Sura -17 [Al-Israa, Mecca 50]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:

وَإِن كَادُواْ لَيَفْتِنُونَكَ عَنِ الَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ لِتفْتَرِيَ عَلَيْنَا غَيْرَهُ...   

17:73.  And their purpose was to tempt thee away from that which We had revealed unto thee, to substitute in Our name something quite different: (in that case),

C2269. It happens with men of Allah, and it happened with the holy Prophet, that they are tempted by the world with many things which appeal to the world generally, if they would make some small concession in their favour. The "small concession" may hold the key of the position, and neutralize the whole teaching sent by Allah.

If the Prophet had accepted wealth and position among the Quraish and "only respected" their idols! The Quraish would have taken him into their inner circle!

A dishonest liar like Musaylama would have jumped at the opportunity and been hailed as a friend and associate and made much 0f. But Prophets of Allah are made of sterner stuff. They are given special strength to resist all plausible deception. (R).

...وَإِذًا لاَّتَّخَذُوكَ خَلِيلاً ﴿٧٣﴾

behold! they would certainly have made thee (their) friend!

وَلَوْلاَ أَن ثَبَّتْنَاكَ لَقَدْ كِدتَّ تَرْكَنُ إِلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا قَلِيلاً ﴿٧٤﴾

17:74.  And had We not given thee strength, thou wouldst nearly have inclined to them a little.

C2270. From a purely human point of view it may seem policy to make a small "concession" to men's weakness in order to fulfil a divine mission. But the divine Messenger is given special strength to resist such temptations.

إِذاً لَّأَذَقْنَاكَ ضِعْفَ الْحَيَاةِ وَضِعْفَ الْمَمَاتِ...   

17:75.  In that case We should have made thee taste an equal portion (of punishment) in this life, and an equal portion in death:

C2271. If such a thing was possible for a true Messenger of Allah, viz.:

a compromise with evil and a dereliction of his mission, he would be no exception to the law of personal responsibility.

Indeed, as the power and the responsibility were greater, the punishment would have been greater too. It would have been double,

-        an exposure in this life and the usual punishment in or after death for a desertion of Truth.

...ثُمَّ لاَ تَجِدُ لَكَ عَلَيْنَا نَصِيرًا ﴿٧٥﴾

and moreover thou wouldst have found none to help thee against Us!

C2272. The motive held out by the world for a compromise with Truth is itself fallacious. The motive is that the compromise may bring influence, position, and opportunity, if not wealth and the other good things of life. But these themselves (if attained) would be of no use or help if pitted against the command of Allah.

وَإِن كَادُواْ لَيَسْتَفِزُّونَكَ مِنَ الأَرْضِ لِيُخْرِجوكَ مِنْهَا...   

17:76.  Their purpose was to scare thee off the land, in order to expel thee;

C2273. As happened in the case of the holy Prophet, the enemies try to frighten the Prophet of Allah away from their midst, so that, once away, they could expel him and keep him out. But they are counting without the Plan of Allah. If they persecute the righteous, they dig their own graves! (R).

...وَإِذًا لاَّ يَلْبَثُونَ خِلافَكَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً ﴿٧٦﴾

but in that case they would not have stayed (therein) after thee, except for a little while.

سُنَّةَ مَن قَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا...   

17:77.  (This was Our) way with the Messengers We sent before thee:

...وَلاَ تَجِدُ لِسُنَّتِنَا تَحْوِيلاً ﴿٧٧﴾

thou wilt find no change in Our ways.

C2274. This was no new thing in history. Allah protects His own, and the ungodly cannot long enjoy the fruits of their unrighteousness even if their punishment be delayed a little while.

Asad’s Version:

17: 73

Asad And behold, they [who have gone astray] endeavor to tempt you away from all [the truth] with which We have inspired you, [O Prophet:] with a view to making you invent something else in Our name- in which case they would surely have made you their friend! [note 88]

Yusuf Ali And their purpose was to tempt thee away from that which We had revealed unto thee to substitute in Our name something quite different: (in that case) behold! they would certainly have made thee (their) friend!

Pickthall And they indeed strove hard to beguile thee (Muhammad) away from that wherewith We have inspired thee, that thou shouldst invent other than it against Us; and then would they have accepted thee as a friend.

Yuksel Even Muhammad Was Tempted to Follow Other than the Quran

17:73 They nearly diverted you from what We inspired to you so that you would fabricate something different against Us, and then they would have taken you as a friend!

Transliteration Wa in ka_du_ layaftinu_naka 'anil lazi auhaina_ ilaika litaftariya 'alaina_ gairah(u_), wa izal la-ttakhazu_ka khalila_(n).

[[ Asad’s note 88 – This relates to an offer of “compromise” made by the pagan Quraysh: they demanded of the Prophet that he give some sort of recognition to their tribal deities and attiribute this recognition to God; in return, they promised to recognize him as a prophet and to make him their leader. Naturally, the Prophet rejected this offer. ]]

17: 74

Asad And had We not made you firm [in faith], you might have inclined to them a little [note 89]

Yusuf Ali And had We not given thee strength thou wouldst nearly have inclined to them a little.

Pickthall And if We had not made thee wholly firm thou mightest almost have inclined unto them a little.

Yuksel If We had not made you stand firm, you were about to lean towards them a little bit.

Transliteration Wa lau la_ an sabbatna_ka laqad kitta tarkanu ilaihim syai'an qalila_(n),

17: 75

Yusuf Ali In that case We should have made thee taste an equal portion (of punishment) in this life and an equal portion in death: and moreover thou wouldst have found none to help thee against Us!

Pickthall Then had We made thee taste a double (punishment) of living and a double (punishment) of dying, then hadst thou found no helper against Us.

Yuksel Then, We would have made you taste double the retribution in this life and double the retribution in death. Then you would not find for yourself any victor against Us.

Transliteration Izal la'azaqna_ka di'fal haya_ti wa di'fal mama_ti summa la_ tajidu laka 'alaina_ nasira_(n).

17: 76

Asad And [since the ysee that they cannot persuade you,] they endeavor to estrange you from the land [of your birth] [note 91] with a view to driving you away from it – but, then, after you will have left [note 92], they themselves will not remain [in it] for more than a little while [ note 93].

Yusuf Ali Their purpose was to scare thee off the land in order to expel thee; but in that case they would not have stayed (therein) after thee except for a little while.

Pickthall And they indeed wished to scare thee from the land that they might drive thee forth from thence, and then they would have stayed (there) but a little after thee.

Yuksel They nearly enticed you to drive you out of the land. But in that case, they would have shortly been destroyed after you were gone.*

Transliteration Wa in ka_du_ layastafizzu_naka minal ardi liyukhriju_ka minha_ wa izal la_ yalbasu_na khila_faka illa_ qalila_(n).

[[ Asad’s note 91- It must be borne in mind that this is a Meccan surah, revealed at a time when the persecution, both physical and moral, which the prophet and his followers had to suffer at the hgands of the pagan Quraysh reached the peak of its intensity.

92- Lit. “after you”. 93- This prophecy was fulfilled a little over two years later, in the month of Ramadan, 2H., when those same leaders of the Quraysh were killed in the battle of Badr. ]]

[[ Yuksel’s note - 017:076 Indeed, soon after being forced to emigrate to Medina, Muhammad and his followers would return to their hometown Mecca, in peace, without bloodshed.]]

[[ Ali’s notes -

2269 It happens with men of Allah, and it happened with the holy Prophet, that they are tempted by the world with many things which appeal to the world generally, if they would make some small concession in their favor. The "small concession" may hold the key of the position, and neutralize the whole teaching sent by Allah. If the Prophet had accepted wealth and position among the Quraish and "only respected" their idols! The Quraish would have taken him into their inner circle! A dishonest liar like Musailama would have jumped at the opportunity and been hailed as a friend and associate and made much of. But Prophets of Allah are made of sterner stuff. They are given special strength to resist all plausible deception. (17.73)

2270 From a purely human point of view it may seem policy to make a small "concession" to men's weakness in order to fulfil a divine mission. But the divine Messenger is given special strength to resist such temptations. (17.74)

2271 If such a thing was possible for a true Messenger of Allah, viz.: a compromise with evil and a dereliction of his mission, he would be no exception to the law of personal responsibility. Indeed, as the power and the responsibility were greater, the punishment would have been greater too. It would have been double,-an exposure in this life and the usual punishment in or after death for a desertion of Truth. (17.75)

2272 The motive held out by the world for a compromise with Truth is itself fallacious. The motive is that the compromise may bring influence, position, and opportunity, if not wealth and the other good things of life. But these themselves (if attained) would be of no use or help if pitted against the command of Allah. (17.75)

2273 As happened in the case of the holy Prophet, the enemies try to frighten the Prophet of Allah away from their midst, so that, once away, they could expel him and keep him out. But they are counting without the Plan of Allah. If they persecute the righteous, they dig their own graves! (17.76)]]

17: 77 [al-Israa, Mecca 50]

Asad [such has been Our] way with all of Our apostles whom We sent before your time [note 94]; and no change will you find in Our ways.

Yusuf Ali (This was Our) way with the apostles We sent before thee: thou wilt find no change in Our ways.

Pickthall (Such was Our) method in the case of those whom We sent before thee (to mankind), and thou wilt not find for Our method aught of power to change.

Yuksel This is the way of those whom We sent before you of Our messengers. You will not find any change in Our way.

Transliteration Sunnata man qad arsalna_ qablaka mir rusulina_ wa la_ tajidu lisunnatina_ tahwila_(n).

[[Asad’s note 94 - The people who drove them away were invariably punished with destruction..]]

11: 12 [Hud, Mecca 52]

Asad Is it, then, conceivable [O Prophet] that you could omit any part of what is being revealed unto you [because the deniers of the truth dislike it, and] because your heart is distressed at their saying [note 20] “Why has not a treasure been bestowed upon his from on high?” – or, “[Why has not] and angel come [visibly] with him?” [note 21]. [They fail to understand] that you are only a warner, whereas God has everything in His care [note 22];

Yusuf Ali Perchance thou mayest (feel the inclination) to give up a part of what is revealed unto thee and thy heart feeleth straitened lest they say "Why is not a treasure sent down unto him or why does not an angel come down with him? But thou art there only to warn! It is Allah that arrangeth all affairs!

Pickthall A likely thing, that thou wouldst forsake aught of that which hath been revealed unto thee, and that thy breast should be straitened for it, because they say: Why hath not a treasure been sent down for him, or an angel come with him? Thou art but a warner, and Allah is in charge of all things.

Yuksel So perhaps you wish to ignore some of what has been inspired to you, and you are depressed by it, because they say, "If only a treasure was sent down with him, or an angel had come with him!" You are but a warner, and God is caretaker over all things.

Transliteration Fa la'allaka ta_rikum ba'da ma_ yu_hu_ ilaika da_'iqum bihi sadruka ay yaqu_lu_ lau la_ unzila 'alaihi kanzun au ja_'a ma'ahu_ malak(un), innama_ anta nazir(un), walla_hu 'ala_ kulli syai'iw wakil(un).