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 20, Verses 132-133
And bid thy people to pray, and persevere therein. [But remember:] We do not ask thee to provide sustenance [for Us]: [ 1 ] it is We who provide sustenance for thee. And the future belongs to the God-conscious.
Now they [who are blind to the truth] are wont to say, “If [Muhammad] would but produce for us a miracle from his Sustainer!” [But] has there not come unto them a clear evidence [of the truth of this divine writ] in what is [to be found] in the earlier scriptures? [ 2 ]
Chapter 21, Verses 1 - 4
Closer draws unto men their reckoning: and yet they remain stubbornly heedless [of its approach].
Whenever there comes unto them any new reminder from their Sustainer, they but listen to it with playful amusement, their hearts set on passing delights; yet they who are [thus] bent on wrongdoing conceal their innermost thoughts [when they say to one another], “is this [Muhammad] anything but a mortal like yourselves? Will you, then, yield to [his] spellbinding eloquence with your eyes open?”
Say: “My Sustainer knows whatever is spoken in heaven and on earth; and He alone is all hearing, all-knowing.”
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] My interpolation of the words “for Us” is based on Razi’s interpretation of the above sentence: “God makes it clear that He has enjoined this [i.e., prayer] upon men for their own benefit alone, inasmuch as He Himself is sublimely exalted above any [need of] benefits”. In other words, prayer must not be conceived as a kind of tribute to a “jealous God” – as the Old Testament, in its present corrupted form, frequently describes Him – but solely as a spiritual benefit for the person who prays.
[ 2 ] I.e., “Does not the Qur’an express the same fundamental truth as were expressed in the revelations granted to the earlier prophets?” Beyond this, the above rhetorical question contains an allusion to the predictions of the advent of Muhammad to be found in the earlier scriptures, e.g., in Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18 or in John xiv, 16, xv, 26 and xvi, 7, where Jesus speaks of the “Comforter” who is to come after him.
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