Sura 67 Al-Mulk (Dominion)
Mecca 77
The Quranic Text and Ali’s version
أَأَمِنتُم مَّن فِي السَّمَاء أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمُ الأَرْضَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَمُورُ ﴿١٦﴾
67:16. Do ye feel secure that He Who is in heaven will not cause you to be swallowed up by the earth when it shakes (as in an earthquake)?
أَمْ أَمِنتُم مَّن فِي السَّمَاء أَن يُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ حَاصِبًا ...
17. Or do ye feel secure that He Who is in Heaven will not send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones),
...فَسَتَعْلَمُونَ كَيْفَ نَذِيرِ ﴿١٧﴾
so that ye shall know how (terrible) was My warning?
وَلَقَدْ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ﴿١٨﴾
18. But indeed men before them rejected (My warning):
then how (terrible) was My rejection (of them)?
C5575. Cf. 22:42-44, and n. 2822.
Asad’s version
67: 16 Can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven 15 will not cause the earth to swallow you up when, lo and behold, it begins to quake?
67:17 Or can you ever feel secure that He who is in heaven will not let loose against you a deadly stormwind," whereupon you would come to know how [true] My warning was?
67: 18 And, indeed, [many of] those who lived aforetime 17 did give the lie [to My warnings]: and how awesome was My rejection [of them]!
.
67:16 Are you secure that the One in heaven will not cause the earth to rupture, thus causing it to shake?
67:17 Or are you secure that the One in heaven will not send upon you a violent storm? Then you will know the value of the warning.
67:18 Those before them have rejected; so how terrible was My requital!
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[ Ali’s notes :
C5573. Cf. 17:68. and n. 2263.
Also Cf. the story of Qarun in 28:76-82.
If we feel safe on land, it is because Allah has made this earth amenable, manageable and serviceable to us (verse 15 above). But if we defy Allah and break Ms Law, have we any security that even this comparatively unimportant safety in a fleeting world will last? Looking at it from a purely physical point of view, have there not been dreadful earthquakes, typhoons, and tornadoes?
C5574. Cf. 17:68; and 29:40, n. 3462. Such a violent wind destroyed the wicked Cities which defied Lut's warning. ]
[ Asad’s Notes –
1 5 This expression is, of course, purely metaphorical since God is limitless in space as well as in time. Its use here is apparently meant to stress the unfathomable quality of His existence and power, which penetrates, and reveals itself in, every aspect of His cosmic creativeness, symbolized in the term "heaven" . ]