allotted for their life. See Glossary, page 529.
29:6Arabic laghaniyyʿ an al-ʿalamin; literally “without need of the worlds,” where the “worlds” implies His creation or His created beings.
29:10Arabic al-ʿalamin: literally, “worlds,” as in v. 6, but here rendered as “creatures” to capture the idiom in English. See Glossary, page 529.
29:15Arabic li al-ʿalamin: literally “for the worlds” but here connoting “for nations.” See Glossary, page 529.
29:25Arabic yakfuru baʿdukum bibaʿd wa-yalʿan baʿdukum baʿd: literally, “some of you will deny others and some of you will curse others.”
29:35Arabic minha: literally, “of it.”
29:41The instance of the spider echoes the bee and the ant, other small creatures whose industry is heralded and recalled as the title of the sura in which they appear.
29:69Arabic fina: literally, “in Us.”
Sura 30
The Byzantines (Al-Rum)
30:1On these disconnected letters, see muqattaʿat in Glossary, page 531.
30:4The earlier defeat of the Byzantines by the Persians had been hailed by the Meccans as a victory for pagans over the Christians, but it was not in God’s plan that the Persians should prevail, save for a short time (a few years).
30:11The creative and re-creative agency of God is accented throughout the Quran but repeatedly within different registers in this sura: see vv. 19, 40, 50, and 54.
30:13Arabic bishurakaʾihim: literally “in their partners,” but translated as “in these gods” to clarify the sense that the partners are associated with God.
30:18These are the verses that established the hours and names for the daily ritual prayers incumbent upon all Muslims.
30:22Coupled with 5:48, where differences in laws and revelations is a divine decree, we have here the strongest Quranic affirmation for linguistic and ethnic difference as a sign for those who can, and should, discern them.
30:28Arabic al-ayat: literally, “the signs.” Since they refer to God, they are marked as “Our signs.” See Glossary, page 530.
30:30Arabic al-dinu al-qayyimu: literally, “the steadfast faith.” Here and in v. 43, it is equivalent to “the religion of truth” (9:33) and “the religion of God” (24:2). See din in Glossary, page 530.
30:30Arabic fitrat Allah: literally, “the primordial nature of God,” also echoed in the title of Sura 35, al-Fatir or “The Originator.”
30:51Arabic min baʿdihi yakfurun: literally, “they would continue to disbelieve after this.”
30:53muslimun is best translated as “those who submit [to the will of God].” See Glossary, page 531.
Sura 31
Luqman (Luqman)
31:1On these disconnected letters, see muqattaʿat in Glossary, page 531.
31:6This may refer to al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, who diverted the attention of the Quraysh from the Quran using old Persian tales. The Arabic literally talks about someone who “buys” idle tales; some commentators say that the verse refers to a man who bought a maidservant to sing songs. Since the verb yashtari connotes business transactions, it is translated here as “who invests.”
31:7The Arabic word for “deafness,” waqr, as pointed out by several commentators, means “heaviness.” It’s also used in 41:44.
31:16Arabic mithqal habba: literally, “the weight of a mustard seed.”
31:19This line refers not to the pace at which one should walk but rather the demeanor of arrogance or modesty expressed in one’s mode of walking.
31:19Arabic al-hamir: literally, “of asses.”
31:20The “illuminating book,” here as elsewhere, alludes to the Quran.
31:21Arabic ma wajadna ʿalayhi abaʾana: literally, “what we found our fathers on.”
31:27Arabic kalimat: literally “the words,” but here emphasized as “the Word.”
Sura 32
Prostration (Al-Sajda)
32:1On these disconnected letters, see muqattaʿat in Glossary, page 531.
32:3Arabic ma ʿatahum min nadhir min qablika: literally, “whom no one came to warn before you.”
32:9Arabic al-afʾida: literally, “hearts.”
32:16Arabic junubuhum: literally, “their sides.”
Sura 33
The Allied Forces (Al-Ahzab)
33:4Arabic tudhahirun minhunna ummahatikum: literally, “you made them appear like your mothers.” This challenges a pre-Islamic practice of divorce that equated the wife with the mother’s back—i.e., here wives are treated as “mothers.” See 58:2, where the same practice is cited and eschewed.
33:4The reference here is to a freed slave who became part of Muhammad’s family.
33:5Arabic mawalikum: literally “allies,” “protectors,” or “patrons.”
33:6Blood relatives alone should inherit; but one can still do one’s friend a kindness by leaving them something in one’s will.
33:9This attack refers to the Battle of the Trench, which took place in 627 CE; it was the last major battle before the conquest of Mecca in 630.
33:13Yathrib was the pre-Islamic name for Medina, where Muhammad settled after the hijra (exodus from Mecca) in 622 CE. The name was later changed to al-Madina al-Munawwara, i.e., City of Light.
33:20The “allied forces” is the coalition arrayed against the Muslims at the Battle of the Trench in 627 CE (also known as the Battle of the Allied Forces, after which this sura is named). This coalition of Arab and Jewish tribes engaged in a twenty-seven-day siege of the town of Yathrib (later known as Medina), where the Muslims were enclosed.
33:20It is implied that they would feel safe in the desert.
33:23Their vow to fight until they win or die; the implication is that they died.
33:25It is said that God repulsed the disbelievers (the Banu Qurayza) with a sandstorm.
33:37The reference here is to Zayd, the adopted son of the Prophet. The Prophet married him to his own cousin Zaynab, but after Zayd divorced her, she became the Prophet’s wife. This verse explains that the marriage is legitimate since adopted sons do not entail a blood relationship.
33:40The “seal of the prophets” underscores Muhammad’s status as the final messenger of God.
33:49Arabic ʿidda: literally “reckoning”; in this case, the waiting period is the six months that is obligatory for a man who wants a divorce to ensure that the wife is not pregnant (see also 2:226–28).
33:55The intent is to allow them to speak directly with close male relatives absent a protective screen, required otherwise (v. 53).
33:72The notion of moral responsibility or trust as distinctive to humankind echoes the message of 59:21: “Had We sent down this Quran upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled, cleave itself into a chasm, in fear of God.” Yet, as the next verse goes on to say, not all humankind proved worthy of that trust, only believing men and women, those to whom “God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.”
Sura 34
Sheba (Sabaʾ)
34:16Likely the Maʾrib dam in Yemen.
34:19They wished to flaunt their camels and possessions while traveling through the desert.
34:20In 7:16–17, Iblis vowed to lie in wait for Adam’s descendants, promising God: “You will find that most of them are not grateful to You.”
34:26Arabic al-Fattah: literally, “the Opener” or “the Decider.” This is another Beautiful Name with multiple meanings, but here it is best rendered as “Judge.”
34:33Arabic taʾmurunana: literally, “you were commanding us.”
34:51From the grave.
34:52The “distant place” clearly refers to their life in this world.
34:54A judgment repeated elsewhere: see 11:62, 110; and 14:9.
Sura 35
The Originator (Fatir)
35:10Arabic al-kalim al-tayyib: literally, “good words.”
35:18Arabic wa-la tazir wazira wizr ukhra: literally, “no bearer of burdens can bear another’s burden.”
35:18Arabic bi al-ghaib: literally, “in the unseen.”
35:24Arabic illa khala fiha nadhir: literally, “except there has been in it a warner.”
35:37Arabic yatadhakkar fihi man tadhakkar: literally, “for those who would be warned to be warned.”
35:39In 2:30 Adam is designated as God’s regent.
35:39This phrase is repeated in the Arabic, but its repetition would be too cumbersome in English.
Sura 36
Ya Sin (Ya Sin)
36:1Ya Sin, according to many commentators, may be an abbreviated exclamation, with sin alluding to insan and meaning “O Human,” or, in the rendition of Muhammad Asad: “O Thou Human Being” (Asad, The Message of the Quran: [Watsonville, Calif.: The Book Foundation, 2003], 758n1).
36:11Regarding “unseen,” see al-ghaib in Glossary, page 530.
36:14These messengers are likely Moses and Jesus, each representing a scripture, first the Torah, then the Gospels.
36:18Arabic wa-layamassannakum minna ʿadhab alim: literally, “and a painful punishment from us will surely touch you.”
36:26Paradise, frequently evoked as a garden, contrasts with the Garden of Eden, fraught with peril as well as food. The garden of paradise anticipates the presence of God, where peace reigns.
36:42Arabic ma yarkabun: literally, “which they ride.”
36:46Arabic wa-ma taʾtihim min aya min ayat rabbihim illa kanu ʿanha muʿridin: literally, “and no sign ever comes to them from the signs of their Lord except from it they turn away.”
36:52There is a mandatory pause here in the Arabic, indicating that the subsequent lines comprise a reply to the question just posed; but since this pause is not replicable in English, “A voice will answer” has been added.
36:63The suffering of self-realization, experienced by sinners who deny God in this life, is a foretaste of the hell to come in the next world.
36:69The Quran repeatedly denies its own status as poetry, though sajʿ or rhymed prose is commended. See “About This Translation,” pages xxxiii–xxxvii.
36:75Arabic jund muhdarun: literally, “an army present [to defend them].”
36:77Again, the use of insan here seems to justify Muhammad Asad’s decision to label Ya Sin as an anticipation of the direct address in all that follows “O You Human.” We have not followed his initiative due to the familiarity of the Arabic title for all Muslims.
Sura 37
Arrayed in Ranks (Al-Saffat)
37:1Most commentators deem these first three verses as referring to angels; see v. 8.
37:5Arabic rabb al-mashariq: literally, “Lord of the easts,” but clearly evoking places where the sun rises.
37:19See v. 2 and Sura 79.13 for the same image.
37:21There is a mandatory pause here in the Arabic, indicating that the subsequent lines comprise a reply to the question just posed; but since this pause is not replicable in English, “A voice will say” has been added.
37:23Arabic sirat al-jahim: literally, “path of hell,” which rhymes with its opposite al-sirat al-mustaqim, “the straight path” (see 1:6).
37:26The Arabic mustaslimun could be translated as “they seek to become Muslims,” but that rendition would be anachronistic, as often noted above (e.g., note for 2:128), since the revelation is addressed to idolaters in a period before Islam had coalesced as a denominated movement.
37:28Arabic innakum kuntum taʾtunana ʿan al-yamini: literally, “it was you who would come to us from the right”—i.e.,