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 30, verses 31-34
[Turn, then, away from all that is false,] turning
unto Him [alone]; and remain conscious of Him, and
be constant in prayer, and be not among those who
ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, [or] among
those who have broken the unity of their faith and
have become sects, each group delighting in but
what they themselves hold [by way of tenets].
Now [thus it is:] when affliction befalls men, they
cry unto their Sustainer, turning unto Him [for
help]; but as soon as He lets them taste of His
grace, lo! Some of them [begin to] ascribe to other
powers a share in their Sustainer’s divinity,
[as if] to prove their ingratitude for all that
We have granted them! Enjoy, then, your [brief]
life: but in time you will come to know [the truth]!
Chapter 30, verses 36
And [thus it is:] when we let men taste [Our] grace,
they rejoice in it; but if evil befalls them as
an outcome of what their own hands have wrought
– lo! they lose all hope!
Chapter 30, verses 38
Hence, give his due to the near of kin, as well
as to the needy and the wayfarer; this is best for
all who seek God’s countenance: for it is
they, they that shall attain to a happy state!
Chapter 30, verse 60
Remain, then, patient in adversity: verily, God’s
promise [of resurrection] is true indeed –
so let not those who are devoid of all inner certainty
disquiet thy mind!
Chapter 31, verses 2 – 6
These are messages of the divine writ, full of wisdom,
providing guidance and grace unto the doers of good
who are constant in charity: for it is they, they
who in their innermost are certain of the life to
come!
It is they who follow the guidance [that comes to
them] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they
who shall attain to a happy state!
But among men there is many a one that prefers a
mere play with words [to divine guidance], so as
to lead [those] without knowledge astray from the
path of God, and to turn it to ridicule: for such
there is a shameful suffering in store.