46Al-'AḥqāfالأحقافVerse 1 of 35

The Wind-Curved Sandhills46. Al-'Aḥqāfالأحقاف

Al-'Aḥqāf

al-Aḥqāf

The Sandhills

Meccan35 verses46 / 114

46

Page 502

ḥ-m (ḥā mīm)

Ha, Meem.

— Ali Quli Qarai

tanzīlu l-kitābi mina llāhi l-ʿazīzi l-ḥakīmi

The [gradual] sending down of the Book is from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise.

— Ali Quli Qarai

mā khalaqnā s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍa wa-mā baynahumā ʾillā bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-ʾajalin musamman wa-lladhīna kafarū ʿammā ʾundhirū muʿriḍūna

We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them except with consummate wisdom and for a specified term. Yet the faithless are disregardful of what they are warned.

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul ʾa-raʾaytum mā tadʿūna min dūni llāhi ʾarūnī mādhā khalaqū mina l-ʾarḍi ʾam lahum shirkun fī s-samāwāti ʾtūnī bi-kitābin min qabli hādhā ʾaw ʾathāratin min ʿilmin ʾin kuntum ṣādiqīna

Say, ‘Tell me about those you invoke besides Allah. Show me what [part] of the earth have they created. Do they have any share in the heavens? Bring me a scripture [revealed] before this, or some vestige of [divine] knowledge, if you are truthful.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-man ʾaḍallu mimman yadʿū min dūni llāhi man lā yastajību lahū ʾilā yawmi l-qiyāmati wa-hum ʿan duʿāʾihim ghāfilūna

Who is more astray than him who invokes besides Allah such [entities] as would not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and who are oblivious of their invocation?

— Ali Quli Qarai

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wa-ʾidhā ḥushira n-nāsu kānū lahum ʾaʿdāʾan wa-kānū bi-ʿibādatihim kāfirīna

When mankind are mustered [on Judgement’s Day] they will be their enemies, and they will disavow their worship.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾidhā tutlā ʿalayhim ʾāyātunā bayyinātin qāla lladhīna kafarū li-l-ḥaqqi lammā jāʾahum hādhā ṣiḥrun mubīnun

When Our manifest signs are recited to them, the faithless say of the truth when it comes to them: ‘This is plain magic.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾam yaqūlūna ftarāhu qul ʾini ftaraytuhū fa-lā tamlikūna lī mina llāhi shayʾan huwa ʾaʿlamu bi-mā tufīḍūna fīhi kafā bihī shahīdan baynī wa-baynakum wa-huwa l-ghafūru r-raḥīmu

Or they say, ‘He has fabricated it.’ Say, ‘Should I have fabricated it, you would not avail me anything against Allah. He best knows what you gossip concerning it. He suffices as a witness between me and you, and He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul mā kuntu bidʿan mina r-rusuli wa-mā ʾadrī mā yufʿalu bī wa-lā bikum ʾin ʾattabiʿu ʾillā mā yūḥā ʾilayya wa-mā ʾana ʾillā nadhīrun mubīnun

Say, ‘I am not a novelty among the apostles, nor do I know what will be done with me, or with you. I just follow whatever is revealed to me, and I am just a manifest warner.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul ʾa-raʾaytum ʾin kāna min ʿindi llāhi wa-kafartum bihī wa-shahida shāhidun min banī ʾisrāʾīla ʿalā mithlihī fa-ʾāmana wa-stakbartum ʾinna llāha lā yahdī l-qawma ẓ-ẓālimīna

Say, ‘Tell me, if it is from Allah and you disbelieve in it, and a witness from the Children of Israel has testified to its like and believed [in it], while you are disdainful [of it]?’ Indeed Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-qāla lladhīna kafarū li-lladhīna ʾāmanū law kāna khayran mā sabaqūnā ʾilayhi wa-ʾidh lam yahtadū bihī fa-sa-yaqūlūna hādhā ʾifkun qadīmun

The faithless say about the faithful, ‘Had it been [anything] good, they would not have taken the lead over us toward [accepting] it.’ And since they could not find the way to it, they will say, ‘It is an ancient lie.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-min qablihī kitābu mūsā ʾimāman wa-raḥmatan wa-hādhā kitābun muṣaddiqun lisānan ʿarabiyyan li-yundhira lladhīna ẓalamū wa-bushrā li-l-muḥsinīna

Yet before it the Book of Moses was a guide and mercy, and this is a Book in the Arabic language, which confirms it, [sent] to warn the wrongdoers, and is a [bearer of] good news for the virtuous.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾinna lladhīna qālū rabbunā llāhu thumma staqāmū fa-lā khawfun ʿalayhim wa-lā hum yaḥzanūna

Those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then remain steadfast, they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾulāʾika ʾaṣḥābu l-jannati khālidīna fīhā jazāʾan bi-mā kānū yaʿmalūna

They shall be the inhabitants of paradise, remaining in it [forever]—a reward for what they used to do.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 504

wa-waṣṣaynā l-ʾinsāna bi-wālidayhi ʾiḥsānan ḥamalathu ʾummuhū kurhan wa-waḍaʿathu kurhan wa-ḥamluhū wa-fiṣāluhū thalāthūna shahran ḥattā ʾidhā balagha ʾashuddahū wa-balagha ʾarbaʿīna sanatan qāla rabbi ʾawziʿnī ʾan ʾashkura niʿmataka llatī ʾanʿamta ʿalayya wa-ʿalā wālidayya wa-ʾan ʾaʿmala ṣāliḥan tarḍāhu wa-ʾaṣliḥ lī fī dhurriyyatī ʾinnī tubtu ʾilayka wa-ʾinnī mina l-muslimīna

We have enjoined man to be kind to his parents. His mother has carried him in travail, and bore him in travail, and his gestation and weaning take thirty months. When he comes of age and reaches forty years, he says, ‘My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which please You, and invest my descendants with righteousness. Indeed I have turned to you in penitence, and I am one of the Muslims.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾulāʾika lladhīna nataqabbalu ʿanhum ʾaḥsana mā ʿamilū wa-natajāwazu ʿan sayyiʾātihim fī ʾaṣḥābi l-jannati waʿda ṣ-ṣidqi lladhī kānū yūʿadūna

Such are the ones from whom We accept the best of what they do, and overlook their misdeeds, [who will be] among the inhabitants of paradise—a true promise which they had been given.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-lladhī qāla li-wālidayhi ʾuffin lakumā ʾa-taʿidāninī ʾan ʾukhraja wa-qad khalati l-qurūnu min qablī wa-humā yastaghīthāni llāha waylaka ʾāmin ʾinna waʿda llāhi ḥaqqun fa-yaqūlu mā hādhā ʾillā ʾasāṭīru l-ʾawwalīna

As for him who says to his parents, ‘Fie on you! Do you promise me that I shall be raised [from the dead] when generations have passed away before me?’ And they invoke Allah’s help [and say]: ‘Woe to you! Believe! Indeed Allah’s promise is true.’ But he says, ‘These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾulāʾika lladhīna ḥaqqa ʿalayhimu l-qawlu fī ʾumamin qad khalat min qablihim mina l-jinni wa-l-ʾinsi ʾinnahum kānū khāsirīna

Such are the ones against whom the word has become due, along with the nations of jinn and humans that have passed away before them. They were the losers.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-li-kullin darajātun mimmā ʿamilū wa-li-yuwaffiyahum ʾaʿmālahum wa-hum lā yuẓlamūna

For everyone there are degrees [of merit] pertaining to what he has done: He will recompense them fully for their works, and they will not be wronged.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yawma yuʿraḍu lladhīna kafarū ʿalā n-nāri ʾadhhabtum ṭayyibātikum fī ḥayātikumu d-dunyā wa-stamtaʿtum bihā fa-l-yawma tujzawna ʿadhāba l-hūni bi-mā kuntum tastakbirūna fī l-ʾarḍi bi-ghayri l-ḥaqqi wa-bi-mā kuntum tafsuqūna

The day when the faithless are exposed to the Fire, [they will be told,] ‘You have exhausted your good things in the life of the world and enjoyed them. So today you will be requited with a humiliating punishment for your acting arrogantly in the earth unduly, and because you used to transgress.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 505

wa-dhkur ʾakhā ʿādin ʾidh ʾandhara qawmahū bi-l-ʾaḥqāfi wa-qad khalati n-nudhuru min bayni yadayhi wa-min khalfihī ʾallā taʿbudū ʾillā llāha ʾinnī ʾakhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīmin

And mention [Hud] the brother of ‘Ad, when he warned his people at Ahqaf—and warners have passed away before and after him—saying, ‘Do not worship anyone but Allah. Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qālū ʾa-jiʾtanā li-taʾfikanā ʿan ʾālihatinā fa-ʾtinā bi-mā taʿidunā ʾin kunta mina ṣ-ṣādiqīna

They said, ‘Have you come to turn us away from our gods? Then bring us what you threaten us with, if you are truthful.

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾinnamā l-ʿilmu ʿinda llāhi wa-ʾuballighukum mā ʾursiltu bihī wa-lākinnī ʾarākum qawman tajhalūna

He said, ‘The knowledge [of when that threat will be carried out] is with Allah alone. I communicate to you what I have been sent with. But I see that you are a senseless lot.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-lammā raʾawhu ʿāriḍan mustaqbila ʾawdiyatihim qālū hādhā ʿāriḍun mumṭirunā bal huwa mā staʿjaltum bihī rīhun fīhā ʿadhābun ʾalīmun

When they saw it as a cloud advancing toward their valleys, they said, ‘This cloud brings us rain.’ ‘No, it is what you sought to hasten: a hurricane carrying a painful punishment,

— Ali Quli Qarai

tudammiru kulla shayʾin bi-ʾamri rabbihā fa-ʾaṣbaḥū lā yurā ʾillā masākinuhum ka-dhālika najzī l-qawma l-mujrimīna

destroying everything by its Lord’s command.’ So they became such that nothing could be seen except their dwellings. Thus do We requite the guilty lot.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-la-qad makkannāhum fī-mā ʾin makkannākum fīhi wa-jaʿalnā lahum samʿan wa-ʾabṣāran wa-ʾafʾidatan fa-mā ʾaghnā ʿanhum samʿuhum wa-lā ʾabṣāruhum wa-lā ʾafʾidatuhum min shayʾin ʾidh kānū yajḥadūna bi-ʾāyāti llāhi wa-ḥāqa bihim mā kānū bihī yastahziʾūna

Certainly We had granted them power in respects that We have not granted you, and We had vested them with hearing and sight and hearts. But neither their hearing availed them in any way nor did their sight, nor their hearts when they used to impugn the signs of Allah. So they were besieged by what they used to deride.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-la-qad ʾahlaknā mā ḥawlakum mina l-qurā wa-ṣarrafnā l-ʾāyāti laʿallahum yarjiʿūna

Certainly We have destroyed the towns that were around you, and We have variously paraphrased the signs so that they may come back.

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-law-lā naṣarahumu lladhīna ttakhadhū min dūni llāhi qurbānan ʾālihatan bal ḍallū ʿanhum wa-dhālika ʾifkuhum wa-mā kānū yaftarūna

So why did not those [fake deities] help them whom they had taken as gods besides Allah, as a means of nearness [to Him]? Indeed, they forsook them; that was their lie and what they used to fabricate.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 506

wa-ʾidh ṣarafnā ʾilayka nafaran mina l-jinni yastamiʿūna l-qurʾāna fa-lammā ḥaḍarūhu qālū ʾanṣitū fa-lammā quḍiya wallaw ʾilā qawmihim mundhirīna

When We dispatched toward you a team of jinn listening to the Quran, when they were in its presence, they said, ‘Be silent!’ When it was finished, they went back to their people as warners.

— Ali Quli Qarai

qālū yā-qawmanā ʾinnā samiʿnā kitāban ʾunzila min baʿdi mūsā muṣaddiqan li-mā bayna yadayhi yahdī ʾilā l-ḥaqqi wa-ʾilā ṭarīqin mustaqīmin

They said, ‘O our people! Indeed, we have heard a Book, which has been sent down after Moses, confirming what was before it. It guides to the truth and to a straight path.

— Ali Quli Qarai

yā-qawmanā ʾajībū dāʿiya llāhi wa-ʾāminū bihī yaghfir lakum min dhunūbikum wa-yujirkum min ʿadhābin ʾalīmin

O our people! Respond to Allah’s summoner and have faith in Him. He will forgive you some of your sins and shelter you from a painful punishment.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-man lā yujib dāʿiya llāhi fa-laysa bi-muʿjizin fī l-ʾarḍi wa-laysa lahū min dūnihī ʾawliyāʾu ʾulāʾika fī ḍalālin mubīnin

Those who do not respond to Allah’s summoner cannot frustrate [Allah] on the earth, and they will not find any protectors besides Him. They are in manifest error.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾa-wa-lam yaraw ʾanna llāha lladhī khalaqa s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍa wa-lam yaʿya bi-khalqihinna bi-qādirin ʿalā ʾan yuḥyiya l-mawtā balā ʾinnahū ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīrun

Do they not see that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and [who] was not exhausted by their creation, is able to revive the dead? Yes, indeed He has power over all things.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yawma yuʿraḍu lladhīna kafarū ʿalā n-nāri ʾa-laysa hādhā bi-l-ḥaqqi qālū balā wa-rabbinā qāla fa-dhūqū l-ʿadhāba bi-mā kuntum takfurūna

The day when the faithless are exposed to the Fire, [He will say,] ‘Is this not a fact?’ They will say, ‘Yes, by our Lord!’ He will say, ‘So taste the punishment because of what you used to disbelieve.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-ṣbir ka-mā ṣabara ʾulū l-ʿazmi mina r-rusuli wa-lā tastaʿjil lahum ka-ʾannahum yawma yarawna mā yūʿadūna lam yalbathū ʾillā sāʿatan min nahārin balāghun fa-hal yuhlaku ʾillā l-qawmu l-fāsiqūna

So be patient just as the resolute among the apostles were patient, and do not seek to hasten [the punishment] for them. The day when they see what they are promised, [it will be] as though they had remained [in the world] only an hour of a day. This is a proclamation. So shall anyone be destroyed except the transgressing lot?

— Ali Quli Qarai