Surah 13, Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder), Medina 96
The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:
كَذَلِكَ
أَرْسَلْنَاكَ
فِي أُمَّةٍ
قَدْ خَلَتْ
مِن قَبْلِهَا
أُمَمٌ...
13: 30. Thus have We sent thee amongst a People before whom (long since) have (other) Peoples (gone and) passed away;
...لِّتَتْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمُ الَّذِيَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَهُمْ يَكْفُرُونَ بِالرَّحْمَـنِ...
in order that thou mightest rehearse unto them what We send down unto thee by inspiration;
yet do they reject (Him), the Most Gracious!
...قُلْ هُوَ رَبِّي لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ...
Say:
"He is my Lord!
There is no god but He!
...عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ مَتَابِ ﴿٣٠﴾
On Him is my trust,
and to Him do I turn!"
Transliteration Kaza_lika arsalna_ka fi ummatin qad khalat min qabliha_ umamul litatluwa 'alaihimul lazi auhaina_ ilaika wa hum yakfuru_na bir rahma_n(i), qul huwa rabbi la_ ila_ha illa_ huw(a), 'alaihi tawakkaltu wa ilaihi mata_b(i).
وَلَوْ أَنَّ
قُرْآنًا سُيِّرَتْ
بِهِ الْجِبَالُ
أَوْ قُطِّعَتْ
بِهِ الأَرْضُ...
13: 31. If there were a Qur'án with which mountains were moved, or the earth were cloven asunder,
...أَوْ كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَى...
or the dead were made to speak, (this would be the one!)
...بَل لِّلّهِ الأَمْرُ جَمِيعًا...
But, truly, the Command is with God in things!
...أَفَلَمْ يَيْأَسِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَن لَّوْ يَشَاء اللّهُ لَهَدَى النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا...
Do not the Believers know, that, had God (so) willed, He could have guided all mankind (to the Right)?
...وَلاَ يَزَالُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ تُصِيبُهُم بِمَا صَنَعُواْ قَارِعَةٌ...
But the Unbelievers -- never will disaster cease to seize them for their (ill) deeds,
...أَوْ تَحُلُّ قَرِيبًا مِّن دَارِهِمْ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ وَعْدُ اللّهِ...
or to settle close to their homes, until the Promise of God come to pass,
...إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ ﴿٣١﴾
for, verily, God will not fail in His promise.
Transliteration Wa lau anna qur'a_nan suyyirat bihil jiba_lu au qutti'at bihil ardu au kullima bihil mauta_, bal lilla_hil amru jami'a_(n), afalam yay'asil lazina a_manu_ allau yasya_'ulla_hu lahadan na_sa jami'a_(n), wa la_ yaza_lul lazina kafaru_ tusibuhum bima_ sana'u_ qa_ri'atun au tahullu qaribam min da_rihim hatta_ ya'tiya wa'dulla_h(i), innalla_ha la_ yukhliful mi'a_d(a).
Other Translations:
13: 30 [ar-R’ad, Medina 96]
Asad:
Thus 51 have We raised thee [O Muhammad] as Our Apostle amidst a community [of unbelievers] before whose time [similar] communities have come and gone, 52 so that thou might propound to them what We have revealed unto thee: for [in their ignorance] they deny the Most Gracious! 53 Say: "He is my Sustainer. There is no deity save Him. In Him have I placed my trust, and unto
Him is my recourse! "
Pickthall
Thus We send thee (O Muhammad) unto a nation, before whom other nations have passed away, that thou mayst recite unto them that which We have inspired in thee, while they are disbelievers in the Beneficent. Say: He is my Lord; there is no God save Him. In Him do I put my trust and unto Him is my recourse.
Yuksel
As such, We have sent you to a nation as other nations that have come before, so that you may recite for them what has been inspired to you; while they are still rejecting the Gracious. Say, "He is my Lord, there is no god but He, in Him I place my trust and to Him is my repentance."
13: 31
Asad
13:31
Yet even if [they should listen to] a [divine] discourse by which mountains could be moved, or the earth cleft asunder, or the dead made to speak - [they who are bent on denying the truth would still refuse to believe in it]! 54 Nay, but God alone has the power to decide what shall be. 55 Have, then, they who have attained to faith not yet come to know that, had God so willed; He would indeed have guided all mankind aright? 56 But as for those who are bent on denying the truth - in result of their [evil] deeds, sudden calamities will always befall them or will alight close to their homes; 57 [and this will continue] until God's promise [of resurrection] is fulfilled: verily, God never fails to fulfil His promise!
Pickthall
Had it been possible for a Lecture to cause the mountains to move, or the earth to be torn asunder, or the dead to speak, (this Quran would have done so). Nay, but God's is the whole command. Do not those who believe know that, had God willed, He could have guided all mankind? As for those who disbelieve, disaster ceaseth not to strike them because of what they do, or it dwelleth near their home until the threat of God come to pass. Lo! God faileth not to keep the tryst.
Yuksel
If there were a Quran/recitation with which mountains were moved, the earth were sliced, or the dead were made to speak… No, to God is all matters. Did not those who acknowledge know that if God wished He would have guided all the people? As for those who reject, until God's promise comes true, a disaster will continue to strike them
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Ali’s comments:
1845. Our Prophet came later in time than other Prophets, to complete their Message and universalize Religion. And certainly it is after his age that the process of the unification of the world began. That process is not complete yet, but is proceeding apace.
1846. Faith tells us that no amount of opposition from Unbelievers can ever stop God's Plan.
1847. Everything is possible and in God's power. His Plan is beneficent and all-embracing. But it is not for His creatures to dictate to Him, or demand what He should do, or how He should do it. The Command is with God in all things. The Believers know His omnipotence, and they also know that He will order His world for the best.
1848. Let not the Unbelievers think that if they seem to prosper for a time, that is the end of the matter. They are warned about three things.
1. Their ill deeds must carry evil consequences for them all the time, though they may not perceive them for a certain time.
2. Their homes, their places of resort, the circles in which they move, will also be haunted by their ill deeds and their consequences. For evil makes a complex of its environment. The walls of Jericho, when they fall, must bring down all Jericho in its ruins.
3. The ultimate Disaster, the final Reckoning, must come, for God never fails in His promise. True values must eventually be restored: the good to the good, and the evil to the evil.
The Commentators draw illustrations from the life of the Prophet, his exile from Makkah, and his restoration. A similar miracle works in all history. But the Command is with God.
Asad’s comments:
51 Most of the commentators explain the "thus" or "thus it is" (kadhalika) as referring to the earlier prophets, namely, "Thus, [or "in like manner"] as We sent prophets before thee, O Muhammad, We have now sent thee...", etc. It seems to me, however, that this speculative interpolation is unnecessary, and that the adverb "thus" connects directly with the preceding statement that
God "guides unto Himself all who turn unto Him": in other words, the "thus" qualifies Muhammad's mission as an instrument of God's guidance. (This is, apparently, how Tabari understands the above phrase.)
52 Lit., "before whom [other] communities have passed away": an indirect reference to the continuity of prophetic revelation before and up to the time of the Last Prophet, Muhammad (Zamakhshari, Razi). The interpolation of the words "of unbelievers" is based on Ibn Kathir's commentary on this verse, whereas my rendering of arsalnaka (lit., "We have sent thee") as "We have raised thee as Our Apostle" is necessitated, in English, by the subsequent preposition "amidst".
53 I.e., by refusing to acknowledge His existence, or by rejecting His guidance, or by ascribing divine qualities to other beings or forces side by side with Him.
54 The sentence added by me between brackets corresponds to the interpretation given to the above passage by Tabari and also by Az-Zajjaj (as quoted by, Razi and - without the mention of Az- Zajjaj by name - by Baghawi and Zamakhshari as well); cf 6:109-111.
55 Lit., "God's alone is all [power of] command": i.e., no "miraculous sign" can ever convince those whose hearts God has "sealed" in consequence of their "breaking their bond with Him" (see surah 2, notes 7 and 1 9).
56 The meaning is that God grants man the freedom to choose between right and wrong: "He guides unto Himself all who turn unto Him" (verse 27 above) and "are true to their bond with God" (verse 20); on the other hand, He withholds His guidance from "the iniquitous, who break their bond with "God" (2:26-27). See also the last sentence of 6:149 and the corresponding note 143.