[see also Asad 16, note 2]
17: 85 [al-Israa, mecca 50]
Wa yas'alu_naka 'anir ru_h(i), qulir ru_hu min amri rabbi wa ma_ u_titum minal 'ilmi illa_ qalila_(n).
Asad And they will ask you about [the nature of] divine inspiration. Say: “This inspiration [comes] at my Sustainer’s behest; and [you cannot understand its nature, O men, since] you have granted very little of [real] knowledge.”
Yusuf Ali They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you (O men!)
Pickthall They will ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little.
[ Asad note 101: For this interpretation of the term ‘ruh’, see surah 16, note 2……… Some commentators are of the opinion that it refers here, specifically, to the revelation of the Quran; others understand by it the ‘soul’, …….]
[Ali’s note 2285 : What is the nature of inspiration? Who brings it? Can it ask its Bringer questions? Can we ask anything which we wish? These are the sort of questions always asked when inspiration is called in question. The answer is given here. Inspiration is one of those high experiences which cannot be explained in the terms of our everyday human experience. It is spiritual. The Spirit (Gabriel) does not come of his own will. He comes by the command of Allah, and reveals what Allah commands him to reveal……..]
[ Ruby’s Explanation: I think the term ‘Ruh’ (spirit) may not be the ‘ruh’ or soul of a human being but of an unseen agent or medium through which a human is connected to God or the One Supreme spirit. This spirit is conveyed with a name such as ‘Gabriel’, but I believe it is difficult to accurately describe what ‘Gabriel’ is because may be it is beyond human comprehension. The controversy regarding this term “Ruh” is because of this inability of comprehension. It is mentioned in the context of the revelation of the Quran, and God is communicating to human beings through this revelation, therefore it is important to keep that awareness in mind to have ideas about this term, like many other expressions of the Quran (subject to interpretation). I believe this medium or agent or the unseen umbilical cord is there for everybody from God, everyone may not get direct revelation from God, but gets messages through feelings, understandings, and events of his/her life. One needs to be attentive to that to understand that through sincere will and humility.
May be the sufi concept of One Presence is this that when the ‘ruh’ or soul of a human being becomes pure enough, it does not need this agent and it dissolves or unites or returns to the Supreme One Ruh. This concept is very close or same as described also in Hindu Upanishad about the return to ‘Brahma’, also the Quran repeatedly mentions this ‘return’ as the ultimate goal of this life. ]
91: 7 [ Ash-Shams, Mecca 26 ]
Yusuf Ali By the Soul and the proportion and order Given to it;
Pickthall And a soul and Him who perfected it
Transliteration Wa nafsi wa ma_ sa wa_ha_
91: 8
Yusuf Ali And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;
Pickthall And inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it.
Transliteration Fa alhamaha_ fuju_raha_ wa taqwa_ha_
91: 9
Yusuf Ali Truly he succeeds that purifies it
Pickthall He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow,
Transliteration Qad aflaha man zaka_ha_
91: 10
Yusuf Ali And he fails that corrupts it!
Pickthall And he is indeed a failure who stunteth it.
Transliteration Wa qad ka_ba man dasa_ha_
[ Ali’s notes - 6152 Allah makes the soul, and gives it order, proportion, and relative perfection, in order to adapt it for the particular circumstances in which it has to live its life. Cf. xxxii. 9. See also n. 120 to ii. 117. He breathes into it an understanding of what is sin, impiety, wrong-doing and what is piety and right conduct, in the special circumstances in which it may be placed. This is the most precious gift of all to man, the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong. After the six external evidences mentioned in verses 1-6 above, this internal evidence of Allah's goodness is mentioned as the greatest of all. By these various tokens man should learn that his success, his prosperity, his salvation depends on himself,-on his keeping his soul pure as Allah made it; and his failure, his decline, his perdition depends on his soiling his soul by choosing evil. (91.7)
This is the core of the Sura, and it is illustrated by a reference to the story of the Thamud in the following verses. (91.10) ]
[ see Asad’s notes ]
[ Ali’s note to 2: 117 (note no. 120) - 120 The previous verse told us that everything in heaven and earth celebrates the glory of God. Lest anyone should think that the heavens and the earth were themselves primeval and eternal, we are now told that they themselves are creatures of God's will and design. Cf vi. 102, where the word bada'a is used as here for the creation of the heavens and the earth, and khalaqa is used for the creation of all things. Bada'a goes back to the very primal beginning, as far as we can conceive it. The materialists might say that primeval matter was eternal; other things, i.e., the forms and shapes as we see them now, were called into being at some time or other, and will perish. When they perish, they dissolve into primeval matter again, which stands as the base of all existence. We go further back. We say that if we postulate such primeval matter, it owes its origin itself to God Who is the final basis of existence, the Cause of all Causes. If this is conceded, we proceed to argue that the process of Creation is not then completed. "All things in the heavens and on the earth" are created by gradual processes. In "things" we include abstract as well as material things. We see the abstract things and ideas actually growing before us. But that also is God's creation, to which we can apply the word khalaqa, for in it is involved the idea of measuring, fitting it into a scheme of other things. Cf. liv. 49; also xxv. 59. Here comes in what we know as the process of evolution. On the other hand, the "amr" (=Command, Direction, Design) is a single thing, unrelated to Time, "like the twinkling of an eye" (liv. 50). Another word to note in this connection is ja'ala "making" which seems to imply new shapes and forms, new dispositions, as the making of the Signs of the Zodiac in the heavens, or the setting out of the sun and moon for light, or the establishment of the succession of day and night (xxv 61-62). A further process with regard to the soul is described in the word sawwa, bringing it to perfection (xci. 7) but this we shall discuss in its place. Fatara (xlii. 11) implies, like bada'a, the creating of a thing out of nothing and after no preexisting similitude, but perhaps fatara implies the creation of primeval matter to which further processes have to be applied later, as when one prepares dough but leaves the leavining to be done after. Badaa (without the 'ain), xxx. 27, implies beginning the process of creation; this is made further clear in xxxii. 7 where the beginning of the creation of pristine man from clay refers to his physical body, leaving the further processes of reproduction and the breathing in of the soul to be described in subsequent verses. Lastly, baraa is creation implying liberation from pre-existing matter or circumstance, e.g, man's body from clay (lix. 24) or a calamity from previously existing circumstances (lvii. 22). See also vi. 94, n. 916; vi. 98, n. 923; lix. 24, nn. 5405-6. (2.117) ]
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