39al-ZumarThe Multitudesسُورَةُ الزمر

[This is to advise you of] the disclosure from on high of this divine script from Allah, the Grand, the Wise.

We have indeed disclosed to you [O Muhammad] this divine script in the manner [and for the purpose] of truth and justice; therefore, conform to Allah devoting your conviction to Him.

Take note of the fact that sincere devotion belongs to Allah, even though those who assign primary co-gods to the exclusion of Allah [say], “We only worship [and defer to] them because they place us in close and adjoining proximity to Allah!” Certainly, Allah will adjudicate all their disputes [of incongruence and enmity toward the committed muslims] that would erupt among them: for, verily, Allah does not guide someone who is a liar and a denier [of Allah’s wisdom and wherewithal].

Had Allah willed to have a begotten child, He could have chosen whomever He wanted out of what He created — [but] uniquely exalted is He: He is the One [deity], the Overpowering [authority].

He created the heavens and the earth in congruence with truth and justice. He extends daytime into nighttime and He extends nighttime into daytime and He made the Sun and the Moon a utility: all are running a course set to expire at a time designated [by Him]. [Therefore] take note that He is the Grand, the Ever-Forgiving.

He created you [people] from one living entity, then out of it He developed its mate, and He brought into your [human] reach eight cattle twosomes [male and female]. He creates you in the abdomen of your mothers [in stages]: a form of creation after [another] form of creation within three tiers of darkness. That is Allah, your Sustainer: to Him belongs all dominion [and mastery], [and] there is no deity/ authority except Him — so how do you become distracted [from Him and these facts]?

If you express your denial [of His power and authority], then [know that] Allah is in no need of you and He does not endorse [such] denial by His subjects. But if you are thankful [to Him], He will be pleased with you for so doing. And no bearer of burdens will be made to carry the burden of another. Eventually, your [final] return is to your Sustainer who will then make known to you what you were [really] doing [when you were in a testing world]: certainly He is aware of all that [you] did not disclose [when you were hiding things in your worldly life].

Now, when a social being is afflicted with harm he is wont to call upon his Sustainer in a [meek] revisiting manner; but then, when He privileges him with a blessing [of relief] emanating from Him, he forgets that he previously called upon Him, and [goes on to] set up other [superior authorities] besides Allah — thus leading others astray from His path. Say [to him who follows this sinful course in life], “Enjoy for a while your [interlude of] kufr, [but know that ultimately] you are a complement of the Fire!

“[Do you think you are comparable to] he who is in devotion [to Allah] throughout the night — prostrating and moving on, ever vigilant of the final life and yearning for his Sustainer’s mercy?” Say, “Can those who know and those who do not know be considered one and the same?” [But] only those who are perceptive are conscious [of this fact].

Say, “[Allah words to you are], ‘O My subjects who are committed [to My practical power and overwhelming authority]! Be on guard regarding your Sustainer — for those who do their best in this world shall receive the best. And [remember that] Allah’s land is expansive [so go anywhere to seek His abundance]. [However, your commitment will be tested, and thus] those who are patient will be compensated with rewards beyond reckoning!’”

Say [O Muhammad], “I have been directed to conform to Allah with all sincerity of conviction,

“And I have been directed to be foremost among those who defer [to Allah].”

Say, “Of course I fear, were I to disobey my Sustainer, the torment of a most important Day.”

Say, “It is Allah to whom I conform, sincerely devoting my way of life to Him alone —

“Thus it is up to you to conform to whomever you desire instead of Him!” Say, “Surely, the losers are those who wasted their lives and suffered the loss of their families on the Day of Resurrection — is this certainly not the most obvious loss?

“Above them shall they have billows of fire and below them shall be billows of fire.” In this way, Allah means to shock His subjects. [And so] O My subjects! Shield yourselves [from My corrective power and authority],

For those who eschew conforming and venerating monstrous [worldly] powers and who come back to Allah shall have good news. And so, pass on this good news to My subjects,

Those who listen to what is being said [from on high] and follow the best they can [follow]: [for] those are the ones who are guided by Allah, and those are the ones who are endowed with insight.

Conversely, as for he who has secured for himself the verdict of suffering, do you think you are able to rescue who is [already, as it were], in the Fire?

But as for those who shielded themselves from their Sustainer [while they were in their worldly life], they shall have mansions over-towering constructed mansions beneath which rivers flow: [that is] Allah’s promise — and Allah does not renege on what He promised.

Can you not see that it is Allah who brought down water from the sky, then caused it to channel into subterranean water springs out of which He brings forth vegetation of various colors? And [can you not see that] then it shrivels and withers and you see it turn yellow [and pale], and in the end He turns it into bits and pieces [of decomposed earth]? Verily, in all that there is a level of consciousness for those who are perceptive.

Could he whose heart Allah has opened up to consciously defer [to its Sustainer], so that he is on [a course of] enlightenment from his Sustainer, [be like he who has not gained such access]? Woe, then, to those whose hearts have hardened and become unresponsive to a consciousness of Allah: those are the ones who are in manifest waywardness!

Allah has presented from on high the best elocution as a scripture, resonating with corresponding meanings — [a scripture] that causes the skins of those who stand in awe of Allah to shiver, so that [in time] their skins and hearts are soothed with a consciousness of Allah. That is Allah’s guidance: with it, He guides whomever wants to be guided, whereas whoever is misguided due to [what] Allah [has enfolded in His social laws] will have no one to show him the way.

Is he who shall shield himself from the worst suffering by nothing other than his bare face on the Day of Resurrection [to be considered on par with he whose consciousness of Allah redeemed him]? And [at that time] the offenders will be told, “Experience [the torment of] what you earned [when you lived your worldly lives]!”

Those who preceded them in time also contradicted [Our prophets] and eventually suffering befell them without their sensing its onset:

[And in this manner] Allah made them experience disgrace in worldly life but, indeed, the suffering of the final life is much more serious, if only they knew.

And We have put forward for people every type of parable in this Qur’an so that they may raise their [godly] consciousness —

An Arabic Qur’an that meanders not [here or there, but is decisive] so that they may guard [against Our “power for justice”].

[As such], Allah [here] presents a parable: a person entangled within the custody of cantankerous [and contradictory] bosses as contrasted with a person who reports to one peaceful boss! — can these two [having to report to their respective superiors] be akin to each other? All appreciation [for discerning this comparison] is due to Allah: but [alas] most of them [the mushriks and kāfirs] have no erudition [concerning this analogy].

Indeed, you [O Muhammad] are destined to die, and, indeed, they [the mushriks], too, are destined to die:

And thus, in time, on the Day of Resurrection, you all will, indeed, be brought to disputation-judgement.1

[Such as it is] who can be more indictable than he who contradicts Allah and refutes the truth when presented to him? Is there not an abode in Hell for the deniers [of Allah and His majesty and justice]?

But he who proffers the truth and approves of it [in all sincerity] — it is they, they, who are averting [Allah’s just retribution]:

They will have whatever they want [to have], for such is the compensation awaiting those who strive for perfection.

Accordingly, Allah will cancel out the worst that they did and will repay them to match and exceed the best of those endeavors [they undertook in their worldly test].

Is not Allah sufficient for His subject? And yet, they [the mushriks] will try to terrify you [O Muhammad] through the agencies of those [power figures] who are inferior to Allah; but whoever Allah steers astray [as a function of freedom of sinful choice] will have no one as a guide [to the right choice and the right way],

Whereas whoever Allah guides [as a function of freedom to choose what is right] will have no one to misguide him. Is not Allah grand, a righter of wrongs?

And if you [O Muhammad] were to ask them [the mushriks] who it is that created the heavens and the earth, they will emphatically answer, “Definitely it is Allah!” [Then] say to them, “Consider those you call upon [and revere] besides Allah! Should He have decreed a harm for me, can they do away with any of His harm? Or should He have decreed a blessing for me, can they withhold His blessing?” Say [therefore], “Adquate is Allah for me. In Him do [His] confidants place their trust.”

Say, “O my people! Continue as you are [in your obstructionist ways]; I indeed am working [Allah’s will]: eventually you will come to know

“He who will be gradually girded by disgraceful suffering, and for whom long-lasting suffering shall be the interminable due.”

We, of a certainty, have conveyed to you [O Muhammad] the divine writ [to be communicated] to people as a matter of truth and justice. [Therefore] whoever is guided [thereby] will be guided to the benefit of his own self, and whoever goes in the wrong direction does so to the detriment of his own self; and you [O Muhammad] are not their stand-in.

Allah causes the [final] termination of bio- selves [beings] at the time of death; and those who do not die, are terminated [temporarily] during their sleep. He takes hold of the bio- self that has been ordained to die and He releases the other [who was terminated temporarily while asleep, to wake up] to live on until an appointed time [of passing away/death]. Indeed, in that there are demonstrations of Allah’s [buoyant] power and [active] authority for people who think.

Or have they [the mushriks] chosen [inferior] intermediaries to the exclusion of Allah? Say [to them], “Can you do as such even though [you know that] they [the intermediaries] are in possession of nothing and have no capacity to reason?”

Say, “To Allah belongs all [and any type of] mediation: for, to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and then to Him you all shall return.”

And yet, whenever Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who are not dedicated to the final life feel repelled, but when those [besides and inferior to Allah] are evoked, they rejoice.

Say, “O Allah! The Separator of the heavens and the earth, the One who has knowledge of the absent world and the present world! It is You who shall adjudicate among Your subjects in matters they were accustomed to differ on.

And [such as it is] if these offenders had in their possession all that is on earth, and [even] double that, they would have offered it as ransom to ward off the worst suffering on the Day of Resurrection; for [at that time] they will come to realize, by Allah’s agency, what they had failed to take into consideration [in their earthly life],

And they will come to recognize their [worldly] acquired transgresses; and now [on Judgement Day], the very things they ridiculed on earth will have caught up with them and encircled them.

[Truth be told] whenever a social being is affected by harm he calls on Us [for help]; but then, whenever We afford him comfort [and relief] issuing from Us he says, “I have been given this [relief] because of [my inherent] knowledge.” Rather this [lies at the root of social and divisive] controversy: but most of them [the materialistic social beings] do not know [this fact].

Indeed, this [same comment] has been stated by those [peoples and civilizations] preceding them [back in ancient times], but they, too, were not redeemed by all [the materialism] they obtained:

For they were inflicted by all the sins they had erstwhile accumulated; and the offenders from among them shall be visited by all the depravities they had amassed [in worldly life] and they will never be able to deactivate Allah’s decree.

Did they not know that it is Allah who expands His sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, to whomever He decides? Indeed in that [allocation] are demonstrations [of Allah’s testing power and authority] for people who are securely committed [to Him].

Say [on My behalf], “O My subjects who have overindulged yourselves [in your materialistic lifestyle]! Do not give up concerning Allah’s mercy: for, indeed, Allah forgives all transgressions/sins. Surely, He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Ever-Merciful.

And come back to your Sustainer and surrender to Him before suffering comes your way, for, then, you will have no support.

And follow the best that has been provided to you by your Sustainer before suffering comes to you as a surprise at a time when you are unaware [of its impending danger],

Lest a person say to himself, “Pity me for having been negligent toward Allah and for having been one of those who mocked [the truth and justice of Allah].

Or lest he say, “Had Allah guided me I would have been on guard [regarding His ‘power for justice’].”

Or lest he say when he sees the suffering [awaiting him], “If only I had a chance to return [to the testing grounds of the world], I would be one who would seek perfection [in obeying Allah].”

[To which Allah will reply], “Really! Indeed My demonstrations of power and authority were presented to you; but you refuted them and were conceited and were one of those who denied [affirmation of My power and authority].

And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who contested against Allah, their faces opaque. Is there not in Hell an [appropriate] housing for those who are arrogant?

But Allah will rescue those who avoided [His ultimate penalty] by virtue of their success [unto Paradise]; neither shall they be touched by any harm, nor shall they regret [what they did in worldly life].

Allah has created everything and He is in charge of everything.

To Him belong the inventories of the heavens and the earth; though the ones who dispute Allah’s demonstrations [of power and authority] — it is they, they, who shall be the losers.

Say, “Is it someone excluding Allah that you bid me to comply with, O you who are uninformed [of Allah’s command and control]?”

Indeed, you [Muhammad] are a recipient of revelation as were those [apostles] before you [and thus you know] that if you were to associate anyone with Allah [in divinity and authority], all your efforts would become null and void and you will certainly become just another loser.

Never. You [are to] conform to Allah alone and be grateful.

And they [the mushriks and kāfirs] have not appraised Allah as is truly and justly due to Him, considering that the earth is no more than a handful to Him on the Day of Resurrection and the heavens are [all] folded in His responsible hand: extraordinarily exalted is He and above all [deprecations] that they associate [with Him].

Now, air will blow through the trumpet [sounding it off on the Day of Resurrection], whereupon everyone in heaven and on earth will be shocked [into unconsciousness] except those for whom Allah decrees an exemption [from such shock and awe]. Then again, air will blow through it whereupon, all of a sudden, everyone shall be awake, standing up — looking around!

And the earth will have a morning glow with its Sustainer’s light; and the register [of worldly deeds] will be presented, and all the prophets and witnesses will be brought forth, and procedures of truth and justice will adjudicate [the affairs of humanity] — and no one will be wronged [or offended],

For each person shall be given his full measure in accordance with his work [in the past world]: and He knows better [than anyone else] what they were doing [in the world].

And those who denied [Allah’s power and authority during their worldly tenancy] will be driven in throngs toward Hell, and as they approach it, its gates will be flung open and the keepers of it will say to them, “Were there not apostles from among you who came to you, correlating your Sustainer’s illustrations [of power and authority], and who warned you of encountering this Day of yours?” They will reply, “Yes. [That did happen].” But the sentence of suffering would have [already] come due upon those deniers [of Allah’s power and authority];

[And] an announcement will be made [to them], “Enter the gates of Hell to dwell in there for eternity — and what an awful dwelling for those people who were arrogant [in worldly life].”

Whereas those who [during their worldly duration] were guarding against their Sustainer [His just power and punishment] will be escorted in assemblies to Paradise, and as they approach it, its gates will be flung open and its keepers will say to them, “Peace be upon you. Decent and proper you are: therefore, enter into it [Paradise, and abide there] forever.”

And they will reply, “All praise and thanks are due to Allah who fulfilled His promise to us and made us heirs to [a latterly] world wherein, now, we can [freely] go wherever we want [in Paradise]” — and how wonderful a reward for those who worked [for it].”

And you will see the malā’ikah streaming around the seat [of Allah’s grandeur], extolling the praise of their Sustainer. And [by then] all will have been judged by [the standards of] eternal truth and binding justice, and a proclamation will be sounded [saying], “All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Sustainer of all the worlds.”