Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary (in progress)
وَتَحۡمِلُ أَثۡقَالَكُمۡ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٖ لَّمۡ تَكُونُواْ بَٰلِغِيهِ إِلَّا بِشِقِّ ٱلۡأَنفُسِۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكُمۡ لَرَءُوفٞ رَّحِيمٞ
[3218] Especially, the camels in the Arabian Peninsula (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn ʿĀshūr) but also oxen in other parts of the world (cf. Ibn Abī Zamanīn, al-Shinqīṭī, al-ʿAdhb al-Namīr).
[3219] People and their luggage (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr).
[3220] Shiqqu al-anfusi (lit. the breaking of the breath) is the state human beings experience after exerting great effort when they can hardly draw breath (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt).
وَٱلۡخَيۡلَ وَٱلۡبِغَالَ وَٱلۡحَمِيرَ لِتَرۡكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةٗۚ وَيَخۡلُقُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
[3221] Cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr.
[3222] They are both eye-pleasing in and of themselves (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr) and impart adornment to their riders (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar).
[3223] This could be with regards to the creatures mentioned here themselves, i.e. that God’s creation is not to be thought of as limited to them, or specifically their usage for riding and transportation (cf. a-Ṭabarī, al-Bayḍāwī, al-Khāzin, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar). Latter-day exegetes, notably, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Saʿdī and al-Shinqīṭī, see that it could also include modern-day means of transportation (cars, planes and trains).
وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ قَصۡدُ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَمِنۡهَا جَآئِرٞۚ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ لَهَدَىٰكُمۡ أَجۡمَعِينَ
[3224] Now that the physical roads that people ride on their mounts to travel to reach their destinations have been mentioned, the great bounty of the abstract ‘straight path’ that God makes clear in the Qur’an to reach His Pleasure, is no less germanely, turned to (cf. Ibn Kathīr).
[3225] This translation is a reflection of the choice of most exegetes (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Qurṭubī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ) for the meaning of the Arabic wording, ʿalā Allah-i qaṣd al-sabīl. An equally strong interpretation, held by such exegetes as Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī, sees it to mean: “the taking of the ˹straight˺ path leads to Allah”; “verily my Lord is on a Straight Path!” (11: 56).
[3226] Jā’ir (lit. tilted) is the opposite of straight leading (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt): “Indeed this is My path, Straight, so follow it and do not follow the ˹diverse˺ roads and get driven away from His road; that He bade you so that you may become Mindful!” (6: 153).
[3227] God Almighty guides whomever He wills with favour and misguides whomever He wills with justice (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Shawkānī, al-Saʿdī). The blighted are those who are heedless of God’s Signs and warnings (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Saʿdī): “Had your Lord wished, the dwellers of Earth, all of them together, would Believe; do you ˹Muhammad˺ force people ˹in spite of themselves˺ till they become Believers! *It is not for a soul to Believe except by Allah’s permission; and He places blight over those who mind not!” (10: 99-100).
هُوَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءٗۖ لَّكُم مِّنۡهُ شَرَابٞ وَمِنۡهُ شَجَرٞ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ
[3228] This passage details further bounties from God that people are to be rightfully mindful of and grateful for (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar). Note that the adverbial phrase lakum (for you) is repeated in the next four ayas by way of underscoring the bounties that God Almighty has provided people with.
[3229] Water is the greatest bounty after that of creation; it is essential for the sustenance of life for both humans and their animals, as well as the fruits and crops that need it for growth (cf. Abū Ḥayyān).
[3230] Shajar literally means trees, but by extension it means all the vegetation that grows after rain; all that grows on the ground is shajar (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz).
يُنۢبِتُ لَكُم بِهِ ٱلزَّرۡعَ وَٱلزَّيۡتُونَ وَٱلنَّخِيلَ وَٱلۡأَعۡنَٰبَ وَمِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَةٗ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
[3231] The examples of plants given here were to the Arabs at the time of revelation their most used staple foods (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar). Such an assortment of products is also given here to highlight the great wonder that although all these are irrigated with the same water, they come in different kinds, tastes, smells, colours and shapes (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[3232] Āyah (Sign) is singular here because all of these products are the result of one thing, i.e. the water that God Almighty sends down from the sky (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar), thus they are included within this one Sign (cf. Ibn al-Qayyim, Miftāḥ Dār al-Saʿādah, 1: 213).
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ ٱلَّيۡلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ وَٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَۖ وَٱلنُّجُومُ مُسَخَّرَٰتُۢ بِأَمۡرِهِۦٓۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَٰتٖ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَعۡقِلُونَ
[3233] The day in which people go about their living and the night during which they get rest are great bounties of God’s: “Say: “Would you not see that if Allah were to make the night perpetually unceasing over you till the Day of Judgement, what god besides Allah could bring you light; will you not listen!” *Say: “Would you not see that if Allah were to make the day perpetually unceasing over you till the Day of Judgement, what god besides Allah could bring you night in which you rest; will you not see!” *Out of His Mercy He made night and day for you, so that you may rest in it ˹the former˺ and seek out His favour ˹during the latter˺; will you be thankful!” (28: 71-73).
This much are the sun and the moon by which people find their ways, know about time and timings, and whereby the sun ripens crops. They are unceasingly co-orbiting along with the Earth bringing with them renewed benefits to humans, livestock and crops (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr): “He is the One Who made the sun a glow and the moon a light and ordained for it stations so that you ˹may˺ know the number of years and calculation ˹of time˺. Never has Allah created that except for the Truth; He details the Signs for those who attain knowledge. *Verily in the alternation of night and day, and whatever Allah has created in the Heavens and Earth are Signs for the Mindful ones” (10: 5-6).
[3234] The stars and their stations are crucial for people to know the directions to exact locations in the darkness of the sea and the land (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Baghawī, Ibn Kathīr): “He is the One Who made the stars for you ˹as Signs˺ so that you may find the way through them amid the ˹deep˺ darkness of the land and sea—indeed We have detailed the Signs to those who ˹really˺ know!” (6: 97).
وَمَا ذَرَأَ لَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُخۡتَلِفًا أَلۡوَٰنُهُۥٓۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَةٗ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَذَّكَّرُونَ
[3235] The landmark bounties scattered all over the sky are no less matched by those to be found in the land; be they animals, minerals, plants and inanimate objects (cf. Ibn Kathīr). These are of different colours, shapes, types and benefits (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Qurṭubī): “He is the One Who fashioned gardens, trellised and untrellised, palm dates and greenery of various edibles, and olive and pomegranate resembling each other but are not similar, eat ˹you˺ of its fruits when it yields and give out the given right out of it on the day of its harvest; and do not squander, for He does not like the squanderers” (6: 141).
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِي سَخَّرَ ٱلۡبَحۡرَ لِتَأۡكُلُواْ مِنۡهُ لَحۡمٗا طَرِيّٗا وَتَسۡتَخۡرِجُواْ مِنۡهُ حِلۡيَةٗ تَلۡبَسُونَهَاۖ وَتَرَى ٱلۡفُلۡكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ وَلِتَبۡتَغُواْ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦ وَلَعَلَّكُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ
[3236] The sea being no less important than both the sky and the land, has also been subjected by God Almighty for the benefit of humans (cf. Abū Ḥayyān).
[3237] Such is the extent of the subjection of the sea, that people are able to get out of it such succulent, perfectly palatable flesh as that of fish when the water they live off and die in is so saline and unpalatable (cf. al-Rāzī, al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar). Food is the most salient benefit of the sea, so much so that this is emphasized above the other benefits (cf. Abū Ḥayyān). Bringing out such opposites from each other violates the nature of things and, thus, is indicative of a Sign of the Ability of the Creator (cf. al-Rāzī).
[3238] “Out of both come forth pearls and coral!” (55: 22).
[3239] Mawākhira (translated here as cavitating) describes both the manner and sound of how these vessels travel: their breaking through water (ploughing) and the sound produced as a result of it (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Sijistānī, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Zamakhsharī, Asās al-Balāghah, 2: 198).
[3240] Yet another great sign and bounty from God, that ships and vessels, heavy as they are, run smoothly on the face of as delicate a substance as water without sinking (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Khāzin, Ibn Kathīr): “And among His Signs are the ships that sail like ˹floating˺ mountains through the seas; * if He so wills, He stills the wind, and then they lie motionless on its surface - ˹and˺ herein, there are signs indeed for all who are wholly patient ˹in adversity˺ and deeply grateful ˹to Allah˺; *or He can wreck them ˹the ships˺ for what they ˹people˺ have committed—though He forgives much!” (42: 32-34).
[3241] By the grace of God Almighty, the benefits of the sea are immeasurable and, thus, especially merit thankfulness and gratitude (cf. Abū al-Suʿūd, al-Saʿdī).
