Koran Curious - A Guide for Infidels and Believers (28 page)
Read Koran Curious - A Guide for Infidels and Believers Online
Authors: C.J. Werleman
[35:19] The blind and the seer are not equal.
[35:20] Nor are the darkness and the light.
[35:21] Nor are the coolness of the shade and the heat of the sun.
[35:27] Do you not realize that GOD sends down from the sky water, whereby we produce fruits of various colors? Even the mountains have different colors; the peaks are white, or red, or some other color. And the ravens are black.
[35:28] Also, the people, the animals, and the livestock come in various colors. This is why the people who truly reverence GOD are those who are knowledgeable. GOD is Almighty, Forgiving.
Muhammad philosophizes that in life, there are winners and losers.
[35:39] He is the One who made you inheritors of the earth. Subsequently, whoever chooses to disbelieve does so to his own detriment. The disbelief of the disbelievers only augments their Lord’s abhorrence towards them. The disbelief of the disbelievers plunges them deeper into loss.
[35:40] Say, “Consider the idols you have set up beside GOD; show me what on earth have they created.” Do they own any partnership in the heavens? Have we given them a book wherein there is no doubt? Indeed, what the transgressors promise one another is no more than an illusion.
[35:43] They resorted to arrogance on earth, and evil scheming, and the evil schemes only backfire on those who scheme them. Should they then expect anything but the fate of those who did the same things in the past? You will find that GOD’s system is never changeable; you will find that GOD’s system is immutable.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
In Arabic, “sin” is often interpreted as indicating human or man, but the prefix, “Ya”, means it is more than likely referring to the prophet Muhammad.
Consisting of eighty-three verses, this is a Meccan sura, which covers much of what has already been presented in the Koran, specifically, the argument for God’s existence.
The Koran’s purpose is to warn the believers and unbelievers.
[36:2] And the Quran that is full of wisdom.
[36:5] This revelation is from the Almighty, Most Merciful.
[36:6] To warn people whose parents were never warned, and therefore, they are unaware.
[36:12] We will certainly revive the dead, and we have recorded everything they have done in this life, as well as the consequences that continue after their death. Everything we have counted in a profound record.
The penalty to those who have ignored the warning.
[36:13] Cite for them the example of people in a community that received the messengers.
[36:14] When we sent to them two (messengers), they disbelieved them. We then supported them by a third. They said, “We are (God’s) messengers to you.”
Muhammad describes Paradise and illustrates the signs of God.
[36:26] (At the time of his death) he was told, “Enter Paradise.” He said, “Oh, I wish my people knew.
[36:27] “That my Lord has forgiven me, and made me honorable.”
[36:28] We did not send down upon his people, after him, soldiers from the sky; we did not need to send them down.
[36:36] Glory be to the One who created all kinds of plants from the earth, as well as themselves, and other creations that they do not even know.
[36:37] Another sign for them is the night: we remove the daylight therefrom, whereupon they are in darkness.
[36:38] The sun sets into a specific location, according to the design of the Almighty, the Omniscient.
[36:39] The moon we designed to appear in stages, until it becomes like an old curved sheath.
[36:40] The sun is never to catch up with the moon - the night and the day never deviate - each of them is floating in its own orbit.
[36:46] No matter what kind of proof is given to them from their Lord, they consistently disregard it.
The Devil and powerless idols are the alternative to God.
[6:60] Did I not covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the devil? That he is your most ardent enemy?
[36:63] This is the Hell that was promised for you.
[36:64] Today you will burn in it, as a consequence of your disbelief.
[36:65] On that day we will seal their mouths; their hands and feet will bear witness to everything they had done.
[36:74] They set up beside GOD other gods, perhaps they can be of help to them!
[36:75] On the contrary, they cannot help them; they end up serving them as devoted soldiers.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
‘The Ranks’ is a Meccan revealed sura, comprising one hundred and eighty two verses. Its message to the disbelievers of Mecca is clear: God will punish those who mock the prophet.
Muhammad gives praise to God before lambasting the unbelievers for their mockery and doubting.
[37:4] Your god is only one.
[37:5] The Lord of the heavens and the earth, and everything between them, and Lord of the easts.
[37:19] All it takes is one nudge, whereupon they (stand up) looking.
[37:20] They will say, “Woe to us; this is the Day of Judgment.”
[37:21] This is the day of decision that you used to disbelieve in.
[37:22] Summon the transgressors, and their spouses, and the idols they worshipped
[37:23] beside GOD, and guide them to the path of Hell.
Muhammad prophesizes the Meccans will turn on each other, once they realized they held one another back from the truth.
[37:27] They will come to each other, questioning and blaming one another.
[37:28] They will say (to their leaders), “You used to come to us from the right side.”
[37:29] They will respond, “It is you who were not believers.
[37:30] “We never had any power over you; it is you who were wicked.
[37:31] “We justly incurred our Lord’s judgment; now we have to suffer.
Muhammad forewarns that following the Day of Judgement, those in Paradise will visit the unbelievers in Hell to mock them, and that the Muslims will celebrate together in the afterlife.
[37:50] They will come to each other, and confer with one another.
[37:51] One of them will say, “I used to have a friend.
[37:52] “He used to mock: ‘Do you believe all this?
[37:53] “‘After we die and turn into dust and bones, do we get called to account?’”
[37:54] He will say, “Just take a look!”
[37:55] When he looks, he will see his friend in the heart of Hell.
[37:56] He (will go to him and) say, “By GOD, you almost ruined me.
[37:57] “If it were not for my Lord’s blessing, I would have been with you now.
[37:60] Such is the greatest triumph.
[37:61] This is what every worker should work for.
[37:62] Is this a better destiny, or the tree of bitterness?
[37:63] We have rendered it a punishment for the transgressors.
[37:64] It is a tree that grows in the heart of Hell.
[37:65] Its flowers look like the devils’ heads.
[37:66] They will eat from it until their bellies are filled up.
Muhammad returns to summarizing the history of the prophets, including Abraham, Noah, Lot, and Moses. These verses are repeats from early suras, so we will leave it there.
Muhammad addresses the unbelievers.
[37:164] Each one of us has a specific job.
[37:165] We are the arrangers.
[37:166] We have duly glorified (our Lord).
[37:171] Our decision is already decreed for our servants the messengers.
[37:172] They are surely the victors.
[37:173] Our soldiers are the winners.
[37:174] So disregard them for awhile.
[37:175] Watch them; they too will watch.
[37:176] Do they challenge our retribution?
[37:177] When it hits them one day, it will be a miserable day; they have been sufficiently warned.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
This is one of the earliest suras recited by Muhammad, with some scholars estimating it was revealed to him in the fifth year after he claimed to have met with the archangel.
Interestingly, the verses refer to the illness of his uncle Abu Talib, whose death left Muhammad without the protection from a tribal chief
Muhammad invites the Meccans to join the Muslim ranks or suffer the consequences befallen to those unbelievers before them.
[38:1] S. (Saad), and the Quran that contains the proof.
[38:2] Those who disbelieve have plunged into arrogance and defiance.
[38:3] Many a generation before them we annihilated. They called for help, in vain.
[38:4] They wondered that a warner should come to them, from among them. The disbelievers said, “A magician, a liar.
[38:12] Disbelieving before them were the people of Noah, ‘Aad, and the mighty Pharaoh.
[38:13] Also, Thamoud, the people of Lot, the dwellers of the Woods (of Midyan); those were the opponents.
[38:14] Each of them disbelieved the messengers and thus, My retribution was inevitable.
[38:15] These people can expect a single blow, from which they never recover.
Muhammad highlights the exemplary piety of the biblical David and Solomon.
[38:24] He said, “He is being unfair to you by asking to combine your sheep with his. Most people who combine their properties treat each other unfairly, except those who believe and work righteousness, and these are so few.” Afterwards, David wondered if he made the right judgment. He thought that we were testing him. He then implored his Lord for forgiveness, bowed down, and repented.
