45. Sura Al-Jathiyah
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
تِلْكَ
آيَاتُ
اللَّهِ
نَتْلُوهَا
عَلَيْكَ
بِالْحَقِّ...
45: 6. Such are the Signs of Allah, which We rehearse to thee in truth:
C4741. If there are any to whom the Signs from Nature, from within their own heart and conscience, and from the voice of Revelation, are not enough to convince them, what possible kind of exposition will they accept?
...فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَ اللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٦﴾
then in what exposition will they believe after (rejecting) Allah and His Signs?
وَيْلٌ
لِّكُلِّ
أَفَّاكٍ
أَثِيمٍ
﴿٧﴾
45: 7. Woe to each sinful Dealer in Falsehoods:
C4742. A soul so dead, as described in the last note, is indeed wretched. It will resort to falsehoods, in worship, in conduct, and in its attitude towards Allah. It will be obstinate, and pretend to be 'above such things'. It will hear the most beautiful Message but not profit by it. The loss or punishment is its own, and grievous it is!
يَسْمَعُ
آيَاتِ
اللَّهِ
تُتْلَى
عَلَيْهِ
ثُمَّ
يُصِرُّ
مُسْتَكْبِرًا
كَأَن
لَّمْ
يَسْمَعْهَا...
45: 8. He hears the Signs of Allah rehearsed to him, yet is obstinate and lofty, as if he had not heard them:
...فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ﴿٨﴾
then announce to him a Penalty Grievous!
وَإِذَا
عَلِمَ
مِنْ
آيَاتِنَا
شَيْئًا
اتَّخَذَهَا
هُزُوًا...
45: 9. And when he learns something of Our Signs, he takes them in jest:
...أُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ ﴿٩﴾
for such there will be a humiliating Penalty.
C4743. Note that in each of the verses 8-11 the Penalty is characterized by a certain description, which accords with the crime.
In verse 8, the man is arrogant about the Sips of Allah's love and care all around him, and his Penalty is "grievous".
In verse 9, he ridicules Allah's Signs, and his Penalty is "humiliating": he makes himself a ridiculous fool,
and next two are described in the two following notes.
مِن
وَرَائِهِمْ
جَهَنَّمُ
...
45: 10. In front of them is Hell:
... وَلَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُم مَّا كَسَبُوا شَيْئًا وَلَا مَا اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِيَاء...
and of no profit to them is anything they may have earned, nor any protectors they may have taken to themselves besides Allah:
...وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿١٠﴾
for them is a tremendous Penalty.
C4744.
- In verse 10 the sinner has piled up the good things of this life, and thinks he has got plenty of helpers and protectors, but all these things are of no use.
On the contrary, his Penalty will be "tremendous", to correspond with the great pains which he has taken to multiply the gods of his worship.
Asad’s Version:
45:6 These messages of God do We convey unto thee, setting forth the truth. In what other tiding, if not in God's messages, 5 will they, then, believe?
(45:7) Woe unto every sinful self-deceiver 6
(45:8) who hears God's messages when they are conveyed to him, and yet, as though he had not heard them, persists in his haughty disdain! Hence, announce unto him grievous suffering –
(45:9) for when he does become aware of any of Our messages, he makes them a target of his mockery! For all such there is shameful suffering in store.
(45:10) Hell is ahead of them; and all that they may have gained [in this world] shall be of no avail whatever to them, and neither shall any of those things which, instead of God, they have come to regard as their protectors: 7 for, awesome suffering awaits them.
[[Asad’s notes - 5 Lit., "in what tiding after God and His messages".
6 The term affak, which literally signifies a "liar" - and, particularly, a "habitual liar" — has here the connotation of "one who lies to himself" because he is ma'fuk, i.e., 'perverted in his intellect and judgment" (Jawhari).
7 I.e., anything to which they may attribute a quasi-divine influence on their lives, whether it be false deities or false values, e.g., wealth, power, social status, etc.]]