| | Bijan Moeinian rendition of Surah The Iron(al-Hadid)
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| 57:1 | | Anything in the heaven and earth in its own way glorifies God, the Mighty One, the Most Wise |
| 57:2 | | To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. Lord is the One Who gives life and takes life away and He is capable of doing everything |
| 57:3 | | He is the First in the existence and He will be the Last Who will exist. He is the Outermost and He is the Innermost, He has the full knowledge of everything |
| 57:4 | | God is the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods and then established His absolute authority over His realm of the creation. He knows what is penetrating into the earth and what is coming out of it. He knows everything which is descending from the sky and everything which is ascending toward it. God is with you wherever you are and He sees everything that you do |
| 57:5 | | To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and He is in charge |
| 57:6 | | God turns the earth so that the day appear after the night and the night succeed the day. God is fully aware of everyone’s innermost thoughts |
| 57:7 | | Believe in God and His messenger and spend out of your wealth [which is given to you by God at first place] for the sake of pleasing Him. Those who believe and devote a part of their wealth to charity deserve a great reward from their Lord |
| 57:8 | | What is the matter with you that you do not believe in God at a time that you are privileged to have His prophet living among you, inviting you to walk on your Lord’s path? Have you forgotten your pledge at the moment of being converted into Islam? [the pledge being: “There is only one God & Mohammad is His Messenger.”] |
| 57:9 | | The Most Kind and the Most Merciful is the One Who sends His Messages to His servant (Mohammad) to bring you out of the darkness’s into the light |
| 57:10 | | What is wrong with you that you do not spend money for charity to please your Lord? Are you afraid of poverty while you are pleasing the One Who owns the whole wealth of the universe and is the One Who provides you with wealth at first place? Do not you know that you can not take anything with you and that God eventually will inherit whatever you were afraid to spend a part of with to please Him? Those of you who spend a part of their money in charity before becoming rich and fight before victory are not equal to those who spend a part of their money after becoming rich and show their willingness in fight after victory! Although both are entitled to the reward, yet the formers are necessarily higher in rank than the latter. God is aware of whatever you do (and sees who has performed what deeds, under what kind of circumstances, and with what intention) |
| 57:11 | | Who is the one who extend a loan to God [How generous of God to call calling it a loan while it is granted to the individual generously by Him at first place] with a good intention [to please the Lord] so that God return it back to him many folded and give him the best reward |
| 57:12 | | You will see a Day when the believing men and women surrounded by their luminous halo, inclined to their right side, rushing to meet their Lord. They will be told: “There is a good news for you today”. They will live forever in the Gardens beneath which the rivers flow. This is the “real success” [success in worldly affair such as wealth, position, family life, etc. are just means of test and trial.] |
| 57:13 | | You will see on that Day that the hypocritical men and women will ask the believers to lean toward them so that they may share their lights. They will told: “Go away; seek your lights elsewhere.” Then a wall with a gate will pop up in front of them. (Once the people of paradise enter through the gate the gate will be closed.) On one side the gate there will be the blessing of Paradise and on the other side the torture of Hell |
| 57:14 | | They will cry out to the believers: “Were we not with you [in all religious activities]?” The believers will reply:&hellip |
| 57:15 | | … “Yes, but you [never completely submitted to your Lord] accepted temptations, waited to see which direction the wind blows, were always in doubt and were misled by your desires until the God’s Judgment was passed. You were with Satan till the last moment. Consequently, you can not buy your way out on the Day of Judgment, neither can the disbelievers. Hell is the only proper place for the hypocrites and the disbeliever who never took God as their Lord. What an evil destiny |
| 57:16 | | Is it not yet time for those (who consider themselves the believers) that their hearts should melt when “for God’s sake” is mentioned and be filled with the (spirit of sacrifice for the) truth? Is it not yet time to learn from those to whom God gave the book before you and not behave like them? Do not you realize to what a rock their hearts has turned into and how they have become sinners ? [what an appropriate reminding when you look at their societies today plagued with sex, gambling, drugs, divorces,...] |
| 57:17 | | The same God that gives life to the earth after its death, has sent down His message to give life to your [spiritually] dead society. Think about it |
| 57:18 | | Those believing men and women who sincerely practice charity have indeed advanced a good loan to their Lord. God will return their loans many folded and there is a generous reward for them in reserve |
| 57:19 | | Those who have believed in God and His Prophets are the ones who have truthfully believed in truth. As the true witnesses, they will receive their light [the energy which will give them enough power to fly to Heaven] and a great reward (paradise. |
| 57:20 | | Know that the life in this world is nothing but a play and amusement. You are engaged in a show to compete among yourselves to earn more wealth and children in order to be proud of. The life in this world is like the plants which grow after a shower of rain, making people happy, but soon after they become yellow and turn into useless hay, blown away by the wind. This worldly life is not more than a temporary illusion. The real life starts in Hereafter where there is either a sever punishment for the disbelievers or forgiveness of the Lord accompanied by pleasure for the successful one |
| 57:21 | | Therefore engage in competition with one another in earning the Paradise which is as spacious as the entire universe [capable of accommodating you all], ready for those who have believed in God and His Messengers. Such is God’s grace [ready to be grabbed by anyone] that He showers whoever He wants with. The grace of Lord has no limit |
| 57:22 | | Any misfortune that happens to you, physical or non-physical, is [a trail which is] already pre-destined. This is easy for God to do |
| 57:23 | | This is mentioned so that you do not grief over a loss nor be proud of whatever God has given to you [while you may think that you have earned it yourself]. Indeed God does not like those who are proud and arrogant |
| 57:24 | | The latter are stingy and prevent the others to be generous in their charitable contribution. No matter you spend money for the sake of God or not, God is the wealthiest indeed and is the Only One worthy of praise |
| 57:25 | | God sends His Prophets with clear proofs indicating their prophet hood, the book [which contains all the teachings required for the guidance of man] and the criterion without which right or wrong can not be defined. God has also sent down the iron which gives you great strength [to be used by God’s army to enforce His Will] and has many other benefits for man. All this is done so that God may know who helps His cause and His Prophets, on faith. God is strong [and does not need your help], Almighty |
| 57:26 | | I (God) appointed Noah as a Prophet and Abraham (after him). I chose the Prophets after them from the descendants of Abraham and gave them the Scriptures. Some of their followers were righteous but most of them chose wickedness |
| 57:27 | | After them we sent many Prophets [to guide them back to the right path]. Eventually I sent Jesus, son of Mary and gave him the Gospel and placed in the heart of his follower’s kindness and mercy. The Monasticism [abandoning the world out of fear], however, was their own invention (not prescribed by God) to please God. They did not observe the rules of their invented sect in the right spirit as it should have been observed. I (God) rewarded those of them who had believed but most of them are wicked |
| 57:28 | | O’ you who have chosen to believe, be mindful of your duties towards God and trust His Prophet (Mohammad). God will be twice as merciful to you. God will give you a light [energy] that enables you to walk [toward your destination] and will forgive your wrongdoings [committed due to your human weaknesses in spite of your sincere belief]; God is Forgiver, the Most Merciful |
| 57:29 | | May the followers of the previous Scriptures know that they do not have the monopoly to God’s mercy and grace and that all grace is in God’s possession which He may shower upon whoever He desires. The Grace of God does not have any limit |
