Gems from the Holy Qur’anFrom 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 26, Verses 69 – 89
And convey unto them the story of Abraham – [how it was] when he asked his father and his people, “What is it that you worship?”
They answered: “We worship idols, and we remain ever devoted to them.”
Said he: “Do [you really think that] they hear you when you invoke them, or benefit you or do you harm?”
They exclaimed: “But we found our forefathers doing the same!”
Said [Abraham] “Have you, then, ever considered what it is that you have been worshipping – you and those ancient forebears of yours?
“Now [as for me, I know that,] verily, these [false deities] are my enemies, [and that none is my helper] save the Sustainer of all the worlds, who has created me and is the One who guides me, and is the One who gives me to eat and drink, and when I fall ill, is the One who restores me to health, and who will cause me to die and then will bring me back to life – and who, I hope, will forgive me my faults on Judgment Day!
“O my Sustainer! Endow me with the ability to judge [between right and wrong], and make me one with the righteous, and grant me the power to convey the truth unto those who will come after me, and place me among those who shall inherit the garden of bliss!
“And forgive my father – for, verily, he is among those who have gone astray – and do not put me to shame on the Day when all shall be raised from the dead: the Day on which neither wealth will be of any use, nor children, [and when] only he [will be happy] who comes before God with a heart free of evil!”
Chapter 26, Verses 208-209
And withal, never have We destroyed any community unless it had been warned and reminded: for, never do We wrong [anyone].
Chapter 26, Verses 221-223s
[And] shall I tell you upon whom it is that those evil spirits descend? They descend upon all sinful self-deceivers who readily lend ear [to every falsehood], and most of whom lie to others as well.
____________
