Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Hā mīm God knows best what He means by these letters.

The revelation of the Book the Qur’ān tanzīlu’l-kitābi the subject is from God mina’Llāhi the predicate thereof the Mighty in His kingdom the Wise in His actions.

Truly in the heavens and the earth that is to say in their creation there are signs indicating the power of God and His Oneness exalted be He for believers.

And in your creation that is to say and in the creation of every one of you from a sperm-drop then a blood clot then an embryo until it becomes a human being; and in the creation of what He has scattered what He has dispersed throughout the earth of animals — dābba denotes whatever treads on yadubbu the earth of both human beings and other animals — there are signs for a people who are certain of the Resurrection;

and in the alternation of night and day their passing and their arrival and what God sends down from the heaven in the way of provision rain for it constitutes a means of provision with which He revives the earth after it is dead and the circulation of the winds its alternation between southerly and northerly hot and cold there are signs for a people who understand proofs and therefore have faith.

These mentioned signs are the signs of God the proofs of His that indicate His Oneness which We recite relate to you with truth bi’l-haqqi is semantically connected to natlū ‘We recite’. So in what kind of discourse then after God that is to say after His discourse namely the Qur’ān and His signs His definitive arguments will they that is the disbelievers of Mecca believe? In other words they will not believe in anything a variant reading for yu’minūna ‘they believe’ has tu’minūna ‘you believe’.

Woe waylun is an expression implying chastisement to every sinful liar

who hears the signs of God the Qur’ān being recited to him then persists in his disbelief arrogantly disdainful of faith as if he had not heard them. So give him tidings of a painful chastisement.

And should he come to know anything of Our signs namely the Qur’ān he takes them in mockery. For such liars — there is a degrading chastisement.

Beyond them that is to say ahead of them — because they are still in this world — is Hell and that which they have earned of wealth and deeds will not avail them in any way nor those whom they took besides God that is idols as patrons. And for them there will be a great chastisement.

This that is the Qur’ān is a guidance from error; and those who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord for them there will be a torture a lot of a painful an excruciating chastisement.

God it is Who disposed for you the sea so that the ships may sail upon it by His command by His permission and that you may seek that you may request by way of trade of His bounty and that perhaps you may give thanks.

And He has disposed for you whatever is in the heavens of sun moon stars water and otherwise and whatever is in the earth of animals trees vegetation rivers and otherwise that is to say He created all that for your benefit all jamī‘an is for emphasis being from Him minhu is a circumstantial qualifier that is to say He has disposed them as something from Him exalted be He. Surely in that there are signs for a people who reflect on them and therefore believe.

Tell those who believe to forgive those who do not anticipate those who do not fear the days of God the events which He precipitates that is to say forgive the disbelievers the harm which they have caused you — this was before the command to struggle against them had been revealed — that He God may requite a variant reading for li-yajziya has li-najziya ‘that We may requite’ a people for what they used to earn when they used to forgive disbelievers the harm which they did.

Whoever acts righteously it is for the benefit of his own soul that he acts so and whoever does evil it is to the detriment thereof that he has done evil; then to your Lord you will be returned with your Lord you shall end up whereupon He will requite the one of righteous deeds and the evildoer.

And verily We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture the Torah and the means of judgement therewith between people and prophethood for Moses and Aaron among them and We provided them with the good things the lawful things such as manna and quails and We favoured them above all worlds the worlds of their time that is above all other rational beings.

And We gave them clear illustrations of the commandment the commandment of religion in the way of what is lawful or unlawful and the Mission of Muhammad (s) upon whom be the most excellent blessings and peace. And they did not differ regarding his Mission except after the knowledge had come to them out of rivalry among themselves that is to say because of some rivalry that came about among them out of envy of him. Surely your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that in which they used to differ.

Then We set you O Muhammad (s) upon a clear course a clear way of the commandment the commandment of religion; so follow it and do not follow the desires of those who do not know in worshipping other than God.

Assuredly they will not avail they will not protect you in any way against God against His chastisement. And assuredly the wrongdoers the disbelievers are allies of one another; but God is the ally only of the God-fearing.

This Qur’ān is a set of insights for mankind guideposts with which they can discern God’s rulings and legal proscriptions and guidance and mercy for a people who have certainty with regard to the truth of the Resurrection.

Or am has the significance of the rhetorical hamza of denial do those who have perpetrated evil acts such as disbelief and disobedience suppose that We shall treat them as those who believe and perform righteous deeds equally sawā’an is the predicate in their life and in their death? mahyāhum wa-mamātuhum this clause constitutes the subject and a supplement; the sentence itself is a substitution for the kāf of ka’lladhīna ‘as those’ and both suffixed pronouns -hum refer to the disbelievers. The meaning is do they suppose that in the Hereafter We will assign them a good fate like believers that they will enjoy a life of plenty one equal to their life in this world as when they said to the believers ‘Surely if we were to be resurrected we will be given the same good things that you will be given!’ God exalted be He says in accordance with His denial implicit in the rhetorical interrogative hamza How evil is that judgement which they make! In other words it will not be so for in the Hereafter they will be suffering in the chastisement in contrast to their lives in this world; the believers on the other hand will be delighting in the Reward in the Hereafter because of their righteous deeds in this world such as their observance of prayers their alms-giving fasting and otherwise the mā ‘that … which’ relates to the verbal action that is to say ba’isa hukman hukmuhum hādhā ‘awful as a judgement is this judgement of theirs’.

And God created the heavens and He created the earth with the truth bi’l-haqqi is semantically connected to khalaqa ‘He created’ so that He may indicate His power and His Oneness and so that every soul may be requited for what it has earned in the way of acts of disobedience or obedience and therefore the disbeliever cannot be equal to the believer and they will not be wronged.

Have you then seen inform Me about him who has taken as his god his own desire that is whatever new stone he may desire after having desired some other stone considering this new one to be better and whom God has led astray knowingly on His part exalted be He that is to say knowing him to be of those who follow misguidance before he was created and set a seal upon his hearing and his heart so that he cannot hear guidance or understand it and laid a covering a darkness over his sight? so that he cannot perceive guidance here one should understand as implied the second direct object of the verb a-ra’ayta ‘have you seen’ namely a-yahtadī ‘can he find guidance?. So who will guide him after God? that is to say after His leading him astray? In other words he will not find guidance. Will you not then remember? will you not then be admonished? tadhakkarūna one of the two tā’ letters of the original form tatadhakkarūna has been assimilated with the dhāl.

And they those who deny the Resurrection say ‘There is only that is to say the only life is our life the one that is in this world. We die and we live that is to say some die while others are given life by virtue of being born and nothing but time that is nothing but the passage of time destroys us’. God exalted be He says Of that saying they have no knowledge; they are only making conjectures.

And when Our signs of the Qur’ān indicating Our power to resurrect are recited to them being clear signs evident signs bayyinātin ‘clear signs’ is a circumstantial qualifier their only argument is to say ‘Bring us our fathers alive if you are being truthful’ when you say that we will be resurrected.

Say ‘God is the One Who gives you life when you are sperm-drops then makes you die then gathers you alive to the Day of Resurrection in which there is no doubt; but most people and these are the one who say the above-mentioned do not know’.

And to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. And on the day when the Hour sets in yawma taqūmu’l-sā‘atu is substituted by the following yawma’idhin on that day the followers of falsehood the disbelievers will be losers that is to say their loss will become manifest by their ending up in the Fire.

And you will see every community that is all members of a religion crouching on their knees — or jāthiya means ‘gathered together’. Every community will be summoned to its record the record of its deeds and it will be said to them ‘Today you will be requited for what you used to do that is you will be given the desert thereof.

This is Our book the register of deeds recorded by the guardian angels which pronounces against you with truth. Indeed We used to write down record and preserve what you used to do’.

So as for those who believed and performed righteous deeds their Lord will admit them into His mercy His Paradise. That is the manifest triumph the clear and evident triumph.

But as for those who disbelieved it will be said to them ‘Were not My signs was not the Qur’ān recited to you but you were disdainful you were arrogant and were a guilty a disbelieving lot?

And when it was said to you O disbelievers “God’s promise of resurrection is indeed true and there is no doubt about the Hour” read al-sā‘atu or al-sā‘ata you said “We do not know what the Hour is. We only make conjectures al-Mubarrad said that this actually means in nahnu illā nazunnu zannan and we are by no means certain” ’ that it will come to pass.

And there will appear before them in the Hereafter the evils of what they did in this world that is to say the requital thereof and they will be besieged by there shall befall them what they used to deride namely the chastisement of the Hereafter.

And it will be said ‘Today We will forget you We will abandon you in the Fire just as you forgot the encounter of this day of yours that is to say just as you neglected to perform those good deeds in preparation for the encounter with it and your abode will be the Fire and you will not have any helpers any protectors therefrom.

That is because you took God’s signs the Qur’ān in mockery and the life of this world deceived you’ to the extent that you said ‘There is neither Resurrection nor Reckoning’. So today they will not be brought out read either active yakhrujūna ‘they will not come out’ or passive yukhrajūna ‘they will not be brought out’ of it of the Fire nor will they asked to make amends they will not be asked to try to attain the pleasure of their Lord by repenting or being obedient for such action will be of no use then.

So to God belongs all praise the attribution to Him of what is beautiful in words for fulfilling His promise regarding the deniers; Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth the Lord of the Worlds the Creator of all that has been mentioned ‘ālam ‘world’ denotes everything other than God; it is in the plural ‘ālamīn because of the different types of beings in them; rabbi ‘Lord’ in the last clause is a substitution for the previous ones.

And to Him belongs all grandeur all majesty in the heavens and the earth fī’l-samāwāti wa’l-ardi is a circumstantial qualifier and He is the Mighty the Wise — as explained in a similar statement above.