Sura 20, Taha, Mecca 45

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ...   

20:114. High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth!

...وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يُقْضَى إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُ...

Be not in haste with the Qur'án before its revelation to thee is completed,

C2639. Allah is above every human event or desire. His purpose is universal. But He is the Truth, the absolute Truth; and His kingdom is the true kingdom, that can carry out its will.

That Truth unfolds itself gradually, as it did in the gradual revelation of the Quran to the holy Prophet. But even after it was completed in a volume, its true meaning and purpose only gradually unfold themselves to any given individual or nation. No one should be impatient about it.

On the contrary, we should always pray for increase in our own knowledge, which can never at any given moment be complete.

...وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا ﴿١١٤﴾

but say, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge."

Asad’s version

20:114

[Know,] then, [that) God is sublimely exalted, the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth:" and [knowing this,] do not approach the Qur'an in haste, 100 ere it has been revealed unto thee in full, but [always) say: "O my Sustainer, cause me to grow in knowledge!" 101

[[Asad’s notes :- 100 Lit., "be not hasty with the Qur'an" (see next note).

101 Although it is very probable that - as most of the classical commentators point out - this exhortation was in the first instance addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, there is no doubt that it applies to every person, at all times, who reads the Qur'an. The idea underlying the above verse may be summed up thus: Since the Qur'an is the Word of God, all its component parts - phrases, sentences, verses and surahs - form one integral, coordinated whole (cf the last sentence of 25 :32 and the corresponding note 27). Hence, if one is really intent on understanding the Qur'anic message, one must beware of a "hasty approach" - that is to say, of drawing hasty conclusions from isolated verses or sentences taken out of their context - but should, rather, allow the whole of the Qur'an to be revealed to one's mind before attempting to interpret single aspects of its message. (See also 75:16-19 and the corresponding notes.)