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 Franfurter Zeitung, and after his conversion to Islam traveled and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa to as far east as Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. After years of devoted study, he 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” (For people who think”).
Chapter 26, Verses 224-227
And as for the poets – [they, too, are prone to deceive themselves: and so, only] those who are lost in grievous error would follow them. Art thou not aware that they roam confusedly through all the valleys [of words and thoughts], and that they [so often] say what they do not do [or feel].
[Most of them are of this kind - ] save those who have attained to faith, and do righteous deeds, and remember God unceasingly, and defend themselves [only] after having been wronged, [ 1 ] and [trust in God’s promise that] those who are bent on wrong-doing will in time come to know how evil a turn their destinies are bound to take!
Chapter 27, Verses 4-6
As for those who will not believe in the life to come – behold, goodly have We made their own doings appear unto them, and so they stumble blindly to and fro. It is they whom the worst of suffering awaits: for it is they, they who in the life to come shall be the greatest losers!
But [as for thee, O believer, ] verily, thou has received this Qur’an out of the grace of One who is wise, all knowing.
Chapter 27, Verses 62-64
Nay – who is it that responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill [that caused the distress], and has made you inherit the earth?
Could there be any divine power besides God? How seldom do you keep this in mind!
Nay – who is it that guides you in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea, [ 2 ] and sends forth the winds as a glad tiding of His coming grace?
Could there be any divine power besides God?
Say: [If you think so, ] produce your evidence – if you truly believe in your claim!
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] Thus the Qur’an makes it clear that a true believer may fight only in self-defense.
[ 2 ] I.e., metonymically, through all the seemingly insoluble complexities of human life.
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