13. Ar-Ra'd

For him, for man, are attendants, angels who follow him, to his front and to his rear, guarding him through God’s command, that is, by His command, from [the danger of] the jinn and others. Indeed God does not alter the state of a people — He does not deprive them of His grace — unless they have altered the state of their souls, from [their] comely nature, through an act of disobedience. And if God wills misfortune, chastisement, for a people there is none that can repel it, either from among the attendant angels or others; and they, for whom God wills misfortune, have no protector (min wālin: min is extra) to avert it from them, apart from Him, that is, other than God.

He it is Who shows you the lightning, [inspiring] fear, in travellers, of thunderbolts, and hope, for those who are at home, of rain; and He produces, He creates, the clouds that are heavy, with rain.

And the thunder — this is an angel, who is in charge of the clouds, driving them, [while he] constantly, proclaims His praise, that is, he says, ‘Glory be to God through His praise’ (subhāna’Llāh wa-bi-hamdihi), and so too the angels, proclaim His praise, in awe of Him, that is, of God. He unleashes the thunderbolts — these are a fire which issues forth from the clouds — and smites with them whom He will, such that it burns [that person]: this was revealed regarding a man to whom the Prophet (s) had sent someone to invite [to Islam] and who said, ‘Who is the Messenger of God? And what is God? Is He [made] of gold, or of silver, or of copper?’, whereupon a thunderbolt came down on him and blew off the top of his head; yet they, that is, the disbelievers, dispute, argue with the Prophet (s), about God, though He is great in might, in power, or in [the severity of His] retribution.

His, exalted be He, is the call of truth, that is, the words that constitute it [the truth], and these are: ‘there is no god but God’ (lā ilāha illā’Llāh); and those upon whom they call (read yad‘ūn or tad‘ūn, ‘you call’), [those whom] they worship, apart from Him, that is, other than Him — namely, the idols — do not answer them anything, of which they ask; save as, is the response to, one who stretches forth his hands towards water, at the edge of a well, calling to it, that it may reach his mouth, by its rising through the well to [reach] him, but it would never reach it, that is, [reach] his mouth, ever: likewise they [the idols] will not answer them; and the call of the disbelievers, their worship of idols — or their actual supplication — goes only astray, [it is only] in perdition.

And to God prostrate whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly, such as believers, or unwillingly, such as hypocrites and those coerced by the sword, and their shadows also, prostrate, in the mornings and the evenings.

Say, O Muhammad (s), to your people: ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say: ‘God’ — and even if they do not say it, there can be no other response. Say, to them: ‘Then have you taken beside Him, other than Him, protectors, idols, to worship, who have no power to benefit or harm themselves?’, and you abandon the One Who is their Possessor? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke). Say: ‘Are the blind one and the seer, [respectively], the disbeliever and the believer, equal? Or are darkness, disbelief, and the light, faith, equal? No! Or have they set up for God associates who have created the like of His creation, so that creation seems alike, that is, [is] what the associates create and the creation of God [alike], to them?’, so that they believe them worthy of being worshipped on account of what these [associates] have created? (an interrogative of disavowal); in other words, not so! None save the Creator is worthy of being worshipped. Say: ‘God is the Creator of all things, having no associate therein, and so He cannot have an associate in terms of worship; and He is the One, the Subjugator’, of His servants.

He then strikes a similitude of truth and falsehood, saying: He, exalted be He, sends down water, rain, from the sky, whereat the valleys flow according to their measure, according to their full capacity, and the flood carries a scum that swells, rising above it, and this [scum] is the filth and the like that lies on the surface of the earth, and from that which they smelt (read tūqidūn, ‘you smelt’, or yūqidūn, ‘they smelt’) in the fire, of the earth’s minerals, such as gold, silver or copper, desiring, seeking [to make], ornaments, adornment, or ware, which is useful, such as utensils, when they [the minerals] are melted; [there rises] a scum the like of it, that is, the like of the scum of the flood, and this [latter scum] consists of the impurities expelled by the bellows. Thus, in the way mentioned, God points out truth and falsehood, that is, [He points out] the similitude thereof. As for the scum, of the flood and of the minerals smelted, it passes away as dross, useless refuse, while that which is of use to mankind, in the way of water and minerals, lingers, remains, in the earth, for a time: likewise, falsehood wanes and is [eventually] effaced, even if it should prevail over the truth at certain times. Truth, on the other hand, is established and enduring. Thus, in the way mentioned, God strikes, He makes clear, similitudes.

For those who respond to their Lord, [those who] answer Him, by way of obedience, there shall be the goodly reward, Paradise, and those who do not respond to Him, namely the disbelievers — if they possessed all that is in the earth, and therewith the like of it, they would offer it to redeem themselves therewith, against the chastisement. For such there shall be an awful reckoning, and that is that they will be requited for every single thing they did, none of which will be forgiven, and their abode shall be Hell, an evil resting place, it is!

The following was revealed regarding Hamza and Abū Jahl: Is he who knows that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and so believes in it, like him who is blind?, and does not know it, nor believes in it? No! But only people of pith, possessors of intellect, remember, heed [such admonitions];

such as fulfil God’s covenant, [meaning] the one that was taken from them while they were still atoms — or [meaning] any covenant — and do not break the pact, by abandoning belief, or [religious] obligations;