THIS CHAPTER was revealed after Sincerity (OR [God's] Oneness) 112, and before He Frowned! 80. It consists of three sections contain total of 62 early Meccan verses, except for v. 32 which dates from Ma The star referred to is variously stated to be either the morning and star which is called Venus in Western terminology, or else the dogs Sirius mentioned in III, or perhaps the cluster of the Pleiades.
This chapter too is mystical and soaring in spirit, for it concerns the Miraj or Ascension of the Prophet which is also described at the beginning of The Night Journey 17 (I). The first section announces Muhammad's call to prophethood and explains how intercession is of no avail; while the second emphasizes that God is Just. The complete vision is superb and should be studied carefully for inspiration.
In the name of God, the Mercy-giving, the Merciful!
(I)* By The Star as it sets, * your companion
has neither strayed nor is he misguided.
* He does not speak from some whim;
* it is merely inspiration
that is revealed [to him].
The Sublime Vision
** Someone firm in strength has taught him,
someone possessing such ability
that he soared up * and stood,
poised at the highest [point on the] horizon.
* Then he approached and came right down,
* and stood two bow-lengths off
or even closer. ** He inspired
whatever he inspired in His servant.
* His vitals did not deny whatever he saw.
* Yet will you (all) distrust him
about what he [actually] saw?
* He saw him in another descent
* near the Hawthorne on the Boundary
** alongside the Garden of Repose.
* When whatever covered the Hawthorn
covered it, * his eyesight did not falter
nor was it carried away. * He saw
some of his Lord's greatest signs!
Futile Goddesses
* Have you (all) considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, ** and Manat the other [who ranks] in third place? * Do you have sons while He has daughters? * That would then be an unfair attribution! * They are only some names which you and your forefathers have called them; God has not sent down any authority for them. They merely follow conjecture and something their souls fancy.
Yet guidance has already reached them from their Lord. * Or may man have anything he hankers for? ** Yet God still holds the Last as well as the First!
Intercession Does Not Help
(II) * How many angels are there in Heaven whose intercession does not help in any way except after God permits it, for whomever He wishes and approves of? * The ones who do not believe in the Hereafter call the angels by the names of females. Yet they have no knowledge about it; they only follow guesswork. Conjecture will not help out in any way against the Truth, * so shun anyone who avoids mentioning Us and only wants [to enjoy] worldly life; ** that will be their range of knowledge.
God is Just
Your Lord is quite Aware as to who has strayed from His path, just as He is quite Aware as to who is guided; * God possesses whatever is in Heaven and whatever is on Earth, so He may reward the ones who commit evil according to whatever they have done while He rewards the ones who act kindly with [equal] kindness.
* Those who refrain from the greatest vices and sexual offences, except for oversights (will find] your Lord is Boundless when it comes to forgiveness.
He was quite Aware of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were still embryos in your mothers' wombs. Do not try to justify yourselves; He is quite Aware as to who has done his duty.
(III) * Have you seen someone who turns away? * He has given little, and even skimps at that! ** Has he such knowledge about the Unseen that he can (actually) see [it]? * Or has he not been notified about what was on Moses' scrolls * and on Abraham's, who always kept his word:
*"That no burdened soul shall bear another's burden.
*That everyman receives only what he makes an effort for:
**so his effort shall be noticed;
*then he will be rewarded to the fullest extent.
Moses' and Abraham's Message: Cause and Effect
*"And that towards your Lord lies the final End; * and He makes (us) both laugh and cry; * He brings death and grants life. ** He has createdboth sexes, male and female, * from a drop of semen which has been ejected. * On Him [rests your] next appearance.
* "He grants wealth and riches;
* He is even Lord of the Dogstar!
** "Yet He wiped out the first [nation] of Ad * and Thamud, and left nothing over, * and even Noah's folk previously, who had been most unjust and arrogant. * And he fell upon the Overthrown [Towns], * and covered them up with whatever covered them."
** So which of your Lord's benefits will you distrust? * This is a warner just like the early warners. * What is imminent is approaching; * there is nothing besides God to remove it!
BOW DOWN HERE
* Are you amazed at this report? ** You laugh, and do not
weep * while you hold your heads so high!
* Bow down on your knees to God
and worship [Him]!
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Published with authorization from Dr.T.B.Irving.