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 19, Verses 96 - 98
Verily, those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds will the Most Gracious endow with love: and only to this end have We made this [divine writ] easy to understand, in thine own tongue, [O Prophet], so that thou might convey thereby a glad tiding to the God-conscious, and warn thereby those who are given to [futile contention]: for, how many a generation have We destroyed before their time – [and] canst thou perceive any one of them [now], or hear any whisper of them?
Chapter 20, Verses 1 – 16
O Man! We did not bestow the Qur’an on thee from on high to make thee unhappy, but only as an exhortation to all who stand in awe [of God]: a revelation from Him who has created the earth and the high heavens – the Most Gracious, established on the throne of His almightiness.
Unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is beneath the sod.
And if thou say anything aloud, [He hears it - ] since, behold, He knows [even] the secret [thoughts of man] as well as all that is yet more hidden [within him].
God – there is no deity save Him; His [alone] are the attributes of perfection!
And has the story of Moses ever come within thy ken?
Lo, he saw a fire [in the desert]; and so he said to his family: “Wait here! Behold, I perceive a fire [far away]: perhaps I can bring you a brand therefrom, or find at the fire some guidance.”
But when he came close to it, a voice called out: “O Moses! Verily, I am thy Sustainer! Take off, then, thy sandals! Behold, thou art in the twice-hallowed valley, and I have chosen thee [to be My apostle]: listen, then, to what is being revealed [unto thee].
“Verily, I – I alone am God; there is no deity save Me. Hence worship Me alone, and be constant in prayer, so as to remember Me!
“Behold, [although] I have willed to keep it hidden [ 1 ], the Last Hour is bound to come, so that every human being may be recompensed in accordance with what he strove for [in life]. Hence, let not anyone who does not believe in its coming and follows [but] his own desires divert thee from [belief in] it, lest thou perish!”
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] I.e., the time of its coming.
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