Sura -17 [Al-Israa, Mecca 50]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَإِذَا
قَرَأْتَ الْقُرآنَ
جَعَلْنَا
بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ
الَّذِينَ لاَ
يُؤْمِنُونَ
بِالآخِرَةِ
حِجَابًا
مَّسْتُورًا ﴿٤٥﴾
17:45. When thou dost recite the Qur'án, We put, between thee and those who believe not in the Hereafter, a veil invisible:
C2230. Veil invisible: Some Commentators understand mastur here as equivalent to satir: a veil that makes invisible, a thick or dark veil.
But I think that the meaning of mastur (in the passive voice) as "hidden or invisible" is more consonant with the whole passage.
If all nature, external and within ourselves, declares Allah's glory, those unfortunate who cut themselves off from their better nature are isolated from the true servants of Allah and the revelation of Allah, because;
- they are unfit for being in their company, and
- because the servants of Allah and the revelation of Allah must be protected from the pain which blasphemy or rebellion must cause to their unsullied nature.
The veil is none the less real even though it is invisible. (R).
وَجَعَلْنَا
عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ
أَكِنَّةً أَن
يَفْقَهُوهُ
وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ
وَقْرًا...
17:46. And We put coverings over their hearts (and minds) lest they should understand the Qur'án, and deafness into their ears:
C2231. The invisible veil being put against the ungodly on account of their deliberate rejection of Truth, the result is that their minds are fogged so that they cannot understand and their ears are clogged so that they cannot hear.
In other words the effects of Evil become cumulative in shutting out Allah's grace.
...وَإِذَا ذَكَرْتَ رَبَّكَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَحْدَهُ وَلَّوْاْ عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمْ نُفُورًا ﴿٤٦﴾
when thou dost commemorate thy Lord -- and Him alone -- in the Qur'án, they turn on their backs, fleeing (from the Truth).
نَّحْنُ
أَعْلَمُ بِمَا
يَسْتَمِعُونَ
بِهِ إِذْ
يَسْتَمِعُونَ
إِلَيْكَ ...
17:47. We know best why it is they listen, when they listen to thee;
C2232. See last note.
That being so, the only motive for the ungodly to listen to Allah's Truth is to scoff at it instead of to be instructed by it. They may make a show of listening, but when they meet together in private, they show themselves in their true colours. Cf. 2:14.
They cannot help seeing that there is singular charm and attractiveness in Allah's Word, and that it consoles, helps, and elevates many people who receive it in the right spirit. So they pretend that they are superior to such people and laugh at them for listening to some one who is only under the influence of something which they call magic!
... وَإِذْ هُمْ نَجْوَى إِذْ يَقُولُ الظَّالِمُونَ إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ رَجُلاً مَّسْحُورًا ﴿٤٧﴾
and when they meet in private conference, Behold, the wicked say, "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched!"
انظُرْ
كَيْفَ ضَرَبُواْ
لَكَ الأَمْثَالَ...
17:48. See what similes thy strike for thee;
...فَضَلُّواْ فَلاَ يَسْتَطِيعْونَ سَبِيلاً ﴿٤٨﴾
but they have gone astray, and never can they find a way.
C2233. Note that the word used is "Sabilan" "a way", not "the way".
In going astray they have lost the way; but never can they find any means of getting back to that way, or of justifying themselves or making good their wicked similes.
وَقَالُواْ
أَئِذَا كُنَّا
عِظَامًا وَرُفَاتًا
أَإِنَّا
لَمَبْعُوثُونَ
خَلْقًا جَدِيدًا ﴿٤٩﴾
17:49. They say:
"What! when we are reduced to bones and dust, should we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?"
C2234. They do not realise that Allah Who created them once out of nothing can create them again, with memories of their past, in order to render to Him an account of how they used or misused the talents and opportunities which they were given.
If it is to be a new Creation, what then?
Bones and dust or ashes may yet retain something of the personality which was enshrined in them. But even if they were reduced to stones or iron or anything which their minds can conceive of as being most unlike them, yet there is nothing impossible to Allah!
He has clearly sent a Message that we shall have to render an account of ourselves, and His Message is necessarily true. (R).
قُل
كُونُواْ حِجَارَةً
أَوْ حَدِيدًا ﴿٥٠﴾
17;50. Say: "(Nay!) be ye stones or iron,
أَوْ خَلْقًا
مِّمَّا يَكْبُرُ
فِي صُدُورِكُمْ...
17:51. "Or created matter which, in your minds, is hardest (to be raised up) -- (yet shall ye be raised up)!"
...فَسَيَقُولُونَ مَن يُعِيدُنَا ...
Then will they say: "Who will cause us to return?"
...قُلِ الَّذِي فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ...
Say: "He Who created you first!"
...فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُؤُوسَهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ...
Then will they wag their heads towards thee, and say, "When will that be?"
C2235. The skeptic shifts his ground when he is cornered in argument. It is no longer tenable for him to say that it cannot happen or that there is no one who can bring him back to life and memory. He now gets shaky, and says, "Well, when is that going to happen?"
The actual time no man can tell. Indeed that event will be on a plane in which there will be no Time. Our relative ideas of time and place will have been completely overthrown, and it will appear to us then, not that it has been postponed too long, but that it has come too soon!
See the next verse and note.
...قُلْ عَسَى أَن يَكُونَ قَرِيبًا ﴿٥١﴾
Say, "Maybe it will be quite soon!
يَوْمَ
يَدْعُوكُمْ
فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ
بِحَمْدِهِ...
17:52. "It will be on a Day when He will call you, and ye will answer (His call) with (words of) His praise,
...وَتَظُنُّونَ ...
and ye will think
C2236. It may be that this verse should not be in the inverted commas governed by the verb "say", in the last clause of the last verse. In that case, the answer to the skeptic would be finished in the last verse, and this verse would be a general statement applying also to the righteous, who will rise up celebrating the praises of Allah.
But on the whole, I think it is better to take this verse as part of the answer to the skeptic referred to in the last verse.
... إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً ﴿٥٢﴾
that ye tarried but a little while!"
C2237. Whatever may have been your spiritual blindness in this life, the "new creation" will have opened your eyes to the Truth. No one will any longer be in any delusion as regards the Reality of Allah, and will be forced, by their new circumstances, to recognise the Truth and sing Allah's praises. And all will be surprised at the seemingly short flight of time since they had their little ephemeral life on this earth. They will now appraise its true worth.
Other versions:
17: 45
Yusuf Ali When thou dost recite the Qur'an We put between thee and those who believe not in the Hereafter a veil invisible:
Pickthall And when thou recitest the Qu'ran We place between thee and those who believe not in the Hereafter a hidden barrier;
Transliteration Wa iza_ qara'tal qur'a_na ja'alna_ bainaka wa bainal lazina la_ yu'minu_na bil a_khirati hija_bam mastu_ra_(w),
17: 46
Yusuf Ali And We put coverings over their hearts (and minds) lest they should understand the Qur'an and deafness into their ears: when thou dost commemorate thy Lord and Him alone in the Qur'an they turn on their backs fleeing (from the Truth).
Pickthall And We place upon their hearts veils lest they should understand it, and in their ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn their backs in aversion.
Yuksel We place shields over their hearts, that they should not understand it, and a deafness in their ears. If you mention your Lord in the Quran alone, they run away turning their backs in aversion.*
Transliteration Wa ja'alna_ 'ala_ qulu_bihim akinnatan ay yafqahu_hu wa fi a_za_nihim waqra_(n), wa iza_ zakarta rabbaka fil qur'a_ni wahdahu_ wallau 'ala_ adba_rihim nufu_ra_(n).
17: 47
Yusuf Ali We know best why it is they listen when they listen to thee; and when they meet in private conference Behold the wicked say "Ye follow none other than a man bewitched!"
Pickthall We are best aware of what they wish to hear when they give ear to thee and when they take secret counsel, when the evil doers say: Ye follow but a man bewitched.
Yuksel 17:47 We are fully aware of what they are listening to when they are listening to you, and when they conspire secretly the wicked say, "You are but following a bewitched man!"
Transliteration Nahnu a'lamu bima_ yastami'u_na bihi iz yastami'u_na ilaika wa iz hum najwa_ iz yaqu_luz za_limu_na in tattabi'u_na illa_ rajulam mashu_ra_(n).
[[ Ali’s notes - 2230 Veil invisible: Some Commentators understand mastur here as equivalent to satir: a veil that makes invisible, a thick or dark veil. But I think that the meaning of mastur (in the passive voice) as "hidden or invisible" is more consonant with the whole passage. If all nature, external and within ourselves, declares Allah's glory, those unfortunate who cut themselves off from their better nature are isolated from the true servants of Allah and the revelation of Allah, because (1) they are unfit for being in their company, and (2) because the servants of Allah and the revelation of Allah must be protected from the pain which blasphemy or rebellion must cause to their unsullied nature. The veil is none the less real even though it is invisible. (17.45)
2231 The invisible veil being put against the ungodly on account of their deliberate rejection of Truth, the result is that their minds are fogged so that they cannot understand and their ears are clogged so that they cannot hear. In other words the effects of Evil become cumulative in shutting out Allah's grace. (17.46)
2232 See last note. That being so, the only motive for the ungodly to listen to Allah's Truth is to scoff at it instead of to be instructed by it. They may make a show of listening, but when they meet together in private, they show themselves in their true colours. Cf. ii. 14. They cannot help seeing that there is singular charm and attractiveness in Allah's Word, and that it consoles, helps, and elevates many people who receive it in the right spirit. So they pretend that they are superior to such people and laugh at them for listening to some one who is only under the influence of something which they call magic! (17.47)
[[ Yuksel’s note - 017:046 Those who do not acknowledge the hereafter with certainty will not understand the Quran, and they will claim that the Quran is difficult or even impossible to understand on its own. See 54:17,22,32,40.
Traditional translations and commentaries somehow separate the word “Quran” from the adjective (wahdahu = alone, only) that follows it. They translate it as "Lord alone in the Quran." Though there are many verses emphasizing God's oneness (see 39:45), this verse could be understood as another one emphasizing that message. However, this could be only a secondary meaning of this particular verse, since the adjective wahdehu is used not after the word Rab (Lord) but after the word Quran. In Arabic if one wants to say ‘Quran alone,’ the only way of saying it is "Quranun wahdahu." The mathematical structure of the Quran too confirms our translation. For instance, the word wahdahu is used for God in 7:70; 39:45; 40:12,84 and 60:4. If we add these numbers we get 361, or 19x19. However, if we add 17:46, where the word wahdahu is used for the Quran, the total is not in harmony with the great mathematical system. ]]
17: 48 [al-Israa, Mecca 50]
Yusuf Ali See what similes thy strike for thee; but they have gone astray and never can they find a way.
Pickthall See what similitudes they coin for thee, and thus are all astray, and cannot find a road!
Yuksel 17:48 See how they cite the examples for you. They have gone astray, and cannot come to the path.
Transliteration Unzur kaifa daraba_ lakal ama_la fa dallu_ fala_ yastati'u_na sabila_(n).
[[Ali’s note - 2233 Note that the word used is "Sabilan" "a way", not "the way". In going astray they have lost the way; but never can they find any means of getting back to that way, or of justifying themselves or making good their wicked similes. (17.48) ]]
17: 49 [al-Israa, Mecca 50]
Yusuf Ali They say: "What! when we are reduced to bones and dust should we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?"
Pickthall And they say: When we are bones and fragments, shall we, forsooth, be raised up as a new creation?
Transliteration Wa qa_lu_ a'iza_ kunna_ 'iza_maw wa rufa_tan a'inna_ lamab'u_su_na khalqan jadida_(n).
17: 50 [al-Israa, Mecca 50]
Yusuf Ali Say: "(Nay!) be ye stones or iron
Pickthall Say: Be ye stones or iron
Yuksel Say, "Even if you be stones or iron."
Transliteration Qul ku_nu_ hija_ratan au hadida_(n),
17: 51
Yusuf Ali "Or created matter which in your minds is hardest (to be raised up)--(yet shall ye be raised up)!" Then will they say: "Who will cause us to return?" Say: "He Who created you first!" Then will they wag their heads towards thee and say "When will that be?" Say "Maybe it will be quite soon!
Pickthall Or some created thing that is yet greater in your thoughts! Then they will say: Who shall bring us back (to life)? Say: He who created you at the first. Then will they shake their heads at thee, and say: When will it be? Say: It will perhaps be soon;
Yuksel 17:51 "Or a creation that is held dear in your chests." They will say, "Who will return us?" Say, "The One who initiated you the first time." They will shake their heads to you and say, "When is this?" Say, "Perhaps it is near."
Transliteration Au khalqam mimma_ yakburu fi sudu_rikum, fa sayaqu_lu_na may yu'iduna_, qulil lazi fatarakum awwala marrah(tin), fa sayungidu_na ilaika ru'u_sahum wa yaqu_lu_na mata_ huw(a), qul 'asa_ ayyaku_na qariba_(n).
17: 52 [al-Israa, Mecca 50]
Yusuf Ali "It will be on a Day when He will call you and ye will answer (His call) with (words of) His praise and ye will think that ye tarried but a little while!"
Pickthall A day when He will call you and ye will answer with His praise, and ye will think that ye have tarried but a little while.
Yuksel 17:52 The day He calls you and you respond by His grace, and you think that you only stayed a little while.
Transliteration Yauma yad'u_kum fa tastajibu_na bi hamdihi wa tazunnu_na il labistum illa_ qalila_(n).
[[Ali’s notes - 2233 Note that the word used is "Sabilan" "a way", not "the way". In going astray they have lost the way; but never can they find any means of getting back to that way, or of justifying themselves or making good their wicked similes. (17.48)
2234 They do not realise that Allah Who created them once out of nothing can create them again, with memories of their past, in order to render to Him an account of how they used or misused the talents and opportunities which they were given. If it is to be a new Creation, what then? Bones and dust or ashes may yet retain something of the personality which was enshrined in them. But even if they were reduced to stones or iron or anything which their minds can conceive of as being most unlike them, yet there is nothing impossible to Allah! He has clearly sent a Message that we shall have to render an account of ourselves, and His Message is necessarily true. (17.49)
2235 The sceptic shifts his ground when he is cornered in argument. It is no longer tenable for him to say that it cannot happen or that there is no one who can bring him back to life and memory. He now gets shaky, and says, "Well, when is that going to happen?" The actual time no man can tell. Indeed that event will be on a plane in which there will be no Time. Our relative ideas of time and place will have been completely overthrown, and it will appear to us then, not that it has been postponed too long, but that it has come too soon! See the next verse and note. (17.51)
2236 It may be that this verse should not be in the inverted commas governed by the verb "say", in the last clause of the last verse. In that case, the answer to the sceptic would be finished in the last verse, and this verse would be a general statement applying also to the righteous, who will rise up celebrating the praises of Allah. But on the whole, I think it is better to take this verse as part of the answer to the sceptic referred to in the last verse. (17.52)
2237 Whatever may have been your spiritual blindness in this life, the "new creation" will have opened your eyes to the Truth. No one will any longer be in any delusion as regards the Reality of Allah, and will be forced, by their new circumstances, to recognise the Truth and sing Allah's praises. And all will be surprised at the seemingly short flight of time since they had their little ephemeral life on this earth. They will now appraise its true worth. (17.52) ]]
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21:5 [al-Anbiya, Mecca 73]
"Nay," they say, "[Muhammad propounds] the most involved and confusing of dreams!" 6 -
"Nay, but he has invented [all] this!" - "Nay, but he is [only] a poet!" - [and,] "Let him, then,
come unto us with a miracle, just as those [prophets] of old were sent [with miracles]!"
21:6
Not one of the communities that We destroyed in bygone times 7 would ever believe [their
prophets]: wilt these, then, [be more willing to] believe? 8
21:7
For [even] before thy time, [O Muhammad,] We never sent [as Our apostles] any but [mortal] men, whom We inspired - hence, [tell the deniers of the truth,] "If you do not know this, ask the followers of earlier revelation'" (21:8) and neither did We endow them with bodies that could dispense with food, 10 nor were they immortal.
[[ Asad’s notes -
6 Lit., "confusing medleys (ad, ghath) of dreams".
7 Lit., "before them".
8 The downfall of those communities of old - frequently referred to in the Qur'an - was invariably due to the fact that they had been resolved to ignore all spiritual truths which militated against their own, materialistic concept of life: is it, then (so the Qur'anic argument goes), reasonable to expect that the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad, who are similarly motivated, would be more willing to consider his message on its merits?
9 Lit., "followers of the reminder" - i.e., of the Bible, which in its original, uncorrupted form represented one of God's "reminders" to man.
10 Lit., "neither did We fashion them [i.e., those apostles] as bodies that ate no food", implying a denial of any supernatural quality in the prophets entrusted with God's message (cf 5:75, 13:38 and 25:20, as well as the corresponding notes). The above is an answer to the unbelievers' objection to Muhammad's prophethood expressed inverse 3 of this surah. ]]