17. Surah Al Isra
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَإِذَا
أَرَدْنَا أَن
نُّهْلِكَ
قَرْيَةً أَمَرْنَا
مُتْرَفِيهَا
فَفَسَقُواْ
فِيهَا...
17: 16. When We decide to destroy a population, We (first) send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress;
C2192. Allah's Mercy gives every chance to the wicked to repent. When wickedness gets so rampant that punishment becomes inevitable, even then Allah's Mercy and Justice act together.
Those who are highly gifted from Allah -it may be with wealth or position, or it may be with talents and opportunities- are expected to understand and obey. They are given a definite order and warning. If they still transgress there is no further room for argument. They cannot plead that they were ignorant. The command of the Lord is proved against them, and its application is called for beyond doubt. Then it is that their punishment is completed.
...فَحَقَّ عَلَيْهَا الْقَوْلُ فَدَمَّرْنَاهَا تَدْمِيرًا ﴿١٦﴾
so that the word is proved true against them: then (it is) We destroy them utterly.
C2193. Qaul here has the sense of word, order, law, charge framed against one under a definite law.
وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا
مِنَ الْقُرُونِ
مِن بَعْدِ
نُوحٍ...
17: 17. How many generations have We destroyed after Noah?
C2194. Noah's Flood is taken as a new starting point in history. But even after that hundreds of empires, towns, and generations have perished for their wickedness.
...وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ بِذُنُوبِ عِبَادِهِ خَبِيرًَا بَصِيرًا ﴿١٧﴾
And enough is thy Lord to note and see the sins of His servants.
C2195. Let not the wicked think, because they are given a lease of life and luxury for a time, that their wickedness has escaped notice.
Allah notes and sees all things, both open and secret. He knows the hidden motives and thoughts of men, and He has no need of any other evidence. His knowledge and sight are all-sufficient.
مَّن كَانَ
يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ
عَجَّلْنَا
لَهُ فِيهَا
مَا نَشَاء
لِمَن نُّرِيدُ...
17: 18. If any do wish for the transitory things (of this life), We readily grant them -- such things as We will, to such persons as We will:
C2196. An explanation is now given of how it is that prosperity sometimes seems to attend the wicked.
The explanation is threefold:
1. the transitory things of this life are worth little in the eternal scheme of things;
2. even they are provided, not just because their recipients wish for them, but according to a definite Plan of Allah; and
3. in the end there is for the wicked the eternal Misery and deprivation of grace,-the Hell which is worse than destruction in the terms of this world.
...ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلاهَا مَذْمُومًا مَّدْحُورًا ﴿١٨﴾
in the end have We provided Hell for them:
they will burn therein, disgraced and rejected.
C2197. All the pride and insolence will then be brought low. The disgrace and the exclusion from the "sight of the Face of Allah" will by themselves be punishments of which the magnitude cannot be measured in the terms of our present material life.
17: 16
Pickthall And when We would destroy a township We send commandment to its folk who live at ease, and afterward they commit abomination therein, and so the Word (of doom) hath effect for it, and We annihilate it with complete annihilation.
Yuksel If We wish to destroy a town, We allow its privileged hedonists to rule it, then they commit evil in it, then it deserves the punishment, then We destroy it completely.
Transliteration Wa iza_ aradna_ an nuhlika qaryatan amarna_ mutrafiha_ fa fasaqu_ fiha_ fa haqqa 'alaihal qaulu fa dammarna_ha_ tadmira_(n).
[[Ali’s notes - 2192 Allah's Mercy gives every chance to the wicked to repent. When wickedness gets so rampant that punishment becomes inevitable, even then Allah's Mercy and Justice act together. Those who are highly gifted from Allah-it may be with wealth or position, or it may be with talents and opportunities-are expected to understand and obey. They are given a definite order and warning. If they still transgress there is no further room for argument. They cannot plead that they were ignorant. The command of the Lord is proved against them, and its application is called for beyond doubt. Then it is that their punishment is completed. (17.16)
2193 Qaul here has the sense of word, order, law, charge framed against one under a definite law. (17.16)]]
17: 17
Pickthall How many generations have we destroyed since Noah! And Allah suffices as knower and Beholder of the sins of His slaves.
Yuksel How many a generation have We destroyed after Noah? It is enough for your Lord [wrong translation] to have knowledge and sight over the sins of His servants.
Transliteration Wa kam ahlakna_ minal quru_ni mim ba'di nu_h(in), wa kafa_ bi rabbika bi zunu_bi 'iba_dihi khabiram basira_(n).
17: 18
Pickthall Whoso desireth that (life) which hasteneth away, We hasten for him therein that We will for whom We please. And afterward We have appointed for him hell; he will endure the heat thereof, condemned, rejected.
Yuksel Whoever seeks the life of haste, We will hasten for Him what he wishes, then We will make hell for him a place which he will reach disgraced and rejected.
Transliteration Man ka_na yuridul 'a_jilata'ajjalna_ lahu_ fiha_ ma_ nasya_'u liman nuridu summa ja'alna_ lahu_ jahannam(a), yasla_ha_ mazmu_mam madhu_ra_(n).