هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنْسَانِ حِينٌ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْئًا مَذْكُورًا HAS THERE [not] been an endless span of time before man [appeared – a time] when he was not yet a thing to be thought of? (1) إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا Verily, it is We who have created man out of a drop of sperm intermingled, so that We might try him [in his later life]: and therefore We made him a being endowed with hearing and sight. (2) إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا Verily, We have shown him the way: [and it rests with him to prove himself] either grateful or ungrateful. (3) إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ سَلَاسِلَ وَأَغْلَالًا وَسَعِيرًا [Now,] behold, for those who deny the truth We have readied chains and shackles, and a blazing flame (4) إِنَّ الْأَبْرَارَ يَشْرَبُونَ مِنْ كَأْسٍ كَانَ مِزَاجُهَا كَافُورًا [whereas,] behold, the truly virtuous shall drink from a cup flavoured with the calyx of sweet-smelling flowers: (5) عَيْنًا يَشْرَبُ بِهَا عِبَادُ اللَّهِ يُفَجِّرُونَهَا تَفْجِيرًا a source [of bliss] whereof God's servants shall drink, seeing it flow in a flow abundant. (6) يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِ وَيَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا كَانَ شَرُّهُ مُسْتَطِيرًا [The truly virtuous are] they [who] fulfil their vows, and stand in awe of a Day the woe of which is bound to spread far and wide, (7) وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا and who give food – however great be their own want of it – unto the needy, and the orphan, and the captive, (8) إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنْكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا [saying, in their hearts,] "We feed you for the sake of God alone: we desire no recompense from you, nor thanks: (9) إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِنْ رَبِّنَا يَوْمًا عَبُوسًا قَمْطَرِيرًا behold, we stand in awe of our Sustainer's judgment on a distressful, fateful Day!" (10) |
Abdullah Yusuf Ali Has there not been5830 over Man a long period of Time,5831 when he was nothing - (not even) mentioned? (Translation) 5830. The undoubted fact is mentioned in the form of a question, to get the assent of man. It is certain that the physical world existed long before man was ever heard of or mentioned, as geological records prove. It is also true that the spiritual world existed long before man came on the scene: see 2:30-31. Man is here taken in a generic sense. 5831. Dahr is Time as a whole, or for a long period. Time used to be deified by the Pagan Arabs, as explained in the Introduction to this Surah. An analogy can be found in the Greek ideas connected with Chronos or Kronos, themselves a blend of different myths. Kronos (or Time), they said, was the father of Zeus himself. Buy this commentary from Amazon  .Other Translations of Verse : • Has there not been over Man a long period of Time, when he was nothing - (not even) mentioned? (Abdullah Yusuf Ali) • Hath there come upon man (ever) any period of time in which he was a thing unremembered? (Mohamed Marmaduke Pickthall) • There surely came over man a period of time when he was a thing not worth mentioning. (M. H. Shakir) • Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was nothing to be mentioned? (Taqiuddin Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan) • Surely there hath come upon man a space of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning. (Abdul-Majid Daryabadi) • Indeed, there came upon the human a period of time when he was an unremembered thing. (Hassan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish) • Has there come on Man a while of time when he was not a thing to be remembered? (Muhammad Ayub Khan) • There has, certainly, come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning. (Sher Ali) • HAS THERE [not] been an endless span of time before man [appeared – a time] when he was not yet a thing to be thought of? (Muhammad Asad) • Has there come on man a while of time when he was a thing unremembered? (Arthur John Arberry) |