as-Saffat (Those Who Set The Ranks, Drawn up in Ranks, The Rangers)
as rendered by Bijan Moeinian		   Print

Bijan Moeinian rendition of Surah Those Who Set The Ranks, Drawn up in Ranks, The Rangers(as-Saffat)
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37:1 God hereby swears by those who form their ranks to start the battle.
37:2 And by the angles who are in charge of driving the clouds
37:3 And by the angles who bring the verses of Qur’an down to mankind
37:4 That your God is One and that there is Only One God.
37:5 Director of the heavens and the earth and anything between and Lord of the easts [perhaps a reference to the easts and wests and global shapes of the planets].
37:6 I (God) have adorned the innermost universe [the one being discovered by astronomy] with exotic planets.
37:7 I have guarded it against any evil devil [to destroy its existing order.]
37:8 These satans cannot break into the communication system of those who are close to God as they are on defensive.
37:9 They have already been condemned to an everlasting torture.
37:10 If one of them dares to escape the lower universe, a flashing projectile will be charged against him.
37:11 Vs.11-deals with the following question: “Is it difficult for God to recreate man to face the Day of Judgment?”
37:12 Ask the disbelievers, who are created from the mud [organic matter]: “Are they more difficult for God to be recreated [on the Day of Resurrection] or the awesome realm of creation?”
37:13 While the believers are at awe [with God’s creative power], the disbelievers making fun [of the possibility of Resurrection.]
37:14 When the disbelievers are warned, they take it lightly.
37:15 When a revelation of God comes to the disbelievers they recourse to the mockery.
37:16 They say: “This is nonsense ….
37:17 that we will be raised with bone and flesh after our death.”
37:18 They jokingly ask: “How about our ancestors?”
37:19 Say to them, “absolutely; and you are helpless [on that Day that you are laughing at its happening.]
37:20 It will take a snap for them to be recreated and look around [and face the Day of Resurrection.]
37:21 Then they will say: “Shame and pity to us; this is indeed the Day of Judgment.”
37:22 It will be confirmed to them: “Yes, this is the same Day of Judgment that you used to deny.”
37:23 Then it will be commanded: “Gather all the unjust people and their associates and those idols that they used to worship, instead of God, and drag them in the road that leads to Hell.”
37:24 “Then take a break and ask why they are not helping each other [as they were used to say:….
37:25 “Do not worry, I will take the responsibility”.”
37:26 Of course on that Day they will all submit [but it will be too late.]
37:27 That will be an opportunity for mutual blaming.
37:28 The followers will ask their leaders: “You used to swear that you were our well-wisher [and that in an improbable Day of Judgment you will carry our sins.]”
37:29 The leaders will reply: “[Do not blame us.] You yourself chose the disbelief.”
37:30 [They will continue]: “We did not have any power over you; it was you who chose the rebellion.”
37:31 “The Lord’s Judgment against us was just; now we have to accept the punishment.”
37:32 “We offered you the disbelief for the simple reason that we had chosen the disbelief ourselves.”
37:33 Thus on that Day the disbelievers and their followers will be sentenced to punishment.
37:34 This is the way that I deal with the disbelievers [that being misled is not an acceptable excuse].
37:35 These are the same people that when they were told: “There is no other god beside God”, they revealed their arrogant nature.
37:36 They used to say: “Shall we give up our gods for the sake of a crazy poet [as they referred to Mohammad.]”
37:37 While he (Mohammad) had come with the truth [as presented by the Prophets before him and nothing of new], confirming the truthfulness of the previous Prophets [who had repeated the same message again and again before Mohammad.]
37:38 It will be said to the disbelievers: “You deserve to taste the awful punishment.”
37:39 “Your punishment is proportionate to your deeds.”
37:40 Only the sincere worshippers of God will be saved.
37:41 They deserve the blessing which is in reserve for them.
37:42 All kind of fruits will be at their disposition and they will be honored.
37:43 In the Gardens of Paradise.
37:44 They will sit face to face in luxurious couches.
37:45 They will be offered cups of pure drinks.
37:46 How delightful will be those drinks.
37:47 The kind of a drink which will neither harm you nor make you intoxicated.
37:48 They will be married to the chaste women with shy beautiful eyes.
37:49 As delicate as an egg under its shell.
37:50 Then they will engage in conversation.
37:51 One of them will say:…
37:52 “I had a friend [in my previous life on earth] who used to make fun of me asking if believe in this “nonsense” ….
37:53 of being resurrected and judged after our death and after our bones being turn into dust.”
37:54 He will be said: “watch [perhaps in an interactive kind of device].”
37:55 He will see his friend at the bottom of the Hell.
37:56 Then he will start to communicate with him saying: “By Lord! you were too close in convincing me to follow you in disbelief.”
37:57 “How grateful I am to my Lord who led me to the right path.”
37:58 “Now you tell me whether or not the death is the end of everything and that….
37:59 there will not be any judgment for our worldly deeds.”
37:60 Being admitted to Paradise is….
37:61 the greatest success that everyone should strive for.
37:62 Is the feast of Paradise [as explained before] better or eating the bitter fruit of….
37:63 the devilish tree of “zaqqum” given to the wicked one?
37:64 Zaqqum is the name of a tree which grown at the bottom of the Hell.
37:65 With devilish looking buds.
37:66 Forced by hunger, the people of Hell [who do not have nothing else to eat] will fill up their bellies with this devilish fruit.
37:67 Then they will top it with a disgusting boiling drink.
37:68 Once the eating “break” is over, they will be herded back to the Hell.
37:69 These are the same people who followed their traditional religions.
37:70 Knowing that their religion was keeping them in the wrong path [, they were not brave enough to break up with their wrong beliefs].
37:71 Their wrong religions were established by those before them to whom God sent….
37:72 warnings through His Prophets.
37:73 Now see how terrible is the destiny of those who rejected God’s warnings.
37:74 Only those who sincerely devoted themselves to worship the Lords are saved.
37:75 [Long before them] Noah [at the height of his desperation and after having invited people to the way of God for some years,] called upon Me. Note what a positive response he got from his Lord.
37:76 I (God) saved him and his followers from the great catastrophe.
37:77 And established them on the earth.
37:78 And left for him praise among generations to come.
37:79 Peace is with Noah forever [as none will ever talk evil of him].
37:80 This is the way that your Lord rewards the righteous.
37:81 Noah is indeed one of My believing servants.
37:82 As to the wicked of Noah’s nation, I drowned them all.
37:83 Abraham was one of the followers of Noah.
37:84 He submitted whole heartedly to his Lord.
37:85 He said to his father and his people: “What are these things that you worship?”
37:86 “Do you recourse to the gods that you yourself have fabricated instead of God?”
37:87 “What do you think about the Organizer of the universe?”
37:88 [As he could not get any convincing answer,] Abraham concentrated his attention toward the stars [to find what he was missing].
37:89 Being disappointed,] he said: “I feel bad.”
37:90 So they left him alone and went [to some kind of general gathering.]
37:91 [At their absence,] Abraham went to the temple and [started to talk to the idols and] said: “Do you want something to eat?”
37:92 Then he asked: “How come you do not talk?”
37:93 Then he strokes them down with his right hand [with a sword or a weapon of some kind.]
37:94 [When people returned, they concluded that the only present one in the city, i.e., Abraham could have destroyed their gods so] they rushed toward Abraham [asking in rage why he has done it.]
37:95 Abraham said: “Why do you worship something that you have carved with your own hands?”
37:96 “Whereas it is God who [should be worshipped as He is the One Who has] created you and whatever you make”
37:97 They said: “Let us make a big fire and throw him in [and see how his God will save him.]
37:98 They plotted a plan against him and God defeated them in their own plan [as the fire did not have any effect upon Abraham.]
37:99 Then Abraham said: “Now I am leaving you, putting my trust in God.”
37:100 One day Abraham prayed: “O Lord, grant me a righteous son.”
37:101 God [answered his prayers in appropriate time and] gave him the good news: a wonderful son.
37:102 When the boy grew up, one day Abraham told him: “My son, I have seen in my dream that I am sacrificing you; what do you think about it?” The son said: “My dear father, do whatever God has ordered you to do. God willing, I will bear in this process.”
37:103 When they both submitted [to what they were thinking is the Lord’s order]…..
37:104 and Abraham started to slaughter his son, I (God) called out:….
37:105 “O Abraham, you fulfilled what you saw in your dream [he saw that he is sacrificing not that he has sacrificed]. Thus I reward the righteous [by not letting them being hurt in their trials.]
37:106 This was indeed a great test.
37:107 Then I asked them to sacrifice an animal.
37:108 Praise is for Abraham for generations to come [as millions of people gather every year in celebration of the event where it took place.]
37:109 Peace is with Abraham.
37:110 This is the way that God rewards the righteous.
37:111 Abraham was indeed one of My believing servants.
37:112 Then I gave Abraham the good news of the upcoming birth of Isaac; a righteous Prophet to be.
37:113 I blessed Abraham and Isaac. Now among their offspring some are righteous and some are wicked.
37:114 I also blessed Moses and Aaron.
37:115 I delivered them and their people from a great distress (Pharaoh’s slavery.)
37:116 I supported them till they succeeded.
37:117 I revealed to them the scriptures.
37:118 And guided them to the right path.
37:119 Praise is for them both for generations to come.
37:120 Peace is with Moses and Aaron.
37:121 This is the way that God rewards the righteous.
37:122 They were indeed among my believing servants.
37:123 Elias was also one of My Prophets.
37:124 He invited his people to be righteous.
37:125 He said: “How do you dare to worship an idol known as Ba’al instead of the Supreme Creator?”
37:126 “God is your Lord as well as the Lord of your forefathers.”
37:127 The people of Elias did not listen to him; therefore, they will be called to answer for their disbelief.
37:128 Except those among them who served God whole heartedly.
37:129 Praise is for Elias for generations to come.
37:130 Peace is with Elias and his followers.
37:131 This is the way that God rewards the righteous.
37:132 Elias was indeed one of our believing servants.
37:133 Lot also was a Prophets.
37:134 I saved him and his household from the disaster [which overtook his people].
37:135 Except [his] old ugly woman who had to be punished [for not obeying him].
37:136 The rest were completely destroyed.
37:137 You pass by their ruins [when you travel] by day and night; ….
37:138 will you not take a lesson.
37:139 Jonah was also one of My Prophets.
37:140 Once he escaped [from a predicament] by taking refuge in a loaded ship.
37:141 [Due to the overweight, they had to throw some people out.] He agreed to participate in the casting of lots and lost.
37:142 Eventually a big fish swallowed him and he was the only one to be blamed for his destiny [as he fled his place of mission without asking God’s permission].
37:143 If it was not in account of his sincere recourse to God,….
37:144 he would have stayed in the belly of the fish till the Day of Resurrection.
37:145 I ordered him to be thrown out in a bare shore; absolutely exhausted.
37:146 I ordered a fruit tree to grow so that he may eat from its fruit.
37:147 Then I appointed him as a Prophet to a nation of some hundred thousand people.
37:148 As they chose to believe in him, we let them live [comfortably] until the day that they were supposed to face their natural deaths. The next few verses deals with the man’s attributing children to God in account of his ignorance.
37:149 Ask the disbelievers: “How come you want to have only sons [and kill your daughter considering having them a matter of shame] and then you say that God has daughters?”
37:150 Why do they say that the angels are of female gender? Were they present in their creation?
37:151 Saying that God has begotten a son is an insult to the God’s dignity. …
37:152 Such people are nothing but plain liars.
37:153 Has God begotten a girl instead of a son?…
37:154 What is wrong with these people?
37:155 Why don’t they use their brain before saying something of such blasphemy magnitude?
37:156 Do they have any logical proof for their assigning children to God?
37:157 Bring your book [the book in which it is written God has begotten children] as a proof if you are not a bunch of liars.
37:158 They even [fantasize and] say that there is a blood relationship between God and the Extra-Terrestrials (Jinns); though Jinns know very well that they are the creatures of the Lord.
37:159 Glory to God Who is far above their descriptions.
37:160 Only those servants of God who have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to him are in the right path.
37:161 Indeed the disbelievers (and whatever they worship) …
37:162 can not over power the Lord….
37:163 and will all be burnt in the Hell.
37:164 The Angels declare:….
37:165 “[Not to speak of being God’s children], we all have our ranks. ….
37:166 We are the ranged servant and the glorifiers of God”
37:167 The Disbelievers used to say:
37:168 “Had we received the correct (authentic/pure and nothing added to) guidance from….
37:169 the previous generations, We would have been sincere worshippers of God.”
37:170 Now that their wish is granted to them, they prefer to continue their way of disbelief.
37:171 My decision is already….
37:172 revealed to My Prophets: They will have the final victory.
37:173 Victory belongs to the soldiers of God.
37:174 So (Mohammad), leave them alone for a while.
37:175 And look forward to [their punishment] as they are looking forward to also.
37:176 Why do they want to face [as they jokingly used to ask Mohammad to hasten] their punishment as soon as possible?
37:177 It will be a miserable Day when they face their punishment. They are sufficiently warned.
37:178 So leave them alone for a while.
37:179 And look forward to as they are looking forward to also.
37:180 Glorified is your Lord, Lord of Honor and far above their claims [of having a child, not being able to recreate them, having partners, etc.]
37:181 My salutations to the Prophets.
37:182 All praise is only for God; the Lord of the universe.


   


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