Chapter 17 - 85
The Night Journey (Surah Al-Isra)
(111 verses in total, late Makkan)
In the name of Allah, the God of Mercy, the Endower of Mercy!
Glory to God Who transported the servant (Mohammad) by night from the Sacred Mosque (Kabbah) to the Remote Mosque (Dome of the Rock), the precinct of which We (God) have blessed, so that We can show him Our signs! Truly, God is the Hearer, the Seer! (v. 1)
We gave Moses the Book (The Old Testament) and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel – take no Guardian besides Me - offspring of those whom We carried with Noah, who was a grateful servant. (v. 2-3)
We decreed regarding the Children of Israel in the Book: “Surely you will spread corruptions in the land twice and will reach great height1.” So when the first promise of these came to pass, We sent against you Our servants of mighty prowess who ravaged your dwellings, and it was a promise fulfilled. Then We gave you back a turn against them, aided you with wealth and children and made you greater in number. (v. 5-6)
If you do good, that is good for your own souls but if you do evil, then it is (an opportunity) for them. When the other promise comes to pass, they made your face grim and entered the place of worship as they entered it the first time and caused utter ruins to whatever they overtook.It may be that your Sustainer God will show mercy on you. But if you revert (back to evils), so will We revert (to its consequence)! We certainly made Hell a prison for the disbelievers. (v. 7-8)
Truly, this Qur’an guides to what is the most upright way and brings good news to the faithful who do good that theirs is a grand reward, whereas those who disbelieve in the Hereafter, We (God) have prepared a grievous chastisement (as a consequence). (Some) of mankind pray for evil as if they are praying for good and mankind is ever impatient. (v. 9-11)
We made the night and the day two signs – We make the sign of the night to pass away, giving way for the sign of the day to manifest so that you may seek the bounty of your Sustainer God and know how to count passage of time and how to take accounts. We have expounded everything in delicate details. (v. 12)
We fasten every person’s omen to one’s neck and We shall bring out for each a book on the day of Resurrection that one will find wide open – “Read your book. This day your own soul is sufficient give accounts against you.” Whoever guide them aright, they do it for their own soul’s rightful guidance and whoever go astray, they do only to their own detriment. None shall bear the burden of another. Neither do We chastise until We have sent a messenger. (v. 13-15)
When We deem destruction for a town is due, We urge its people (to reform) but they persist in mischief and inequity therein so that the Word becomes true against it and We destroy it with utter destruction! (v. 16)
How many generations have We (God) destroyed since Noah! Your Sustainer God is sufficient as being Aware and as a Seer of the sins and inequities of the creation. Whoever desires this ephemeral life, We hasten for them such a life whenever We please to whomever We desire, and then We assign them Hell to enter as blameworthy, forsaken. Whereas those who desire the Hereafter, and they strive as they ought to strive, and they are believers – these are the ones whose endeavors will be amply appreciated. Thus, We aid all – good and evil – out of the bounty of your Sustainer God, and such bounty of your Sustainer God is not constrained. Observe how We make some to excel others and so is the Hereafter greater in ranks and greater in blessings. Therefore, associate no other god with Allah, lest you find yourself blameworthy, forsaken! (v. 17-22)
Your Sustainer God decrees that you worship none but God and show goodness to your parents. If either one or both reach old age, never say “Uff!”, nor chide them (in any way), and (always) speak to them with generous words. (Furthermore) lower unto them the wing of humility, out of compassion and pray (for them), “O my Sustainer God, may you have mercy on them as they raised me when I was little.” (v. 23-24)
Your Sustainer God knows best what you harbor in your souls. If you are righteous, then God is always Forgiving to those who are penitent. Therefore, give to the kinsman their dues, to the poor and to the strangers (travelers) and do not squander wastefully – surely, the squanderers are brethren to the devil and Satan is ever ungrateful to his Sustainer God. Even as you turn away from them, seeking mercy from your Sustainer God, which you hope for, speak to them a gentle word. (v. 25-28)
Do not let your hands be tied to your neck (miserly), nor let it open widely (wasteful), lest you find yourselves blamed and destitute! Truly, your Sustainer God amplifies or straitens provisions for whomever God wills and with regards to God’s creation, God is Aware, Seeing! (v. 29-30)
Do not kill your children out of fear of poverty – We (God) provide for them and for you. Surely slaying of them is a great wrong! Do not go near to fornication -it is indecent and is an evil way. Do not kill a soul, which Allah has made inviolable, except for a just cause. When someone is killed unjustly, We have given authority to the heir2> – but stay within the limits of (such) slaying. Surely, he shall be helped. (v. 31-33)
Do not approach the property of orphans, except with good intention, until they attain maturity. Fulfil the pact (that you make with one another); such pacts will be called to account. Give full measure when you measure and weigh with a true balance. This is better and more virtuous in the end. Pursue not out of ignorance – truly your hearing, your sight and your heart, all will be called to account. Do not walk arrogantly on the earth – surely you shall not penetrate the earth, nor reach the mountains in height. All these, the evils of all, are hateful3 to God. (v. 34-38)
These are the wisdoms with which your Sustainer God had inspired revelations to you. Associate no deities with God, lest you are thrown in Hell, condemned and banished. Did your Sustainer God do you a favor with sons, while God took females from among the angels? Indeed, you utter monstrous words! (v. 39-40)
We (God) had indeed repeated (signs and reminders) in this Qur’an so that they might be mindful; yet, it adds nothing except their aversions. Say, “If there were deities, as they say, with God, these would have found a way to the Possessor of the Throne.” Glory be to God! Exalted is God above whatever they ascribe. The seven heavens, the earth and all else in them glorify God. There is not a single thing that does not hymn God’s praise, though you do not understand such praises. God is Forbearing, Forgiving! (v. 41-44)
When you recite the Qur’an, We place a hidden barrier between you and those who deny the Hereafter. We put coverings on their hearts and deafness in their ears lest they comprehend it. Whenever you do mention about your Sustainer God alone in the Qur’an, they turn way in abhorrence. (v. 45-46)
We know what they are looking for when they listen to you, when they counsel in secret, and when the unjust say, “You only follow a man who is bewitched.” Look how they describe you! They have indeed gone astray and cannot find the way. (v. 47-48)
They say, “When we are bones and decayed, shall we be raised as a new creation?” Reply, “Be a stone or iron or something else that you feel are too inconceivable (to receive life) in your minds.” But they will ask, “Who will resurrect us?” Say, “God Who created you in the first place.” They will still shake their head (in disbelief) at you and ask (again), “When will it be?” Say, “May be sooner (than you think)!” On the day when God will call you forth, you will then respond to God’s call, giving praises and you will think that you lived but for a short time. (v. 49-52)
Guide My servants (believers) that when they speak, to speak goodness (and truth). Indeed, Satan sows dissention among them, and Satan is an avowed enemy of mankind. Your Sustainer God knows you better than anyone else. God may have mercy on you if God wills or God may chastise you, if God wills, and We have not sent you (Prophet) as their guardian. Your Sustainer God also knows best who are in the heavens and on earth. We have favored some of the prophets over others and We gave the Psalms4to David. (v. 53-54)
Say, “Call on those whom you call besides God; they have no power to remove your distress nor enable change.” Those whom they call, these themselves seek ways of access to their Sustainer God, (wondering) whoever among them is nearer (to God) and they hope for God’s mercy and (also) fearful of God’s chastisement. Indeed, the displeasure (chastisement) of their Sustainer God is a thing to be cautious about. (v. 55-57)
There is not a town that We will not destroy before the day of Resurrection or chastise it with a severe chastisement – this is inscribed in the book. (Also) nothing prevents Us from sending revelations (signs) but the previous generations (some of them) rejected these. We gave the she-camel to the people of Thamud as a clear portent, but they did her wrong. We do not send our signs except to warn! (v. 58-59)
(Remember) when We said to you (Prophet), “Truly your Sustainer God encompasses mankind. We did not ordain the vision in which We showed you except as a trial for people and so was the cursed tree5 in the Qur’an. We caution them but it only adds to their intense rebellion (denial). (v. 60)
(Recall) when We (God) said to the angels, “Bow down (prostrate) to Adam.” They all prostrated, except Iblis (Satan). He said, “How can I submit to one who is made of clay? (God), you realize that you have honored him (Adam) above me. If you let me till the day of Resurrection, I will overpower his progeny, except a few.” God said, “Begone!” Whoever of them follows you, surely Hell will be your compensation – an appropriate recompense! Incite them, if you can, with your eloquence, bear down on them with your cavalry and your infantry, be partner with them in their wealth and their children and make them promises. Promise of the Satan is nothing but delusion! As for My (true) servants, you have no power over them. Your Sustainer God is sufficient as a Guardian.” (v. 61-65)
Your Sustainer God is the One Who makes the ships set sail in the oceans so that you may seek God’s bounty. Truly, God is ever Merciful to you. When afflictions touches while on the sea, you turn to God while forgetting all that you had called on before, but as soon as God delivers you safely of the shore, you revert. Mankind is ever ungrateful! (v. 66-67)
Do you feel secure that God will not cause the shore to engulf you or a torrent of stones to rain on you? Then you will not find any protector for yourselves? Or do you feel secure that God will make you face it another time and send fierce gale to drown you for your ungratefulness? Then you will not find an avenger against Us in this matter. (v. 68-69)
We have indeed honored the Children of Adam, and We carry them over land and sea, and We provide for them pure things, and We have blessed favors on them above many of Our Creations! (v. 70)
(Be mindful of) the day when We shall call every people with their leader (Imam) and whoever is given their book in their right hand, they will read their book (with eagerness) and not a touch of injustice will be done to them. But whoever has acted as blind in this (life) will be blinded in the Hereafter and will be further away from the path. (v. 71-72)
Indeed, they had tempted you to turn away from what We had revealed to you and to forge something against Us other than that what was revealed with a promise to befriend you. Had We not made your conviction firm, you would have inclined to them a little, in which case you would have suffered double (loss) in this life and a double (loss) after death and you could not secure any helper against Us. They were about to unsettle you from the land by expelling you from it and (had they done it), they would not have lived much longer after that. This has been Our mode of operation6 with the messengers before you and you will not find any change in the way We operate. (v. 73-77)
Keep up worship7 from the declining of the sun (after noon) till the darkening of the night and the recital (of prayer and the Qur’an) at dawn. Indeed, the recital at dawn is always witnessed! Also, keep prayer vigil during part of the night, beyond what is incumbent on you; may be your Sustainer God will raise you to a position of great admiration! (v. 78-79)
Say8, “My Sustainer God, may you make my going forth in truth and my coming back in truth and grant me from You an authority to help me.” Say, “The truth has come, and falsehood had vanished. Indeed, falsehood is bound to vanish!” (v. 80-81)
We (God) revealed this Qur’an as a source of healing and mercy for the believers and it adds nothing but loss for the unjust. Whenever We offer Our blessing to mankind, they fail to acknowledge and behaves proudly but when a misfortune afflicts them, they are in despair. Say, “Each acts according to his or her disposition, while God knows best who is rightly guided to the (proper) way. (v. 82-84)
They ask you about the Spirit9; say, “The Spirit is a command of my Sustainer God and you (people) are given of its knowledge but a little!” If We had willed, We could have taken away what We had revealed to you; then you would not find, for yourself, any guardian against Us, but the mercy of God prevailed. Indeed, God’s grace on you is immense! (v. 85-86)
Say, “If mankind and jinn were to band together to bring the like of this Qur’an, they could not bring the like thereof, even if they were active aiders of one another.” Surely, in this Qur’an we have narrated all matters of importance, but for most people, these engender nothing but denials. (v. 87-89)
They say, “We will not believe you until you make a spring to gush forth for us from the earth, or you have a garden of palms and grapevines in the midst of which you cause streams to flow abundantly, or you cause the heavens to fall on us in pieces, as you had asserted, or bring Allah and the angels face to face with us, or you have a house of gold or you ascend to heavens. (Even then) we will not believe your ascension until you bring to us a book that we can read. Reply, “By my Sustainer God, I am nothing but a mortal and a messenger.” (v. 90-93)
Nothing prevents people from believing when guidance comes to them, except that they say, “Has Allah sent another human being to be a messenger?” Reply (from God), “Had there been angels living on this earth in peace, We (God) would have sent an angel from Heaven as a messenger.” Say (Prophet), “Allah is sufficient as a witness between you and me. With regards to God’s creations, God is fully Aware, Seeing!” (v. 94-96)
Whoever Allah guides is indeed on the right way and whoever God leaves in error you will not find a guardian for him besides God. We [God] shall gather them together, on the day of Resurrection, face down – blind, dumb and deaf – their refuge in Hell. Every time it diminishes in intensity, We will increase for them its flame. This is their consequence because of their disbelief in Our messages and their sayings, “When we are bones and dusts, shall we be raised again?” Do they not realize that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create the likes of them (resurrect)? God has ordained for them a term about which there should be no doubt. Yet, the unjust takes refuge to nothing but denials. (v. 97-99)
Say, “If you were to control all the sources of bounty of your Sustainer God, you would surely withhold them for fear of spending. Mankind is ever miserly!” (v. 100)
You can ask the Children of Israel about the nine clear signs that We (God) gave to Moses. When he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, “O Moses, I think you are under a spell.” He (Moses) replied, “You know for sure that none but the Sustainer God of the heavens and the earth had sent me as a clear portent. I believe, O Pharaoh, you are misguided.” Therefore, he (Pharaoh) desired to scare them from the land, but We drowned him, along with his associates, all together. We said to the Children of Israel who came after him, “Dwell in the land, but when the promise of the latter day10 comes, We will raise you up in mixed assemblies of people.” (v. 101-104)
This Qur’an - with truth We revealed it and in truth it came to pass. We have sent you, as a giver of glad tidings and as a warner. We have made it distinct (from previous revelations), that you may read to them in small increments, and We revealed as a series of revelations. Say, “You may believe in it, or you may not believe in it”, but those who are gifted with knowledge a priori, they prostrate in submission as it is recited to them and they say, “Glory to our Sustainer God! The promise of our Sustainer God is indeed fulfilled.” They fall on their faces, in deep devotion (weeping) and it adds to their mindfulness and humility. (v. 105-109)11
Say, “Call on Allah or call on the Beneficent – by whatever attributes – God’s are the best of attributes (names), and in your worship, neither be too loud nor be silent but find a way in between.” (v. 110)
Say, “Praise be to Allah, Who has taken neither a child nor a partner in God’s kingdom nor a helper out of any weaknesses.” Therefore, proclaim God’s unlimited greatness! (v. 111)
1 One could take the great height in a positive sense or in a negative sense! In this context most early commentators have leaned towards height of arrogance and corruption.
2 For just retribution between the victim/victim’s family and the perpetrator of injustice.
3 “Makruh” – less desirable or hateful vs. “Haram” which is clearly forbidden.
4 In Arabic “Zabur” is the closest approximation to Psalms – given to David and Abraham, as mentioned in the Qur’an and the Bible.
5 The tree of “Zuqqum” for the residents of Hell and was shown to the Prophet.
6 “Sunnah” the tradition or the way God operates with respect to prophets and their people as was evident from the communities of Noah, Lot, Hud, Shuaib, and other Biblical prophets mentioned in various revelations.
7 “Salat” – obligatory daily prayers that have been repeatedly emphasized along with charity for the faithful.
8 These verses may have been revealed as the Prophet was preparing for Hijrah – leaving Makkah for Madinah.
9 “Ruh” – human spirit or soul or God’s essence that has been put into every human being.
10 Traditionally translated as the promise of resurrection but I am in favor of later generations of the followers of Moses who will disperse all over the world as disparate communities.
11 At this juncture, tradition calls for a prostration to God to show our immediate humility.
