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 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 62, verses 1
- 4
All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth
extols the limitless glory of God, the Sovereign
Supreme, the Holy, the Almighty, the Wise!
He it is who has sent unto the unlettered people
an apostle from among themselves, [ 1 ] to convey
unto them His messages, and to cause them to grow
in purity, and to impart unto them the divine writ
as well as wisdom – whereas before that they
were indeed, most obviously, lost in error -; and
[to cause this message to spread] from them unto
other people as soon as they come into contact with
them: [ 2 ] for He alone is almighty, truly wise.
Such is God’s bounty: He grants it to anyone
who is wiling [to receive it]: for God is limitless
in His great bounty.
Chapter 64, verses 12 – 13
Pay heed , then, unto God, and pay heed unto the
Apostle; and if you turn away [know that] Our apostle’s
only duty is a clear delivery of this message: God
– there is no deity save Him!
In God, then, let the believers put their trust.
Chapter 69, verses 48-52
And verily this [Qur’an] is a reminder to
all the God-conscious.
And, behold, well do We know that among you are
such as will give the lie to it: yet, behold, this
[rejection] will become a source of bitter regret
for all who deny the truth [of God’s revelation]
– for, verily, it is truth absolute!
Extol, then, the limitless glory of thy Sustainer’s
mighty name!
______________________
Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] The term “unlettered people” denotes
a nation or community who had not previously had
a revealed scripture of their own. The designation
of the Prophet as a man “from among themselves”
is meant, in this context, to stress the fact that
he, too, was unlettered in the primary sense of
this word, and could not, therefore, have “invented”
the message of the Qur’an or “derived”
its ideas from earlier scriptures.
[ 2 ] I.e., to cause the message of the Qur’an
to reach people of other environments and of future
times through the medium of the Arabs and their
language: thus stressing the universality and timeless
validity of all that has been revealed to Muhammad.