateful enough to forget Allah and make a golden calf for worship (vii. 147). (7.144)
1107 The Tablets of the Law contained the essential Truth, from which were derived the positive injunctions and prohibitions, explanations and interpretations, which it was the function of the prophetic office to hold up for the people to follow. The precepts would contain, as the Shari'at does, matters absolutely prohibited, matters not prohibited but disapproved, matters about which there was no prohibition or injunction, but in which conduct was to be regulated by circumstances; matters of positive and universal duty, matters recommended for those whose zeal was sufficient to enable them to work on higher than minimum standards. No soul is burdened beyond its capacity; but we are asked to seek the best and highest possible for us in conduct. (7.145)
1108 Notice the transition from the "We" of authority and honour and impersonal dignity, to the "I" of personal concern in specially guiding the righteous. (7.145)
1109 Literally, the homes of the wicked, both individuals and nations, lie desolate, as in the case of the ancient Egyptians, the 'Ad, and the Thamud. (7.145)
1110 The argument may be simplified thus in paraphrase. The right is established on the earth as Allah created it: Nature recognises and obeys Allah's law as fixed for each portion of Creation. But man, because of the gift of Will, sometimes upsets this balance. The root-cause is his arrogance, as it was in the case of Iblis. Allah's Signs are everywhere, but if they are rejected with scorn and blasphemy, Allah will withdraw His grace, for sin hardens the heart and makes it impervious to the truth. Want of faith produces a kind of blindness to spiritual facts, a kind of deafness to the warnings of a Day of Account. If we had contumaciously rejected faith, can we hope for anything but justice,-the just punishment of our sins. (7.146)
1111 Rejected Our Signs: again a return to the Plural of impersonal Dignity and Authority, from the singular of personal concern in granting grace and guidance to the Righteous. (7.146)]]
7: 148 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Asad …….took to worshipping the effigy of a calf [made] of their ornaments, which gave for the a lowing sound [note 113]……….
Yusuf Ali The people of Moses made in his absence out of their ornaments the image of a calf (for worship): it seemed to low: did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor show them the way? They took it for worship and they did wrong.
Pickthall And the folk of Moses, after (he had left them), chose a calf (for worship), (made) out of their ornaments, of saffron hue, which gave a lowing sound. Saw they not that it spake not unto them nor guided them to any way? They chose it, and became wrong-doers.
Transliteration Wattakhaza qaumu mu_sa_ mim ba'dihi min huliyyihim 'ijlan jasadal lahu_ khuwa_r(un), alam yarau annahum la_ yukallimuhum wa la_ yahdihim sabila_(n), ittakhazu_hu wa ka_nu_ za_limin(a).
7: 149
Yusuf Ali When they repented and saw that they had erred they said: "If our Lord have not mercy upon us and forgive us we shall indeed be of those who perish."
Pickthall And when they feared the consequences thereof and saw that they had gone astray, they said: Unless our Lord have mercy on us and forgive us, we verily are of the lost.
Transliteration Wa lamma_ suqita fi aidihim wa ra'au annahum qad dallu_, qa_lu_ la'illam yarhamna_ rabbuna_ wa yagfir lana_ lanaku_nanna minal kha_sirin(a).
7: 150
Yusuf Ali When Moses came back to his people angry and grieved he said: "evil it is that ye have done in my place in my absence: did ye make haste to bring on the judgment of your Lord?" He put down the tablets seized his brother by (the hair of) his head and dragged him to him. Aaron said: "son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught and went near to slaying me! make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune nor count thou me amongst the people of sin."
Pickthall And when Moses returned unto his people, angry and grieved, he said: Evil is that (course) which ye took after I had left you. Would ye hasten on the judgment of your Lord? And he cast down the tablets, and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him. He said: Son of my mother! Lo! the folk did judge me weak and almost killed me. Oh, make not mine enemies to triumph over me and place me not among the evil doers!
Transliteration Wa lamma_ raja'a mu_sa_ ila_ qaumihi gadba_na asifa_(n), qa_la bi'sama_ khalaftumu_ni mim ba'di, a'ajiltum amra rabbikum, wa alqal alwa_ha wa akhaza bira'si akhihi yajurruhu_ ilaih(i), qa_labna umma innal qaumastad'afu_ni wa ka_du_ yaqtulu_nani, fala_ tusymit biyal a'da_'a wa la_ taj'alni ma'al qaumiz za_limin(a).
7: 151
Yusuf Ali Moses prayed: "O my Lord! forgive me and my brother! admit us to Thy mercy! for Thou art the Most Merciful of those who sow mercy!"
Pickthall He said: My Lord! Have mercy on me and on my brother; bring us into Thy mercy, Thou the Most Merciful of all who show mercy.
Transliteration Qa_la rabbigfirli wa li akhi wa adkhilna_ fi rahmatik(a), wa anta arhamur ra_himin(a).
[[ Ali’s notes - 1112 The making of the golden calf and its worship by the Israelites during the absence of Moses on the Mount were referred to in ii. 51, and some further details are given in xx. 95-97. Notice how in each case only those points are referred to which are necessary to the argument in hand. A narrator whose object is mere narration, tells the story in all its details, and is done with it. A consummate artist, whose object is to enforce lessons, brings out each point in its proper place. Master of all details, he does not ramble, but with supreme literary skill, just adds the touch that is necessary in each place to complete the spiritual picture. His object is not a story but a lesson. Here notice the contrast between the intense spiritual communion of Moses on the Mount and the simultaneous corruption of his people in his absence. We can understand his righteous indignation and bitter grief (vii. 150). The people had melted all their gold ornaments, and made the image of a calf like the bull of Osiris in the city of Memphis in the wicked Egypt that they had turned their backs upon. (7.148)
1113 Image of a Calf. Jasad is literally a body, especially the body of a man according to Khalil quoted by Ragib. In xxi. 8, it is used obviously for the human body, as also in xxxviii. 34; but in the latter case, the idea of an image, without any real life or soul, is also suggested. In the present passage I understand many suggestions: (1) that it was a mere image, without life, (2) as such, it could not low, therefore the appearance of lowing, mentioned immediately afterwards, was a fraud: (3) unlike its prototype, the bull of Osiris, it had not even the symbolism of Osiris behind it; the Osiris myth, in the living religion of Egypt, had at least some ethical principles behind it. (7.148)
1114 The lowing of the golden calf was obviously a deception practised by the promoters of the cult. Lytton in his "Last Days of Pompeii" exposes the deception practised by the priests of Isis. Men hidden behind images imposed on the credulity of the commonalty. (7.148)
1115 Did ye inake haste...? 'In your impatience, could you not wait for me? Your lapse into idolatry has only hastened Allah's wrath. If you had only waited, I was bringing to you in the Tablets the most excellent teaching in the commands of Allah.' There is subtle irony in the speech of Moses. There is also a play upon words: 'ijl = calf: and 'ajila = to make haste: no translation can bring out these niceties. (7.150)
1116 Put down the Tablets: we are not told that the Tablets were broken: in fact vii. 154 (below) shows that they were whole. They contained Allah's Message. There is a touch of disrespect (if not blasphemy) in supposing that Allah's Messenger broke the Tablets in his incontinent rage, as is stated in the Old Testament: "Moses's anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and brake them beneath the Mount." (Exod. xxxii. 10). On this point and also on the point that Aaron (in the Old Testament story) ordered the gold to be brought, made a molten calf, fashioned it with a graving tool, and built an altar before the calf (Exd. xxxii. 2-5), our version differs from that of the Old Testament. We cannot believe that Aaron, who was appointed by Allah to assist Moses as Allah's Messenger, could descend so low as to seduce the people into idolatry, whatever his human weaknesses might he. (7.150)
1117 Moses was but human. Remembering the charge he had given to Aaron (vii. 142) he had a just grievance at the turn events had taken. But he did not wreak his vengeance on the Tablets of Allah's law by breaking them. He laid hands on his brother, and his brother at once explained. (7.150)
1118 Aaron's speech is full of tenderness and regret. He addresses Moses as "son of my mother."-an affectionate term. He explains how the turbulent people nearly killed him for resisting them. And he states in the clearest terms that the idolatry neither originated with him nor had his consent. In xx. 85, we are told that a fellow described as the Samiri had led them astray. We shall discuss this when we come to that passage. (7.150)
1119 As Moses was convinced that his brother was guiltless, his wrath was turned to gentleness. He prayed for forgiveness-for himself and his brother: for himself because of his wrath and for his brother because he had been unable to suppress idolatry among his people. And like a true leader that he is, he identifies himself with his lieutenant for all that has happened. Even more, he identifies himself with his whole people in his prayer in verse 155 below. Herein, again, is a type of what the Holy Prophet Muhammad did for his people. (7.151) ]]
7: 152
Asad ……their Sustainer’s condemnation will overtake them, and ignominy [will be their lot] in the life of this world!” For thus do We requite all who invent [such] falsehood. [note 119]
Yusuf Ali Those who took the calf (for worship) will indeed be overwhelmed with wrath from their Lord and with shame in this life: thus do We recompense those who invent (falsehoods).
Pickthall Lo! those who chose the calf (for worship), terror from their Lord and humiliation will come upon them in the life of the world. Thus do We requite those who invent a lie.
Transliteration Innal lazinattakhazul 'ijla sayana_luhum gadabum mir rabbihim wa zillatun fil haya_tid dunya_, wa kaza_lika najzil muftarin(a).
7: 153
Yusuf Ali But those who do wrong but repent thereafter and (truly) believe verily Thy Lord is thereafter Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.
Pickthall But those who do ill deeds and afterward repent and believe--lo! for them, afterward, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Transliteration Wallazina 'amilus sayyi'a_ti summa ta_bu_ mim ba'diha_ wa a_manu_ inna rabbaka mim ba'diha_ lagafu_rur rahim(un).
[[ Asad’s note 119 – Throughout the Quran, this expression is used to describe a)the attribute of divine qualities to any concrete or imaginary object or person, and b) the making of false statements about God, His attributes, or the contents of His messages. In the above context it refers to any false imagery which deflects man from the worship of the One God.]]
7: 154 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Asad ….guidance and mercy for all who stood in awe of their Sustainer [note 121].
Yusuf Ali When the anger of Moses was appeased he took up the tablets: in the writing thereon was guidance and mercy for such as fear their Lord.
Pickthall Then, when the anger of Moses abated, he took up the tablets, and in their inscription there was guidance and mercy for all those who fear their Lord.
Transliteration Wa lamma_ sakata 'am mu_sal gadabu akhazal alwa_h(a), wa fi nuskhatiha_ hudaw wa rahmatul lillazina hum lirabbihim yarhabu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 121 – According to the Bible (Exodus xxxii, 19), Moses broke the tablets when he threw them down in anger; the Quranic narrative, however, shows them as having remained intact.]]
7: 155 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Asad And Moses chose out of his people seventy men to come [and pray for forgiveness] at a time set by Us. Then, when violent trembling seized them [note 122], he prayed:……
Yusuf Ali And Moses chose seventy of his people for Our place of meeting: when they were seized with violent quaking he prayed: "O my Lord! if it had been Your will You could have destroyed long before both them and me: would You destroy us for the deeds of the foolish one among us? This is no more than Your trial: by it You cause whom You wilt to stray and You lead whom You wilt into the right path. You are our protector: so forgive us and give us Your mercy; for You are the best of those who forgive.
Pickthall And Moses chose of his people seventy men for Our appointed tryst and, when the trembling came on them, he said: My Lord! If thou hadst willed Thou hadst destroyed them long before, and me with them. Wilt thou destroy us for that which the ignorant among us did? It is but Thy trial (of us). Thou sendest whom Thou wilt astray and guidest whom Thou wilt. Thou art our Protecting Friend, therefore forgive us and have mercy on us, Thou, the Best of all who show forgiveness.
Transliteration Wakhta_ra mu_sa_ qaumahu_ sab'ina rajulal limiqa_tina_, falamma_ akhazathumur rajfatu qa_la rabbi lau syi'ta ahlaktahum min qablu wa iyya_y(a), atuhlikuna_ bima_ fa'alas sufaha_'u minna_, in hiya illa_ fitnatuk(a), tudillu biha_ man tasya_'u wa tahdi man tasya_'(u), anta waliyyuna_ fagfir lana_ warhamna_ wa anta khairul ga_firin(a).
[[ Asad’s note 122 – Most of the commentators take “rajfah” to mean here “earthquake”, as it evidently does in other places in the Quran (e.g., in verses 78 and 91 this surah)……….]].
7: 156 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Asad And ordain You for us what is good in this world as well as in the life to come: behold, unto You have we turned in repentance!” [God] answered: “With My chastisement do I afflict whom I will – but My grace overspreads everything [123]: and so I shall confer it on those who are conscious of me and spend in charity, and who believe in Our messages -
Yusuf Ali "And ordain for us that which is good in this life and in the hereafter: for we have turned unto Thee." He said: "with My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things. That (Mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right and practice regular charity and those who believe in Our signs;
Pickthall And ordain for us in, this world that which is good, and in the Hereafter (that which is good), Lo! We have turned unto Thee. He said: I smite with My punishment whom I will, and My mercy embraceth all things, therefore I shall ordain It for those who ward off (evil) and pay the poor due, and those who believe Our revelations;
Transliteration Waktub lana_ fi ha_zihid dunya_ hasanataw wa fil a_khirati inna_ hudna_ ilaik(a), qa_la 'aza_bi usibu bihi man asya_'(u), wa rahmati wasi'at kulla syai'(in), fa sa'aktubuha_ lillazina yattaqu_na wa yu'tu_naz zaka_ta wallazina hum bi a_ya_tina_ yu'minu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 123 – Cf. 6:12 (and the corresponding 10), as well as 6:54.]]
7: 157 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Asad …………….the unlettered Prophet whom they shall find described in the Torah that is with them, and [later on] in the Gospel [note 124]………it is they that shall attain to a happy state .”
Yusuf Ali "Those who follow the apostle the unlettered prophet whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures); in the law and the Gospel; for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil: he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him honor him help him and follow the light which is sent down with him it is they who will prosper."
Pickthall Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them. He will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honor him and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful.
Transliteration Allazina yattabi'u_nar rasu_lan nabiyyal ummiyyal lazi yajidu_nahu_ maktu_ban 'indah_ fit taura_ti wal injili ya'muruhum bil ma'ru_fi wa yanha_hum 'anil munkari wa yuhillu lahumut tayyiba_ti wa yuharrimu 'alaihimul khaba_'isa wa yada'u 'anhum israhum wal agla_lal lati ka_nat'alaihim, fallazina a_manu_ bihi wa 'azzaru_hu wa nasaru_hu wattaba'un nu_ral lazi unzila ma'ah(u_), ula_'ika humul muflihu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 124 - ……..The stress on his having been “unlettered” [ummi], i.e., unable to read and write, serves to ring out the fact that all his knowledge of the earlier prophets and of the messages transmitted by them was due to divine inspiration alone, and not to a familiarity with the Bible as such.
For the Old Testament predictions of the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (especially in Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18), see surah 2, note 33; for the New Testament prophecies to the same effect, see 61:6 and the corresponding note 6.
NOTE 125 – A reference to the many severe rituals and obligations laid down in Mosaic Law as well as to the tendency towards asceticism evident in the teachings of the Gospels. Thus the Quran implies that those “burdens and shackles”, intended as means of spiritual discipline for particular communities and particular stages of man’s development, will become unnecessary as soon as God’s message to man shall have achieved its final, universal character in the teachings of the Last Prophet Muhammad. ]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1126 The personal grace and mercy-and their opposite-are referred to the singular pronoun "I" while the impersonal Law, by which Allah's Signs operate in His universe, is referred to the plural pronoun of authority and dignity, "We". (7.156)
1127 In this verse is a prefiguring, to Moses, of the Arabian Messenger, the last and greatest of the messengers of Allah. Prophecies about him will be found in the Taurat and the Injil. In the reflex of the Taurat as now accepted by the Jews, Moses says: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me" (Deut. xviii. 15): the only Prophet who brought a Shari'at like that of Moses was Muhammad Al- Mustafa, and he came of the house of Ismail the brother of Isaac the father of Israel. In the reflex of the Gospel as now accepted by the Christians, Christ promised another Comforter (John xiv. 16): the Greek word Paraclete which the Christians interpret as referring to the Holy Spirit is by our Doctors taken to be Periclyte, which would be the Greek form of Ahmad. See Q. lxi. 6. (7.157)
1128 Aglal: plural of gullun, a yoke, an iron collar. In the formalism and exclusiveness of the Jews there were many restrictions which were removed by Islam, a religion of freedom in the faith of Allah, of universality in the variety of races, languages, manners and customs. (7.157)
1129 Light which is sent down with him: the words are "with him", not "to him", emphasizing the fact that the Light which he brought illumines every one who has the privilege of joining his great and universal Fellowship. (7.157)
1130 Falah = prosperity in its general sense as well as in its spiritual sense. In the general sense it means that right conduct is the only door to happiness and well-being. In the spiritual sense it means that Faith and its fruits (right conduct) are the only gates to salvation. (7.157)]]
7: 158
Asad Say [O Muhammad]: “O mankind! Verily, I am an apostle of God to all of you [note 126] [sent by Him] unto whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth belongs! There is no deity save Him; He [alone] grants life and deals death!” Believe, then, in God and His apostle – the unlettered Prophet who believes in God and his words – and follow him, so that you might find guidance!
Yusuf Ali Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all as the apostle of Allah to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His apostle the unlettered Prophet who believed in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
Pickthall Say (O Muhammad): O mankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah to you all--(the messenger of) Him unto whom belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no God save Him. He quickeneth and He giveth death. So believe in Allah and His messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believeth in Allah and in His words and follow him that haply ye may be led aright.
Transliteration Qul ya_ ayyuhan na_su inni rasu_lulla_hi ilaikum jami'anillazi lahu_ mulkus sama_wa_ti wal ard(i), la_ ila_ha illa_ huwa yuhyi wa yumit(u), fa a_minu_ billa_hi wa rasu_lihin nabiyyil ummiyyil lazi yu'minu billa_hi wa kalima_tihi wattabi'u_hu la'allakum tahtadu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 126 – This verse, placed parenthetically in the midst of the story of Moses and the children of Israel, is meant to elucidate the preceding passage. Each of the earlier prophets was sent to his, and only his, community: …………………In contrast, the message of the Quran is universal – that is, addressed to mankind as a whole – and is neither time-bound nor confined to any particular cultureal environment. It is for this reason that Muhammad, through whom this message was revealed, is described in the Quran (21:107) as an evidence of “[God’s] grace towards all the worlds” (i.e. towards all mankind), and as “the Seal of all Prophets” (33: 40) – in other words, the last of them.]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1131 Our attention having been directed to various prophets, who were sent with missions to their several peoples, and in each of whose careers there is some prefigurement of the life of the last and greatest of them, we are now asked to listen to the proclamation of Muhammad's universal mission. We contemplate no longer, after this, partial truths. It is not now a question of saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt, nor teaching Midian the ethics of business, nor reclaiming the people of Lot from sexual sin or Thamud from the sin of oppression in power, or 'Ad from arrogance and ancestorworship. Now are set forth plainly the issues of Life and Death, the Message of Allah, the One Universal God to all mankind. (7.158)
"Unlettered," as applied to the Prophet here and in verse 157 above, has three special significations. (1) He was not versed in human learning: yet he was full of the highest wisdom, and had a most wonderful knowledge of the previous Scriptures. This was a proof of his inspiration. It was a miracle of the highest kind, a "Sign", which every one could test then, and every one can test now. (2) All organised human knowledge tends to be crystallized, to acquire a partial bias or flavour of some "school" of thought. The highest Teacher had to be free from any such taint, just as a clean slate is necessary if a perfectly clear and bold message has to be written on it. (3) In iii.20 and lxii. 2, the epithet is applied to the Pagan Arabs, because, before the advent of Islam, they were unlearned. (7.158) ]]
[[ Ruby’s note 7:158 – I disagree with this interpretation that the messages to other prophets were only for the respective people to whom they came. Those messages and the message of Muhammad have fundamentals that never change and always are universal. Those fundamental parts were present in all of the prophets’ messages and were for mankind. The Quran clearly and emphatically lays down this idea of ‘no differentiation’ among prophets as to their messages. As far as position the Quran does not give any believer to assign a higher or a lower position to any of God’s prophets. If there is any such scale that is know to God alone. Believers are commanded not to differentiate among the prophets. 41:43, 42:13-15, 2:136, 2:285, 3:84, 4:152, etc.]
7: 159
Asad And among the fold of Moses there have been people who would guide [others] in the way of the truth and act justly in its light
Yusuf Ali Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth.
Pickthall And of Moses' folk there is a community who lead with truth and establish justice therewith.
Transliteration Wa min qaumi mu_sa_ ummatuy yahdu_na bil haqqi wa bihi ya'dilu_n(a).
7: 160
Yusuf Ali We divided them into twelve tribes or nations. We directed Moses by inspiration when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: "Strike the rock with thy staff": out of it there gushed forth twelve springs: each group knew its own place for water. We gave them the shade of clouds and sent down to them manna and quails (saying): "Eat of the good things We have provided for you": (but they rebelled): to Us they did no harm but they harmed their own souls.
Pickthall We divided them into twelve tribes, nations; and We inspired Moses, when his people asked him for water, saying: Smite with thy staff the rock! And there gushed forth therefrom twelve springs, so that each tribe knew their drinking place. And we caused the white cloud to overshadow them and sent down for them the manna and the quails (saying): Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you. They wronged Us not, but they were wont to wrong themselves.
Transliteration Wa qatta'na_humusnatai'asyrata asba_tan umama_(n), wa auhaina_ ila_ mu_sa_ izistasqa_hu qaumuhu_ anidrib bi 'asa_kal hajar(a), fambajasat minhusnata_'asyrata 'aina_(n), qad 'alima kullu una_sim masyrabahum, wa zallalna_ 'alaihimul gama_ma wa anzalna_ 'alaihimul manna was salwa_, kulu_ min tayyiba_ti ma_ razaqna_kum, wa ma_ zalamu_na_ wa la_kin ka_nu_ anfusahum yazlimu_n(a).
7: 161 [al-Araf, Mecca 39]
Yusuf Ali And remember it was said to them: "Dwell in this town and eat therein as ye wish but say the word of humility and enter the gate in a posture of humility; We shall forgive you your faults; We shall increase (the portion of) those who do good."
Pickthall And when it was said unto them: Dwell in this township and eat therefrom whence ye will, and say "Repentance," and enter the gate prostrate; We shall forgive you your sins; We shall increase (reward) for the right-doers.
Transliteration Wa iz qila lahumuskunu_ ha_zihil qaryata wa kulu_ minha_ haisu syi'tum wa qu_lu_ hittatuw wadkhulul ba_ba sujjadan nagfir lakum khati'a_tikum, sanazidul muhsinin(a).
7: 162
Yusuf Ali But the transgressors among them changed the word from that which had been given them; so We sent on them a plague from heaven for that they repeatedly transgressed.
Pickthall But those of them who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and We sent down upon them wrath from heaven for their wrongdoing.
Transliteration Fa baddalal lazina zalamu_ minhum qaulan gairal lazi qila lahum fa arsalna_ 'alaihim rijzam minas sama_'i bima_ ka_nu_ yazlimu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 128 – For an explanation of this and the preceding verse, see 2:58-59, and the corresponding notes.]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1135 As in vii. 19, we may construe "eat" here to mean not only eating literally, but enjoying the good things of life. (7.161)
1136 Cf. ii, 58-59, and n. 72. The story is here told by way of parable for the times of Islam. Hence we have a few verbal changes: e.g., "dwell in this town" instead of "enter this town." etc. (7.162) ]]
7: 171
Asad And …..when We caused Mount Sanai to quake above the children of Israel as through it were a [mere] shadow, and they thought that it would fall upon them, :Hold fast with [all your] strength unto what We have vouchsafed you, and bear in mind all that is therein, so that you might remain conscious of God?
Yusuf Ali When We shook the mount over them as if it had been a canopy and they thought it was going to fall on them (We said): "Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (even) to remembrance what is therein; perchance ye may fear Allah."
Pickthall And when We shook the Mount above them as it were a covering, and they supposed that it was going to fall upon them (and We said): Hold fast that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil).
Transliteration Wa iz nataqnal jabala fauqahum ka annahu_ zullatuw wa zannu_ annahu_ wa_qi'um bihim, khuzu_ ma_ a_taina_kum biquwwatiw wazkuru_ ma_ fihi la'allakum tattaqu_n(a).