26. Surah Al Shu'ara'
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِذْ
قَالَ لَهُمْ
أَخُوهُمْ نُوحٌ
أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ
﴿١٠٦﴾
26: 106. Behold, their brother Noah said to them:
"Will ye not fear (Allah)?
C3186. Noah's generation had lost all faith and abandoned themselves to evil. They had rejected the Message of messengers previously sent to the world.
Noah was sent to them as one of themselves ("their brother"). His life was open before them: he had proved himself pure in heart and conduct (like the holy Prophet of Islam long after him), and worthy of every trust.
Would they fear Allah and follow his advice?
They could see that he had no ends of his own to serve. Would they not listen to him?
إِنِّي
لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ
أَمِينٌ ﴿١٠٧﴾
26: 107. "I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust:
C3187. Amin= one to whom a trust has been given, with several shades of meaning implied: e.g.,
- worthy of trust,
- bound to deliver his trust, as a prophet is bound to deliver his Message,
- bound to act entirely as directed by the trust, as a prophet is bound to give only the Message of Allah, and not add anything of his own, and
- not seeking any interest of his own.
فَاتَّقُوا
اللَّهَ
وَأَطِيعُونِ
﴿١٠٨﴾
26: 108. "So fear Allah, and obey me.
وَمَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ...
26: 109. "No reward do I ask of you for it:
...إِنْ
أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا
عَلَى رَبِّ
الْعَالَمِينَ
﴿١٠٩﴾
my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds:
فَاتَّقُوا
اللَّهَ
وَأَطِيعُونِ
﴿١١٠﴾
26: 110. "So fear Allah, and obey me."
C3188. Note how the repetition rounds off the argument.
See n. 3186 above.
قَالُوا
أَنُؤْمِنُ
لَكَ وَاتَّبَعَكَ
الْأَرْذَلُونَ
﴿١١١﴾
26: 111. They said: "Shall we believe in thee when it is the meanest that follow thee?"
C3189. The leaders of the people are speaking, as the Quraish leaders spoke in the time of the holy Prophet.
"We know that thou hast been trustworthy in thy life. But look at the 'rag tag and bob tail' that follow thee! Dost thou expect us to be like them or to be classed with them?"
His answer was:
"I know nothing against them; if they have done any wrong, or are only hypocrites, they are answerable to Allah; how can I drive them away from me, seeing that I am expressly sent to admonish all people?"
قَالَ
وَمَا عِلْمِي
بِمَا كَانُوا
يَعْمَلُونَ
﴿١١٢﴾
26: 112. He said:
"And what do I know as to what they do?
إِنْ حِسَابُهُمْ إِلَّا عَلَى رَبِّي...
26: 113. "Their account is only with my Lord,
...لَوْ
تَشْعُرُونَ
﴿١١٣﴾
if ye could (but) understand.
وَمَا
أَنَا بِطَارِدِ
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
﴿١١٤﴾
26: 114. "I am not one to drive away those who believe.
C3190. Cf. 11:29.
All people who have faith have the right to come and listen to Allah's Word and receive Allah's Mercy, whether they are publicans and sinners, "Harijans" and low-caste men, men of "superior" or "inferior" races. The Prophet of Allah welcomes them all, as His Message has to shine before the whole world. (R).
إِنْ
أَنَا إِلَّا
نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ
﴿١١٥﴾
26: 115. "I am sent only to warn plainly in public."
Asad’s Version:
THE PEOPLE of Noah [too] gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
(26:106) when
their brother Noah said unto them: "Will you not be conscious of God?
(26: 107) Behold, I am
an apostle [sent by Him] to you, [and therefore] worthy of your trust:
(26:108) be, then, conscious of God, and pay heed unto me!
26:109 "And no reward whatever do I ask of you for it: my reward rests with none but the Sustainer of all the worlds.
(26: 110) Hence, remain conscious of God, and pay heed unto me! "
(26: 111) They answered: "Shall we place our faith in thee, even though [only] the most abject [of people] follow thee?" 49
(26:112) Said he: "And what knowledge could I have as to what they were doing [before they came to me]?
(26:113) Their reckoning rests with none but my Sustainer: if you could but understand [this]! 50
(26:114) Hence, I shall not drive away [any of those [who profess to be] believers;
(26: 1 15) I am nothing but a plain warner."
[[ Asad’s notes - 49 See note 47 on 1 1 :27.
11:27 But the great ones among his people, who refused to acknowledge the truth, answered: "We do not see in thee anything but a mortal man like ourselves; and we do not see that any follow thee save those who are quite obviously the most abject among us; 47 and we do not see that you could be in any way superior to us: 48 on the contrary, we think that you are liars!"
Note - 47 As is evidenced by the histories of all the prophets - and particularly that of Jesus and, after him, of Muhammad - most of their early followers belonged to the lowest classes of society - the slaves, the poor and the oppressed - to whom the divine message gave the promise of an equitable social order on earth and the hope of happiness in the hereafter: and it is precisely this revolutionary character of every prophet's mission that has always made it so distasteful to the upholders of the established order and the privileged classes of the society concerned.
48 Lit., "We do not see in you any superiority [or "merit"] over us." ]]