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 89, Al-Fajr (The Daybreak), Verses 1-5
Consider the daybreak and the ten nights! [ 1 ]
Consider the multiple and the one. [ 2 ]
Consider the night as it runs its course! [ 3 ]
Considering all this – could there be, to anyone endowed with reason, a [more] solemn evidence of the truth? [ 4 ]
Chapter 89, Al-Fajr (The Daybreak), Verses 15-21
But as for man, whenever his Sustainer tries him by His generosity and by letting him enjoy a life of ease, he says, “My Sustainer has been [justly] generous towards me”; whereas, whenever He tries him by straitening his means of livelihood, he says, “My Sustainer had disgraced me!”
But nay, nay, [O men, consider all that you do and fail to do:] you are not generous towards the orphan, and you do not urge one another to feed the needy, and you devour the inheritance [of others] with devouring greed, and you love wealth with boundless love!
Nay, but [ how will you fare on Judgment Day,] when the earth is crushed with crushing upon crushing, and [the majesty of] thy Sustainer stands revealed, as well as [the true nature of] the angels, rank upon rank?
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] The “daybreak” (fajr) apparently symbolizes man’s spiritual awakening; hence, the “ten nights” is an allusion to the last third of the month of Ramadan, in the year 13 before the hijrah, during which the Prophet received his first revelation and was thus enabled to contribute to mankind’s spiritual awakening.
[ 2 ] Literally, “the even and the odd” i.e., the multiplicity of creation as contrasted with the oneness and uniqueness of the Creator. The concept of the “even number” implies the existence of more than oneof the same kind: in other words, it signifies everything that has a counterpart or counterparts and hence, a definite relationship with other things. As against this the term “al-watr” primarily denotes “that which is single” or “one” and is, hence, one of the designations given to God – since “there is nothing that could be compared with Him” (Ch. 112, Verse 4) and “nothing like unto Him” (Ch. 42, Verse 11).
[ 3 ] An allusion to the night of spiritual darkness which is bound to “run its course” – i.e., to disappear – as soon as man becomes truly conscious of God.
[ 4 ] Literally, “a [more] solid affirmation”: i.e., a convincing evidence of the existence and oneness of God.
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