4: 123

Asad It may not accord with your wishful thinking – nor with the wishful thinking of the followers of earlier revelation [note 143] – [that] he who does evil shall be required for it, and shall find none to protect him from God, and none to bring him succor,

Yusuf Ali Not your desires nor those of the people of the Book (can prevail): whoever works evil will be requited accordingly. Nor will he find besides Allah any protector or helper.

Pickthall It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Scripture. He who doeth wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against Allah any protecting friend or helper.

Transliteration Laiasaa bi ama_niyyikum wa la_ ama_niyyi ahlil kita_b(i), may ya'mal su_'ay yujza bih(i), wa la_ yajid lahu_ min du_nilla_hi waliyyaw wa la_ nasira_(n).


[[ Asad’s note 143 – An allusion to both the Jewish idea that they are “God’s chosen people” and, therefore, assure of His grace in the thereafter, and to the Christian dogma of “vicarious atonement”, which promises salvation to all who believe in Jesus as “God’s son”.]]

Ali’s note - 632 Personal responsibility is again and again insisted on as the key-note of Islam. In this are implied faith and right conduct. Faith is not an external thing: it begins with an act of will, but if true and sincere, it affects the whole being, and leads to right conduct. In this it is distinguished from the kind of faith which promises salvation because some one else in whom you are asked to believe has borne away the sins of men, or the kind of faith which says that because you are born of a certain race ("Children of Abraham") or a certain caste, you are privileged, and your conduct will be judged by a different standard from that of other men. Whatever you are, if you do evil, you must suffer the consequences, unless Allah's Mercy comes to your help. (4.123) ]]



17: 56 [al-Israa, Mecca 50 ]

Asad Say: “Call upon those whom you imagine beside Him – and they have it not in their power to remove any affliction from, or to shift it [elsewhere]

Yusuf Ali Say: "Call on those besides Him whom ye fancy: they have neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them."

Pickthall Say: Cry unto those (saints and angels) whom ye assume (to be gods) beside Him, yet they have no power to rid you of misfortune nor to change.

Transliteration Qul-id'ul lazina za'amtum min du_nihi fala_ yamliku_na kasyfad durri 'ankum wa la_ tahwila_(n). 57.Ula_'ikal lazina yad'u_na yabtagu_na ilu_ rabbihimul wasilata ayyuhum aqrabu wa yarj_na rahmatahu_ wa yakha_fu_na 'aza_bah(u_), inna 'aza_ba rabbika ka_na mahzu_ra_(n).


[ Asad note 67: I.e., to transfer it onto themselves: obviously an allusion to the Christian doctrine of “vicarious atonement”. ]

17: 57

Yusuf Ali Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord even those who are nearest: they hope for His Mercy and fear His Wrath: for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed of.

Pickthall Those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them shall be the nearest; they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned.

Transliteration Wa im min qaryatin illa_ nahnu muhliku_ha_ qabla yaumil qiya_mati au mu'azzibu_ha_ 'aza_ban syadida_(n), ka_na za_lika fil kita_bi mastu_ra_(n).




53 An-Najm (The Unfolding)

Mecca Period [23]


Asad’s version

53:35 Does he [claim to) have knowledge of something that is beyond the reach of human

perception, so that he can see [it clearly]? 29

(53:36) Or has he never yet been told of what was [said) in the revelations of Moses,

(53:37) and of Abraham, who to his trust was true: 30 that no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden; 31



(53:39) and that nought shall be accounted unto man but what he is striving for; 32

(53:40) and that in time [the nature of] all his striving will be shown [to him in its true light], 33

(53:41) whereupon he shall be requited for it with the fullest requital;


Ali’s version and the Arabic text




أَعِندَهُ عِلْمُ الْغَيْبِ فَهُوَ يَرَى ﴿٣٥﴾

35.  What!

has he knowledge of the Unseen so that he can see?

C5109. 'So that he can see what will happen in the Hereafter': for no bargains can be struck about matters unknown.

أَمْ لَمْ يُنَبَّأْ بِمَا فِي صُحُفِ مُوسَى ﴿٣٦﴾

36.  Nay, is he not acquainted with what is in the books of Moses --

C5110. Books of Moses: apparently not the Pentateuch, in the Torah, but some other book or books now lost. For example, the Book of the Wars of Jehovah is referred to in the Old Testament (Num. 21:14) but is now lost. The present Pentateuch has no clear message at all of a Life to come.

وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ ...

37.  And of Abraham

C5111. No original Book of Abraham is now extant. But a book called "The Testament of Abraham" has come down to us, which seems to be a Greek translation of a Hebrew original. See n. 6094 to 87:19, where the Books of Moses and Abraham are again mentioned together.

... الَّذِي وَفَّى ﴿٣٧﴾

who fulfilled his engagements? --

C5112. One of the titles of Abraham is Hanif, the True in Faith.

Cf. 16:120, 123.

أَلَّا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ﴿٣٨﴾

38.  Namely, that no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another;

C5113. Here follows a series of eleven aphorisms.

There can be no vicarious atonement.

وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى ﴿٣٩﴾

39.  That man can have nothing but what he strives for;

وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَى ﴿٤٠﴾

40.  That (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight;

C5114. The second and third aphorisms are that

ثُمَّ يُجْزَاهُ الْجَزَاء الْأَوْفَى ﴿٤١﴾

41.  Then will he be rewarded with a reward complete;




[[Asad’s notes - 29 I.e., "How can he be so sure that there is no life in the hereafter, and no judgment?"


30 Cf. 2:124 and the corresponding note 100. It is obvious that the names of Abraham and Moses are cited here only by way of example, drawing attention to the fact that all through human history God has entrusted His elect, the prophets, with the task of conveying certain unchangeable ethical truths to man.


31 This basic ethical law appears in the Qur'an five times - in 6:164, 17:15, 35:18, 39:7, as well as in the above instance, which is the oldest in the chronology of revelation. Its implication is threefold: firstly, it expresses a categorical rejection of the Christian doctrine of the "original sin" with which every human being is allegedly burdened from birth: secondly, it refutes the idea that a person's

sins could be "atoned for" by a saint's or a prophet's redemptive sacrifice (as evidenced, for instance, in the Christian doctrine of Jesus' vicarious atonement for mankind's sinfulness, or in the earlier, Persian doctrine of man's vicarious redemption by Mithras); and, thirdly, it denies, by implication, the possibility of any "mediation" between the sinner and God.


32 Cf. the basic, extremely well-authenticated saying of the Prophet, "Actions will be [judged] only according to the conscious intentions [which prompted them] ; and unto everyone will be accounted only what he consciously intended", i.e., while doing whatever he did. This Tradition is quoted by Bukhari in seven places the first one as a kind of introduction to his Sahi~ - as well as by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abn Da'ud, Nasa'i (in four places), Ibn Majah, Ibn Hanbal, and several other compilations.

In this connection it is to be noted that in the ethics of the Qur'an, the term "action" ('amal) comprises also a deliberate omission of actions, whether good or bad, as well as a deliberate voicing of beliefs, both righteous and sinful: in short, everything that man consciously aims at and expresses by word or deed.


33 Lit., "his striving will be seen", i.e., on the Day of Judgment, when - as the Qur'an states in many places - God "will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life]". ]]