Gems From The Holy Qu'ran
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 35, verses 24 – 31
Verily, We have sent thee [O Muhammad] with the truth,
as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner: for there
never was any community but a warner has [lived and]
passed away in its midst. And if they give thee the
lie – even so gave the lie to the truth of [many
of] those who lived before their time, [when] there
came unto them their apostles with all the evidence
of the truth, and with books of divine wisdom, and
with light-giving revelation; [but] in the end I took
to task all those who were bent on denying the truth:
and how awesome was My rejection!
Art thou not aware that God sends down water from
the skies, whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues
– just as in the mountains there are streaks
of white and red of various shades, as well as [others]
raven-black, and [as] there are in men, and in crawling
beasts, and in cattle, too, many hues?” Of all
his servants only those who are endowed with [innate]
knowledge [ 1 ] stand [truly] in awe of God: [for
they alone comprehend that,] verily, God is almighty,
much-forgiving.
[It is] they who [truly] follow God’s revelation,
and are constant in prayer, and spend on others, secretly
and openly, out of what We provide for them as sustenance
– it is they who may look forward to a bargain
that can never fail, since He will grant them their
just rewards, and give them yet more out of His bounty:
for, verily, He is much- forgiving, ever responsive
to gratitude.
And [know that] all of the divine writ with which
We have inspired thee is the very truth confirming
the truth of whatever there still remains of the earlier
revelations – for, behold, of [the needs of]
His servants God is fully aware, all-seeing.
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] I.e., spiritual knowledge, born of the realization
that the phenomena which can be observed do not comprise
the whole of reality, inasmuch as there is “s
realm beyond the reach of a created being’s
perception”.
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