6. Al-An'aam

They, that is, the Jews, measured not God with His true measure, that is, they have not extended Him the grandeur that truly befits Him, or [it means] they have not attained the true knowledge of Him, when they said, to the Prophet (s), disputing with him about the Qur’ān: ‘God has not revealed anything to any mortal.’ Say, to them: ‘Who revealed the Book which Moses brought, a light and guidance for mankind? You put it (in all three instances [the verbs may be] read either in the third person plural [yaj‘alūnahu, ‘they put it’; yubdūnahā, ‘they reveal it’; wa-yukhfūna, ‘and they hide’] or in the second person plural [taj‘alūnahu, ‘you put it’; tubdūnahā, ‘you reveal it’; wa-tukhfūna, ‘and you hide’]) on parchments, that is, you write it down on fragments of notes, which you disclose, that is, what you choose to disclose thereof, but you hide much, of what is in them, as in [the case of] the descriptions of Muhammad (s); and you have been taught, O Jews, in the Qur’ān, what you did not know, neither you nor your fathers’, in the Torah, through the elucidation therein of what you were confused about and in disagreement over. Say: ‘God’, revealed it — and if they do not say it, there is no other response — then leave them to play in their discourse, their falsehood.

And this, Qur’ān, is a blessed Book We have revealed, confirming that which was before it, of scriptures, and that you may warn (li-tundhira, or read li-yundhira, ‘that it may warn’, as supplement to the import of the preceding statement [sc. ‘to confirm that which was before it and to warn’]), in other words, We have revealed it for [the] blessings [it gives], as a vindication [of previous scripture] and for you to warn therewith, the Mother of Towns and those around it, that is, the inhabitants of Mecca and all other people; and those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they observe their prayers, fearing the punishment thereof.

And who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who invents lies against God, by claiming prophethood when he has not been called to it, or who says, ‘It is revealed to me’, when nothing has been revealed to him — this was revealed regarding [the false prophet] Musaylama [al-Kadhdhāb] — or he who says, ‘I will reveal the like of what God has revealed’? — these were the mockers who would say: If we wish we can speak the like of this [Q. 8:31]; If you could only see, O Muhammad (s), when the, mentioned, evildoers are in the agonies, the throes, of death and the angels extend their hands, against them, beating and torturing them, saying to them in stern censure: ‘Give up your souls!, to us that we may seize them. Today you shall be requited with the chastisement of humiliation because you used to say about God other than the truth, of claiming prophethood and inspiration falsely, and that you used to scorn His signs’, disdaining to believe in them. The response to the conditional [statement beginning with] law, ‘if [you could only see]’, is: ‘you would be seeing a terrifying thing’.

And, it is said to them upon their resurrection: ‘And now you have come to Us singly, each alone without family, possessions or children, as We created you the first time, that is, barefoot, naked and with foreskins, and you have left what We conferred on you, of wealth, behind your backs, in the world, without you having any choice; and — it is said to them in rebuke — We do not see with you your intercessors, the idols, whom you claimed to be associates, of God, amongst you, that is, in deserving your worship; it has been severed between you, that is to say, your bond has been dissolved (a variant reading [for baynukum, ‘your union’] has baynakum, ‘between you’, making it an adverbial qualifier, that is, the bond ‘between you’ [has been severed]’), and that, intercession of theirs, which you claimed, in the world, has failed, abandoned, you’.

God it is Who splits the grain, from the plants, and the date-stone, from the palm-trees. He brings forth the living from the dead, such as the human being from the sperm, and the bird from the egg; and is the Bringer-forth of the dead, the sperm and the egg, from the living. That, Splitter and Bringer-forth, is God. How then are you deluded?, so how then are you turned away from faith, despite the proof being established?

He is the Cleaver of the daybreak (al-isbāh is the verbal noun, meaning al-subh, ‘dawn’), in other words, He splits the morning shaft, the first light that appears after the darkness of night, and He has appointed the night for stillness, in which creatures rest from toil, and the sun and the moon (read both in the accusative, wa’l-shamsa wa’l-qamara, as a supplement to the [syntactical] status of al-layla, ‘the night’) for reckoning, for the calculation of [periods of] time (or [if the prefixed preposition] bā’ is [considered to have been] omitted [bi-husbān], making it [husbān] a circumstantial qualifier referring to an implied verb [such as yajriyān, ‘they follow courses’], that is, ‘they follow courses precisely calculated [bi-husbān]’, as is stated in the verse of [sūrat] al-Rahmān [Q. 55:5]).That, mentioned, is the ordaining of the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Knowing, of His creation.

And He it is Who appointed for you the stars that you may guide your course by them amid the darkness of land and sea, when travelling. Verily We have distinguished, We have elucidated, the signs, the proofs of Our power, for a people who have knowledge, [a people] who reflect.

And He it is Who produced you, created you, from a single soul, namely, Adam, such that some, of you, are established, in the womb, and some, of you, are deposited, in the loins (a variant reading [of mustaqirrun, ‘established’] has mustaqarrun, that is, a resting place for you). Verily We have distinguished the signs for a people who understand, what is being said to them.

And He it is Who sent down water from the heaven and therewith, with the water, We bring forth (there is a shift away from the third [to the second person in this address]) plants of every kind, that produces shoots, and therefrom, from the shoots, We bring forth, some, verdure, meaning ‘the greens’ [in other words, vegetation], bringing forth from it, from the verdure, thick-clustered grain, in dense clusters — such as the spikes of wheat and the like — and from the palm-tree (wa-mina’l-nakhli is the predicate, and is substituted by [the following, min tal‘ihā, ‘from its pollen’]) from its pollen — that which is the first to be produced by it — spring bunches of dates (qinwānun is the subject of the sentence), stalks with date clusters, bunched up, one near the other, and, We bring forth from it, gardens, orchards, of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, the leaves of both [of these] being, similar (mushtabihan is a circumstantial qualifier), but, the fruits of which are, not alike. Look, O you addressed, in reflection, upon their fruits (read thamarihi or thumurihi, the plural of thamara, like shajara, ‘tree’, [as plural of] shajar, and khashaba, ‘[a piece of] wood’, for khashab) when they have borne fruit, when this first begins, how it looks, and, [look] upon, their ripening, after they have reached full growth, and the state to which they return. Surely, in all that are signs, proofs of His power, exalted be He, to resurrect and to do all other things, for a people who believe: it is these [people] that are specifically mentioned because they are the ones to profit from those [signs] by their believing in them, in contrast to the disbelievers.

Yet they ascribe to God (li’Llāhi, the indirect object) as associates (shurakā’a, the direct object, which is substituted by [the following, al-jinn]) the jinn, since they obey them by worshipping graven images, even though He created them: so how can they be associates? And they falsely impute to Him (read kharaqū or kharraqū), that is, they invent, sons and daughters without any knowledge, saying, Ezra (‘Uzayr) is the son of God, and the angels are the daughters of God. Glory be to Him — an affirmation of His transcendence — and exalted be He above what they describe!, of Him having a child.