Sura- 8, Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War), Medina 88
(2nd Hijri, regarding the Battle of Badr)
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Translation:
يِا
أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ إَن
تَتَّقُواْ
اللّهَ يَجْعَل
لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانا:ً...
8:29. O ye who believe!
if ye fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong),
...وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ...
remove from you (all) evil (that may afflict) you,
and forgive you:
...وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ ﴿٢٩﴾
for Allah is the Lord of grace unbounded.
Transliteration Ya_ ayyuhal lazina a_manu_ in tattaqulla_ha yaj'al lakum furqa_naw wa yukaffir 'ankum sayyi'a_tikum wa yagfir lakum, walla_hu zul fadlil 'azim(i).
Asad’s Version:
8: 29
Asad O you who have attained to faith! If you remain conscious of God, He will endow you with a standard by which to discern the true from false [note 29], and will efface your bad deeds, and will forgive you your sins: for God is limitless in His great bounty.
Pickthall O ye who believe! If ye keep your duty to Allah, He will give you discrimination (between right and wrong) and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. Allah is of infinite bounty.
**************************************
Asad’s comment:
29 – I.e., the faculty of moral valuation (Manar lX, 648) See also surah 2, note 38.
Ali’s comments on 8:29 –
1202 Cf. ii. 53 and ii. 185. The battle of Badr is called the Furqan in Muslim theology, because it was the first trial of strength by battle, in Islam, between the powers of good and evil. Evil was defeated, and those who had real faith were tested and sorted out from those who had not faith enough to follow the banner of Faith. See also viii. 41 and n. 1210. (8.29) ]]
Sura-2 [Al-Baqara medina 87]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَإِذْ
آتَيْنَا مُوسَى
الْكِتَابَ
وَالْفُرْقَانَ
...
2:53. And remember We gave Moses the Scripture and the criterion (between right and wrong),
C68. Allah's revelation, the expression of Allah's Will, is the true standard of right and wrong. It may be in a Book or in Allah's dealings in history. All these may be called His Signs or Miracles.
In this passage some commentators take the Scripture and the Criterion (Furqan) to be identical.
Others take them to be two distinct things:
- Scripture being the written Book and
- the Criterion being other Signs.
I agree with the latter view.
The word Furqan also occurs in 21:48 in connection with Moses and Aaron and in the first verse of Surah 25, as well as in its title, in connection with Muhammad.
As Aaron received no Book, Furqan must mean the other Signs.
Mustafa had both the Book and the other Signs: perhaps here too we take the other Signs as supplementing the Book.
Cf. Words worth's "Arbiter undisturbed of right and wrong." (Prelude, Book 4)
... لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿٥٣﴾
there was a chance for you to be guided aright.
Asad’s Version:
2:53
And [remember the time] when We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ – and [thus] a standard by which to discern the true from the false [note 38] – so that you might be guided aright;
[[Asad’s note 38 – Muhammad Abduh amplifies the above interpretation of al-furqan (adopted by Tabari, Zamakhshari and oterh great commentators) by maintaining that it applies also to “human reason, which enables us to distinguish the true from the false” (Manar iii, 160), apparently basing this wider interpretation on 8:41, where the battle of Badr is described as “yawm al-furqan” (“the day on which the true was distinguished from the false”). While the term furqan is often used in the Quran to describe one or another of the revealed scriptures, and particularly the Quran itself, it has undoubtedly also the connotation pointed out by Abduh: for instance, in 8:29 where it clearly refers to the faculty of moral valuation which distinguishes every human being who is truly conscious of God. ]]
Sura-3 [Al-Imran, Medina 89 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
نَزَّلَ
عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ
بِالْحَقِّ
مُصَدِّقاً
لِّمَا بَيْنَ
يَدَيْهِ ...
3:3. It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it;
... وَأَنزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ ﴿٣﴾
and He sent down Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus).
C344. In some editions the break between verses 3 and 4 occurs here in the middle of the sentence, but in the edition of Hafiz Uthman, followed by the Egyptian Concordance Fath-ur-Rahman, the break occurs at the word Furqan.
In verse-divisions our classicists have mainly followed rhythm. As the word Furqan from this point of view is parallel to the word Intiqam, which ends the next verse. I have accepted the verse-division at Furqan as more in consonance with Quranic rhythm. It makes no real difference to the numbering of the verses, as there is only a question of whether one line should go into verse 3 or verse 4. (R).
مِن
قَبْلُ هُدًى
لِّلنَّاسِ
وَأَنزَلَ
الْفُرْقَانَ
...
3:4. Before this, as a guide to mankind,
and He sent down the Criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).
C345. Criterion: Furqan: for meaning see 2:53 n. 68.
...إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ...
Then those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty,
...وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انتِقَامٍ ﴿٤﴾
and Allah is Exalted in Might, Lord of Retribution
Asad’s Version:
3: 3 [al-Imran, Medina 89]
Yusuf Ali It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step) in truth the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down Law (Of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this as a guide to mankind and He sent down the Criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).
Pickthall He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel
Transliteration Nazzala 'alaikal kita_ba bil haqqi musaddiqal lima_ baina yadaihi wa anzalat taura_ta wal injil.
3: 4
Yusuf Ali Then those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty and Allah is Exalted in Might Lord of Retribution.
Pickthall Aforetime, for a guidance to mankind; and hath revealed the Criterion (of right and wrong). Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. Allah is Mighty, Able to Requite (the wrong).
Transliteration Min qablu hudal linna_si wa anzalal furqa_n(a), innal lazina kafaru_ bi a_ya_tilla_hi lahum 'aza_bun syadid(un), walla_hu 'azizun zuntiqa_m(in).
[ Ali’s note ] 344 In some editions the break between verses 3 and 4 occurs here in the middle of the sentence, but in the edition of Hafiz Uthmqan, followed by the Egyptian Concordance Fath-ur-Rahman, the break occurs at the word Furqan. In verse-divisions our classicists have mainly folloved rhythm. As the word Furqan from this point of view is parallel to the word Intiqam, which ends the next verse. I have accepted the verse-division at Furqan as more in consonance with Quranic rhythm. It makes no real difference to the numbering of the verses, as there is only a question of whether one line should go into verse 3 or verse 4. (3.3)
345 Criterion: Furqan: for meaning see ii. 53 n. 68. (3.3) ]
Sura-25 [Al-Furqan, Mecca 42]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
تَبَارَكَ
الَّذِي ...
25:1. Blessed is He
C3052. Tabaraka: the root meaning is "increase" or "abundance".
Here that aspect of Allah's dealing with His creatures is emphasised, which shows His abundant goodness to all His creatures, in that He sent the Revelation of His Will, not only in the unlimited Book of Nature, but in a definite Book in human language, which gives clear directions and admonitions to all.
The English word "blessed" hardly conveys that meaning, but I can find no other without departing far from established usage. To emphasise the meaning I have explained, I have translated "Blessed is ...... but "Blessed be..." is also admissible, as it brings out another shade of meaning, that we praise and bless His holy name.
... نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ...
Who sent down the Criterion to His servant,
C3053. That by which we can judge clearly between right and wrong.
Here the reference is to the Quran, which has already been symbolised by light. This symbol is continued here, and many contrasts are shown, in the midst of which we can distinguish between the true and the false by Allah's Light, especially the contrast between righteousness and sin.
... لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَالَمِينَ نَذِيرًا ﴿١﴾
that it may be an admonition to all creatures --
C3054. The pronoun in yakuna may refer either to Furqan (the Criterion) or to 'Abd (the holy Prophet).
In either case the ultimate meaning is the same. The Quran is the standing Criterion for judgment between right and wrong.
Asad’s Version:
25: 1
Yusuf Ali Blessed is He Who sent down the Criterion to His servant that it may be an admonition to all creatures
Pickthall Blessed is He Who hath revealed unto His slave the Criterion (of right and wrong), that he may be a warner to the peoples.
Transliteration Taba_rakal lazi naz zalal furqa_na ala_ abdihi liyaku_na lila_lamina nazira_