Sura 6, al-Anam

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلاً لاَّ مُبَدِّلِ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ...

6:115. The Word of thy Lord doth find its fulfillment in truth and in justice: none can change His Words:

...وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ﴿١١٥﴾

for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all.

وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِي الأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللّهِ...

6:116. Wert thou to follow the common run of those on earth, they will lead thee away from the Way of Allah.

...إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَخْرُصُونَ ﴿١١٦﴾

They follow nothing but conjecture:

they do nothing but lie.

Asad’s version

(6:115) for, truly and justly has thy Sustainer's promise been fulfilled. 102 There is no power that could alter [the fulfilment of] His promises: and He alone is all-hearing, all- knowing.

6:116 Now if thou pay heed unto the majority of those [who live] on earth, they will but lead thee astray from the path of God: they follow but [other people's] conjectures, and they themselves do nothing but guess. 103

[[Asad’s notes:- 102 When related to God, the term kalimah (lit., "word") is often used in the Qur'an in the sense of "promise" . In this instance it obviously refers to the Biblical promise (Deuteronomy xviii, 1 5 and 1 8) that God would raise up a prophet "like unto Moses" among the Arabs (see surah 2, note 33).

103 Le., regarding the true nature of human life and its ultimate destiny, the problem of revelation, the relationship between God and man, the meaning of good and evil, etc. Apart from leading man astray from spiritual truths, such guesswork gives rise to the arbitrary rules of conduct and self-imposed inhibitions to which the Qur'an alludes, by way of example, in verses 118 and 119. ]]