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 29, Verse 69
But as for those who strive hard in Our cause – we shall most certainly guide them on to paths that lead unto Us: for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.
Chapter 30, verses 2 to 7
Defeated have been the Byzantines in the lands close-by; yet it is they who, notwithstanding this their defeat, shall be victorious within a few years: [for] with God rests all power of decision, first and last. [ 1 ] And on that day will the believers [too, have cause to] rejoice in God’s succour: [for] He gives succour to whomsoever He wills, since He alone is almighty, a dispenser of grace.
This is God’s promise. Never does God fail to fulfill His promise – but most people know [it] not: they know but the outer surface of this world’s life, whereas of the ultimate things they are utterly unaware.
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] At the time of the revelation of this surah – about the seventh year before the hijrah, corresponding to 615 or 616 of the Christian era – the total destruction of the Byzantine Empire seemed imminent. The few Muslims around the Prophet were despondent on hearing the news of the utter discomfiture of the Byzantines, who were Christians and, as such, believed in the One God. The pagan Quraysh, on the other hand, sympathized with the Persians who, they thought, would vindicate their own opposition to the One-God idea. When Muhammad (pbuh) enunciated the above Qur’an-verses predicting a Byzantine victory “within a few years”, this prophecy was received with derision by the Quraysh. In 622, i.e., six or seven years after the Qur’anic prediction – the tide turned in favor of the Byzantines. In that year, Emperor Heraclitus succeeded in defeating the Persians at Issus, south of the Taurus Mountains, and subsequently drove them out of Asia Minor. By 624, he carried the war into Persian territory and thus put the enemy on the defensive; and in the beginning of December, 626, the Persian armies were completely routed by the Byzantines.
