13. Ar-Ra'd

Alif lām mīm rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, these verses, are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation carries the meaning of [partitive] min, ‘from’), and that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, namely, the Qur’ān (this [preceding sentence] constitutes the subject, the predicate of which is [the following]), is the Truth, wherein is no doubt, but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not believe, that it is from God, exalted be He.

God is He Who raised up the heavens without visible supports (‘amad is the plural of ‘imād, which is [the same as] an ustuwāna, ‘a column’; and this [statement] is true, since there are no actual supports) then presided upon the Throne, a presiding befitting Him, and disposed, made subservient, the sun and the moon, each one, of them, moving, along its course, until [the conclusion of] an appointed time, that is, [until] the Day of Resurrection. He directs the command, He conducts the affairs of His Kingdom. He details, He expounds, the signs, the indications of His power, so that you, O people of Mecca, might be certain of the encounter with your Lord, through resurrection.

And He it is Who spread out, extended [flat], the earth and set, created, therein firm mountains and rivers, and of every fruit He has made in it two kinds, of every species. He covers, He cloaks, the night, and its darkness, with the day. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs, indications of His Oneness, exalted be He, for a people who reflect, upon God’s handiwork.

And on the earth are tracts, diverse terrains, neighbouring each other, joined side by side, some good, some briny, some of little yield and some fruitful — and these constitute proofs of His power, exalted be He — and gardens, orchards, of vines and sown fields (read zar‘un, in the nominative, as a supplement to jannātun, ‘gardens’, or read zar‘in, in the genitive, [as a supplement] to a‘nābin, ‘of vines’); similarly [constituting proofs of His power are] His words: and date-palms sharing one root (sinwān is the plural of sinw, which are date-palms belonging to the same root, but with many offshoots) and date-palms otherwise, [each] of individual root, watered (read tusqā as [referring to] jannāt, ‘gardens’, and what is in them, or read yusqā as [referring to] the mentioned [date-palms]) by the same [source of] water; and We make some of them to excel (wa-nufaddil, or read wa-yufaddil, ‘and He [God] makes [some of them] to excel’) others in flavour (read fī’l-ukul or fī’l-ukl): and so some are sweet, others, bitter — and these are [also] proofs of His power, exalted be He. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs for a people who understand, [who] reflect.

The following was revealed regarding their hastening on, out of mockery, of the chastisement: And they would have you hasten on the evil, the chastisement, rather than the good, [rather than] mercy, when there have indeed occurred before them exemplary punishments (mathulāt is the plural of mathula, similar [in pattern] to samura [pl. samurāt], ‘acacia’), that is to say, the punishments of disbelievers like them: will they not take warning from these? Truly your Lord is forgiving to mankind despite their evil-doing, for otherwise He would not have left a single creature on the face of it [the earth]; and truly your Lord is severe in retribution, against those who disobey Him.

And those who disbelieve say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down upon him, upon Muhammad (s), from his Lord!’, the like of the staff and the [glowing] hand, or the she-camel. God, exalted be He, says: You are only a warner, one to threaten the disbelievers, for it is not your duty to bring forth signs; and for every folk there is a guide, a prophet, to guide them to their Lord with the signs that He gives him, and not what with they request.

God knows what every female bears, of male or female, one or more, and otherwise, and what the wombs reduce, of the time of gestation, and what they increase, of it. And everything with Him is according to a [precise] measure, a [precise] amount and limit which it does not exceed;

[He is] the Knower of the unseen and the visible, [of] what is hidden and what is witnessed; the Great, the Tremendous, the High Exalted, above His creation, through His [overpowering] subjugation (read al-muta‘ālī or al-muta‘āl, ‘the High Exalted’).

[They are all] the same, according to His knowledge, exalted be He, those of you who speak secretly and those who do so openly, and those who lurk, [who] hide themselves, in the night, in its darkness, and those who go forth, [those who] are manifest [to view] when they make their way, by day.