21. Al-Anbiya/The Prophets

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.

21:01
The time of their reckoning draws ever closer to the people as it starts while experiencing their death,
and yet in their heedlessness of its coming, they keep turning away.

21:02
Whenever a new Message comes to them from their Rabb - The Lord,
they listen to it playfully.

21:03
Their hearts are preoccupied with trivial things.
Yet, concealing their inner thoughts, the unjust/wrongdoers say in their private conversations:
‘Is this Muhammad not a human being like you?
Will you, then, submit to his magic, with your eyes wide open?’

21:04
He - The Prophet – said:
‘My Rabb - The Lord Knows whatever you confer and conspire and, in fact, every word
spoken within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world.
For HE is the All-Listening, the All-Knowing.’

21:05
No way!
‘Instead, they allege:
The Qur’an is just a collection of his jumbled false dreams.
Perhaps he has fabricated it.
Rather he is a poet!’
If this is not the case, then let him bring us a miraculous Sign, as were the former Messengers assigned with Signs.

21:06
Not one of the habitation(s) which WE destroyed in punishment before they had believed.
So, will they, then, be willing to believe or get destroyed?

21:07
And WE have not assigned any Messenger before you except for those men on to whom WE revealed -
so just ask scholars of the Former Divine Scriptures, if you do not know.

21:08
And WE did not make for them – the Prophets - human bodies that did not need to eat food
like you and others,
nor were they immortals.

21:09
In the end, WE Promised them help and victory, and WE were true to them in the/this promise:
so WE saved them, together with those WE Wished,
and WE destroyed those who committed excesses: sinful trespassing.

21:10
O People of the World!
Indeed, WE have now sent down for you the Book of Qur’an that contains all that you ought to bear in mind.
Will you, then, not at least contemplate its Message?

21:11
And how many communities have WE destroyed completely because of its being unjust/
wrongdoing,
and WE raised up another people after them!?

21:12
a. Then every time as they sensed the coming of OUR Punishment, it is then that they tried to
run away from it.

21:13
‘Do not try to run away now!
Return to your lavish lifestyle you reveled in, and to your luxurious homes;
so you can be held to account.’

21:14
They said:
‘Oh, woe to us!
We have definitely been unjust/wrongdoers!’

21:15
And then, this cry of theirs did not stop -
until WE made them like a harvest – lifeless dry stubble.

21:16
And WE have not created the celestial realm and the terrestrial world and all that is between
and within them playfully.
In all certainty, OUR creation has a definite purpose.

21:17
Had WE wanted to be entertained,

then WE would, indeed, have done so from that which is already with US –
if indeed WE were ever going to do so.

21:18
Instead, WE hurl the truth against the falsehood, dealing it a mighty blow,
and in no time it vanishes.
And woe to you for all what you allege against Allah in HIS Unity and Divinity.

21:19
And to HIM belongs whoever is within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world.
And those who are near HIM are never too proud to submit to HIM in worship, awe, and obedience,
and never do they grow sluggish.

21:20
They glorify HIM by the night and by the day,
and they never become weary.

21:21
a. Or have they taken for worship some earthly entities that can resurrect the dead to life?

21:22
But the fact is that had there been any entity of worship apart from Allah within the two -
the celestial realm and the terrestrial world,
both realms would have lost their order and gone to ruin, and the universe would have been in disarray.
But Exalted is Allah -
Rabb - The Lord of The Throne of Almightiness -
WHO is far above what they allege against HIM!

21:23
HE cannot be questioned about whatever HE does,
whereas it is they – entities of their worship – who will be questioned for what they do/have done and live the consequences of their actions.

21:24
Or have they taken for worship some entities apart from HIM!?
Challenge them:
If so, ‘bring your proof!
This is the Message for those with me, and the Message of those before me.’
Yet most of them do not recognize truth of the Message,
so they just turn away in aversion.

21:25
And WE have never assigned a Messenger before you without first revealing on to him:
‘There is no entity of worship – proverbially or metaphorically – apart from ME!
So submit to ME’ in worship, awe, and reverence!

21:26
And yet they allege:
‘The Immensely Merciful has taken a son!’

HE is Exalted!
No way!
Rather they are only HIS servants, honored.

21:27
They do not precede HIM in speech,
and they act only by HIS Command.

21:28
HE Knows what is ahead of them and what is after them.
And they cannot intercede for anyone unless it is for the one whom HE is pleased with,
and they are always in reverent awe of HIM.

21:29
And whoever of them were to proclaim:
‘I AM to be worshiped besides HIM,’
then WE will reward him with Hell,
and this is how WE reward the transgressors.

21:30
Are those who disbelieve unaware of the fact that the celestial realm and the terrestrial world were once sewn together as one nebular mass, and
then, WE split them apart?
And WE created every living thing from water/fluid.
Will they still not be convinced and believe?

21:31
And WE also set firm mountains on the earth to hold it in place, so that it does not shake them violently and cause a catastrophe for those who live on it,
and WE have also made in it broad passes to serve as pathways so that they can be guided
to the right direction.

21:32
And WE made the sky as a protective ceiling.
Yet they are averse and turn away from its Wonders.

21:33
And it is HE WHO created the nighttime and the daytime, and
the sun, and the moon, and the stars.
Each one revolving and floating in its orbit?

21:34
And WE never granted everlasting life to any human being before you.
So if you were to die,
will they not die and live forever?

21:35
Everyone - livingbeing - is bound to experience the death - no exceptions, no exemptions.
And WE put you to the test with both evil as well as with good situations.
And you are going to be returned to US for judgment and award.

21:36
O The Prophet!
And when those who disbelieve see you, they take you only for mockery, saying to one another,
‘Is this the one who keeps talking perversely about your worshipful entities?’
Yet they become disbelievers at any mention of The Immensely Merciful.

21:37
Human beings are by nature impatient as if made of haste.
And I shall show you MY Signs soon and what they mean,
so do not ask ME to show them sooner and hasten their ultimate punishment.

21:38
But they frequently ask:
‘When is this promise of accountability and ultimate punishment going to be fulfilled, if you are truthful?’

21:39
Only if those who deny and belie knew the Time when they will not be able to shield their faces and their backs from the Fire that will engulf them on/from all sides,
and they will not be helped!

21:40
In fact, fulfillment of the promise will come upon them suddenly through death and bewilder them.
So they will neither be able to hold it off nor will they be spared,
nor will they be given any extra time to make repentance.

21:41
O The Prophet!
Indeed, all Messengers were mocked and ridiculed even before you.
But those who mocked them were eventually overwhelmed by what they mocked.

21:42
Say:
‘Who can protect you in your nighttime and daytime from The Immensely Merciful if HE wants to punish you?
No one.
Instead, they are averse to and turning away from the Remembrance of their Rabb - The Lord.

21:43
Or do they have entities of worship apart from US to protect them?
They will neither be able to help themselves nor are going to be helped against US by anyone else.

21:44
Instead, WE allowed them and their forefathers to enjoy life for a long time until life seemed long and good to them and they grew accustomed to it presuming it will last forever.
So do they not see that WE gradually come upon the land - causing it to shrink from its borders?
Will it be they who will prevail or US?

21:45
Say O The Prophet:
‘I am only warning you by dictates of the Divine Revelation,’
but the deaf of the heart cannot listen to the Call whenever they are warned of the future consequences of their present conduct.

21:46
And yet, if they were to be slightly touched by the punishment of your Rabb - The Lord, they will surely cry:
Oh, ‘woe to us!
Indeed, we – we have been unjust/wrongdoers!’

21:47
And WE are going to set up scales of justice at the Time of Resurrection.
So that no one will be treated unfairly in any way.
And even if it be as little and insignificant as the weight of a mustard seed, WE are going to bring it out to scales of justice.
And WE are Sufficient enough to take account of all things.

21:48
And, indeed, WE granted Moses and Aaron the Book of Criterion -
and made it a guiding light, and a Reminder for the Allah-conscious/pious.

21:49
They are those who stand in awe of their Rabb - The Lord despite not seeing HIM because HE is beyond their visual perception, and,
they shake with fear at the very thought of the Last Hour and the process of accountability.

21:50
And like those earlier revelations, this Qur’an is also a Blessed Message that WE are now sending down for all of you.
How could you deny/ignore this?

21:51
And long ago, before your time WE gave Abraham clarity of thought,
for WE knew him well.

21:52
It is a narrative of the occasion when he said to his father Azar and his people:
‘What are these images/entities to which you are so religiously devoted?’

21:53
They answered:
‘We found our forefathers worshiping them.’

21:54
He said:
‘In fact, you and your forefathers have been clearly misguided.’

21:55
They asked:
‘Do you bring us the Truth, or are you of those who simply play about and make fun?’

21:56
He replied:
‘No! The Truth instead is that -
Your Rabb - The Lord is Rabb - The Lord of the celestial realm and the terrestrial world -
HE created them without a precedent.
And I am of those who testify the truth of this reality.

21:57
Abraham whispered to himself:
‘And I swear by Allah!
I will devise a plan against your idols/worshipful entities as soon as you have gone and turned your backs.’

21:58
So he smashed them into pieces -
all except for the big one of them,
so that they would revert to it for inquiry.

21:59
Later when they returned to the place of worship and found the destruction of their idols, they were shocked and furious.
They said to one another:
‘Who could do this to our worshipful entities?
Surely, he must be of the unjust/wicked.’

21:60
Some of them had heard Abraham talking perversely about their worshipful entities
said:
‘We heard a young man talking about them with scorn – who is called Abraham.’

21:61
They said:
‘Then bring him here before the eyes of the people, so that they may witness’ to what he did and what he may have to say regarding it.

21:62
And when he was brought before them, they asked:
‘Is it you who has done this to our worshipful entities, O Abraham?’

21:63
He answered:
‘Rather, it must have been this one -
the big one of them, who must have done it.
So ask them - if they can speak!’

21:64
So they felt embarrassed and turning to each other said:
‘In fact, you - you are the wrongdoers’ for worshiping that which cannot even speak.

21:65
But then they reverted to themselves and said to Abraham:
‘Certainly, you know very well that these worshipful entities do not speak!’

21:66
Abraham said:
‘Are you then worshiping - apart from Allah - something that can neither benefit you nor
harm you’ in any way?

21:67
‘Shame on you!
And shame on all that you worship apart from Allah!
Will you then not understand?’

21:68
Unable to produce a counter-argument, they resorted inflicting suffering on him, they shouted:
O People!
‘Burn him in the fire.
And help your worshipful entities, if you are really going to do’ something right.

21:69
But WE Commanded:
‘O Fire!
Cool down and be safe for Abraham!’
So Abraham was safe.

21:70
And whereas they sought a plot against him to harm,
but WE made them the greatest losers in what they sought.

21:71
And WE rescued him - Abraham - and his nephew Lot,
and brought them to the Land of Palestine which WE blessed with spiritual and material blessings for all people.

21:72
And WE blessed him – Abraham - with Isaac as a second son after Ishmael and, as an additional gift of a grandson, Jacob,
and WE made each of them righteous.

21:73
And WE made them leaders of their communities guiding others by OUR Command,
and
WE revealed on to them
to practice righteousness, and
to establish the Salat/Prayers, and
to pay out the Zakat/annual charity.
And they were truly submitted to US in worship, awe, and reverence.

21:74
And to Lot, WE granted him sound judgment, wisdom, and knowledge.
And WE rescued him from that community in the town of Sodom which was steeped in foul deeds - sodomy.
Indeed, they were a people given to perversion with the corrupted mindset!

21:75
And WE admitted him – Lot - to OUR Mercy;
for, indeed, he was of the righteous.

21:76
And with Noah too the same thing happened when he called out to US for help long before
Abraham and Lot.
So WE responded to him and rescued him and his family from the great calamity.

21:77
And WE supported him against the people who belied and denied OUR Messages.
Indeed, they were a people of evil - lost in transgression.
So WE drowned them – all together.

21:78
And among those whom WE made leaders were also David and Solomon -
when both gave judgment in the case of the unguarded field into which some people’s goat had wandered and grazed by night,
and WE were witnessing their judgment.

21:79
And WE enabled Solomon to understand the case better,
though to each one of them, WE had given sound judgment, wisdom and knowledge.
And WE caused the mountains to join David in Extolling OUR Praise, and the birds as well.
And it were WE WHO were able to do all these things for them.

21:80
And WE also taught him the craft of making garments to protect you from your own
mutual acts of violence.
He used to be grateful to his Rabb – The Lord for HIS Blessings,
will you too then be grateful to US?

21:81
And for Solomon WE subjected the stormy and violent wind blowing at his command towards the Land which WE had blessed.
And of everything WE are All-Knowledgeable.

21:82
And among the jinn in Solomon’s service, some dived deep into the sea for him and performed tasks other than that too.
And WE were Watchful over them.

21:83
And WE were kind to Job/Ayyub too when he called out to his Rabb - The Lord:
‘Indeed, I have been afflicted with ailment.
Deliver me from this ailment by having mercy on me as -
YOU are the Most Merciful of all the merciful.’

21:84
So WE responded to him, and WE relieved the ailment which he suffered from.
And WE restored his family to him which had abandoned him to his fate and as many more
grandchildren with them, as a mercy from US, and

an example to those who submitted to US in worship and devotion.

21:85
And WE showered similar blessings on Ishmael and Enoch/Idris and Dhu-l-Kifl:
each one was among the steadfast and patient in adversity.

21:86
And WE admitted them to OUR Mercy.
Indeed, they were of the righteous.

21:87
And to the Man in the Whale/Jonah as well -
when he went off in fury abandoning the Divine Mission,
thinking that WE had no power over him.
But then he landed in a difficult situation, and he cried out to US from the depths of darkness:
‘There is no entity worthy of worship except YOU!
May YOU be Exalted!
Truly, I – I have been of the wrong-doers.’

21:88
So WE responded to him,
and WE salvaged him from his grief/distress.
In this way, WE salvage the believers - who turn to US repenting.

21:89
And on Zachariah too - when he called out to his Rabb - The Lord in privacy:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Do not leave me alone without a child,
for YOU are the Best of the inheritors.’

21:90
And so WE responded to him and granted him John the Baptist/Yahya - having cured his wife for him from her previous infertility by making her capable of conceiving a child.
Indeed, they would always hasten to practice righteousness,
and they would always call to US in hope as well as in fear.
And they were always humble and submissive before US.

21:91
And she - Mary too - who guarded her virginity,
so when WE breathed into her of OUR Spirit,
and made her and her son – Jesus - a unique Sign of OUR Unique Creative Power for humankind.

21:92
Undoubtedly, this is your community, a single community, sharing the same faith, following the same course, and turning to the same One Allah,
and I am your One and the Only Rabb - The Lord.
So, submit to ME in worship, awe and reverence!

21:93
And despite the fact that the followers of all Messengers constitute a single community of the faithful and share the common thread of One True Faith,

yet they splintered their religion among themselves -
forgetting that they are all going to return to US and be held accountable for creating sectarian divisions in the Divine Religion.

21:94
So whoever practices righteousness, and is a believer, his efforts will not be disregarded.
And, indeed, WE are writing these down for him.

21:95
And it is OUR inviolable law that any habitation which WE destroy:
they – its inhabitants - will never return to repentance and guidance …..

21:96
… until the time when Gog and Magog people are let loose, and
they swarm down upon the world from every highland of the earth.

21:97
And when the True Promise will draw close to its fulfillment and suddenly there it is,
that is when the eyes of those who disbelieved in its coming will be staring – unblinking in horror, crying out:
Oh, ‘woe to us!
We have indeed been heedless of this reality.
In fact, we have been truly wrongdoers.’

21:98
Thereupon they will be told:
‘Surely, you and whatever entities you worshiped apart from Allah will be fuel of Hell -
you are surely going to go down to it.’

21:99
If these entities of your worship had been real divinities,
they would have helped their worshipers and kept them out of the Hellfire -
and they – for themselves - would never have gone down to the Hellfire.
And all of them will remain in it – never to leave, never to die.

21:100
There will be wailing and moaning in it for them, and
they will not hear anything in it except moaning.

21:101
Surely as for those who deserved goodness from US on account of their faith and faith-based deeds and dealings of righteousness -
they will be kept far away from it – Hellfire.

21:102
They will not hear even the faintest rumbling sound of it - as it rages and burns,
while they are going to live forever in what they had ever desired for themselves - Paradise.

21:103
They will have no fear of the Great Panic,
and the angels will receive them with the greeting:
‘This is your time of success and bliss that you were promised!’

21:104
That will be The Time when WE are going to roll up the celestial realm as one rolls up a written scroll as all matters would have been settled and the universe known to human beings shall have ceased to exist.
Then WE will bring the creation back into existence just as easily as WE brought the first
creation from non-existence into existence -
that is a Promise undertaken to be binding on US.
WE are definitely going to do it.

21:105
And, indeed, WE wrote in The Psalms after the Remembrance that:
‘The land shall be inherited by MY righteous servants.’

21:106
a. Surely, in this - the Qur’an - there is a Proclamation for a people of true worship.

21:107
a. And WE have not assigned you - O The Prophet - but as a manifestation of OUR Grace and
Mercy for all the worlds – all conscious beings on the planet earth.

21:108
So proclaim O The Prophet!
‘It is revealed on to me that your Elah/Allah is only One Elah/Allah.
So will you, then, submit to HIM in worship, awe, and obedience?’

21:109
But if they still turn away,
then tell them:
‘I have conveyed the Message to you all alike.
And I do not know if what you are promised is near at hand or far.

21:110
Surely, HE Knows whatever is spoken publicly,
just as HE Knows whatever thoughts you conceal.

21:111
For all I know, this - delay in punishment – may be an ordeal for you,
or merely an enjoyment of life for a little while to see and experience the Truth.

21:112
He - The Prophet - prayed:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Judge between us with truth and fairness.
Our Rabb - The Lord, is The Immensely Merciful – the One to be sought for help against
all blasphemies what you allege against HIM and me.