M. A. S. Abdel Haleem

1930 – · Egyptian / British · Translated to English

SOAS, University of London

Muhammad Abdel Haleem is an Egyptian-born British scholar of Islamic studies and Professor of Islamic Studies at SOAS, University of London, where he founded the Centre of Islamic Studies. His translation, The Qur'an: A New Translation (Oxford University Press, 2004), is noted for its accessible modern English prose and structural reorganisation into paragraph-based units.

73:20
۞ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ یَعۡلَمُ أَنَّكَ تَقُومُ أَدۡنَىٰ مِن ثُلُثَیِ ٱلَّیۡلِ وَنِصۡفَهُۥ وَثُلُثَهُۥ وَطَاۤىِٕفَةࣱ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِینَ مَعَكَۚ وَٱللَّهُ یُقَدِّرُ ٱلَّیۡلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَۚ عَلِمَ أَن لَّن تُحۡصُوهُ فَتَابَ عَلَیۡكُمۡۖ فَٱقۡرَءُوا۟ مَا تَیَسَّرَ مِنَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِۚ عَلِمَ أَن سَیَكُونُ مِنكُم مَّرۡضَىٰ وَءَاخَرُونَ یَضۡرِبُونَ فِی ٱلۡأَرۡضِ یَبۡتَغُونَ مِن فَضۡلِ ٱللَّهِ وَءَاخَرُونَ یُقَـٰتِلُونَ فِی سَبِیلِ ٱللَّهِۖ فَٱقۡرَءُوا۟ مَا تَیَسَّرَ مِنۡهُۚ وَأَقِیمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَأَقۡرِضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرۡضًا حَسَنࣰاۚ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا۟ لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنۡ خَیۡرࣲ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ هُوَ خَیۡرࣰا وَأَعۡظَمَ أَجۡرࣰاۚ وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورࣱ رَّحِیمُۢ ۝٢٠
Abdel Haleem
[Prophet], your Lord is well aware that you sometimes spend nearly two-thirds of the night at prayer––sometimes half, sometimes a third––as do some of your followers. God determines the division of night and day. He knows that you will not be able to keep a measure of it and He has relented towards all of you, so recite as much of the Quran as is easy for you. He knows that some of you will be sick, some of you travelling through the land seeking God’s bounty, some of you fighting in God’s way: recite as much as is easy for you, keep up the prayer, pay the prescribed alms, and make God a good loan. Whatever good you store up for yourselves will be improved and increased for you. Ask God for His forgiveness, He is most forgiving, most merciful
inna rabbaka yaʿlamu annaka taqūmu adnā min thuluthayi al-layli waniṣ'fahu wathuluthahu waṭāifatun mina alladhīna maʿaka wal-lahu yuqaddiru al-layla wal-nahāra ʿalima an lan tuḥ'ṣūhu fatāba ʿalaykum fa-iq'raū mā tayassara mina l-qur'āni ʿalima an sayakūnu minkum marḍā waākharūna yaḍribūna fī l-arḍi yabtaghūna min faḍli l-lahi waākharūna yuqātilūna fī sabīli l-lahi fa-iq'raū mā tayassara min'hu wa-aqīmū l-ṣalata waātū l-zakata wa-aqriḍū l-laha qarḍan ḥasanan wamā tuqaddimū li-anfusikum min khayrin tajidūhu ʿinda l-lahi huwa khayran wa-aʿẓama ajran wa-is'taghfirū l-laha inna l-laha ghafūrun raḥīmu