Sura -17 [Al-Israa, Mecca 50]
The Quranic text and 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.
Asad’s Version:
17:73 AND, behold, they [who have gone astray] endeavor to tempt thee away from all [the truth] with which We have inspired thee, [O Prophet,] with a view to making thee invent something else in Our name - in which case they would surely have made thee their friend! 88
(17:74) And had We not made thee firm [in faith], thou might have inclined to them a little "-
(17:75) in which case We would indeed have made thee taste double [chastisement] in life and double [chastisement] after death, 90 and thou wouldst have found none to succour thee against Us!
17: 74
Wa lau la_ an sabbatna_ka laqad kitta tarkanu ilaihim syai'an qalila_(n),
Asad And had We not made you firm, you might have inclined to them a little -
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.
Transliteration Izal la'azaqna_ka di'fal haya_ti wa di'fal mama_ti summa la_ tajidu laka 'alaina_ nasira_(n).
17: 75
Asad in which case We would indeed have made you taste double in life and double after death, and you would have found none to succor you against Us!
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.
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[[ Asad’s notes : -
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 attribute 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.
89 The implication is that the Prophet's deep faith made it impossible for him to consider anything of this kind.
90 I.e., "for having gone astray despite the revelation bestowed on thee by God, and for having, by thy example, led thy followers astray as well". The purport of the above passage goes, however, beyond the historical event or events to which it relates: it expresses the idea that any conscious offence against a fundamental truth is an unforgivable sin. ]]