Surah 48, Al-Fath (Victory), Medina Period 111
The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:
مُّحَمَّدٌ
رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ
وَالَّذِينَ
مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاء
عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ
رُحَمَاء بَيْنَهُمْ
...
48:29. Muhammad is the Messenger of God;
and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.
...تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا ...
Thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from God and (His) Good Pleasure.
...سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ...
On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration.
... ذَلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ ...
This is their similitude in the Torah;
...وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِي الْإِنجِيلِ...
and their similitude in the Gospel is:
...كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْأَهُ فَآزَرَهُ فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَى عَلَى سُوقِهِ ...
like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem,
...يُعْجِبُ الزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ الْكُفَّارَ ...
(filling) the sowers with wonder and delight.
As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at him.
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا ﴿٢٩﴾
God has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds Forgiveness, and a great Reward.
Asad’s Translation:
48:29
MUHAMMAD is God's Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding 43 towards all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy towards one another.44 Thou canst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves [in prayer], seeking favour with God and [His] goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration. 45 This is their parable in the Torah as well as their parable in the Gospel: 46 [they are] like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and [in the end] stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers....
[Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength,] so that through them He might confound 47 the deniers of the truth. [But] unto such of them as may [yet] attain to faith and do righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a reward supreme. 48
Yuksel’s translations
48:29 Muhammad, the messenger of God, and those who are with him, are severe against the ingrates, but merciful between themselves. You see them kneeling and prostrating, they seek God's blessings and approval. Their distinction is in their faces, as a result of prostrating. Such is their example in the Torah. Their example in the Injeel is like a plant which shoots out and becomes strong and thick and it stands straight on its trunk, pleasing to the farmers. That He may enrage the ingrates with them. God promises those among them who acknowledge and do good works a forgiveness and a great reward.
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Ali’s comments:
4913. Cf. 9:128.
The devotees of God wage unceasing war against evil, for themselves, and for others; but to their own brethren in faith-especially the weaker ones- they are mild and compassionate: they seek out every opportunity to sympathize with them and help them.
4914. Their humility is before God and His Apostle and all who have authority from God, but they yield no power or pomp, nor do they worship worldly show or glitter. Nor is their humility before God a mere show for men.
4915. The traces of their earnestness and humility are engraved on their faces, i.e., penetrate their inmost being, the face being the outward sign of the inner man.
If we take it in its literal sense, the traces might mean the marks left by repeated prostration on their foreheads.
Moreover, a good man's face alone shows in him the grace and light of God; he is gentle, kind and forbearing, ever helpful, relying on God and possessing a blessed Peace and Calmness (Sakina, 48:26, 48:18 n. 4894) that can come from no other source. (R).
4916. In the Book of Moses, which is now found in a corrupt form in the Pentateuch, the posture of humility in prayer is indicated by prostration: e.g., Moses and Aaron "fell upon their faces", Num. 16:22.
4917. The similitude in the Gospel is about how the good seed is sown and grows gradually, even beyond the expectation of the sower: "the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear": Mark. 4:27-28.
Thus Islam was preached by the holy Prophet;
the seed seemed to human eyes lost in the ground; but it put forth its shoot, and grew, and became strong, until it was able to stand on its own legs, and its worst enemies recognised its existence and its right to live.
Note how much more complete the parable is in the Quran. The mentality of the sowers of the seed is expressed in beautiful terms: its growth and strength filled them "with wonder and delight."
4918. 1 construe the particle "Ii" as expressing not the object, but the result.
The result of the wonderful growth of Islam in numbers and strength was that its enemies were confounded, and raged furiously within their own minds, a contrast to the satisfaction, wonder, and delight of the Prophet and his Companions.
The pronoun in "rage at them" of course refers to the Prophet and his Companions, and goes back to the earlier-words, "on their faces" etc.
Asad’s comments:
43 This composite gives, I believe, the full meaning of the term ashidda' (sing, shadid) in the above context.
44 Lit., "among themselves". Cf. 5:54 - "humble towards the believers, proud towards all who deny the truth".
45 The infinitive noun sujud ("prostration") stands here for the innermost consummation of faith, while its "trace" signifies the spiritual reflection of that faith in the believer's manner of life and even in his outward aspect. Since the "face" is the most expressive part of maris personality, it is often used in the Qur'an in the sense of one's "whole being" .
46 Regarding the significance of the term Injil ("Gospel") as used in the Qur'an, see surah 3, note 4.
47 Lit., "infuse with wrath".
48 Whereas most of the classical commentators understand the above sentence as alluding to believers in general, Razi relates the pronoun minhum ("of them" or "among them") explicitly to the deniers of the truth spoken of in the preceding sentence - i.e., to those of them who might yet attain to faith and thus achieve God's forgiveness: a promise which was fulfilled within a few years after the revelation of this verse, inasmuch as most of the Arabian enemies of the Prophet embraced Islam, and many of them became its torchbearers. But in a wider sense, this divine promise remains open until Resurrection Day (Tabari), relating to everybody, at all times and in all cultural environments, who might yet attain to the truth and live up to it.