Gems from the Holy Qur’an
From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
About the translator:
Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after years of devoted study became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur'an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category, dedicated to “li-qawmin yatafakkaroon” (people who think). Forwarded by Dr Ismat Kamal.
Chapter 7, Verse 188
Say [O Prophet]: “It is not within my power to bring benefit to, or avert harm from, myself, except as God may please. And if I knew that which is beyond the reach of human perception, abundant good fortune would surely have fallen to my lot, and no evil would ever have touched me. I am nothing but a warner, and a herald of glad tidings unto people who believe”.
Chapter 7, Verses 199 – 201
Make due allowance for man’s nature, and enjoin the doing of what is right; and leave alone all those who choose to remain ignorant. And if it should happen that a prompting from Satan stirs thee up [to blind anger], seek refuge with God: behold, He is all-hearing, all-knowing.
Verily, they who are conscious of God bethink themselves [of him] whenever any dark suggestion from Satan touches them whereupon, lo! they begin to see [things] clearly, even though their [godless] brethren would [like to] draw them into error: and they cannot fail [to do what is right].
Chapter 7, Verses 205 – 206
And bethink thyself of thy Sustainer humbly and with awe, and without raising thy voice, at morn and at evening; and do not allow thyself to be heedless.
Behold, those who are near unto thy Sustainer are never too proud to worship Him; and they extol His limitless glory, and prostrate themselves before Him [alone].
Chapter 8, Verses 2 - 4
Believers are only they whose hearts tremble with awe whenever God is mentioned, and whose faith is strengthened whenever His messages are conveyed unto them, and who in their Sustainer place their trust – those who are constant in prayer and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance: it is they, they who are truly believers! Theirs shall be great dignity in their Sustainer’s sight, and forgiveness of sins, and a most excellent sustenance.
Chapter 8, Verse 24
O you who have attained to faith! Respond to the call of God and the apostle whenever he calls you unto that which will give you life; and know that God intervenes between man and [the desires of] his heart [1], and that unto Him you shall be gathered.
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Translator’s Notes
[1] I.e., between a man’s desires and he outward action that may result from those desires: indicating that God can turn man away from what his heart urges him to do. In other words, it is God-consciousness alone that can prevent man from being misled by wrong desires and, thus, from becoming like “those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason”; and it is God-consciousness alone that can enable man to follow the call “unto that which gives life” – that is spiritual awareness of right and wrong and the will to act accordingly.
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