February
18, 2005
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 his conversion to Islam travelled 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 69 –
89
And convey unto them the story of Abraham –
[how it was] when he asked his father and his people,
“What is it that you worship?”
They answered: “We worship idols, and we remain
ever devoted to them.”
Said he: “Do [you really think that] they
hear you when you invoke them, or benefit you or
do you harm?”
They exclaimed: “But we found our forefathers
doing the same!” Said [Abraham] “Have
you, then, ever considered what it is that you have
been worshipping – you and those ancient forebears
of yours?
“Now [as for me, I know that,] verily, these
[false deities] are my enemies, [and that none is
my helper] save the Sustainer of all the worlds,
who has created me and is the One who guides me,
and is the One who gives me to eat and drink, and
when I fall ill, is the One who restores me to health,
and who will cause me to die and then will bring
me back to life – and who, I hope, will forgive
me my faults on Judgment Day! “O my Sustainer!
Endow me with the ability to judge [between right
and wrong], and make me one with the righteous,
and grant me the power to convey the truth unto
those who will come after me, and place me among
those who shall inherit the garden of bliss! “And
forgive my father – for, verily, he is among
those who have gone astray – and do not put
me to shame on the Day when all shall be raised
from the dead: the Day on which neither wealth will
be of any use, nor children, [and when] only he
[will be happy] who comes before God with a heart
free of evil!”
Chapter 26, Verses 208-209
And withal, never have We destroyed any community
unless it had been warned and reminded: for, never
do We wrong [anyone].
Chapter 26, Verses 221-223
[And] shall I tell you upon whom it is that those
evil spirits descend? They descend upon all sinful
self-deceivers who readily lend ear [to every falsehood],
and most of whom lie to others as well.
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