Al-Insan

Has there [ever] been — there has indeed [been] — for man, Adam, a period of time, forty years, in which he was a thing unmentioned? — he was during this [period] a fashioned in clay and not mentioned; alternatively what is meant by insān, ‘man’, is the generic noun and by hīn, ‘a period of time’, the period of gestation.

Verily We created man, the species, from a drop of mixed fluid, [from] a mixture, that is from the [seminal] fluid of the man and the [ovarian] fluid of the woman that have mixed and blended, so that We may test him, trying him with the moral obligations [of religion] (nabtalīhi is either a new sentence [‘We will test him’], or an implied circumstantial qualifier, meaning ‘intending to test him when he is ready’). So We made him, for that [very] reason, hearing, seeing.

Verily We have guided him to the way, We have pointed out to him the path of guidance by sending messengers [to mankind], whether he be grateful, that is to say, [whether he be] a believer, or ungrateful (both [shākiran and kafūran] are circumstantial qualifiers referring to the direct object; in other words, We have pointed out to him in both presupposed states, whether his gratefulness or his unthankfulness; immā is used to list the ‘states’).

We have assuredly prepared for the disbelievers chains, with which they are dragged through the Fire, and fetters, around their necks to which the chains will be attached, and a hell-fire, a fire set ablaze, burning fiercely, in which they shall be chastised.

Truly the righteous (abrār is the plural of barr or bārr), namely, the obedient ones, will drink from a cup (ka’s is a vessel for drinking wine and this [wine] will be in it; what is meant is [that they will drink] from ‘wine’, [a case where] the actuality is referred to by the name of the locus [in which it is found]; min, ‘from, is partitive) whose mixture, that with which it is mixed, is camphor;

a spring (‘aynan substitutes for kāfūran), containing the scent thereof, from which the servants of God, His friends, drink, making it gush forth plenteously, directing it to wherever they wish of their dwellings.

They fulfil their vows, [pledged] in obedience to God, and fear a day the evil of which will be widespread.

And they give food, despite [their] love of it, that is to say, [despite their love] of food and their craving for it, to the needy, the poor, and the orphan, who does not have a father, and the prisoner, meaning the one who has been rightly imprisoned.

‘We feed you only for the sake of God, seeking His reward. We do not desire any reward from you, nor any thanks: this contains the reason for the giving of the food. Now, do they actually say this, or is it that God knows this [to be true] of them and has thus praised them by [mentioning] it? The two are different opinions [regarding this matter].

Indeed we fear from our Lord a day of frowning, one in which faces scowl, in other words, a horrid day to observe on account of its severity, calamitous’, severe in that respect.

God has therefore shielded them from the evil of that day, and has granted them radiance, fairness and resplendence in their faces, and joy.

And He has rewarded them for their patience, for their steadfastness in refraining from disobedience, with a Garden, into which they are admitted, and silk, which they are given to wear;

reclining (muttaki’īna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the implicit [verb] udkhilūhā, ‘they are admitted into it’) therein upon couches (arā’ik are beds inside canopies). They will not find (lā yarawna is a second circumstantial qualifier) therein either sun or bitter cold, neither heat nor cold; but it is also said that zamharīr means ‘the moon’, and so, in other words, it [means that it] will be bright without any sun or moon.

And close (dāniyatan is a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of the clause lā yarawna, in other words, [it is a supplement to the import] ghayra rā’īna) over them will be its shades, its trees, and its clusters [of fruits] will hang low, its fruits will brought close, so that they are reached by the one standing, the one sitting or the one lying down.

And they will be waited upon from all around them, in it, with vessels of silver, and goblets (akwāb are cups without handles) of crystal —

crystal of silver, that is, they are made of silver which is transparent like crystal — which they, that is, the ones passing around them [in service], have measured in a precise measure, according to the measure required by the one drinking it, neither more nor less, which makes for a most delightful drink.

And they will be given to drink therein a cup, wine, whose mixture, that with which it is mixed, is ginger,

a spring (‘aynan substitutes for zanjabīlan, ‘ginger’) therein named Salsabīl, meaning that its water is like ginger, which the Arabs find very tasteful, [and which is] very palatable for the throat.

And they will be waited upon by immortal youths, [immortally] in the form of youths, never ageing, whom, when you see them you will suppose them, because of their beauty and the way in which they are scattered about [offering] service, to be scattered pearls, [strewn] from their string, or from their shells, in which they are fairer than [when they, the pearls, are] otherwise [not in their shells].

And when you look there, that is to say, when you begin to look about in Paradise, you will see (ra’ayta is the response to idhā, ‘when’) bliss, that is indescribable, and a great kingdom, vast, without limit.

Upon them (‘āliyahum is in the accusative as an adverbial clause, and constitutes the predicate of a subject that will follow; a variant reading has ‘ālīhim as a subject, with what follows as its predicate; the suffixed pronoun [-hum] denotes those persons to whom the supplement refers) will be garments of fine green silk and [heavy] silk brocade (sundus is fine silk and constitutes the outer cushion, while istabraq is coarse silk and constitutes the inner lining; either read thiyābu sundusin khudrun wa’stabraqin or thiyābu sundusin khudrin wa’stabraqun, or thiyābu sundusin khudrun wa’stabraqun, or wa-thiyābu sundusin khudrin wa’stabraqin). And they will be adorned with bracelets of silver — elsewhere it is stated, ‘of gold’, in order to show that they will be adorned with both types at the same time or separately — and their Lord will give them a pure drink to drink (tahūran, ‘pure’, is intended as a hyperbolic qualification of its purity and cleanness, in contrast to the wine of this world).

‘Verily this, bliss, is a reward for you, and your endeavour has been appreciated’.

Assuredly We (nahnu reiterates the subject of innā, ‘assuredly, for the purpose of emphasis; alternatively it is a separating pronoun) have revealed the Qur’ān to you as a gradual revelation (tanzīlan is the predicate of inna, ‘assuredly’), in other words, We have divided it into parts instead of not revealing it all at once.

So submit patiently to your Lord’s decree, to you to deliver His Message, and do not obey of them, that is, [of] the disbelievers, any sinner or disbeliever, namely, ‘Utba b. Rabī‘a and al-Walīd b. al-Mughīra — both of whom said to the Prophet (s), ‘Abandon this affair of yours!’; it is also possible that what is meant is every sinner or disbeliever, in other words, ‘Do not obey any of these, whichever of the two he may be, in what he may summon you to of sin or disbelief’.

And mention the Name of your Lord, during prayer, at dawn and with the declining of the sun, that is, at dawn (fajr), noon (zuhr) and in the afternoon (‘asr);

and prostrate to Him for a portion of the night, that is, at after sunset (maghrib) and at night (‘ishā’), and glorify Him the length of the night: perform supererogatory prayers during it, as mentioned above, for either two thirds, a half or a third of it.

Assuredly these love the transitory [life], this world, and leave behind them a burdensome day, an awful [one], namely, the Day of Resurrection, not working towards it.

We created them and made firm their frames, their limbs and their joints, and, whenever We will, We can completely replace them with others like them, in terms of their created form, in place of them, by destroying them (tabdīlan, ‘completely’, is for emphasis; idhā, ‘when’, functions in the sense of in, ‘if’, similar to [where God says in several places], in yasha’ yudhhibkum, If He will, He can take you away [cf. Q. 14:19]; but because He, exalted be He, has not willed this, it has not happened thus far).

This, sūra, is indeed a reminder, an admonition for [all] creatures. Let him who will, then, choose a way to his Lord, a path, through obedience.

But you will not (tashā’ūna, may also be read yashā’ūna, ‘they will’), choose a way through obedience, unless God wills, this. Assuredly God is ever Knower, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does.

He admits whomever He will into His mercy, His Paradise, namely, the believers; and as for the evildoers (al-zālimīna is in the accusative because of an implied verb, that is to say, a‘adda, ‘He has prepared’, as explained by [what follows]), He has prepared for them a painful chastisement — these are the disbelievers.