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 10, Verse 9
[But,] verily, as for those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds – their Sustainer guides them aright by means of their faith. [In the life to come,] running waters will flow at their feet in gardens of bliss; [and] in that [state of happiness] they will call out, “Limitless art Thou in Thy glory, O God! – and will be answered with the greeting, “Peace!” And their call will close [with the words], “All praise is due to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!”
Chapter 10, Verse 12
For [thus it is] when affliction befalls man, he cries out unto Us, whether he be lying on his side or sitting or standing; but as soon as We have freed him of his affliction, he goes on as though he had never invoked Us to save him from the affliction that befell him! Thus do their own doings seem goodly unto those who waste their own selves.
Chapter 10, Verses 17-19
And who could be more wicked than they who attribute their own lying inventions to God or give the lie to His messages? Verily, those who are lost in sin will never attain to a happy state – and [neither will] they [who] worship, side by side with God, thing or beings that can neither harm nor benefit them, saying [to themselves], “These are our intercessors with God!
Say: “Do you [think that you could] inform God of anything in the heavens or on earth that He does not know? Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!”
And [know that] all mankind were once but one single community, and only later did they begin to hold divergent views. And had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, all their differences would indeed have been settled [from the outset] [ 1 ].
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] I.e., had it not been for God’s decree that men should differ in their intellectual approach to the problems touched upon by divine revelation, “they would not have contended with one another after having received all evidence of the truth”, but would all have held from the very outset, and would continue to hold, the same views. Since, however, such a uniformity would have precluded men’s intellectual, moral and social development, God has left it to their reason, aided by a prophetic guidance, gradually to find their way to the truth.
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