018 - Sūrat al-Kahf

In the name of Allah (who is) Rahmān (and) Rahīm.

[For explanation, see Sūrat al-Fātiha: 1]

1

Praise - which is the attribution [to a person] of that which is beautiful - is established [as something that], belongs to Allahu ta’ālā [alone], exalted be He. Now, is the intention here to point this out for the purpose of believing in it, or to praise [Allahu ta’ālā] thereby, or both? All are possibilities, the most profitable of which is [to understand] the third [as being the intention behind this statement]; Who has revealed to His servant, Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", the Book, the Qur'ān, and has not allowed for it, that is, [He has not allowed that there be] in it, any crookedness, [any] variance or contradiction (the [last] sentence [wa-lam yaj'al lahu 'iwajan] is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-kitāb, 'the Book');

2

[a Book] uright, (qayyiman is a second circumstantial qualifier for [added] emphasis) to warn of, to make, by this Book, the disbelievers fear, severe chastisement from Him, from Allahu ta’ālā, and to bring to the believers who perform righteous deeds the good tidings that theirs will be a fair reward,

3

wherein they will abide forever, and this [reward] is Paradise;

4

and to warn those, from among the disbelievers, who say, 'Allahu ta’ālā has taken a son'.

5

They do not have, in this, in this saying, any knowledge, nor did their fathers, before them, who [also] used to say this. Dreadful, grave, is the word that comes out of their mouths kalimatan, 'word', is for specification and it explains the unidentified [feminine] person [of the verb, kaburat, 'dreadful']; and that which is the object of censure has been omitted, and that is their above-mentioned saying [that Allahu ta’ālā has taken a son]. They speak nothing, thereby, but, an utterance of, lies.

6

Yet it may be that you will consume, destroy, yourself in their wake - following [your being with] them, that is, after they have left you - if they should not believe in this discourse, [in this] Qur'ān, out of grief, out of rage and anguish on your part, because of your eagerness that they believe (asafan, 'out of grief', is in the accusative because it functions as an object denoting reason).

7

Truly We have made all that is on the earth, in the way of animals, plants, trees, rivers and so on, as an adornment for it, that We may try them, that We may test mankind observing thereby, which of them is best in conduct, therein, that is, [to see which of them] is the most abstemious of it.¹

8

And indeed We shall turn all that is therein into barren shreds, that produce no plants.

9

Or did you think, did you suppose, that the Companions of the Cave, the cavern in the mountain, and the Inscription, the tablet wherein their names and lineages had been inscribed - the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" had been asked about their tale - were, with regard to their tale, a [unique] marvel from among, the entirety [of], Our signs? ('ajaban, 'a marvel' is the predicate of [the defective verb] kāna [sc. kānū], the preceding [min āyātinā, 'from among Our signs'] being a circumstantial qualifier). In other words, [did you suppose] that they were a marvel exclusively from among all [Our] other signs, or that they were the most marvellous among them? Not so.

10

Mention, when the youths took refuge in the Cave (fitya, 'youths', is the plural of fatā, and denotes a mature young man) fearing for their faith from their disbelieving people, they said, 'Our Rabb! Give us mercy from Yourself and remedy for us our affair through rectitude', [through Your] guidance.

11

So We smote their ears, that is, We made them sleep, in the Cave for several years, for a [fixed] number of years.

12

Then We aroused them, We awakened them, that We might know, a knowledge of direct vision, which of the two parties, the two groups in disagreement over the length of their stay [in the cave], was better in calculating (ahsā is [of the pattern] of af'al, meaning 'more precise']) what they had tarried (li-mā labithū is semantically connected to the following) in [terms of the] length of time (amadan, [in the accusative] denotes purpose).

13

We relate, recite, to you their story with truth, that is, truthfully. They were indeed youths who believed in their Rabb, and We increased them in guidance.

14

And We strengthened their hearts, to [enable them to] speak the truth, when they stood up, before their Ruler, who had commanded them to prostrate to idols, and said, 'Our Rabb is the Rabb of the heavens and the earth. We will not call on any god besides Him, that is, other than Him, for then we shall certainly have uttered an outrage, in other words, [we shall have spoken] a statement that contains shatat, meaning one of extreme disbelief, were we, hypothetically, to call on any god other than Allahu ta’ālā.

15

These (hā'ūlā' is the subject [of the sentence]) our people (qawmunā is an explicative supplement [to the subject]) have taken gods besides Him. Why [if what they claim is true] do they not bring some clear warrant, some manifest argument, regarding them? regarding worship of these [idols]. And who does greater wrong - in other words, no one does greater wrong - than he who invents a lie against Allahu ta’ālā?, by ascribing partners to Him, exalted be He. Some among the youths said to the others:

16

And when you withdraw from them and from that which they worship except Allahu ta’ālā, then take refuge in the Cave. Your Rabb will reveal for you something of His mercy and prepare for you in your affair some comfort' (read mirfaqan or marfiqan), that is to say, something for you to find comfort in, in the way of lunch or supper.

17

And you might have seen the sun, when it rose, inclining (read tazzāwaru or tazāwaru) away from their Cave towards the right, side of it, and, when it set, go past them on the left, avoid them and pass over them, so that it does not fall on them at all, while they were in a cavern therein, in an ample space inside the Cave where the coolness and the gentle breeze of the winds reached them. That, which is mentioned, was [one] of Allah’s āyāt [one of] the proofs of His power. Whomever Allahu ta’ālā guides, he indeed is rightly guided, and whomever He leads astray, you will not find for him a guiding friend.

18

And you would have supposed them - had you seen them - awake, that is, conscious, because their eyes were open (ayqāz, 'awake', is the plural of yaqiz), though they were asleep (ruqūd is the plural of rāqid). And We caused them to turn over to the right and to the left, lest the earth consume their flesh, and their dog [lay] stretching its forelegs, his paws, on the threshold, at the opening of the cave: whenever they turned over it would turn over just like them, both during sleep and consciousness. If you had observed them you would have turned away from them in flight and you would have been filled (read la-mulli'ta or la-muli'ta) with awe because of them (read ru'ban or ru'uban, 'awe'): [it was] through this awe that Allahu ta’ālā protected them from anyone entering upon them.

19

And so, just as We did with them that which We have mentioned, it was that We aroused them, We awakened them, that they might question one another, concerning their state and the length of their stay [in the cave]. One of them said, 'How long have you tarried?' They said, 'We have tarried a day, or part of a day': [he said this] because they had entered the cave at sunrise and were awakened at sunset, and so they thought that it was [the time of] sunset on the day of their entry. Then, they said, unsure about this [fact], 'Your Rabb knows best how long you have tarried. Now send one of you with this silver coin of yours (read bi-warqikum or bi-wariqikum) to the city - which is said to be the one now called Tarsus (Tarasūs) - and let him see which is the purest food, that is, which of the foods of the city is the purest, and [let him] bring you a supply thereof. Let him be careful and not make anyone aware of you.³

20

For indeed if they should come to know of you, they will [either] stone you, kill you by stoning, or make you return to their creed, and then, if you do return to their creed, you will never prosper'.

21

And so, just as We aroused them, it was that We disclosed them, [to] their people and the believers, that they, that is, their people, might know that Allah’s promise, of resurrection, is true: by virtue of the fact that One Who has the power to make them sleep for [such] a long period of time, or sustain them in that state without nourishment, also has the power to resurrect the dead; and that, as for the Hour, there is no doubt, no uncertainty, concerning it. Behold (idh adverbially qualifies a'tsarnā, 'We disclosed') they were disputing, that is, the believers and the disbelievers, among themselves their affair, the affair of the youths, with regard to building something around them [as a monument]; so they, the disbelievers, said, 'Build over them, that is, around them, a building, to cover them up; their Rabb knows them best.' Those who prevailed regarding their affair, the affair of the youths, namely, the believers, 'We will verily set up over them, around them, a place of worship', for prayers to be performed therein.⁴ And this indeed took place at the entrance of the cave.

22

They will say, that is, [some of] those disputing the number of the youths [of the cave] at the time of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam", in other words, some of these will say that they [the youths] were: 'Three; their dog the fourth of them'; and they, some [others] among them, will say, 'Five; their dog the sixth of them' - both of these sayings were those of the Christians of Najrān - guessing at random, in other words, out of supposition, not having been present with them [at the time], and this [statement 'guessing at random'] refers back to both sayings, and is in the accusative because it is an object denoting reason, in other words, [they said this] for the reason that they were [merely] supposing it. And they, that is, the believers, will say, 'Seven; and their dog the eighth of them' (the sentence is [part of] the subject clause, the predicate of which is the adjectival qualification of sab'a, 'seven' [namely, thāminuhum, 'the eighth of them'] with the additional wāw [wa-thāminuhum], which is said to be for emphasis, or an indication that the adjective is [semantically] attached to that which it is qualifying). The qualification of the first two sayings as being 'random', but not the third, is proof that [the latter] is the satisfactory and correct [number]. Say: 'My Rabb knows best their number, and none knows them except a few': Ibn ‘Abbās said, 'I am [one] of these " few " [described]', and he mentioned that they were seven. So do not contend concerning them except with an outward manner [of contention], [except] with that which has been revealed to you, and do not question concerning them, do not ask for opinions [from], any of them, [from] the People of the Scripture, the Jews. The people of Mecca asked him [the Prophet] about the story of the People of the Cave, and so he said to them, 'I will tell you about it tomorrow', but without adding [the words], 'If Allahu ta’ālā wills' (inshā'a'llāhu) and so the following was revealed:

23

And never say regarding something, that is, for the purpose of [doing] something, 'I will indeed do that tomorrow', in other words, [I will do something] at some future [point] in time,

24

without [adding], 'If Allahu ta’ālā will', in other words, unless [firmly] adhering to the will of Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, by saying, 'If Allahu ta’ālā will' (inshā'a'llāh). And remember your Rabb, that is, [remember] His will, making [things] conditional on it, if you forget, to make [things] conditional on it: mentioning it after forgetting [it] is the equal [in validity] to mentioning it at the time of the statement - as al-Hasan [al-Basrī] and others have said - as long as the person is still in the [same] place [in which he made the statement]. And say, 'May be my Rabb will guide me to [something] closer [in time] than this, [closer] than the story of the People of the Cave, as an indication of [the truth of] my prophethood, by way of guidance, and Allahu ta’ālā indeed did so.

25

And they tarried in the Cave three hundred (read [with tanwīn] thalāthami'atin) years (sinīn is an explicative supplement to thalātha mi'atin, 'three hundred'): these three hundred years in the case of the People of the Cave were solar years; but for [the number of] lunar ones, the Arabs add nine years thereto, and this is mentioned in His saying: and add nine, that is, nine years; in other words three hundred solar years, while three hundred and nine lunar ones.

26

Say: 'Allahu ta’ālā is more knowledgeable of how long they tarried, [more knowledgeable] than those contending over this [issue] - and this [fact] has already been mentioned [above, verse 19]. To Him belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, that is, [to Him belongs] the knowledge thereof. How well He sees! namely, Allahu ta’ālā - this form⁵ is for [expressing] amazement [at something]. How well He hears! likewise [for expressing amazement].⁶ These two [expressions] are being used metaphorically. What is meant is that nothing can escape Allah’s sight or hearing. They, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, have no Guardian (waliyy), someone to assist [them], besides Him, and He makes none to share in His rule', for He is Independent, without need of a partner.

27

And recite that which has been revealed to you of the Book of your Rabb. There is none who can change His words. And you will not find, besides Him, any refuge.

28

And restrain yourself, detain [yourself], along with those who call upon their Rabb at morning and evening, desiring, through their worship, His Countenance, exalted be He, and not any of the transient things of this world - and these are the poor; and do not let your eyes overlook, turn away [from], them - these [the eyes] are being used to refer to the person [addressed] - desiring the glitter of the life of this world. And do not obey him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance, that is, [to] the Qur'ān - this was 'Uyayna b. Hisn and his companions - and who follows his own whim, by attributing partners [to Allahu ta’ālā], and whose conduct is [mere] prodigality, excess.

29

And say, to him and to his companions that this Qur'ān is, 'The truth [that comes] from your Rabb; so whoever will, let him believe, and whoever will, let him disbelieve' - this is [meant as] a threat to them. Indeed We have prepared for the wrongdoers, that is, the disbelievers, a Fire, and they will be surrounded by its pavilion, [by] that which encloses [the Fire itself]. If they cry out for help, they will be succoured with water like molten copper, like thick [burning] oil, which scalds faces, because of [the intensity of] its heat, if it is brought near them. What an evil drink, that is, and how ill, is the Fire [as], a resting-place! (murtafaqan is a specification derived from the agent of the verb, in other words, vile is the person choosing to rest thereon;⁷ and this is in contrast to what He will say next about Paradise: How fair a resting-place [below, verse 31]. For, indeed, what resting-place can there be in the Fire?

30

Truly those who believe and perform righteous deeds - indeed We do not leave the reward of those of good deeds to go to waste (this [last] sentence is the predicate of the [previous] inna'lladhīna, 'truly those who', and in it an overt identification [of the recipients of the reward] has replaced the [would-be] pronominalisation,⁸ in other words, it is 'their reward' [which shall not be left to go to waste], and We will reward them with what it [the reward of good-doers] comprises.

31

Those, for them there shall be Gardens of Eden, as a [place of] residence, underneath which rivers flow; therein they shall be adorned with bracelets of gold (min asāwir: it is said that min here is either extra or partitive; it [asāwir] is the plural of aswira - similar [in pattern] to ahmira [for himār] - which is the plural of siwār) and they shall wear green garments of fine silk (sundus) and [heavy] silk brocade (istabraq is that [silk] which is coarse: [Allahu ta’ālā says] in the verse of [sūrat] al-Rahmān [Q. 55:54], lined with [heavy] silk brocade); reclining therein on couches (arā'ik is the plural of arīka, which is a bed inside a [curtained] canopy, and is also a tent adorned with garments and curtains for a bride). How excellent a reward, a requital, is Paradise, and how fair a resting-place!

32

And strike, coin, for them, for the disbelievers together with the believers, a similitude: two men (rajulayn is a substitute [for mathalan, 'a similitude'] and constitutes, together with what follows, an explanation of the similitude), to one of whom, the disbeliever, We had assigned two gardens, orchards, of vines, and We had surrounded them with date-palms and had set between them [a field of] crops, from which he acquired [his] food supplies.

33

Each of the two gardens (kiltā, 'each [of the two]' is a singular [noun] that indicates a dual [number]; and [the entire clause] is the subject) yielded (ātat is the predicate thereof) its produce, its fruit, without stinting, diminishing, anything thereof. And We caused a stream to gush forth therein, to run through them.

34

And he had, together with his two gardens, fruit (read thamar, thumur, or thumr, [all of which constitute] the plural of thamra, [sing.] 'a fruit', similar [in pattern] to shajara [pl.] shajar, khashaba [pl.] khushb, or badana [pl.] budn) and he said to his companion, the believer, as he conversed with him, boasting before him: 'I have more wealth than you and am stronger in respect of men', in respect of clansmen.

35

And he entered his garden, [taking] with him his companion, accompanying him all around it, showing him its fruits - Allahu ta’ālā does not say [here] his 'two gardens', because what is meant is the beautiful [part of the] garden (rawda); or because [to mention just] one suffices - having wronged himself, through [his] disbelief. He said, 'I do not think that [all] this will ever perish, become non-existent.

36

Moreover, I do not think that the Hour will ever come; and [even] if I am indeed returned to my Rabb, in the Hereafter, according to your claim, I shall surely find better than this as a resort', as a [place of] return.

37

His companion said to him, as he conversed with him, responding to him: 'Do you disbelieve in Him Who created you of dust - as Adam was created of it - then of a drop of fluid, [of] semen, then fashioned you, made you upright and gave you the form of, a man?

38

But lo (lākinnā is actually [made up of] lākin anā, 'but I … ', where the hamza vowel has [either] been transferred onto the nūn [of lākin], or omitted [altogether] with the nūn assimilated with the like of it)⁹ He [is] (huwa, this is the pronoun of the [subject] matter [to be stated] and is clarified by the sentence that follows it: the meaning [in other words] is '[But, it is that] I say that [He is]') Allahu ta’ālā, my Rabb, and I do not ascribe any partner to my Rabb.

39

And if only when you entered your garden, you had said, upon admiring it, 'This is " What Allahu ta’ālā has willed. There is no power except in Allahu ta’ālā ". In a hadīth [it is stated that]: 'Whoever is given something good in the way of family or wealth and upon receiving it says, " What Allahu ta’ālā wills [comes to pass]; there is no power except in Allahu ta’ālā " (mā shā'a'llāh lā quwwata illā bi'llāh), he will never experience any ill therefrom'. If you see me (anā is a pronoun separating two direct objects) as less than you in wealth and children,

40

maybe my Rabb will give me [something] better than your garden (this is the response to the conditional clause [beginning with lawlā, 'and if only']) and unleash upon it bolts (husbān is the plural of husbāna), that is to say, thunderbolts, from the heaven so that it becomes a bare plain, a [piece of] smooth ground upon which no foot can stand firm;

41

or [maybe] its water will sink [deep] down (ghawran functions in meaning like ghā'iran, and it constitutes a supplement to yursila, 'He [will] unleash', but not [a supplement] to tusbiha, 'it becomes', because the sinking of water [deep into the earth] does not [necessarily] result from thunderbolts) so that you have no means of acquiring it', no possible way of reaching it.

42

And his fruit was beset, through the curbing measures mentioned above, [it was beset] together with his garden by destruction and were thus ruined, and so he began to wring his hands, out of regret and anguish, because of what he had spent on it, on the cultivation of his garden, as it lay fallen, [having] collapsed, on its trellises, those supporting the vines, so that [first] these collapsed and then the vine-grapes collapsed [after them], saying, 'O (yā is for exclamation) I wish I had not ascribed any partner to my Rabb!'

43

But there was no (read takun or yakun) party, [no] persons, to help him, besides Allahu ta’ālā, at the moment of its destruction, nor could he help himself, at the moment of its destruction, [all by] himself.

44

There, that is, [on] the Day of Resurrection, [all] protection (walāya; if read wilāya, then [it means] 'sovereignty') belongs to Allahu ta’ālā, the True (if read as al-haqqu then it is as an adjective qualifying walāya [or wilāya],¹⁰ or [if] read as al-haqqi, then it is an attribute of [Allah’s] Majesty). He is better at rewarding, than the rewarding of any [person] other than Him, if such [a person] were [in a position to] reward; and best in consequence (read 'uquban or 'uqban), [He is best] in terms of the consequence for believers (both [thawāban, 'rewarding', and 'uqban, 'consequence'] are in the accusative for [the purpose of] specification).

45

And strike, draw, for them, your people, the similitude of the life of this world (mathala'l-hayāti'l-dunyā constitutes the first direct object) as water (ka-mā'in, the second direct object) which We send down out from the heaven, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it, [the vegetation] multiplies by the sending down of the water; or it is that the water mixes with the vegetation such that it is nourished and flourishes; and it then becomes, the vegetation becomes, chaff, dried up, its [various] parts [broken up] in fragments, scattered, strewn and dispersed, by the winds, which then blow it away. The import is: [the life of] this world is likened to flourishing vegetation which then becomes dry, is broken up and scattered by the winds (a variant reading [for riyāh, 'winds'] has rīh). And Allahu ta’ālā is Omnipotent, Powerful, over all things.

46

Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world, [adornment] with which one arrays oneself therein. But the enduring things, the righteous deeds - and these are: 'Glory be to Allah (subhāna'llāh), 'Praise be to Allah (al-hāmdu li'llāh), 'There is no god but Allah (lā ilāha illā'llāh), 'Allah is Great' (Allāhu akbar); some add [the following] 'There is no power or strength except in Allah (lā hawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi'llāh) - [these] are better with your Rabb for reward and better in [respect of] hope, in other words, [they are better] in terms of what a person hopes for and desires from Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He.

47

And, mention, the day when the mountains shall be set in motion - they shall be removed from the face of the earth and become '[as] scattered dust' [Q. 56:6] (a variant reading [for tusayyaru'l-jibālu] has nusayyiru'l-jibāla, 'We shall set the mountains in motion') and you will see the earth exposed, manifest [in full view], with no mountain or anything else on top of it. And We shall gather them, believers and disbelievers, such that We will not leave out anyone of them.

48

And they shall be presented before your Rabb in ranks (saffan is a circumstantial qualifier) in other words, ranged so that every community is in a row [on its own], and it shall be said to them: 'Verily you have come to Us just as We created you the first time, that is to say, individually, barefoot, naked and uncircumcised; and it shall be said to the deniers of the Resurrection: rather you claimed that (a [of allan] is an, softened in place of the hardened one, in other words [it is to be understood as] annahu) We would not appoint for you a tryst', for resurrection.

49

And the Book shall be set in place, the Book of every man - in his right hand, if [he is from] among the believers, and in his left hand, if [he is from] among the disbelievers. And you will see the guilty, the disbelievers, apprehensive, fearful, of what is in it, and they will say, when they observe the evil deeds [recorded] in it: 'O (yā is for exclamation) woe to us! [O this is] our destruction! (this [form waylatanā] is a verbal noun, but in this form it cannot be [conjugated as] a verb) What is it with this Book that it leaves out neither small nor great, from among our sins, but [instead it] has counted it?', enumerated it and fixed it [in the record] - they are stupefied by it in this respect. And they shall find all that they did present, fixed [in writing] in their [individual] Book. And your Rabb does not wrong anyone, He does not punish him [if he is] without guilt, nor does He diminish [anything of] the reward of a believer.

50

And when (idh is dependent because it is governed by [an implicit] udhkur, 'mention [when]') We said to the angels, 'Prostrate before Adam', a prostration involving a bow, not placing one's forehead down [to the ground], as a greeting to him; and so they prostrated, [all] except Iblīs. He was [one] of the jinn - some say that these [creatures] are a species of angels, in which case the exceptive clause [illā Iblīs, 'except Iblīs'] is a continuous one; but it is also said to be discontinuous, since Iblīs is [considered] the progenitor of [all] the jinn, having offspring who are mentioned alongside him further below;¹¹ angels, on the other hand, do not have offspring; and he transgressed against his Rabb's command, that is to say, he rebelled against obedience to Him by refraining from [performing] the prostration. Will you then take him and his offspring - this address is to Adam and his progeny (the [final pronominal suffix] hā' in both words refers to Iblīs)¹² for your patrons instead of Me, obeying them, when they are an enemy to you?, in other words, [when they are your] enemies (wa-hum lakum 'aduwwun is a circumstantial qualifier). How evil for the evildoers is that substitute!, of Iblīs and his offspring, in obeying them instead of obeying Allahu ta’ālā.

51

I did not make them a witness, that is, Iblīs and his offspring, to the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor to their own creation, that is to say, I did not make any of them present at the [moment of the] creation of the other. Nor do I take misleaders, devils, as [My] support, as assistants in [the process of] creation, so why do you obey them?

52

And the day (yawma is in the accusative because it is governed by [the implicit] udhkur, 'mention') when He will say (yaqūl, or [it may be] read as naqūl, 'We will say'), 'Call those partners of Mine, [those] graven images, as you used to claim', let them intercede for you in the way you used to claim; and then they will call them, but they will not respond to their call, they will not answer them, and We shall set between them, between the graven images and those who worship them, a gulf of doom - a valley from among the valleys of Hell, in which they shall all be destroyed (the term [mawbiq] derives from [the verb] wabaqa meaning halaka, 'he was destroyed').

53

And the criminals will behold the Fire and realise that, are certain that, they are about to fall into it. And they will find no means of avoiding it, of circumventing [it].

54

And verily We have dispensed, We have explained, for mankind in this Qur'ān [an example] of every kind of similitude (min kulli mathalin is an adjective qualifying an omitted clause, in other words, '[We have dispensed therein] a similitude from every kind of similitude), that they may be admonished. But man is most disputatious, [he is] most contentious in matters of falsehood (jadalan is a specification derived from [al-insān, 'man'] the subject of kāna) in other words, the meaning is that the disputatiousness of man is what can be found in him most.

55

And nothing prevented people, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, from believing (an yu'minū is [after al-nāsa, 'people'] constitutes the second direct object clause) when the guidance, the Qur'ān, came to them, and from asking forgiveness of their Rabb, without that there should come upon them the precedent of the ancients (sunnatu'l-awwalīn constitutes the subject of the verb) that is to say, Our precedent of dealing with them, which is the destruction decreed for them, or that the chastisement should come upon them before their very eyes, in front of them and for them to see - which was their being killed on the day of Badr (a variant reading [for qibalan] has qubulan, which [in the accusative] is the plural of qabīlin, meaning, 'of various kinds').¹³

56

And We do not send messengers (rusul) except as bearers of good tidings, to believers, and as warners, as threateners to disbelievers. But those who disbelieve dispute with falsehood, when they say that, 'Has Allahu ta’ālā sent a human as a Messenger (rasūl) [from Him]?' [Q. 17:94] and the like of such [statements], that they may refute thereby, that by way of their disputing they may invalidate, the truth, the Qur'ān. And they have taken My signs, namely, the Qur'ān, and that whereof they have been warned, in the way of the Fire, derisively, in mockery.

57

And who does greater wrong than he who has been reminded of the verses of his Rabb, yet turns away from them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead?, what he has committed in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience. Indeed on their hearts We have cast veils, coverings, lest they should understand it, that is, lest they should comprehend the Qur'ān, in other words, and so [as a result] they do not comprehend it; and in their ears a deafness, a heaviness, and so they do not hear it; and though you call them to guidance, they will not be guided in that case, that is, given the casting [of veils] mentioned, ever.

58

And your Rabb is the Forgiver, Full of Mercy. Were He to take them to task, in this world, for what they have earned, He would have hastened for them the chastisement, therein; but they have a tryst, which is the Day of Resurrection, from which they will not find any escape, any refuge.

59

And those towns, that is to say, the inhabitants of those [towns], such as 'ād and Thamūd, as well as others, We destroyed them when they did evil, [when] they disbelieved, and We appointed for their destruction (a variant reading [for mahlikihim] has muhlakihim)¹⁴ a tryst.

60

And, mention, when Moses, son of Amram ('Imrān), said to his lad, Joshua son of Nun (Yūsha' bin Nūn), who used to follow him around, serve him and acquire knowledge from him, 'I will not give up, I will not stop journeying, until I have reached the juncture of the two seas - the point where the Byzantine sea and the Persian sea meet, beyond the east,¹⁵ - though I march on for ages', for a very long time before reaching it, if it be far.

61

So when they reached a juncture between the two, between the two seas, they forgot their fish - Joshua forgot his luggage [leaving it behind] at the moment of departure, and Moses forgot to remind him - and so it, the fish, made its way into the sea, that is, it formed it - through Allah’s forming it - by burrowing, that is, like [through] a burrow, which is a passage that is long and enclosed; this was [so] because Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, held back the flow of the water [preventing it] from [engulfing] the fish and it [the water] withdrew from around it [the fish] and remained thus like a cleft without closing, and what was beneath it [the cleft] stood still.

62

And when they had made the traverse, of that location, having journeyed until the morning of the following day, he, Moses, said to his lad, 'Bring us our breakfast, (ghadā') that [meal] which is consumed at the beginning of the day. We have certainly encountered on this journey of ours much fatigue', exhaustion, which took its effect [on them] after the traverse.

63

He said, 'Do you see? - in other words, remember, when we sheltered at the rock, in that location, indeed I forgot the fish - and none but Satan made me forget (al-shaytān, 'Satan', substitutes for the [suffixed pronoun] hā' [of ansānī-hu]) to mention it (an adhkurahu, an inclusive substitution, in other words [it should be understood as] ansānī dhikrahu, 'he [Satan] made me forget the mentioning of it') - and it, the fish, made its way into the sea in an amazing manner' ('ajaban constitutes the second direct object), that is to say, Moses and his lad were amazed by it, because of what has already been explained concerning it.

64

said he, Moses, 'That, namely, our losing the fish, is what we have been seeking!', what we have been after, for it is a sign for us of the presence of the one whom we seek. So they turned back, retracing their footsteps, until they reached the rock.

65

So [there] they found one of Our servants, namely, al-Khidr, to whom We had given mercy from Us - according to one opinion this [mercy] was prophethood; according to another it was authority, and this [latter] is the opinion of the majority of scholars - and We had taught him knowledge from Us ('ilman is the second direct object), in other words, some knowledge of unseen things; al-Bukhārī reports the [following] hadīth:

'Moses was delivering a sermon among the Children of Israel and was asked, " Who is the most knowledgeable of people? " , to which he [Moses] said, " Myself ". Allahu ta’ālā then reproached him for not having attributed [his] knowledge as [coming] from Him. Allahu ta’ālā then revealed to him the following: " Truly, there is a servant of Mine at the juncture of the two seas; he is more knowledgeable than you ". Moses then asked, " My Rabb, how do I reach him? " He [Allahu ta’ālā] said, 'Take a fish with you and place it in a basket and [the place] where you lose the fish will be [the place] where he is. " He [Moses] took a fish and placed it in a basket and departed together with his lad Joshua son of Nun until they reached the rock. [There] they placed their heads back and fell asleep. The fish began to move about in the basket, until it escaped from it and fell into the sea, and it made its way into the sea in an amazing manner. Allahu ta’ālā then held back the flow of the water [preventing it] from [engulfing] the fish, forming a kind of arch over it. When he awoke, his companion [Joshua] forgot to inform him of [what had happened to] the fish, and so they journeyed on for the remainder of that day and night until on the morning [of the second day] Moses said to his lad, 'Bring us our breakfast', to where he says, and it made its way into the sea in an amazing manner'.

He [Bukhārī] said, 'For the fish, it [the way into the sea] was [by] 'burrowing' (saraban), and for Moses and his lad it [this way] was 'amazing' ('ajaban) …' [and so on] to the end [of Bukhārī's report].

66

Moses said to him, 'May I follow you for the purpose that you teach me of what you have been taught [in the way] of probity?', namely, [something] of right conduct through which I might be rightly-guided (a variant reading [for rashadan] has rushdan, 'probity'); he asked him this because to increase [one's] knowledge is [something which is] always sought.

67

Said he, 'Truly you will not be able to bear with me.

68

And how can you bear with that whereof you have never been informed?': in the above-mentioned hadīth [of Bukhārī] after this verse [there is the following statement]: 'O Moses, I possess knowledge which Allahu ta’ālā has taught me and which you do not have, and [equally] you possess knowledge which Allahu ta’ālā has taught you and which I do not have'. His saying khubran, 'informed', is a verbal noun meaning that which you have never encompassed, in other words, the truth of which you have never been informed of.

69

He said, 'You will find me, Allahu ta’ālā willing, patient, and I will not disobey, in other words, and [you will also find me] non-disobedient [towards], you in any matter', with which you charge me. He [Moses] made this [statement] conditional upon the Will [of Allahu ta’ālā] because he was not confident of himself in what he had committed himself to. Indeed, this is the custom of prophets and saints, namely, that they do not put their trust in themselves for a single moment.

70

He said, 'If you follow me then do not question me (lā tas'alnī, a variant reading has lā tas'alannī) concerning anything, that you might find objectionable in what I do, according to your [limited] knowledge, and be patient, until I [myself] make mention of it to you', in other words, [until] I mention it to you with [an explication of] the reason for it. Moses accepted his precondition bearing in mind the respect which a student should exercise in the presence of a teacher.

71

So they set off, making their way on foot along the coast of the sea, until, when they embarked on the ship, which was carrying them, he, al-Khidr, made a hole in it, by destroying a plank or two on the starboard side with an axe after they had sailed into deep waters. said he, Moses, to him, 'Did you make a hole in it to drown its people? (li-tughriqa ahlahā, 'for you to drown its people'; a variant reading has li-yaghraqa ahluhā, 'so that its people might drown'). You have certainly done a dreadful thing', that is, a grave and reprehensible thing - it is reported that the water did not [actually] penetrate it.

72

He said, 'Did I not say [that] you would not be able to bear with me?'

73

He said, 'Do not take me to task on account of that which I forgot, that is, [on account of the fact that] I was not mindful of submitting to you [in the matter] and of refraining from showing disapproval of your actions, and do not exhaust me, [do not] charge me, in this affair of mine with difficulty', [with] hardship during my companionship of you, in other words, treat me throughout it with forgiveness and indulgence.

74

So they set off, after leaving the ship, making their way on foot, until, when they met a boy, who had not yet reached puberty,¹⁶ playing with [other] boys, among whom his face was the fairest - and he, al-Khidr, slew him, by slitting his throat with a knife while he lay down, or by tearing his head off with his hand, or by smashing his head against a wall, all of which are [different] opinions (the coordinating fā' [of fa-qatalahu, 'and he slew him'] is used here because [it indicates that] the slaying took place after the encounter; the response to idhā, 'when' is [the following statement, qāla …]) - he, Moses, said, to him: 'Have you slain an innocent soul, that is, a pure one that had not reached the age of [legal] responsibility (a variant reading [for zākiya] has zakiyya), [one slain] not in retaliation for another soul?, in other words, one that has not slain any soul. Verily you have committed an dreadful thing' (read nukran or nukuran), that is to say, an abomination.

75

He said, 'Did I not say to you that you would never be able to bear with me?' (laka, 'to you', has been added to that [same statement] which was made before because this time there could not be any excuse [for Moses's impatience].

76

And for this reason, he said, 'If I ask you about anything after this, after this instance, then do not keep me in your company, do not allow me to follow you, for truly you [will] have found from me' (read ladunnī or ladunī), on my part, [sufficient enough] excuse, for you to part company with me.

77

So they set off, until, when they came to the folk of a [certain] town, namely, Antioch (Antākya), they asked its folk for food, they asked them for food by way of hospitality, but they refused to extend them any hospitality. They then found in it a wall, one hundred cubits high, about to collapse, that is, it was close to falling down because of its tilt; so he, al-Khidr, straightened it, with his [own] hands. He, Moses, said, to him, 'Had you wished, you could have taken (a variant reading [for la-ttakhadhta] has la-takhidhta) a wage for it', some [sort of] payment, since they did not extend us any hospitality despite our need for food.

78

Said he, al-Khidr, , to him, 'This is the parting, that is, the moment for parting, between me and you (baynī wa-baynika, here [the preposition] bayna has been annexed to a non-multiple [noun], but this is allowed [grammatically] because it is then repeated with [its other noun together with] the coordinating wāw).¹⁷ I will inform you, before I part company with you, the interpretation of that over which you were not able to maintain patience.

79

As for the ship, it belonged to poor people, ten [in number], who earned a living on the sea, with it, leasing it [to others], as a way of gaining [a living]; and I wanted to make it defective, for behind them, whenever they returned - or [meaning] before them now - was a King, a disbeliever, seizing every ship, that was usable, by force (ghasban, is in the accusative as a verbal noun containing an explanation of the nature of such 'seizure').

80

And as for the boy, his parents were believers and We feared lest he should overwhelm them with insolence and disbelief - for he is as [described] by the hadīth of Muslim, 'He was [incorrigibly] disposed to disbelief, and had he lived [longer] this [disposition of his] would have oppressed them, because of their love for him, they would have followed him in such [a path of disbelief]'.

81

So We desired that their Rabb should give them in exchange (read yubaddilahumā or yubdilahumā) one better than him in purity, that is, in righteousness and Allahu ta’ālā-fearing, and closer, than him, to mercy (read ruhman or ruhuman, in other words [it is to be understood as] rahmatan, 'by way of mercy') namely, [closer to] dutifulness towards his parents. Thus Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, gave them in exchange a girl, who [afterwards] married a prophet and gave birth to a prophet through whom Allahu ta’ālā guided an entire community.

82

And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys [who lived] in the city, and beneath it there was a treasure, a buried trove of gold and silver, belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man, and so because of his righteousness they were protected both in [terms of] their souls and their possessions, and your Rabb desired that they should come of age, that is, [He desired for them] the attainment of maturity, and extract their treasure as a mercy from your Rabb (rahmatan min rabbik is a direct object denoting reason, operated by [the verb] arāda, 'He desired'). And I did not do it, namely, what has been mentioned of [his] making a hole in the ship, the slaying of the boy and the repair of the wall, of my own accord, that is, [out of] my own choosing; nay, it was because of a command in the form of an inspiration from Allahu ta’ālā. This is the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience' (one may say istā'a or istatā'a to mean 'he had the capacity for [something]'; in this instance and the previous one both forms [of the verb] have been used. Moreover, there is a variety of expression in the use of fa-aradtu, 'I desired', fa-aradnā, 'We desired', and fa-arāda rabbuk, 'Your Rabb desired').

83

And they, the Jews, question you concerning Dhū'l-Qarnayn, whose name was Alexander; he was not a prophet. Say: 'I shall recite, relate, to you a mention, an account, of him', of his affair.

84

Indeed We empowered him throughout the land, by facilitating [for him] the journeying therein, and We gave him to everything, of which one might have need, a way, a route to lead him to that which he sought.

85

And he followed a way, he took a route towards the west,

86

until, when he reached the setting of the sun, the place where it sets, he found it setting in a muddy spring ('ayn hami'a: [a spring] containing ham'a, which is black clay): its setting in a spring is [described as seen] from the perspective of the eye, for otherwise it is far larger [in size] than this world; and he found by it, that is, [by] the spring, a folk, of disbelievers. We said, 'O Dhū'l-Qarnayn - by [means of] inspiration - either chastise, the folk, by slaying [them], or treat them kindly', by [merely] taking them captive.

87

He said, 'As for him who does wrong, by way of [practising] idolatry, we shall chastise him, We shall slay him. Then he shall be returned to his Rabb and He shall chastise him with an awful chastisement (read nukran or nukuran), that is, a severe [one], in the Fire.

88

But as for him who believes and acts righteously, he shall have the fairest reward, namely, Paradise (the annexation construction [jazā'u l-husnā, 'the fairest reward'] is explicative; a variant reading has jazā'an al-husnā, '[he shall have] as a requital that which is fairest'; al-Farrā' said that this accusative [reading of jazā'an] is [intended] as an explanation [of the nature of the requital] by way of attribution [to 'that which is fairest']; and we shall speak to him mildly in our command', that is to say, we shall command him with what he will find easy [to bear].

89

Then he followed a way, towards the east,

90

until, when he reached the rising of the sun, the place where it rises, he found it rising on a folk, namely, Negroes (zanj), for whom We had not provided against it, that is, [against] the sun, any [form of] cover, in the way of clothing or roofing, as their land could not support any structures; they had underground tunnels into which they would disappear at the rising of the sun and out of which they would emerge when it was at its highest point [in the sky].

91

So [it was], in other words, the situation was as We have stated; and We encompassed whatever pertained to him, that is, what Dhū'l-Qarnayn possessed in the way of machinery, men and otherwise, in knowledge.

92

Then he followed a way,

93

until, when he reached between the two barriers (read al-saddayn or al-suddayn here and [likewise] further below [at verse 94, saddan or suddan]) - [these were] two mountains [lying] in the remote regions beyond the land of the Turks; Alexander sealed the breach between the two, as will be described [below] - he found on this side of them, that is, in front of them, a folk that could scarcely comprehend speech, in other words, they could only understand it after much agonising (a variant reading [for yafqahūna, 'comprehend'] has yufqihūna, 'be understood').¹⁸

94

They said, 'O Dhū'l-Qarnayn, truly Gog and Magog (read Ya'jūj wa-Ma'jūj or Yājūj wa-Mājūj: these two are non-Arabic names of two tribes and are therefore indeclinable) are causing corruption in the land, plundering and oppressing [us] when they come forth to attack] us. So shall we pay you a tribute, some [form of] payment (a variant reading [for kharjan] is kharājan), on condition that you build between us and them a barrier?, an obstruction, so that they will not be able to reach us.

95

He said, 'That, wealth and so on, wherewith my Rabb has empowered me (makkannī, a variant reading has makkananī) is better, than the tribute that you offer me, and so I have no need for it. I shall build for you the barrier without [demanding] a fee; so help me with strength, in that which I [will] demand from you, and I will build between you and them a rampart, a fortified barricade.

96

Bring me ingots of iron!', namely, pieces thereof, as large as the [blocks of] stone to be used in the construction; he used these [ingots] in his construction, placing between them firewood and coal. Until, when he had levelled up [the gap] between the two flanks (read al-sudufayn, or al-sadafayn or al-sudfayn, meaning, the two flanks of the two mountains) he set up bellows and [lit a] fire around this [construction] - he said, 'Blow!', and they blew, until, when he had made it, namely, the iron, a fire, that is, like a fire, he said, 'Bring me molten copper to pour over it' (the two verbs [ātūnī, 'bring me', and ufrigh, 'pour'] are in contention over this [direct object, qitran, 'molten copper']; it [this direct object] has been omitted before the first [verb] because it is being governed by the second [verb]). Thus he poured the molten copper over the hot iron so that it penetrated between the [individual] ingots, making a [solid] single whole.

97

And so they, Gog and Magog, were not able to scale it, to climb up its length, because of its [great] height and smoothness, nor could they pierce it, because of its firmness and thickness.

98

Said he, Dhū'l-Qarnayn, 'This, namely, the barrier, the ability to make it, is a mercy from my Rabb, a grace [from Him], because it prevents them from coming forth. But when the promise of my Rabb comes to pass, [the promise] of their coming forth, which will be near [the time of] the Resurrection, He will level it, pulverised and flattened, for my Rabb's promise, of their coming forth and [of] other things, is [always] true', it will be. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He says:

99

And on that day, the day of their coming forth, We shall let some of them surge against others, mixing with one another, on account of their multitude, and the Trumpet, namely, the Horn signalling the Resurrection, shall be blown and We shall gather them, namely, creatures, in one place, on the Day of Resurrection, a [single] gathering.

100

And on that day We shall present, We shall bring close, Hell to the disbelievers, plain to view,

101

those [disbelievers] whose eyes (alladhīna kānat a'yunuhum substitutes for al-kāfirīna, 'the disbelievers') were masked from My remembrance, namely, the Qur'ān, such that they were blind, unable to be guided thereby, and who could not [bear to] hear, that is to say, they were unable to listen to what the Prophet used to recite to them, out of spite for him, and so they did not believe therein.

102

Do the disbelievers reckon that they can take My servants, namely, My angels, [as well as] Jesus and Ezra, as patrons, as lords, beside Me? (awliyā'a, 'as patrons', constitutes the second [direct] object of [the verb] yattakhidhū, 'that they can take'; the second direct object of [the verb] hasiba, 'reckon', has been omitted). The meaning is: do they suppose that the mentioned 'taking [as patrons]' will not incur My wrath and that I will not punish them for this? No! Truly We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers, these [the ones mentioned above] and others, as [a place of] hospitality, in other words, it has been prepared for them just as a house is prepared for a guest.

103

Say: 'Shall We inform you who will be the greatest losers in [regard to] their works? (al-akhsarīna a'mālan, a specification that happens to correspond to that which is specifically meant);¹⁹ and these [losers] are described in His words [as being]:

104

Those whose effort goes astray in the life of this world, [those] whose deeds are invalid, while they reckon, they think, that they are doing good work, [good] deeds for which they will be rewarded.

105

Those are they who disbelieve in the verses their Rabb, in the proofs of His Oneness, [proofs] such as the Qur'ān and otherwise, and the encounter with him', that is, and [who disbelieve] in resurrection, reckoning, reward and punishment. So their works have failed, they are invalid, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall not assign any weight to them, in other words, We shall not accord them any value.

106

That, namely, the matter which I [Allahu ta’ālā] have mentioned concerning the failure of their deeds and so on (dhālika, 'that', constitutes the subject) is their requital - Hell - because they disbelieved and took My signs and My messengers (rusul) in mockery, that is to say, [taking] both of them as something to be derided.

107

Truly those who believe and perform righteous deeds - theirs will be, according to Allah’s prescience, the gardens of Firdaws, which are at the centre of Paradise²⁰ and [at] its highest part (the annexation thereto [of firdaws to jannāt, 'gardens'] is explicative) as [a place of] hospitality, as an abode;

108

wherein they will abide, with no desire, demand, to be removed from them, to be transferred to some other [gardens].

109

Say: 'If the sea, in other words, [if] its waters, were ink (midād is what one writes with) for the Words of my Rabb, [Words] that testify to His laws and His marvels, such that these [Words] are written with it, the sea would be spent, in recording them, before the Words of my Rabb were spent (read as tanfada or yanfada) even though We brought the like of it, namely, [the like of] the sea, as replenishment, in order to add it to the other [sea], it would [also] be spent, while they [Allah’s Words] would not be exhausted (madadan, as replenishment', in the accusative because it is a specification).

110

Say: 'I am only a human being, a son of Adam, like you; it has been revealed to me that your God is only One God (annamā, the anna assimilated with the mā retains [its function of referring to] the verbal noun), in other words, the Oneness of the Divine is [what is being] revealed to me. So whoever hopes to encounter his Rabb, through the Resurrection and the Requital, let him do righteous work and not associate with the worship of his Rabb, that is to say, [let him not commit idolatry] in [performing] it by feigning [faith] before, anyone'.