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 17, Verses 89-93
For, indeed, many facets have We given in this Qur’an to every kind of lesson [designed] for [the benefit of] mankind!
However, most men are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy – and so they say: “[O Muhammad,] we shall not believe thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth, or thou have a garden of date-palms and vines and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst in a sudden rush, or thou cause the skies to fall down upon us in smithereens, as thou hast threatened, or [till] thou bring God and the angels face to face before us, or thou have a house made of gold, or thou ascend to heaven – but nay, we would not [even] believe in thy ascension unless thou bring down to us [from heaven] a writing which we [ourselves] could read!
Say thou, [O Prophet:] “Limitless in His glory is my Sustainer! [ 1 ] Am I, then, aught but a mortal man, an apostle.”
Chapter 17, Verses 105-106
And as a guide towards the truth have We bestowed this [revelation] from on high; with this very truth has it come down [unto thee, O Prophet]: for We have sent thee but as a herald of glad tidings and a warner, [bearing] a discourse which We have gradually unfolded, so that thou might read it out to mankind in stages, seeing that We have bestowed it from on high step by step, as [one] revelation.
Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] I.e., “miracles are in the power of God alone”.
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