19. Surah Maryam

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا...   

19: 73.  When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, the Unbelievers say to those who believe,

...أَيُّ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ خَيْرٌ مَّقَامًا وَأَحْسَنُ نَدِيًّا ﴿٧٣﴾

"Which of the two sides is best in point of position?

Which makes the best show in council?"

C2519. The Unbelievers may, for a time, make a better show in worldly position, or in people's assemblages where things are judged by the counting of heads. But Truth must prevail even in this world, and ultimately the positions must be reversed.

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِّن قَرْنٍ هُمْ أَحْسَنُ أَثَاثًا وَرِئْيًا ﴿٧٤﴾

19: 74.  But how many (countless) generations before them have We destroyed, who were even better in equipment and in glitter to the eye?

19: 73

Asad AS IT IS, whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say unto those who have attained to faith: "Which of the two kinds of man 58 is in a stronger position and superior as a community?" 59

Pickthall And when Our clear revelations are recited unto them those who disbelieve say unto those who believe: Which of the two parties (yours or ours) is better in position, and more imposing as an army?

Transliteration Wa iza_ tutla_ 'alaihim a_ya_tuna_ bay yina_tin qa_lal lazina kafaru_ lil lazina a_manu_ ay yul fariqaini khairum maqa_maw wa ahsanu nadiy ya_

[ Asad’s note 59: ……….a society which refuses to submit to any absolute moral imperatives and is determined to obey the dictates of expediency alone……….It goes without saying that this attitude……..is diametrically opposed to the demand, voiced by every higher religion, that man’s social life, if it is to be a truly “good” life, must be subordinated to definite ethical principles and restraints. By their very nature, these restraints inhibit the unprincipled power-drive which dominates the more materialistic societies and enables them to achieve ……outward comforts and position of strength in the shortest possible time: but precisely because they do act as a brake on man’s selfishness and power-hunger, it is there moral considerations and restraints – and they alone – that can free a community from the interminable, self-destructive inner tensions and frustrations to which materialistic societies are subject, and thus bring about a more enduring, because more organic, state of social well-being. This, in short, is the elliptically implied answer of the Quran to a rhetorical question placed in the mouths of “those who are bent on denying the truth”.]

[Ruby’s note – This rhetorical question goes to the heart of the mindset that defines success in terms of material achievement and power. ON the other hand the Quran’s definition of success is towards harnessing and using these human impulses and inclinations in order to achieve higher things in life, namely to achieve a moral, ethical, moderate and peaceful life. When a society set the wrong parameters of success, it is insidiously but slowly writing the formula for self-destruction.]

19: 74

Asad And yet, how many a generation have We destroyed before their time – [people] who surpassed them in material power and in outward show!

Pickthall How many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were more imposing in respect of gear and outward seeming!

Transliteration Wa kam ahlakna_ qablahum min qarnin hum ahsanu atsa_tsaw wari'ya_

[Asad’s note 60: Lit., “in property” or “abundance of property”. In this context – as in the last verse of this surah – the term “qarn” apparently signifies “people of one and the same epoch”, i.e., a “civilization”. ]