Al-Isra 17:64–111

And tempt, dupe, whomever of them you can with your voice, by your calling them with songs and pipes and with every invitation to [acts of] disobedience; and rally, incite, against them your cavalry and your infantry, namely, those who ride and walk in acts of disobedience, and share with them in wealth, that is illicit, such as usury and extortion, and children, from [acts of] adultery, and make promises to them’, to the effect that there will not be any resurrection or requital. And Satan promises them, thereby, nothing but delusion, falsehood.

‘Truly as for My servants, the believers, you shall have no warrant’, [no] sway or ability. And Your Lord suffices as a guardian, as a protector for them against you.

Your Lord is He Who drives for you the ships upon the sea that you may seek of His bounty, exalted be He, through [engaging in] commerce. Truly He is ever Merciful towards you, by disposing these [ships] for you.

And when distress, difficulty, befalls you at sea, [such as] fear of drowning, those whom you [are wont to] invoke are no longer present, [those whom] you [are wont to] worship of gods [are no longer present], and so you do not call on them — except Him, exalted be He, for on Him alone you do call, because you are suffering a distress which only He can remove. But when He delivers you, from drowning and brings you, to land, you are rejective, of [God’s] Oneness, for man is ever ungrateful, [ever] denying [God’s] graces.

Do you feel secure that He will not cause a side of the earth, in other words, the land, to swallow you up, as [He did] with Korah (Qārūn), or unleash upon you a squall of pebbles? that is, hurl a shower of stones upon you, as [He did] with the people of Lot. Then you will not find for yourselves any guardian, any protector from Him.

Or do you feel secure that He will not return you to it, that is, [to] the sea, a second time and unleash upon you a shattering gale, that is, a violent wind that shatters everything in its path, to destroy your ship, and drown you for your ungratefulness? And then you will not find for yourselves any redresser of this against Us, [any] helper or advocate to demand restitution from Us for what We [will] have done to you.

And verily We have honoured, We have preferred, the Children of Adam, [above other creation], by [giving them] knowledge, speech and [their being] a creation of even proportions amongst other things, including their [means of] purification after death, and carried them over land, on animal-back, and sea, in ships, and provided them with good things and We have preferred them above many of those whom We created, such as livestock and wild animals, with a marked preferment (the min [of mimman, ‘of those whom’] has the sense of mā, ‘of what’, or something close to it, and includes the angels, the purpose being to give preference to the [angelic] genus; there is no requirement to give [explicit] preference to the individuals [of this category of being], since they [angels] are superior to mankind, excepting the prophets).

Mention, the day when We shall summon all men with their leader, their prophet, and it will be said, ‘O community of so-and-so’; or [it bi-imāmihim means] ‘with the record of their deeds’, in which case it will be said, ‘O one of good [deeds], O one of evil [deeds]!’: this is [on] the Day of Resurrection. And whoever, from among them, is given his book in his right hand, these being the fortunate, those possessors of understanding in this world — those will read their book, and they will not be wronged, they will [not] be diminished of their deeds, [so much as] a single date-thread.

And whoever has been in this, that is, [in] this world, blind, to the truth, will be blind in the Hereafter, to the path of salvation and the reciting of the Qur’ān, and [even] further astray from the [right] way, more removed from the road [that leads] to it.

The following was revealed regarding the [tribe of] Thaqīf, for they had asked him [the Prophet] (s) to declare their valley inviolable and implored him [to grant them this request]: And indeed (wa-in, [the particle in is] softened) they were about to, they nearly did, beguile you away from that which We revealed to you, so that you might invent against Us [something] other than that; and then, had you done that, they would have taken you as a friend.

And if We had not made you [stand] firm, upon the Truth, by way of [divine] protection (‘isma), certainly you might have, you nearly, inclined to them a little, because of the extent of their deception and their persistence. This [statement] is explicit about the fact that the Prophet (s) neither inclined nor came close to doing so.

Then, had you inclined, We would have surely made you taste a double, chastisement, in life and a double, chastisement, upon death, in other words, twice the chastisement that any other person would receive in this world and the Hereafter. Then you would not have found for yourself any helper against Us, [anyone] to shield [you] from it.

When the Jews said to him, ‘If you are a prophet, then make your way to Syria, for it is the land of prophets’, the following was revealed: And indeed (wa-in, [the particle in is] softened) they were about to provoke you out of the land, the land of Medina, to expel you from it, but then, had they expelled you, they would not have remained after you, in it, except a little [while], after which they would have been destroyed.

[That is] the way in the case of those whom We have sent from among Our messengers before you, that is to say, [that is] Our way [of dealing] with them [their enemies], destroying those who expel them [Our messengers]. And as regards Our [established] way you will not find any change, any alternative [manner].

Establish prayer from the sun’s decline, that is, from after midday, until the dark of night, [until] its darkness has fallen, in other words, [perform prayers] at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and at night, and the recital [of the Qur’ān] at dawn, the morning prayer. Verily the dawn recital is ever witnessed, it is witnessed by the angels of the night and the angels of the day.

And for a part of the night, keep vigil, perform prayer, therewith, with the Qur’ān, as a supererogatory [devotion] for you, as an extra obligation for you to the exclusion of your community, or [it means] as extra merit [for you] on top of the [other] obligatory prayers. It may be that your Lord will raise you to, establish you, in the Hereafter, in, a praiseworthy station, one for which the first and last [of mankind] will praise you — and this is the station of intercession [which will take place] during [the passing of] the Final Judgement.

And say: ‘My Lord, make me enter, Medina, with a veritable entrance, an entrance that is satisfying, one in which I do not see what I dislike, and bring me out, of Mecca, with a veritable departure, a departure such that my heart will not [care to] turn back to look at it [yearningly]. And grant me from Yourself a favourable authority’, [grant me] strength with which You render me victorious over Your enemies.

And say, upon your entry into Mecca: ‘The Truth, Islam, has come and falsehood has vanished away, disbelief has come to nothing. Truly falsehood is ever bound to vanish’, [ever bound] to fade away and disappear. Indeed the Prophet (s) entered it [Mecca] and there were 360 idols [which had been placed] around the [Sacred] House [sc. the Ka‘ba]. He [the Prophet] then set about thrusting at them with a stick he was carrying, saying those [words] until they had [all] been toppled, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim].

And We reveal of (min [here] is explicative) the Qur’ān that which is a cure, from error, and a mercy for believers, thereby; though it only increases the evildoers, the disbelievers, in loss, because of their disbelief in it.

And when We are gracious to man, the disbelieving [man], he is disregardful, of giving thanks, and turns aside, turning his face away in arrogance; but when an ill, such as poverty or hardship, befalls him, he is in despair, despondent of God’s mercy.

Say: ‘Everyone, [including] us and you, acts according to his [own] character, his [own] manner [of conduct], and your Lord knows best who is better guided as to the way’, [as to] the path [he follows], and He will reward him [accordingly].

And they will question you, that is, the Jews, concerning the Spirit, from which the body receives life. Say, to them: ‘The Spirit is of the command of my Lord, that is, [it belongs to] His knowledge, about which you know not. And of knowledge you have not been given except a little’, relative to His knowledge, exalted be He.

And if (la-in, the lām is for oaths) We willed We could take away what We have revealed to you, in other words, [take away] the Qur’ān, by erasing it from the hearts [of men] and from the written copies. Then you would not find in respect thereof any guardian for yourself against Us;

[it is] only — but We have let it remain — as a mercy from your Lord. Truly His favour to you is ever great, tremendous, for He has revealed to you and granted you the praiseworthy station as well as other [kinds of] merit.

Say: ‘Verily, should mankind and jinn come together to produce the like of this Qur’ān, [the like thereof] in terms of clarity and rhetorical excellence, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed one another’, [even if one was] an assistant [of the other]. This [verse] was revealed as a refutation of their statement: ‘If we wish we can speak the like of this’ [Q. 8:31].

And verily We have dispensed, explained, for people in this Qur’ān every [kind of] similitude (min kulli mathalin, [this] is an adjectival qualification of an omitted clause, in other words, [‘We have dispensed] a similitude from every kind of similitude’), that they might be admonished; but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, insist on disbelieving, on denying the truth.

And they say (wa-qālū is a supplement to abā [illā], ‘insist on’), ‘We will not believe you until you make gush forth for us from the ground a spring, from which water issues forth;

or until you [come to] have a garden, an orchard, of date-palms and vines, and cause streams to gush forth therein, in the midst of these, abundantly;

or until you cause the heaven to fall upon us, as you assert, in pieces, or bring God and the angels [right] in front [of us], face to face [with us], before [our] very eyes, so that we might see them;

or until you [come to] have a house adorned with gold, or ascend into the heaven, upon a ladder, and [even then] we will not believe your ascension, if you were to ascend into it, until you bring down for us, therefrom, a book, in which is [confirmed] your truthfulness, that we may read’. Say, to them: ‘Glory be to my Lord — this is a statement of amazement — Am I anything but a human, a messenger [from God]?’, in other words, [I am] like all [other] messengers, for they never brought [any] signs except by God’s leave.

And nothing prevented mankind from believing when guidance came to them, but that they said, that is, [except] their saying in denial: ‘Has God sent a human as a messenger [from Him]?’, instead of sending an angel.

Say, to them: ‘Had there been in the earth, instead of humans, angels, walking [and living] secure, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as Messenger’, for when a messenger is sent to a people he is [always] of their kind, so that they are able to speak to him and understand from him [his message].

Say: ‘God suffices as a witness between me and you, of my sincerity. Truly He is Aware, Seer of His servants’, Knower of what they hide and what they manifest.

And he whom God guides is rightly guided, and he whom He sends astray — you will not find for them [any] guardians, to guide them, besides Him. And We shall assemble them on the Day of Resurrection, walking, on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf; their abode shall be Hell — whenever it abates, [whenever] its flames subside, We shall intensify for them the blaze, the flame and [its] burning.

That is their requital because they disbelieved Our signs and said, in denial of the Resurrection: ‘What, when we are bones and fragments, shall we really be raised in a new creation?’

Have they not seen, realised, that God, [He] Who created the heavens and the earth, with all their immensity, has the power to create the like of them?, that is, [the like of] these human beings, [especially] given their smallness? He has appointed for them a term, until [the time for their] death and resurrection, whereof is no doubt; yet the wrongdoers insist on disbelief, on denial of such [a term].

Say, to them: ‘If you possessed the treasuries of my Lord’s mercy, [those treasuries] of provision and rain, you would surely withhold [them], [you would] stint, for fear of spending, fearing that they would be depleted if [one] spent [from them] and [that] you would then become impoverished; and man is ever niggardly’.

And verily We gave Moses nine manifest signs, clear [signs], namely, [those of] the hand, the staff, the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, the blood and the obliteration [of their possessions, cf. Q. 10:88], the years [of dearth] and scarcity of fruits [cf. Q. 7:130]. Ask, O Muhammad (s), the Children of Israel, about this (a [rhetorical] question meant as an affirmation for the idolaters of your sincerity; or [it means that] We said to him [Muhammad, s], ‘Ask’; a variant reading has the past tense [fa-sā’ala, ‘and he asked’]), when he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, ‘O Moses, I truly think that you are bewitched’, duped, your mind deceived.

He [Moses] said, ‘Indeed you know that none revealed these, signs, except the Lord of the heavens and the earth, as proofs, lessons; however, you are being stubborn (a variant reading [for ‘alimta, ‘you know’] has ‘alimtu [‘I know’]); and I truly think that you, O Pharaoh, are doomed’, [that you] will be destroyed — or [it, mathbūran, means that Pharaoh has been] turned away from [all deeds that are] good.

And he, Pharaoh, desired to scare them, to expel Moses and his people, from the land, the land of Egypt; so We drowned him and those with him, all together.

And after him We said to the Children of Israel, ‘Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter, namely, the Hour, comes to pass, We shall bring you [gathered] in mixed company’, all together, you and them.

With the truth have We revealed it, that is, the Qur’ān, and with the truth, it comprises, has it been revealed, in the way it has, unaffected by any alterations; and We have not sent you, O Muhammad (s), except as a bearer of good tidings, of Paradise, for those who believe, and as a warner, of the Fire, for those who disbelieve.

And [it is] a Qur’ān (qur’ānan is in the accusative because of the verb governing it [which is the following]) that We have divided, that We have revealed in portions over 20 or 23 years, that you may recite it to mankind at intervals, gradually and with deliberateness so that they [are able to] comprehend it, and We have revealed it by [successive] revelation, one part after another, according to what is best [for mankind].

Say, to the disbelievers of Mecca, ‘Believe in it or do not believe, as a threat to them; indeed those who were given knowledge before it, before its revelation, namely, the believers from among the People of the Scripture, when it is recited to them, fall down in prostration on their faces,

and say, “Glory be to our Lord, exalting Him above [the claim] that [His] promise [of sending a prophet] had not been fulfilled. Indeed (in, softened) Our Lord’s promise, of its [the Qur’ān’s] revelation and the sending of the Prophet (s), is bound to be fulfilled”.

And they fall down on their faces, weeping (yabkūna is a supplement [to yakhirrūna, ‘they fall down’] also containing an adjectival qualification [of those falling down]); and it, the Qur’ān, increases them in humility’, in humbleness before God.

The Prophet (s) would often say, ‘O God, O Compassionate One’. So they said, ‘He [Muhammad, s] forbids us to worship more than one god, and yet he calls upon another [god] together with Him [God]’. The following was then revealed: Say, to them: ‘Invoke God or invoke the Compassionate One, that is to say, invoke Him by either of these [Names] or call upon Him by saying, ‘O God! O Compassionate One!’, whichever (ayyan is conditional; mā is extra), in other words, whichever of these two [Names], you invoke, is beautiful — this [predicate, ‘beautiful’] is indicated by the following [statement]), to Him, to the One called by these two [Names], belong the Most Beautiful Names’, these two [Names] being from among them; and they [the other Names] are [the following] as [mentioned] in hadīth: God, there is no god except Him, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Securer, the Controller, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Sublime, the Creator, the Maker [out of nothing], the Fashioner, the [ever] Forgiving, the Almighty, the Bestower, the Provider, the Deliverer, the Knower, the Seizer, the Extender, the Lowerer, the Raiser, the Glorifier, the Abaser, the Hearer, the Seer, the Arbiter, the Just, the Subtle, the Aware, the Forbearing, the Tremendous, the Forgiver, the Thankful, the High, the Great, the Preserver, the Conserver, the Reckoner, the Majestic, the Generous, the Watcher, the Responsive, the Embracing, the Wise, the Loving, the Glorious, the Resurrector, the Witnessing, the Truth, the Guardian, the Strong, the Firm, the Patron, the Praiseworthy, the Numberer, the Initiator, the Restorer, the Life-giver, the Death-maker, the Living, the Eternal Sustainer, the Originator, the Magnificent, the One, the Single, the Everlasting Refuge, the Powerful, the Omnipotent, the Advancer, the Deferrer, the First, the Last, the Outward, the Inward, the Ruler, Exalted, the Benign, the Relenting, the Avenger, the Pardoning, the Gentle, Master of the Kingdom, One of Majesty and Munificence, the Equitable, the Gatherer, the Independent, the Availing, the Restrainer, the Harming, the Benefactor, the Light, the Guiding, the Innovator, the Enduring, the Inheritor, the Reasonable, the Patient, as reported by al-Tirmidhī. God, exalted be He, says: And do not be loud in your prayer, when you recite [the Qur’ān] therein, lest the idolaters hear you and curse you, as well as the Qur’ān and the One Who has revealed it; nor be silent, do [not] murmur, therein, so that your companions might [be able to hear it and] benefit [therefrom]; but seek between that, loudness and silence, a, middle, way.

And say: ‘Praise be to God, Who has neither taken a son, nor has He any partner in sovereignty, in divineness, nor has He [taken] any ally, to assist Him, out of, because of [any], weakness’, that is to say, He would never become weak and thus need an assistant. And magnify Him with magnifications [worthy of Him], extol Him with a perfect extolling above that He should have taken a son or a partner, and [above] any weakness and [above] all that does not befit Him. The arrangement whereby ‘praise’ is [invoked] together with this [statement] is meant to indicate that He is the One worthy of all praise, because of the perfection of His Essence and the fact that He alones possesses those attributes of His. Imam Ahmad [b. Hanbal] relates in his Musnad [by way of a report] from Mu‘ādh al-Juhanī [who heard it] from the Messenger of God (s), who used to say, ‘The “glory” verse [in the Qur’ān] is: Praise be to God, Who has neither taken a son, nor has He any partner in sovereignty … to the end [of the above-mentioned sūra, 17:111]’, and God, exalted be He, knows best.

The author of this [commentary] says, ‘This [last commentary] constitutes the end of my complement to the commentary on the Noble Qur’ān composed by the inquisitive scholar, the shaykh, Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī al-Shāfi‘ī, may God be pleased with him. I have expended every effort in it and reflected throughout it exhaustively, [especially] in those precious things that I have deemed, God willing, to be profitable. I composed it [this commentary] in the same length of time appointed for the one spoken to by God [sc. Moses] and I have made it a means to attaining the Gardens of Bliss. It [this commentary] actually draws on the work which it complements, relying and depending on it for [an understanding of] those allegorical verses. May God have mercy on one who examines it with impartiality, chances upon an error and informs me of it. As I have said:

“I praise God, my Lord, for He guided me in what I have expressed despite my incapacity and weakness; for who [other than God] is there to avert me from error and who is there to accept from me even a single letter”.

In fact, it never occurred to me to embark upon such [a task], knowing that I was incapable of delving into such issues. Perhaps God will make it of ample profit [to others] and through it open sealed hearts, blinded eyes and deaf ears. I have the impression that I am before those [sort of readers] who would prefer works of prolixity, refraining from [referring to] this complementary work, rejecting it outright, tending to obvious obstinacy [regarding it], without addressing its intricacies with any understanding: And whoever is blind in this world shall be blind in the Hereafter [Q. 17:72]. May God thereby provide us with a [way of] guidance to the path of truth, with success, an awareness of the subtle intricacies of His words and with an ascertainment. May He thereby also make us with those to whom God has been gracious from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the righteous — and excellent companions are they! [Q. 4:69]. He [Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūtī] completed the composition of this [work] on Sunday, 10th of Shawwāl, in the year 870 (AH) [1465 AD], having commenced it on the first Wednesday of Ramadān of the same year. He completed the fair copy [of this work] on Wednesday, 6th of Safar in the year 871 (AH) [1466 AD], and God knows best. Shaykh Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Abī Bakr al-Khatīb al-Tūkhī said: my friend the erudite shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, brother of the above-mentioned shaykh of ours, shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, may God have mercy on both of them, that he saw his brother, the above-mentioned shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn, in his dream: before him stood our friend the inquiring erudite scholar shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūtī, compiler of this complement. He [Mahallī] had this complement in his hand and, perusing it, he was saying to its above-mentioned compiler [Suyūtī], ‘Which of the two is better, my composition or yours?’. He [Suyūtī] said, ‘Mine’. He [Mahallī] then said, ‘But look at this …’, and he showed him parts of it, politely pointing out to him his objections thereto. Each time he [Mahallī] brought something up, the compiler of this complement [Suyūtī] would respond to him, while shaykh [Mahallī] would smile and laugh. Our shaykh, the imam, the erudite scholar Jalāl al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Rahmān b. Abī Bakr al-Suyūtī, compiler of this complement said: What I believe, and what I am absolutely certain of, is that the part composed by shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī, may God have mercy on him, in his section [of the commentary] is actually better than mine by far. How [could it be otherwise], when most of what I have written here draws on his work and relies on it? I have no doubt about this. As regards what was seen in the above-mentioned dream, then perhaps it is the case that the shaykh meant to point out those few places in which I disagreed with what he had written on account of some little comment [that I had made therein]. But these [instances] are very few and I do not think that they add up to more than ten such instances. Among these is where shaykh [al-Mahallī] comments in sūrat Sād: ‘The Spirit is a delicate organism (jism latīf) that gives life to a human being by permeating it’. I followed this [opinion] at first, but then I remembered the restriction [made by God] while [working on the commentary] at sūrat al-Hijr; and so I erased it because of where God says, And they will question you concerning the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit is of the command of my Lord. And of knowledge you have not been given except a little […]’ [to the end of] the verse [Q. 15:85]. For, it is explicit, or almost explicit, in stating that the [true nature of the] Spirit is of God’s knowledge [only], exalted be He — we do not know it. Thus, it is better that we should refrain from trying to define it. For this reason also, shaykh Tāj al-Dīn b. al-Subkī says in [his work] Jam‘ al-jawāmi‘ (The compendium of compendiums’): ‘As for the spirit, Muhammad (s) never spoke about it and we should [also] therefore refrain [from speaking about it].’ Another [instance] is where the shaykh says in [his commentary to] sūrat al-Hajj [Q. 22:17], ‘The Sabaeans (al-sābi’ūn) are a Jewish sect’. I mention this in [my commentary to] sūrat al-Baqara [Q. 2:62], where I added the following [gloss] ‘or [they are] a Christian [sect]’, in order to point out a variant opinion, generally acknowledged, particularly by our colleagues, the [Shāfi‘ī] jurists, and [also acknowledged] by the Minhāj (‘The Method […]’), where it is stated that the Samaritans opposed the Jews and the Sabaeans [opposed] the Christians [respectively] over the fundamentals of their religion. In his [Mahallī’s] Sharh (‘Commentary’), al-Shāfi‘ī, may God be pleased with him, is reported to have said that the Sabaeans were a Christian sect. At this moment, I cannot recall a third instance [of Mahallī’s objections]. Perhaps these are the sort of examples which the Shaykh, may God have mercy on him, was pointing out [in the dream]. And God knows best what is correct, and to Him is the return and the [final] resort.