Ас-Саджда

Alif lām mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].

The revelation of the Book, the Qur’ān (tanzīlu’l-kitābi, the subject) whereof there is no doubt (lā rayba fīh, the first predicate) from the Lord of the Worlds (min rabbi’l-‘ālamīna, the second predicate).

Or do they say, ‘He, Muhammad (s), has invented it’? Nay, but it is the truth from your Lord, that you may warn, thereby, a people to whom no warner came before you (mā is for negation) that perhaps they may find [right] guidance, by your warning.

God is He Who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, the first of which was Sunday and the last of which was Friday, then He presided upon the Throne (al-‘arsh in the [classical Arabic] idiom denotes the seat of a king), a presiding worthy of Him. You do not have, O disbelievers of Mecca, besides Him, in other words, other than Him, any protector (min waliyyin is the subject of the particle mā with the min added [extra]) in other words, [any] helper, or intercessor, to ward off His chastisement from you. Will you not then remember?, this and become believers.

He directs the command from the heaven to the earth, for the duration of this world, then it ascends, then the command and the direction [thereof] returns, to Him in a day whose measure is a thousand years by your reckoning, in this world. In sūrat sa’ala, [An asker] asked [the measure is said to be]: ‘fifty thousand years’ [Q. 70:4] — and this [day] is the Day of Resurrection, [reckoned so] because of the severity of its terrors for the disbeliever. As for the believer, however, for him it will be easier than performing any one of [his] obligatory prayers in this world — as is stated in hadīth.

That, Creator and Director, is the Knower of the Unseen and the visible, that is, what is hidden from creatures and what is present before them, the Mighty, the Invincible in His kingdom, the Merciful, to those who are obedient to Him,

Who perfected everything that He created (read khalaqahu, as a past tense functioning as an adjectival qualification [of what He perfected]; or khalqahu, ‘its creation’, as an inclusive substitution [for kulla shay’in, ‘everything’]). And He began the creation of man, Adam, from clay,

then He made his progeny, his offspring, from an extract, a blood clot, of a base, delicate, fluid, namely, the sperm-drop;

then He proportioned him, that is to say, He created Adam, and breathed into him of His spirit, in other words, He made him a living sensory being after having been an inanimate thing. And He made for you, in other words, for [you] his descendants, hearing, meaning, ears, and sight and hearts. Little thanks do you give (mā here is extra, emphasising the ‘littleness’ [of the thanks]).

And they, namely, the deniers of resurrection, say, ‘When we are lost beneath the earth, [when] we have gone thereunder, having become dust mixed with its dust, shall we be indeed created anew?’ (an interrogative of denial; [read a-innā] by pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second one and inserting an alif between them either way, in both places). God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but they disbelieve in the encounter with their Lord, through resurrection.

Say, to them: ‘The Angel of death, who has been charged with you, shall receive you [in death], in other words, he shall seize your spirits, then to your Lord you shall be returned’, alive, whereat He will requite you for your deeds.

And if could you but see the guilty, the disbelievers, hanging their heads [low] before their Lord, lowering them in shame, saying: ‘Our Lord! We have seen, the resurrection that we denied, and heard, from You the confirmation of [the truth of] the messengers concerning that in which we used to call them liars. So send us back, to the world, so that we may act righteously, therein, for indeed we are convinced’, now. But none of this is of any use to them and they will not be sent back (the response to [the conditional clause beginning with] law, ‘if’, is [an implicit] ‘you would see a terrible thing’).

God, exalted be He, says: ‘And had We [so] willed, We could have given every soul its [means to] guidance, so that it may be guided through faith and obedience, through its own choice, but My Word became due, and it is that: “Verily I shall fill Hell with jinn and mankind together”.

When they enter [Hell] its Keepers shall say to them: So taste [now], the chastisement, for your having forgotten the encounter of this day of yours, in other words, for your having neglected to believe in it. We [too] shall forget you, we shall abandon you in the chastisement. And taste [now] the everlasting chastisement for what you used to practise’, of disbelief and denial.

Only those believe in Our signs, [such as] the Qur’ān, who, when they are reminded of them, admonished [with them], fall down in prostration and make glorifications, ensconced, in praise of their Lord, in other words, they say, ‘Glory be to God through His praise’ (subhāna’Llāh wa-bi-hāmdihi), and they do not disdain, to believe and to obey.

Their sides withdraw, they rise, from their lying places, the places for lying down [to sleep] together with the bedding, in order to spend the night in prayer (tahajjud), to supplicate to their Lord in fear, of His punishment, and in hope, of His mercy, and they expend of what We have provided them, they give voluntary alms.

For no soul knows what has been kept hidden for them in the way of joyous sights (a variant reading [for ukhfiya] has the imperfect tense ukhfī) as a reward for what they used to do.

Is he who is a believer like him who is a transgressor? They are not equal, namely, the believers and the transgressors.

As for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, for them shall be the Gardens of the Abode — a hospitality (nuzul is what is prepared for a guest) for what they used to do.

But as for those who transgressed, by disbelieving and denying, their abode shall be the Fire. Whenever they seek to exit from it, they shall be brought back into it, and it shall be said to them, ‘Taste the chastisement of the Fire which you used to deny’.

And We shall surely make them taste the nearer chastisement, that is, the chastisement of this world — in their being killed or taken captive, or [through] years of drought and disease — before the greater chastisement, the chastisement of the Hereafter, that perhaps they, namely, those remaining of them, may return, to belief.

And who does greater wrong than he who is reminded of the signs of his Lord, [such as] the Qur’ān, but then turns away from them?, in other words, none does greater wrong than such [a person]. Assuredly We shall take vengeance upon the criminals, the idolaters.

And verily We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah; so do not be in doubt concerning the encounter with Him, and indeed he and He met on the Night of the Journey; and We appointed him, namely, Moses — or [read ‘We appointed it’] the Scripture, a guidance for the Children of Israel.

And We appointed among them leaders (read a-immatan by pronouncing both hamzas, or by substituting the second one with a yā) who guided, people, by Our command, when they had endured [patiently], in [observing] their religion, and against the hardships [they suffered] because of their enemies (lammā, ‘when’: a variant reading has limā, ‘because’) and had conviction in Our signs, [the ones] indicating Our power and Our Oneness.

Surely your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ, in matters of religion.

Or is it not an indication for them how many generations, communities, on account of their disbelief, We destroyed before them, that is to say, has [not] Our destruction of many [generations] become clear to the disbelievers of Mecca, amid whose dwellings they walk (yamshūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of the pronoun lahum, ‘for them’) during their travels to Syria and other places, so that they might take heed? Surely in that there are signs, indications of Our power. Are they not able to hear?, in a way so as to reflect and be admonished.

Or have they not seen how We drive the water to barren land (juruz), [this] is arid land that contains no vegetation), and therewith bring forth crops whereof their cattle and [they] themselves eat? Can they not see?, this and so realise that We have the power to bring them back [to life after death].

And they say, to the believers: ‘When will this [decisive] Judgement, between us and yourselves, be, if you are truthful?’

Say: ‘On the day of [this] Judgement, [which will be effected] by sending the chastisement on them, their [newly found] faith [then] shall not benefit those who had been disbelievers, nor shall they be given respite, to make repentance or [offer] excuses.

So turn away from them, and wait, for the chastisement to be sent down on them. They too are waiting, for your death to take place or [for you] to be killed and so be rid of you — this was [revealed] before the command to fight them.