Surah 17. Al-Isra

---

Verses [Section]: 1-10[1], 11-22 [2], 23-30 [3], 31-40 [4], 41-52 [5], 53-60 [6], 61-70 [7], 71-77 [8], 78-84 [9], 85-93 [10], 94-100 [11], 101-111 [12]

---

Quran Text of Verse 53-60وَ قُلْAnd sayلِّعِبَادِیْto My slavesیَقُوْلُوا(to) sayالَّتِیْthatهِیَwhichاَحْسَنُ ؕ(is) bestاِنَّIndeedالشَّیْطٰنَthe Shaitaanیَنْزَغُsows discordبَیْنَهُمْ ؕbetween themاِنَّIndeedالشَّیْطٰنَthe Shaitaanكَانَisلِلْاِنْسَانِto the manعَدُوًّاan enemyمُّبِیْنًا clear رَبُّكُمْYour Lordاَعْلَمُ(is) most knowingبِكُمْ ؕof youاِنْIfیَّشَاْHe willsیَرْحَمْكُمْHe will have mercy on youاَوْorاِنْifیَّشَاْHe willsیُعَذِّبْكُمْ ؕHe will punish youوَ مَاۤAnd notاَرْسَلْنٰكَWe have sent youعَلَیْهِمْover themوَكِیْلًا (as) a guardian وَ رَبُّكَAnd your Lordاَعْلَمُ(is) most knowingبِمَنْof whoeverفِی(is) inالسَّمٰوٰتِthe heavensوَ الْاَرْضِ ؕand the earthوَ لَقَدْAnd verilyفَضَّلْنَاWe have preferredبَعْضَsomeالنَّبِیّٖنَ(of) the Prophetsعَلٰیtoبَعْضٍothersوَّ اٰتَیْنَاAnd We gaveدَاوٗدَDawoodزَبُوْرًا Zaboor قُلِSayادْعُواCallالَّذِیْنَthose whomزَعَمْتُمْyou claimedمِّنْbesides Himدُوْنِهٖbesides Himفَلَا[then] notیَمْلِكُوْنَthey have powerكَشْفَ(to) removeالضُّرِّthe misfortunesعَنْكُمْfrom youوَ لَاand notتَحْوِیْلًا (to) transfer (it) اُولٰٓىِٕكَThoseالَّذِیْنَwhomیَدْعُوْنَthey callیَبْتَغُوْنَseekاِلٰیtoرَبِّهِمُtheir Lordالْوَسِیْلَةَthe means of accessاَیُّهُمْwhich of themاَقْرَبُ(is) nearestوَ یَرْجُوْنَand they hopeرَحْمَتَهٗ(for) His mercyوَ یَخَافُوْنَand fearعَذَابَهٗ ؕHis punishmentاِنَّIndeedعَذَابَ(the) punishmentرَبِّكَ(of) your Lordكَانَisمَحْذُوْرًا (ever) feared وَ اِنْAnd notمِّنْ(is) anyقَرْیَةٍtownاِلَّاbutنَحْنُWeمُهْلِكُوْهَا(will) destroy itقَبْلَbeforeیَوْمِ(the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) the Resurrectionاَوْorمُعَذِّبُوْهَاpunish itعَذَابًاwith a punishmentشَدِیْدًا ؕsevereكَانَThat isذٰلِكَThat isفِیinالْكِتٰبِthe Bookمَسْطُوْرًا written 17. Al-Isra Page 288وَ مَاAnd notمَنَعَنَاۤstopped UsاَنْthatنُّرْسِلَWe sendبِالْاٰیٰتِthe Signsاِلَّاۤexceptاَنْthatكَذَّبَdeniedبِهَاthemالْاَوَّلُوْنَ ؕthe former (people)وَ اٰتَیْنَاAnd We gaveثَمُوْدَThamudالنَّاقَةَthe she-camelمُبْصِرَةً(as) a visible signفَظَلَمُوْاbut they wrongedبِهَا ؕherوَ مَاAnd notنُرْسِلُWe sendبِالْاٰیٰتِthe Signsاِلَّاexceptتَخْوِیْفًا (as) a warning وَ اِذْAnd whenقُلْنَاWe saidلَكَto youاِنَّIndeedرَبَّكَyour Lordاَحَاطَhas encompassedبِالنَّاسِ ؕthe mankindوَ مَاAnd notجَعَلْنَاWe madeالرُّءْیَاthe visionالَّتِیْۤwhichاَرَیْنٰكَWe showed youاِلَّاexceptفِتْنَةً(as) a trialلِّلنَّاسِfor mankindوَ الشَّجَرَةَand the treeالْمَلْعُوْنَةَthe accursedفِیinالْقُرْاٰنِ ؕthe Quranوَ نُخَوِّفُهُمْ ۙAnd We threaten themفَمَاbut notیَزِیْدُهُمْit increases themاِلَّاexceptطُغْیَانًا(in) transgressionكَبِیْرًا۠great

---

Translation of Verse 53-60

53. Tell My slaves to speak that which is better. Verily, Satan sows discord among them.⁶⁶ Verily, Satan is for man an open enemy.

54. Your Lord knows you best. If He will, He will have mercy on you, or if He will, He will punish you.⁶⁷ And (O Prophet !) We have not sent you to be answerable for them.⁶⁸

55. And your Lord knows best all those who are in the heavens and the earth. We have exalted some prophets above others, and to David We gave the “Zaboor” (Psalms).⁶⁹

56. Say: “Invoke those whom you assume (to be gods) beside Him, they have no power to relieve you of your distress nor to change your condition.”⁷⁰

57. Those, whom they invoke, themselves seek the nearness of their Lord— which of them will be the nearest—they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment.⁷¹ Verily the punishment of your Lord has to be shunned.

58. There is not a township but We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with severe punishment. This has been written down in the Book.⁷²

59. Nothing hindered us from sending signs except that ancients belied them.⁷³ And We gave Thamud a she— camel—a clear sign - but they wronged her.⁷⁴ And We do not send signs except for warning⁷⁵ (people).

60. And when We told you that your Lord has encompassed mankind,⁷⁶ and made the vision which We showed you a test for mankind, ⁷⁷ and also the Accursed Tree in the Qur’an.⁷⁸ We warn them, but it increases in them nothing but transgression.

---

Commentary

66.That is: Instruct the people of faith not to join issue with the deniers, nor should they say anything which would provoke them, they should adopt the method of explaining and should present their dawah in a nice way. Remember Satan wants to spoil human relations by provoking them and sowing the seed of prejudice, and he does not want that people should accept the truth.

67. This is an address to the common people that their Lord knows best the condition of their hearts, and reward and punishment depend on His will, and His judgment is delivered taking into consideration the internal conditions (intentions) of the people. A person who is prepared to accept the truth with sincerity, Allah bestows His mercy on him, and finding the truth he becomes a deserving recipient of Allah’s mercy. As against this a person who is not prepared to accept the truth sincerely, Allah keeps him deprived of His mercy, and on account of his disbelief he becomes liable for punishment.

68. That is: The duty of the messenger is to convey Allah’s message to the people, he is not responsible for the deeds of his people.

69. The purpose is to prevent people from entering into unnecessary disputation about the superiority of one prophet over the other. The Jews considered Prophet Moosa superior to other prophets, while the Christians thought their Prophet Eesa was the most superior prophet. And the polytheists of Makkah used to spark off the discussions merely for the sake of discussion. This was the background when this command was given that either it may be a prophet or an angel, the fixation of their superiority or greatness was not their task, it was for Allah to do so, for He knows best the entire body of creatures in the heavens and the earth. And so far as the prophets are concerned, if Allah has granted superiority to one prophet from one aspect, then He has granted superiority to another prophet from another aspect, e.g. Prophet Dawood (David) was granted the Scripture-Psalms which in its sweetness and influence is like Qur’an. Therefore, whatever greatness Allah has given to a prophet should be acknowledged, and a prophet’s greatness should neither be exaggerated nor should it be minimized.

There is also similar kind of debate which is very common among the Muslims, that is about the righteous Khalifas (caliphs). They debate as to who is Superior-Abu Bakr(R) or Ali (R). Every proponent sect of the debate has made this debate a part of their belief, although we have not been burdened with the responsibility of fixing their greatness. Only Allah knows well who deserves what degree of greatness, and who holds higher rank according to Him. Then why should we make such topics subjects of our debates and discussion?

70. That is: You are under the wrong impression that besides Allah there are others who can meet your needs. If you do not want to use your common sense and intellect and want to remain under the wrong impression, then fulfill your desire for invoking them in your times of distress. But the fact is that they are neither powerful to relieve you of any of your sufferings nor are they to change your condition from bad to good.

71. Refers to angels and not the idols, for to seek the nearness of Allah, to be hopeful of His mercy and to fear His punishment can be the attributes of the angels only and not of the idols. In the foregoing ayah (No.4) also it was mentioned that the polytheists term angels as the daughters of Allah. Refuting these false beliefs of theirs concerning the angels it is being stated that you consider the angels as influential in Allah’s work, you invoke them for meeting your needs and for solving your problems. But the condition of the angels themselves is that they too seek nearness of Allah and vie with one another to be the nearest to God. If they expect to receive His mercy, they are also in mortal fear of His punishment. Then what is the meaning of invoking them instead of God?

This was about the relation of the polytheists with the angels. But the association of others with God is not limited to this case only. A very large group of Muslims of the present day indulges in dealing with their saints, ‘peers’ in the same Way in which they are supposed to deal with God. They have invented a philosophy of ‘wasta’ and ‘wasila’ (agency and link) and on its basis sometimes they invoke the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and sometimes their own invented ‘Ghaus’ (helper). Sometimes they appeal to their conjured up ‘Mushkil kusha’ (solver of difficulties) and sometimes seek fulfillment of their desires from their imagined ‘Gharib Nawaz’ (Soother of the poor). Their ‘ulema’ interpret this ayah and other similar ayat in such a strange way that in spite of their polytheistic methods and practices their belief in monotheism is not supposed to be impaired in the least. If they read the Qur’an with an open mind, they will see their folly and will be rightly guided.

There is not a township but We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with severe punishment. This has been written down in the Book. (Al-Quran)

72. Means the townships and colonies of polytheists, disbelievers, and transgressors. Accordingly in the foregoing ayah No.16. a point similar to this has been mentioned. Here this divine tradition has been stated that every such township whose residents are guilty of this corruption of belief and action, and are not prepared to give it up, then in their case the divine judgment is that their township will face either total destruction and the residents would be completely exterminated or they would have to taste the severest punishment. The duration of their respite may be however long, in any event either of the two calamities will surely seize them.

History confirms it and in the present times such events are taking place aplenty. For example largely populated cities are destroyed by earthquakes, or Allah’s punishment is making them taste the fruits of their acts in the form of enemy’s aerial bombardment.

It should be noted that this punishment from Allah descends down on the cities because of their general corruption, and if the righteous people residing in these cities are struck by this divine punishment, then in reality this punishment is not a punishment in their case, and on the Day of Resurrection judgment in their case will be given according to their acts. It should also be noted that this punishment is different from that punishment which is meted out to a people who have belied their prophet and the punishment is sent down as a confirmation of the truth of the prophet. In this case a decisive judgment or result in respect of faith and disbelief is obtained, therefore, the prophet and his followers are made to vacate the township before it is subjected to the divine punishment.

73. Here signs mean perceptible miracles.

74. It has been explained in Note No.119, Surah A’raf.

75. That is: The miracles that are being shown by the prophets are not shown merely to strike a note of wonder in the minds of the beholders, but they are shown as a warning for the coming divine punishment that if even after seeing this open sign you do not accept faith, then realise that Allah’s punishment is lurking on your head, and will crack down upon you with all its dire consequences.

76. Points to this ayah of the Surah Burooj which states that:

“But those who disbelieve are engaged in denial. And Allah is surrounding them from the front and the behind” (Surah Burooj 19,20).

It means that Allah has already clarified it beforehand that people in their attempt to belie the prophet will go on raising one or the other objection, but Allah has them in complete control, therefore, they will never succeed in their schemes, and whatever plan Allah has concerning Qur’an and the Prophet, it will surely be materialized.

77. The word used in the text is’ Ar-rooya , which means to see in a state of sleep (dream) or to see also in the state of being awake with the physical eyes (Lisanul Arab, Vol. 14. page 297). And in Bukhari this explanation is narrated through Ibn Abbas : “

It was the observation by the physical eyes which was arranged for the Messenger of Allah (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) in the night of Isra (Ascension).” -(Bukhari -Kitabut Tafseer).

Therefore, it means that physical observation by the eyes, which was shown to the Prophet in his journey to the Aqsa Mosque, and it has been termed as ‘rooya’ because the journey to Baitul Maqdis was executed so speedily and in such extraordinary circumstances that a man can imagine it only to have been performed in a dream. But this was not a dream at all. If it were a dream, it would not have been mentioned with such elaboration and the Quraish also would not have tried to belie him, nor would it have become a means of testing for the people. It could become a means of testing the people only when this observation were to take place in the state of being awake and if it were a physical journey, as is mentioned in the Qur’an.

78. Means the Zaqqum-tree, which is mentioned in Surah Saffat (ayat 62 to 66). This wicked tree will be in the Hell, and the denizens of Hell will satisfy their hunger with its fruits, as if this tree will be a symbol of curse, that is why it is called the rejected one. The deniers received this news with sarcasm and observed that trees would grow even in fire! They ignored that what was being said was about the next world which was quite different from this world, if Allah has made the Zaqqum-tree fire-proof, what is so strange about it.