64. Surah, At-Taghabun (Mutual Loss And Gain), Period Uncertain
The Quranic Text and Ali’s translation:
أَلَمْ
يَأْتِكُمْ
نَبَأُ
الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
مِن
قَبْلُ
فَذَاقُوا
وَبَالَ
أَمْرِهِمْ ...
64: 5. Has not the story reached you, of those who rejected Faith aforetime? So they tasted the evil result of their conduct;
... وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٥﴾
and they had a grievous Penalty.
ذَلِكَ
بِأَنَّهُ
كَانَت
تَّأْتِيهِمْ
رُسُلُهُم
بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ
فَقَالُوا
أَبَشَرٌ
يَهْدُونَنَا ...
64: 6. That was because there came to them Messengers with Clear Signs, but they said: "Shall (mere) human beings direct us?"
... فَكَفَرُوا وَتَوَلَّوا وَّاسْتَغْنَى اللَّهُ ...
So they rejected (the Message) and turned away.
But God can do without (them):
...وَاللَّهُ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ ﴿٦﴾
and God is free of all needs, worthy of all praise.
زَعَمَ
الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
أَن
لَّن
يُبْعَثُوا...
64: 7. The Unbelievers think that they will not be raised up (for Judgment).
...قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتُبْعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّؤُنَّ بِمَا عَمِلْتُمْ...
"Yea, by my Lord, ye shall surely be raised up: then shall ye be told (the truth) of all that ye did.
...وَذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ﴿٧﴾
And that is easy for God."
Asad’s translation:
64:5 HAVE THE STORIES of those who, in earlier times, refused to acknowledge the truth never yet come within your ken? [They denied it -] and so they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doings, 4 with [more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]:
(64:6) this, because time and again there came unto them their apostles 5 with all evidence of the truth, but they [always] replied, "Shall mere mortal men be our guides?" 6 And so they, denied the truth and turned away. But God was not in need [of them]: for God is self-sufficient, ever to be praised.
64:7 They who are bent on denying the truth claim that they will never be raised from the dead! 7 Say: "Yea, by my Sustainer! Most surely will you be raised from the dead, and then, most surely, will you be made to understand what you did [in life] ! For, easy is this for God! "
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Ali’s comments:
5484. "The evil result of their conduct" begins to manifest itself in this very life, either in external events, or in internal restlessness and agonies of conscience. But its culminating force will be seen in the "grievous Penalty" of the Hereafter.
C5485. This is referred to in a more expanded form in 14:9-11.
5486. Their obedience is not necessary to Allah, nor will their rejection of Truth affect the validity of Truth or injure the progress of Truth. Allah is free of all needs or dependence on any circumstance whatever. He sends His Message for the good of mankind, and it is man who suffers by ignoring, rejecting, or opposing it.
5487. In other words, they think that there is no future life, and no responsibility for our actions beyond what we see in the present life. If that were true, all the profits of fraud and roguery, which remain unpunished in this world-and many do remain unpunished in this world-will remain with the wicked; and all the losses and pain suffered by integrity and righteousness, if they find no compensation in this life, will never find any compensation. This would be an odd result in a world of justice. We are taught that this is not true,-that it is certain that the balance will be redressed in a better future world; that there will be a resurrection of what we call the dead; and that on that occasion the full import of all we did will be made plain to us, and our moral and spiritual responsibility will be fully enforced.
Asad’s comments:
4 This is an allusion to the disasters and the suffering which, as history shows, inevitably befall a community or nation bent on rejecting the basic ethical truths and, thus, all standards of morality.
5 I.e., apostles from their own midst, entrusted with divine messages specifically meant for them. The expression "time and again" is conditioned by the phrase kanat ta'atihim which implies repetition and duration.
6 Lit., "guide us". This negative response is characteristic of people who, in result of their own estrangement from all moral standards, are instinctively, and deeply, distrustful of all things human and cannot, therefore, accept the idea that a divine message could manifest itself through mere human beings that have nothing "supernatural" about them.
7 Their refusal to believe in resurrection and a life to come implies a conviction that no one will be called upon, after death, to answer for what he did in life.