یَوْمَ (The) Day نَدْعُوْا We will call كُلَّ all اُنَاسٍۭ human beings بِاِمَامِهِمْ ۚ with their record فَمَنْ then whoever اُوْتِیَ is given كِتٰبَهٗ his record بِیَمِیْنِهٖ in his right hand فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ then those یَقْرَءُوْنَ will read كِتٰبَهُمْ their records وَ لَا and not یُظْلَمُوْنَ they will be wronged فَتِیْلًا (even as much as) a hair on a date seed وَ مَنْ And whoever كَانَ is فِیْ in هٰذِهٖۤ this (world) اَعْمٰی blind فَهُوَ then he فِی in الْاٰخِرَةِ the Hereafter اَعْمٰی (will be) blind وَ اَضَلُّ and more astray سَبِیْلًا (from the) path وَ اِنْ And indeed كَادُوْا they were about (to) لَیَفْتِنُوْنَكَ tempt you away عَنِ from الَّذِیْۤ that which اَوْحَیْنَاۤ We revealed اِلَیْكَ to you لِتَفْتَرِیَ that you invent عَلَیْنَا about Us غَیْرَهٗ ۖۗ other (than) it وَ اِذًا And then لَّاتَّخَذُوْكَ surely they would take you خَلِیْلًا (as) a friend وَ لَوْ لَاۤ And if not اَنْ [that] ثَبَّتْنٰكَ We (had) strengthened you لَقَدْ certainly كِدْتَّ you almost تَرْكَنُ (would) have inclined اِلَیْهِمْ to them شَیْـًٔا (in) something قَلِیْلًاۗۙ a little اِذًا Then لَّاَذَقْنٰكَ We (would) have made you taste ضِعْفَ double الْحَیٰوةِ (in) the life وَ ضِعْفَ and double الْمَمَاتِ (after) the death ثُمَّ Then لَا not تَجِدُ you (would) have found لَكَ for you عَلَیْنَا against Us نَصِیْرًا any helper 17. Al-Isra Page 290 وَ اِنْ And indeed كَادُوْا they were about لَیَسْتَفِزُّوْنَكَ (to) scare you مِنَ from الْاَرْضِ the land لِیُخْرِجُوْكَ that they evict you مِنْهَا from it وَ اِذًا But then لَّا not یَلْبَثُوْنَ they (would) have stayed خِلٰفَكَ after you اِلَّا except قَلِیْلًا a little سُنَّةَ (Such is Our) Way مَنْ (for) whom قَدْ [verily] اَرْسَلْنَا We sent قَبْلَكَ before you مِنْ of رُّسُلِنَا Our Messengers وَ لَا And not تَجِدُ you will find لِسُنَّتِنَا (in) Our way تَحْوِیْلًا۠ any alteration
(17:71) Then think of the Day We shall summon every community with its leader. Those who are given their Record in their right hand shall read the Record of their deeds86 and shall not be wronged a whit.
(17:72) Whoever lived in this world as blind shall live as blind in the Life to Come; rather, he will be even farther astray than if he were (just) blind.
(17:73) (O Muhammad), they had all but tempted you away from what We have revealed to you that you may invent something else in Our Name.87 Had you done so, they would have taken you as their trusted friend.
(17:74) Indeed, had We not strengthened you, you might have inclined to them a little,
(17:75) whereupon We would have made you taste double (the chastisement) in the world and double (the chastisement) after death, and then you would have found none to help you against Us.88
(17:76) They were bent upon uprooting you from this land and driving you away from it. But were they to succeed, they would not be able to remain after you more than a little while.89
(17:77) This has been Our Way with the Messengers whom We sent before you.90 You will find no change in Our Way.
86. The Qur’an repeatedly mentions that the righteous will be handed the scroll of their deeds in their right hand, and that they will rejoice looking at it and will even show the scroll to others. As for the evil-doers, they will be handed this scroll in their left hand, and instead of rejoicing they will try to hide it behind their backs. For details see al-Haqqah 69: 19-28 and al-Inshiqaq 84: 13).
87. This alludes to the circumstances confronting the Prophet (peace be on him) during the last ten to twelve years in Makka, The Makkan unbelievers spared no effort in trying to dissuade the Prophet (peace be on him) from propagating his message of God’s unity, of a compromise with them in respect of their polytheistic doctrines and in forcing him to strike some kind practices. In pursuance of this aim, they subjected him to a variety of tests.
These ranged from trying to trick him, to seducing him with various temptations, carrying out false propaganda against him, subjecting him to persecution, and by putting pressure on him through economic sanctions and social boycotts.
88. Here, the situation obtaining at the time is reviewed. In this context, it is emphasized that if the Prophet (peace be on him) had struck a compromise with the forces of falsehood despite his full knowledge of the truth, he might have pleased his degenerate people, but would have incurred God’s wrath and punishment both in the present life and the Next. The Prophet (peace be on him) is also informed that left entirely to oneself no one, not even a Prophet, has the power to successfully withstand the onslaught of falsehood. One can only do so with God’s help and succor. In the face of fierce opposition, the Prophet’s patience and steadfastness enabled him to stand firm in his adherence to the truth, but this had been granted by none other than God Himself.
89. Although this was an unequivocal prediction, at the time it may have seemed little more than a mere threat. It became reality, however, within a period of ten to eleven years. Barely more than one year after the revelation of this surah, the Makkan unbelievers forced the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) to leave his home town. Within a further eight years, however, the Prophet (peace be on him) had returned to Makka as victor. Thereafter, in less than another two years, the whole of the Arabian Peninsula had been purged of polytheists. Anyone who lived there subsequently did so as a Muslim only.
90. This has. been God’s way of dealing with a people who either kill or banish a Prophet — such a people are never allowed to survive for long. They were either destroyed by God’s scourge, or God caused some fierce enemy to overwhelm them, or else they were overpowered by the followers of the Prophet pertaining at the time.