17: 97

Transliteration Wa may yahdilla_hu fahuwal muhtad(i), wa may yudlil falan tajida lahum auliya_'a min du_nih(i), wa nahsyuruhum yaumal qiya_mati 'ala_ wuju_hihim 'umyaw wa bukmaw wa summa_(n), ma'wa_hum jahannam(u), kullama_ khabat zidna_hum sa'ira_(n).

Yusuf Ali It is he whom Allah guides that is on true guidance; but he whom He leaves astray for such wilt thou find no protector besides Him. On the Day of Judgment We shall gather them together prone on their faces blind dumb and deaf: their abode will be Hell: every time it shows abatement We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire.

Pickthall And he whom Allah guideth, he is led aright; while, as for him whom He sendeth astray, for them thou wilt find no protecting friends beside Him, and We shall assemble them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their habitation will be hell; whenever it abateth, We increase the flame for them.

17: 98

Transliteration Za_lika jaza_'uhum bi annahum kafaru_ bi a_ya_tina_ wa qa_lu_ a'iza_ kunna_ 'iza_maw wa rufa_tan a'inna_ lamab'u_su_na khalqan jadida_(n).

Asad Such will be their requital for having rejected Our Messages and having said, “After we will have become bones and dust, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead in a new act of creation?”

Yusuf Ali That is their recompense because they rejected Our Signs and said "When we are reduced to bones and broken dust should we really be raised up (to be) a new Creation?"

Pickthall That is their reward because they disbelieved Our revelations and said: When we are bones and fragments shall we, forsooth, be raised up as a new creation?

17: 99

Awalam yarau analla_hal lazi khalaqas sama_wa_ti wal arda qa_dirun 'ala_ ay yakhluqa mislahum wa ja'ala lahum ajalal la_ raiba fih(i), fa abaz za_limu_na illa_ kufu_ru_(n).

Asad Are they, then not aware that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create them anew in their own likeness, having, beyond any doubt, set a term for their resurrection? However, all evildoers are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy!

Yusuf Ali See they not that Allah Who created the heavens and the earth has power to create the like of them (anew)? Only He has decreed a term appointed of which there is no doubt. But the unjust refuse (to receive it) except with ingratitude.

Pickthall Have they not seen that Allah Who created the heavens and the earth is Able to create the like of them, and hath appointed for them an end whereof there is no doubt? But the wrong-doers refuse aught save disbelief.

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17: 49 [al-Israa, Mecca 50 ]

Yusuf Ali They say: "What! when we are reduced to bones and dust should we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?"

Pickthall And they say: When we are bones and fragments, shall we, forsooth, be raised up as a new creation?

Transliteration Wa qa_lu_ a'iza_ kunna_ 'iza_maw wa rufa_tan a'inna_ lamab'u_su_na khalqan jadida_(n).

17: 50

Yusuf Ali Say: "(Nay!) be ye stones or iron

Pickthall Say: Be ye stones or iron

Transliteration Qul ku_nu_ hija_ratan au hadida_(n),

17: 51

Yusuf Ali "Or created matter which in your minds is hardest (to be raised up)--(yet shall ye be raised up)!" Then will they say: "Who will cause us to return?" Say: "He Who created you first!" Then will they wag their heads towards thee and say "When will that be?" Say "Maybe it will be quite soon!

Pickthall Or some created thing that is yet greater in your thoughts! Then they will say: Who shall bring us back (to life)? Say: He who created you at the first. Then will they shake their heads at thee, and say: When will it be? Say: It will perhaps be soon;

Transliteration Au khalqam mimma_ yakburu fi sudu_rikum, fa sayaqu_lu_na may yu'iduna_, qulil lazi fatarakum awwala marrah(tin), fa sayungidu_na ilaika ru'u_sahum wa yaqu_lu_na mata_ huw(a), qul 'asa_ ayyaku_na qariba_(n).

17: 52

Yusuf Ali "It will be on a Day when He will call you and ye will answer (His call) with (words of) His praise and ye will think that ye tarried but a little while!"

Pickthall A day when He will call you and ye will answer with His praise, and ye will think that ye have tarried but a little while.

Transliteration Yauma yad'u_kum fa tastajibu_na bi hamdihi wa tazunnu_na il labistum illa_ qalila_(n).

Yauma nad'u_ kulla una_sin bi ima_mihim, faman u_tiya kita_bahu_ bi yaminihi fa ula_'ika yaqra'u_na kita_bahum wa la_ yuzlamu_na fatila_(n).

2234 They do not realise that Allah Who created them once out of nothing can create them again, with memories of their past, in order to render to Him an account of how they used or misused the talents and opportunities which they were given. If it is to be a new Creation, what then? Bones and dust or ashes may yet retain something of the personality which was enshrined in them. But even if they were reduced to stones or iron or anything which their minds can conceive of as being most unlike them, yet there is nothing impossible to Allah! He has clearly sent a Message that we shall have to render an account of ourselves, and His Message is necessarily true. (17.49)

2235 The sceptic shifts his ground when he is cornered in argument. It is no longer tenable for him to say that it cannot happen or that there is no one who can bring him back to life and memory. He now gets shaky, and says, "Well, when is that going to happen?" The actual time no man can tell. Indeed that event will be on a plane in which there will be no Time. Our relative ideas of time and place will have been completely overthrown, and it will appear to us then, not that it has been postponed too long, but that it has come too soon! See the next verse and note. (17.51)

2236 It may be that this verse should not be in the inverted commas governed by the verb "say", in the last clause of the last verse. In that case, the answer to the sceptic would be finished in the last verse, and this verse would be a general statement applying also to the righteous, who will rise up celebrating the praises of Allah. But on the whole, I think it is better to take this verse as part of the answer to the sceptic referred to in the last verse. (17.52)

2237 Whatever may have been your spiritual blindness in this life, the "new creation" will have opened your eyes to the Truth. No one will any longer be in any delusion as regards the Reality of Allah, and will be forced, by their new circumstances, to recognise the Truth and sing Allah's praises. And all will be surprised at the seemingly short flight of time since they had their little ephemeral life on this earth. They will now appraise its true worth. (17.52)

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