Gems from the Holy Qur’an
From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
About the translator:
Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born to 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 Frankfurter 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 35, verses 24 – 31
Verily, We have sent thee [O Muhammad] with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner: for there never was any community but a warner has [lived and] passed away in its midst. And if they give thee the lie – even so gave the lie to the truth of [many of] those who lived before their time, [when] there came unto them their apostles with all the evidence of the truth, and with books of divine wisdom, and with light-giving revelation; [but] in the end I took to task all those who were bent on denying the truth: and how awesome was My rejection!
Art thou not aware that God sends down water from the skies, whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues – just as in the mountains there are streaks of white and red of various shades, as well as [others] raven-black, and [as] there are in men, and in crawling beasts, and in cattle, too, many hues?” Of all his servants only those who are endowed with [innate] knowledge [ 1 ] stand [truly] in awe of God: [for they alone comprehend that,] verily, God is almighty, much-forgiving.
[It is] they who [truly] follow God’s revelation, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others, secretly and openly, out of what We provide for them as sustenance – it is they who may look forward to a bargain that can never fail, since He will grant them their just rewards, and give them yet more out of His bounty: for, verily, He is much- forgiving, ever responsive to gratitude.
And [know that] all of the divine writ with which We have inspired thee is the very truth confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of the earlier revelations – for, behold, of [the needs of] His servants God is fully aware, all-seeing.
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] I.e., spiritual knowledge, born of the realization that the phenomena which can be observed do not comprise the whole of reality, inasmuch as there is “a realm beyond the reach of a created being’s perception”.
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