An Interpretation of the Qur'an: English Translation of the Meanings

APPENDIX-I

INDEX OF SÛRAHS — CHAPTERS

Introduction

The Qur’an is the sacred scripture of Islam. It consists of 114 Surahs or chapters which are divided into ayat or verses. Most of the Surahs were revealed piecemeal to Muhammad ( ) during the two periods of his Call: the Meccan period (610-622A.D.) and the Medinan period (622-632A.D.).

The Meccan Surahs, which belong to the period of struggle against the Prophet’s own tribe of Quraysh in Mecca, are written in an incisive and impassioned style and proclaim in a fiery tone the imminence of the Hour and the horrors of Hell-fire. They summon mankind to heed the divine call with which Muhammad ( ), the Messenger of God, is charged and which centres on the profession of the unqualified oneness and sovereignty of God and the urgency of returning to the true (hanif) religion of Abraham, founder of the Sacred Shrine of the Ka’ba in Mecca. This hanif religion, having been corrupted over the years by idolatry and other pagan practices, was now being revived and cleansed by Muhammad ( ), whose spiritual call in the Qur’an is described for that reason as reviving or confirming the original or pure monotheism of Abraham. Even Jews and Christians, referred to as the People of the Book since they were recipients of a true revelation they are said to have corrupted, are summoned in the Qur’an to adhere to the only true revelation sent down to Muhammad ( ).

This revelation, according to the Qur’an, has existed since all time in the Preserve Tablet (Surah 85/22) or the Mother of the Book (Surah 13/39) and was communicated to Muhammad ( ) through the Angel Gabriel (Jibril) in pure Arabic, so as to instruct his own people and through them the rest of mankind. It is believed by Muslims to be the infallible Word of God (Kalam Allah).

The earliest revelation came to Muhammad ( ) at the age of forty, as he was absorbed in meditation in Cave Hira’, just outside Mecca. Here, according to Muslim tradition, the angel Jibril spoke to him thus: "Read (iqra’) in the name of your Lord Who created . . .; hence the name of the Qur’an, reading or recitation. Thereafter the revelations came to the Prophet at different intervals and were written down on palm-leaves, tablets of stone or simply committed to memory by the scribes or secretaries of revelation", the most famous of whom was Zayd Ibn Thabit.

Following the death of the Prophet in 632 A.D., a copy of the Qur’an based on this written or oral material was compiled by Zayd and entrusted to the care of Hafsah, daughter of the Caliph ‘Umar and widow of the Prophet. However, due to the divergent readings of the sacred text and the danger of faulty oral transmission, a definitive edition was compiled in 651 A.D. by order of Uthman, the Third Caliph, and this edition, known as Mushaf Uthman (or Uthman’s Codex), has remained ever since the authorized version of the Qur’an, read, chanted and meditated upon by millions of Muslims throughout the world.

The Medinan Surahs, on the other hand, belong to the period of Hijrah (or emigration to Medina), which began in 622 A.D., marking the start of the Muslim calender. For the most part they are written in a prosaic and discursive style, and embody the fundamental principles of Islamic legislation, known as the shari‘ah or holy law. This legislation covers social, economic and political matters, such as marriage and divorce, inheritance and alms-giving, the relation of Muslim subjects to their rulers and so on. Those subjects are specifically commanded to obey God, the Messenger and those who wield authority among you (Surah 4/62) and to submit their differences to God and the Messenger, who was succeeded as head of the Muslim community by the so-called Caliphs, or successors of the Messenger.

In Medina, originally called Yathrib, Islam became for the first time both a religious and political movement, so that one could speak thereafter of the rise and consolidation of the Muslim community (Ummah), with the Prophet at its head. In that respect, the Prophet now wielded a political authority in addition to his spiritual authority as the Messenger of God, and in this double capacity he was able to confront his erstwhile enemies at Mecca, his native town. After repeated skirmishes outside Medina and a variety of expeditions further afield, the Muslims, led by the Prophet, were able to capture Mecca in the eighth year of the Hijrah, or 630 A.D. Thereupon, the Prophet’s first move was to enter the Ka’ba, or Sacred Shrine, and destroy the pagan idols - said to number 350 - housed in it, and to institute the rite of pilgrimage to this Sacred Shrine, which Abraham was said to have founded centuries earlier.

The Qur’an has defined clearly the relation of Muslims to other religious communities of the Near East, notably the Sabians, Christians and Jews. The Sabians (Sabi’ah) were recognized as monotheists and, like Christians and Jews, were tolerated (Surah 5/73). However, infidels (kafirun) were not, and the Qur’an calls upon Muslims to fight them to the death, unless they embrace Islam. However, it does qualify this stipulation in a variety of ways, one of which is not to initiate aggression against them, since God does not like the aggressors (Surah 2/190); the other is toleration, since there is no compulsion in religion (Surah 2/257), and the third is gracious pardon or ransom, once they have been subdued (Surah 47/4).

As People of the Book, Jews and Christians are accorded a special and privileged status in the Qur’an, because they believe in God and the Last Day (Surah 2/62), and although accused of having corrupted their scriptures, the Qur’an abounds in references to the Old Testament figures, including Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jacob, Job and Lot, as well as New Testament figures, including Mary, John (the Baptist), Jesus, son of Mary, and many others. The miracles of Christ are given in full, and, in fact, the Qur’an attributes to Christ a number of other miracles which are not mentioned in the canonical Gospels, but are referred to in the Apocrypha. In addition, a large number of biblical narratives are given in the Qur’an, not for their historical interest but rather for their spiritual or moral interest; they are often intended to illustrate the justice of God’s ways and His sovereignty in the world, and to underscore the trials and tribulations to which His prophets or messengers have been subjected throughout history. Those prophets or messengers are said to have been continually shunned or rebuffed, but were never abandoned by God, the Merciful and Compassionate. Muhammad ( ), the last or seal of the prophets, was not spared his own share of tribulation, and he is proclaimed as the carrier of the same message of warning or good tidings (nadhir or bashir), which all his predecessors have carried to their own peoples, and which Muhammad ( ) was now summoned by God to revive or confirm.

In addition to the text of the Qur’an itself, a vast exegetical literature grew around it over the years and formed part of an independent science, that of tafsir, which together with the science of hadith, or Prophetic Traditions, is regarded as the cornerstone of what are known as religious sciences in Islam. The greatest classical commentaries of the Qur’an are those of al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Zamakhshari (d. 1143) and al-Baydawi (d. 1286), to which countless commentaries by modern or contemporary scholars, such as Muhammad ‘Abduh (d. 1905) and Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), may be added.

One of the most widely read books in the world, the Qur’an has been translated into almost all the languages of mankind. A large number of English translations have appeared in modern times, the best known of which are those of J. M. Rodwell, Marmeduke Pickthall, N. J. Dawood, Richard Bell and A. J. Arberry. These translations vary in point of conformity to the Arabic text and are not entirely free from error or deliberate departure from the original, for purposes of literary fluency or elegance. In the present translation in this bilingual edition, we have attempted to give as faithful an English rendering of the Arabic text as possible and to correct the errors or lapses of the above-mentioned translations, while acknowledging that we have profited from some. We have also tried to express ourselves in a simple, readable English idiom. For purposes of accuracy, we have often had to rely on the most authoritative commentaries, especially where the meaning of the text was either obscure or controversial, as the notes will show. These notes are intended to be purely explanatory and have for that reason been kept to a minimum.

In closing, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of my friend and colleague, the late Dr Mahmud Zayid, with whom I worked very closely up to his untimely death. Throughout the early part of the work we constantly exchanged notes, and many of his suggestions or corrections were actually embodied in the final version of the translation. Regrettably, however, Providence decreed that our co-operation be cut short; but I would like this translation to be regarded, none the less, as a joint endeavour, because of the way in which the original project was launched and the mutual understanding we reached in the early stages of the work on questions of procedure, style and classical sources or commentaries to be consulted.

MAJID FAKHRY

June 2000

Washington, DC

1.That is, the opening section or chapter of the Qur’an. It has various other names including Umm al-Kitab or the Quintessence of the Book and the Chapter of Prayer, because it is repeated in every one of the five daily prayers. It is also recited on many important occasions.

2.This verse is one of the most recurrent verses in the Qur’an. Muslims recite it at the commencement of their daily activities.

3.That is, the whole of creation.