30. Al-Rum/The Byzantines

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

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

30:01
a. Alif. Lam. Mim.

30:02
a. The Byzantines have been defeated,

30:03
a. in the nearby land,
b. yet after their defeat, they will be victorious once again over their Persian enemy…..

30:04
a. within a few years -
b. for their affair belongs to Allah - The One and Only God - from beginning to end,
c. and at that time of victory, the believers will celebrate -

30:05
a. It all happens with Allah’s help.
b. HE Helps whoever HE Wills to victory,
c. for HE is The Almighty, The Ever-Compassionate.

30:06
a. This is the firm Promise of Allah,
b. and Allah never breaks HIS Promise,
c. even though most people do not understand it.

30:07
a. They only understand what is apparent in this worldly life,
b. but they are oblivious of the realm of the Hereafter.

30:08
a. Would they never contemplate within themselves so as to emerge from their oblivion?
b. Allah did not create the celestial realm and the terrestrial world, and whatever is between
and beyond them, except in truth, and for a specified term.
c. Even so, many people are disbelievers in the Meeting with their Rabb - The Lord.

30:09
a. Have they never traveled around the world and visited the archaeological sites and seen the fate of those civilizations who were before them?
b. In fact, they were even more powerful than them - such as ‘Ad, Thamud, and Tubba’, and
c. they cultivated the land, and developed it more than these have developed.
d. Their Messengers came to them with Clear Messages, yet they belied and denied the Messages.
e. So Allah punished them.
f. In fact, Allah was never unfair to them, but it were they who were unfair to themselves
through disbelief and denial of OUR Messages.

30:10
a. Then, in consequence, the end of those who had done evil was evil,
b. for they used to belie and deny Allah’s Messages and made a mockery of them.

30:11
a. Allah originates the creation, then,
b. it is not going to be difficult for HIM that HE will repeat it in a new dimension of existence,
c. and, then, to HIM you all will be returned.

30:12
a. And the Time, when the Last Hour will be established,
b. the criminals - guilty of false faith and a life full of sin - will despair of any good.

30:13
a. They will not have any intercessors from among the entities they ascribe to Allah in worship,
b. and they will no longer consider their entities being intercessors.

30:14
a. And the Time, when the Last Hour will be established,
b. they will be separated into two groups - believers and disbelievers.

30:15
a. As for those who believed and practiced righteousness,
b. they will be in a Garden/Paradise, rejoicing and jubilant.

30:16
a. But as for those who disbelieved and belied OUR Messages, and
b. the truth of the meeting of the Hereafter,
c. they will be brought forward to the punishment.

30:17
a. So Glorify Allah
- as you enter the nighttime, and
- as you enter the morning time.

30:18
a. And Praise be to HIM throughout the celestial realm and the terrestrial world, and
b. when the sun declines in the afternoon, and when you enter the noon time as well.

30:19
a. HE brings the living out of that which is dead, and
b. also brings the dead out of that which is living, and,
c. HE revives the earth to life after it had been lifeless.
d. And, in the same way, you too are going to be brought out to life, after you had been lying dead in graves, in a new dimension of existence.

30:20
a. And among HIS Great Wonders is that HE created you out of dust, and
b. now you - of flesh and blood have grown into a - human population, spreading far and wide
across the planet earth.

30:21
a. And, among HIS Great Wonders is the fact that HE created spouses for you from among yourselves: same species as with all other living creatures,
b. so that you may find contentment in them, and
c. HE has instilled affection and kindness between you so that you live together as mutually loving and caring married couples.
d. Indeed, in this are clear signs of wisdom for a people who reflect upon Allah’s Creative Powers.

30: 22
a. And, among HIS Great Wonders is the creation of the celestial realm and the terrestrial world, and
b. the diversity of your languages, your forms, and your skin colors, even though all of you are originally the offspring of one parenthood: Adam and Eve.
c. Indeed, in this are clear signs of wisdom for a people who know the phenomenon of creation.

30:23
a. And, among HIS Great Wonders is your sleep, by nighttime or by daytime,
b. as well as your seeking to make a livelihood out of HIS Bounty.
c. Indeed, in this are clear signs for a people who listen.

30:24
a. And, among HIS Great Wonders, too, is that HE shows you the lightning –
b. arousing fear of the storm or being struck as well as hope of relieving rain, and
c. that HE sends down rain water from the sky clouds, wherewith HE revives the earth to life
after it had been lifeless.
d. Indeed, in this are clear signs for a people who understand.

30:25
a. And, also among HIS Great Wonders are that the celestial realm and the terrestrial world stand firm without any visible support by HIS Command.
b. Thereafter, when HE will call you from your graves in the earth with a single Call, you will
all come out instantaneously.

30:26
a. And to HIM belongs all that is within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world.
b. All are dutifully obedient to HIM.

30:27
a. And it is HE WHO originates the creation, then,
b. HE will repeat it during the Time of Resurrection in a new dimension of existence; and that will even be easier for HIM to do.
c. And, for HIM is the Highest Attribute of Sublimity throughout the celestial realm and the terrestrial world.
d. And, HE is The Almighty, The All-Wise.

30:28
a. An example is illustrated for you from yourselves – from your own lives:
b. Would you make your servants partners in what WE have provided for you – so that you are all equal in that respect?
c. No!
d. Would you be as concerned about them as you are concerned about each other?
e. No!
f. In this way WE explain the Messages for a people who understand the reality of life.

30:29
a. Yet those who do wrong follow their own whims without knowledge.
b. So who could guide those whom Allah thus lets go stray?
c. And for them will be no helpers against Allah’s Punishment.

30:30
a. O The Prophet and The Faithful!
b. So turn your face with single-minded devotion towards the natural religion - brought to you by Abraham - as Haneef.
c. This is the instinctive nature that Allah has embedded in human beings -
d. and there can be no change in what Allah creates.
e. This is the Upright Religion -
f. yet most people do not realize it.

30:31
a. Turn towards it – inclining towards HIM in worshipful devotion and repentance,
b. being ever fearful of HIS disobedience in reverence and piety.
c. And establish the Salat/Prayers and
d. never be among those who are the polytheists.

30:32
a. Also never be like those who have divided up their Religion,
b. and have split into dissenting factions and sects -
c. each sect rejoicing in what it has by way of tenets, believing it to be the whole truth.

30:33
a. And as and when some misfortune befalls the people, they cry out to their Rabb - The Lord for help, turning to HIM in sincere repentance.
b. But, then, as soon as HE gives them a taste of HIS Mercy, some of them start ascribing partners to their Rabb - The Lord.

30:34
a. So that they be ungrateful for what WE granted them by way of OUR Mercy.
b. So enjoy yourselves for a while -
c. then soon you will come to know the consequences of your worldly preferences.

30:35
a. Or is it that WE ever sent down on to them any authority, by way of a Divine Injunction, which might speak of the approval of their ascribing partners to HIM?
b. Never!

30:36
a. And, whenever WE give the people a taste of OUR Mercy, they rejoice in it without thinking of HIM WHO bestows it,
b. however, as and when some misfortune befalls them because of what their hands have sent ahead,
c. they quickly grow despondent and begin to despair from Allah’s Mercy!

30:37
a. Do they not realize that Allah expands the provisions of life for whoever HE Wills, and restricts it, or withholds it, for whoever HE Wills?
b. Indeed, in this are lessons for a people who believe in HIS Power to Confer.

30:38
a. So if Allah expands provisions for you then give the relatives their due share, as well as the poor, and the traveler.
b. That is good for those striving to seek the Face of Allah, and
c. those - they are the ones to be successful in the realm of Hereafter.

30:39
a. And whatever you lend out at interest in order that it may increase in value through the wealth of other people, it does not increase in value with Allah.
b. Whereas whatever you pay out in Zakat/annual charity - seeking the Face of Allah - will increase in value with Allah.
c. Those – they are the ones who will get multiplied returns.

30:40
a. It is Allah WHO created you and provided for you.
b. Then HE will make you to die, and
c. then will bring you back to life in a new dimension of existence.
d. Is there anyone among those entities whom you ascribe as partners to Allah do any of that?
e. No!
f. Then Glory be to HIM!
g. Exalted is HE - far above what they ascribe to HIM.

30:41
a. The evil has spread throughout the land and the sea from what the people’s hands have earned of evil.
b. Allah allows it to go forward so as to give them a taste of what they have done,
c. so that they may take heed, repent, reform, and return to HIM.

30:42
a. Say to them:
b. Travel around the world, and observe the fate of those civilizations before you.
c. Most of them were polytheists.

30:43
a. So set your face towards the Upright Religion of Islam -
b. before comes the Time of Final Judgment from Allah that cannot be delayed or averted.

c. The Time when people will be divided into two separate groups - disbelievers and believers.

30:44
a. One group comprising whoever disbelieves – his disbelief will be on him, and
b. the other group comprising whoever believes and practices righteousness - they will pave the way to paradise for themselves.

30:45
a. So that HE may reward those who believe and practice righteousness, out of HIS Bounty.
b. For sure, Allah has no love for the disbelievers.

30:46
a. Also, among HIS Great Wonders is that HE sends the winds as heralds of good news of rainfall,
b. so as to give you a taste of HIS Mercy, and,
c. the same winds enable the ships to sail by HIS Command through the sea, so that you may
go about with business and trade, and seek of HIS Bounty,
d. and, thus, you may be grateful to HIM.

30:47
a. And, indeed, even before you - O The Prophet - WE had assigned OUR Messengers to their
respective communities.
b. And, they came to them with all evidence of the Truth;
c. but most of them, ridiculed, belied, and denied the Messengers and the Message.
d. So WE took vengeance upon those who committed crimes of ridicule and disobedience -
e. while it was and continues to be an obligation on US to help the believers.

30:48
a. It is Allah WHO sends the winds of hope and blessing, and it sets the clouds to move.
b. Then HE spreads them across the sky as HE Wills, then breaks them into fragments, then you see the rain pouring down from within them.
c. Then HE bestows it – the rain - upon whoever HE Wills of HIS servants,
d. it is then that they rejoice!

30:49
a. Whereas just before this blessed rain came down upon them, they had been despairing of it.

30:50
a. So look, then, at the imprints of Allah’s Mercy, how HE revives the land to life with rain and vegetation after it had been lifeless.
b. Indeed, it is HE WHO will revive the dead people to a new dimension of existence in a similar manner during the Time of Resurrection,
c. for HE is All-Powerful over everything.

30:51
a. And on the other hand, if WE were to send cold or hot wind that damages vegetation and they see their green and flourishing harvest turn yellow,
b. their rejoicing turns into despair, and
c. they become ungrateful of OUR Mercy for having blessed them with rain in the first
instance.

30:52
a. You can neither make the dead of heart listen to your Call,
b. nor can you make the deaf of hearing the truth listen to the Call, especially when they turn their backs, going away.
30:53
a. And, you cannot guide the blind of heart from their straying;
b. and you cannot make anyone listen to your Call, except for those who believe in OUR Messages, and submit themselves to US.
30:54
a. It is Allah:
- WHO creates you with a state of physical weakness at birth,
- then after weakness, HE brings about strength in you,
- then after a period of strength, HE makes weakness in you once more and gray hair/
old age as well.
b. HE creates whatever HE Wills of weakness and of strength, of youth and of gray hair/old age, and
c. HE is All-Knowing and All-Powerful to transform them from one physical state to another.

30:55
a. And, the Time when the Last Hour will be established and everyone is resurrected, and the process of accountability starts,
b. the criminals - guilty of false faith and a life full of sin - will swear that they had remained
in the worldly life only for an hour or so.
c. This is how deluded they were.

30:56
a. And for those who had the knowledge of the coming of the Last Hour, and Faith in Allah’s Promise, will say to the disbelievers:
b. ‘You have remained according to the Decree of Allah, all the way until the Time of Resurrection.
c. Now this is the Time of Resurrection - while you consciously remained without understanding’ of its coming.

30:57
a. So at that Time of Judgment, their excuses will not benefit those who had been doing
wrong,
b. nor will they be allowed to make amends to escape the punishment.

30:58
a. And, indeed, WE have set out for people every kind of illustration, similitude, and parable in this Qur’an to help them understand the essence of the Message.
b. But even if you were to bring them a miracle, those who disbelieve will certainly allege:
c. ‘You are demonstrating nothing but falsehood.’
30:59
a. That is how Allah sets a seal on the hearts of those who do not want to know the Truth.

30:60
a. So be patient with them!
b. Indeed, Allah’s Promise is true.
c. And do not let those who are uncertain of this truth dishearten you.