32. Surah As-Sajdah (Prostration), 30 verses

Mecca Period 75

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾

32: 2. (This is) the revelation of the Book in which there is no doubt, -- from the Lord of the Worlds.

C3629. By the time of the holy Prophet the earlier Books of Revelation had been corrupted, by human ignorance or selfishness or fraud, or misinterpreted, or lost altogether.

There were sects violently disputing with each other as to their true meaning. Such doubts had to be set at rest, and they were set at rest by the revelation of the Quran.

The Quranic inspiration came direct from Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and did not consist merely of human conjectures or a reconstructed philosophy, in which there is always room for doubt or dispute.

Cf. also 2:2.

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ ...

32:3.[Ali] Or do they say, "He has forged it"?

C3630. The force of "or" (am in Arabic) is that the only alternative to the acceptance of the Book as a divine revelation is the supposition that it was a forgery by the holy Prophet.

But the supposition is absurd on the face of it: because;

- the Quraish, his critics, knew him to be an honest and truthful man;

- he was unlettered, and such a Book would have been beyond his powers as a simple unlettered Arab, unless Allah inspired it; and

- there was a definite reason for its coming as it did, because the Arabs had received no Messenger before him and Allah has sent Messengers to every nation.

... بَلْ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ...

Nay, it is the Truth from the Lord,

... لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّا أَتَاهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ ﴿٣﴾

that thou mayest admonish a people to whom no warner has come before thee:

in order that they may receive guidance.

C3631. The Arabs very much needed guidance for themselves, and the advent of a World Prophet through them was what might have been expected in view of the past course of Allah's Revelations.

Other versions:

[[ Ruby’s note- This verse confirms that Abraham, etc. in reference to Mecca were not actually Arab, they were different, as Muhammad is proclaimed to be first Prophet to the Arabs.]

32:2 THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ 1 issues, beyond any doubt, from the Sustainer of all the worlds:

(32:3) and yet, 2 they [who are bent on denying the truth] assert, "[Muhammad] has invented it!"

Nay, but it is the truth from thy Sustainer, enabling thee to warn [this] people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might follow the right path.

[[Asad’s notes - 1 See Appendix II.

2 Cf. note 61 on 10:38.

3 See note 43 on 7:54. ]]