35. Surah Al-Fatir (The Originator)

Mecca Period 43

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا...

35:24. Verily We have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner:

C3907. It is Allah Who sends the Revelation. While there is warning in it for the heedless, there is good news for those who listen and repent.

The warning always came to all peoples before punishment.

... وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ ﴿٢٤﴾

and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).

وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ...

35: 25. And if they reject thee, so did their predecessors,

... جَاءتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَبِالزُّبُرِ وَبِالْكِتَابِ الْمُنِيرِ ﴿٢٥﴾

to whom came their messengers with Clear Signs, Books of Dark Prophecies, and the Book of Enlightenment.

C3908. The three things here mentioned are also mentioned in 3:184, where I have explained the meaning in n. 490.

All spiritual teaching centres round

- the evidences of Allah in our lives,

- the sublime teaching of Prophets of Allah, and

- the rules and laws which guide holy living. (R).

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا...

35: 26. In the end did I punish those who rejected Faith:

... فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ﴿٢٦﴾

and how (terrible) was My rejection (of them)!

C3909. Cf. 22:44 and 34:45.

The rejecters of Allah hardly realise the terrible consequences to them individually and collectively, if Allah's grace is withdrawn from them and they are left to perish in their own sins and wrong-doing.

Asad’s Version:

35:24 Verily, We have sent thee with the truth, as a bearer, of glad tidings and a warner: for there never was any community but a warner has [lived and] passed away in its midst. 18

(35:25) And if they give thee the lie - even so gave the lie to the truth [many of] those who lived before their time, [when] there came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth, and with books of divine wisdom, and with light-giving revelation;

(35:26) [but] tn the end I took to task all those who were bent on denying the truth: and how awesome was My rejection!

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[[ Asad’s note - 18 One of the meanings of the term ummah (preferred by Zamakhshari in his commentary on the above verse) is "people of one time" or "age"; another, "people of one kind", i.e., "a nation" or "a community" (which is adopted by me in this context). Taking into consideration a third, well-established meaning, namely, "a [particular] way of life" or 'of behaviour" (Jawhari), the term "community" comes, in this instance, close to the modern concept of "civilization" in its historical sense. - The stress on the Warners' (i.e., prophets) having "passed away" is meant to emphasize the humanness and mortality of each and all of them. ]]