| | Aisha Bewley rendition of Surah The Spider(al-`Ankabut)
--- |
|---|
| 29:1 | | Alif Lam Mim. |
| 29:2 | | Do people imagine that they will be left to say, ´We have iman,´ and will not be tested? |
| 29:3 | | We tested those before them so that Allah would know the truthful and would know the liars. |
| 29:4 | | Or do those who do bad actions imagine they can outstrip Us? How bad their judgement is! |
| 29:5 | | As for those who look forward to meeting Allah, Allah´s appointed time is certainly coming. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. |
| 29:6 | | Whoever does jihad does it entirely for himself. Allah is Rich Beyond Need of any being. |
| 29:7 | | As for those who have iman and do right actions, We will erase their bad actions from them, and recompense them for the best of what they did. |
| 29:8 | | We have instructed man to honour his parents, but if they endeavour to make you associate with Me something about which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. It is to Me you will return and I will inform you about the things you did. |
| 29:9 | | As for those who have iman and do right actions, We will admit them among the righteous. |
| 29:10 | | There are some people who say, ´We have iman in Allah,´ and then, when they suffer harm in Allah´s cause, they take people´s persecution for Allah´s punishment; but if help comes from your Lord they say, ´We were with you.´ Does Allah not know best what is in every person´s heart? |
| 29:11 | | Allah knows those who have iman and He knows the hypocrites. |
| 29:12 | | Those who are kafir say to those who have iman, ´Follow our way and we will bear the weight of your mistakes.´ They will not bear the weight of a single one of their mistakes. Truly they are liars. |
| 29:13 | | They will bear their own burdens and other burdens together with their own. On the Day of Rising they will be questioned about what they invented. |
| 29:14 | | We sent Nuh to his people and he remained among them for fifty short of a thousand years; yet the Flood engulfed them while they were wrongdoers. |
| 29:15 | | We rescued him and the occupants of the Ark and made that into a Sign for all the worlds. |
| 29:16 | | And Ibrahim, when he said to his people, ´Worship Allah and have taqwa of Him. That is better for you if you only knew. |
| 29:17 | | Instead of Allah you worship only idols. You are inventing a lie. Those you worship besides Allah have no power to provide for you. So seek your provision from Allah and worship Him and give thanks to Him. It is to Him you will be returned.´ |
| 29:18 | | And if you deny it, nations before you also denied the truth. The Messenger is only responsible for clear transmission. |
| 29:19 | | Have they not seen how Allah brings creation out of nothing, then reproduces it? That is easy for Allah. |
| 29:20 | | Say: ´Travel about the earth and see how He brought creation out of nothing. Then later Allah will bring about the next existence. Allah has power over all things. |
| 29:21 | | He punishes anyone He wills and has mercy on anyone He wills. You will be returned to Him. |
| 29:22 | | There is no way out for you in earth or heaven. You have no protector or helper besides Allah.´ |
| 29:23 | | Those who reject Allah´s Signs and the meeting with Him, such people can despair of My mercy, such people will have a painful punishment. |
| 29:24 | | The only answer of his people was to say: ´Kill him or burn him!´ But Allah rescued him from the fire. There are certainly Signs in that for people who are muminun. |
| 29:25 | | He said, ´You have adopted idols apart from Allah as tokens of mutual affection in this world. But then on the Day of Rising you will reject one another and curse one another. The Fire will be your shelter. You will have no helpers.´ |
| 29:26 | | And Lut had iman in him. He said, ´I am leaving this place to follow the pleasure of my Lord. He is the Almighty, the All Wise.´ |
| 29:27 | | We gave him Ishaq and Ya´qub and placed Prophethood and the Book among his progeny. We gave him his reward in this world and in the Next World he will be among the righteous. |
| 29:28 | | When Lut said to his people, ´You are committing an obscenity not perpetrated before you by anyone in all the worlds. |
| 29:29 | | Do you lie with men and waylay them on the road and commit depravities within your gatherings?´ the only answer of his people was to say, ´Bring us Allah´s punishment if you are telling the truth.´ |
| 29:30 | | He said, ´My Lord, help me against the people of corruption!´ |
| 29:31 | | When Our messengers came with the good news to Ibrahim, they said, ´We are going to destroy the people of this city. Truly its inhabitants are wrongdoers.´ |
| 29:32 | | He said, ´Lut is in it.´ They said, ´We know very well who is in it. We are going to rescue him and his family — except for his wife. She will be one of those who stay behind.´ |
| 29:33 | | When Our Messengers came to Lut, he was distressed on their account, feeling incapable of protecting them. They said, ´Do not fear and do not grieve. We are going to rescue you and your family — except for your wife; she will be one of those who stay behind. |
| 29:34 | | We will bring down on the inhabitants of this city a devastating punishment from heaven because of their deviance.´ |
| 29:35 | | We have left a Clear Sign of them behind for people who use their intellect. |
| 29:36 | | And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu´ayb, he said, ´My people, worship Allah and look to the Last Day and do not act unjustly on earth, corrupting it.´ |
| 29:37 | | But they denied him so the earthquake seized them and morning found them lying flattened in their homes. |
| 29:38 | | And ´Ad and Thamud — it must be clear to you from their dwelling places! Shaytan made their actions seem good to them and so debarred them from the Way, even though they were intelligent people. |
| 29:39 | | And Qarun and Pharaoh and Haman — Musa came with the Clear Signs to them, but they were arrogant on the earth. They could not outstrip Us. |
| 29:40 | | We seized each one of them for their wrong actions. Against some We sent a sudden squall of stones; some of them were seized by the Great Blast; some We caused the earth to swallow up; and some We drowned. Allah did not wrong them; rather they wronged themselves. |
| 29:41 | | The metaphor of those who take protectors besides Allah is that of a spider which builds itself a house; but no house is flimsier than a spider´s house, if they only knew. |
| 29:42 | | Allah knows what you call upon besides Himself. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. |
| 29:43 | | Such metaphors — We devise them for mankind; but only those with knowledge understand them. |
| 29:44 | | Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth. There is certainly a Sign in that for the muminun. |
| 29:45 | | Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish salat. Salat precludes indecency and wrongdoing. And remembrance of Allah is greater still. Allah knows what you do. |
| 29:46 | | Only argue with the People of the Book in the kindest way — except in the case of those of them who do wrong — saying, ´We have iman in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are one and we submit to Him.´ |
| 29:47 | | Accordingly We have sent down the Book to you, and those to whom We gave the Book have iman in it, and some of these people have iman in it as well. Only the kafirun deny Our Signs. |
| 29:48 | | You never recited any Book before it nor did you write one down with your right hand. If you had, the purveyors of falsehood would have voiced their doubts. |
| 29:49 | | No, it is Clear Signs reposited in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge. Only wrongdoers deny Our Signs. |
| 29:50 | | They say, ´Why have no Signs been sent down to him from his Lord?´ Say: ´The Signs are with Allah. I am only a clear warner.´ |
| 29:51 | | Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? There is certainly a mercy and reminder in that for people who have iman. |
| 29:52 | | Say: ´Allah is a sufficient witness between me and you.´ He knows everything in the heavens and the earth. Those who believe in falsehood and reject Allah, they are the losers. |
| 29:53 | | They ask you to hasten the punishment. If it were not for a stipulated term, the punishment would have come to them already. It will come upon them suddenly when they are not expecting it. |
| 29:54 | | They ask you to hasten the punishment but Hell already encircles the kafirun. |
| 29:55 | | On the Day the punishment envelops them from above them and from underneath their feet, He will say, ´Taste what you were doing!´ |
| 29:56 | | My slaves, you who have iman, My earth is wide, so worship Me alone! |
| 29:57 | | Every self will taste death. Then you will be returned to Us. |
| 29:58 | | As for those who have iman and do right actions, We will lodge them in lofty chambers in the Garden, with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever. How excellent is the reward of those who act: |
| 29:59 | | those who are steadfast and put their trust in their Lord. |
| 29:60 | | How many creatures do not carry their provision with them! Allah provides for them and He will for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. |
| 29:61 | | If you ask them, ´Who created the heavens and the earth and made the sun and moon subservient?´ they will say, ´Allah.´ So how have they been perverted? |
| 29:62 | | Allah expands the provision of any of His slaves He wills and restricts it. Allah has knowledge of all things. |
| 29:63 | | If you ask them, ´Who sends down water from the sky, bringing the earth back to life again after it was dead?´ they will say, ´Allah.´ Say: ´Praise be to Allah.´ But most of them do not use their intellect. |
| 29:64 | | The life of this world is nothing but a game and a diversion. The abode of the Next World — that is truly Life if they only knew. |
| 29:65 | | When they embark in ships, they call on Allah, making their deen sincerely His, but then when He delivers them safely to the land, they associate others with Him. |
| 29:66 | | Let them be ungrateful for what We have given them! Let them enjoy themselves — they will soon know! |
| 29:67 | | Do they not see that We have established a safe haven while people all round them are violently dispossessed? So why do they believe in falsehood and reject the blessing of Allah? |
| 29:68 | | Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents lies against Allah or denies the truth when it comes to him? Is there not shelter in Hell for the kafirun? |
| 29:69 | | As for those who do jihad in Our Way, We will guide them to Our Paths. Truly Allah is with the good-doers. |
