al-Isra` Bilal Muhammad 2018

17:1
- Glory be to God, Who took His servant on a night journey, from the Sacred Masjid, to the farthest masjid, whose surroundings We blessed, in order that We might show him some of Our signs, while it is He Who hears and sees all things
17:2
- We gave Moses the Book, and made it a guide to the Children of Israel and it read, “Take none other than Me as a manager of your affairs.
17:3
- O you who descend from those who We carried with Noah, know that indeed he was a devotee most grateful
17:4
- And We gave the warning to the Children of Israel in the Book, that twice they would do wrong on the earth and be awfully arrogant
17:5
- When the first of the warnings came, We sent against you Our servants given to terrible warfare. They entered the very in-most parts of your homes, and it was a warning fulfilled
17:6
- Then We gave you victory over them. We gave you increase in resources and children, and made you the more mighty in power
17:7
- If you did good, you did good for yourselves. If you did wrong, you did it against yourselves. Then when the second of the warnings came, We permitted your enemies to disfigure your faces, to enter your temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power
17:8
- It may be that your Lord may show mercy to you. But if you change, We will change, and We have made hell a prison for those who reject it
17:9
- Indeed this Quran guides to that which is most right, and gives hope to the believers who do deeds of righteousness, that they will have a magnificent reward
17:10
- And to those who do not believe in the hereafter, it announces that We have prepared for them a terrible penalty
17:11
- The prayer that their people should make for good, they make for evil, for people are given to haste
17:12
- We have made the night and the day as two signs. The sign of the night We have obscured, while the sign of the day We have made to enlighten you, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may count and know the number of years. All things have We explained in detail
17:13
- Every person’s fate have We fastened to his own neck. On the Day of Accountability We will bring out for him a scroll which he will see spread open
17:14
- Read your record. Sufficient is your soul this day to make an argument against you
17:15
- He who receives guidance receives it for his own benefit. He who goes astray does so to his own loss. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another, and We would not come with Our punishment until We had sent a messenger
17:16
- When We decide to destroy a population, We send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life, and yet transgress, so that the word is proved true against them. Then We completely destroy them
17:17
- How many generations have We caused to perish after Noah? And enough is your Lord to see and note the sins of His servants
17:18
- If any wish for the temporary things, We readily grant such things as We will, to such people as We will. In the end, We have provided hell for them. They will burn therein, disgraced and rejected
17:19
- Those who wish for the hereafter, strive there with all necessary striving, and have faith, they are the ones whose striving is accepted
17:20
- Of the bounties of your Lord, We bestow them freely on all these as well as those. The bounties of your Lord are not closed to anyone
17:21
- See how We have bestowed more on some than on others? But indeed the hereafter is more lofty, and more excellent
17:22
- Do not take with God another god, or you will sit disgraced and forsaken
17:23
- Your Guardian Evolver has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to parents, whether one or both of them attain old age in your lifetime. Do not say to them a word of contempt, nor disrespect them, but address them in terms of honor
17:24
- And out of kindness, lower the wing of humility to them and say, “My Lord, bestow on them your mercy as they cherished me in childhood.
17:25
- Your Lord knows best what is in your heart. If you do deeds of righteousness, indeed He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him consistently
17:26
- And give to family their due rights, and to those in want, and to displaced persons, and do not spend extravagantly
17:27
- Indeed those who spend extravagantly are companions of the devils, and Satan is to his Lord ungrateful
17:28
- And even if you have to turn away from them in pursuit of the mercy from your Lord which you expect, still speak to them a word of kindness
17:29
- Do not tie your hand to your neck, nor stretch it out to its farthest reach, so that you become blameworthy and destitute
17:30
- Indeed your Lord provides resources in abundance for whom He wills, and He provides it in just measure, for He knows and is regardful of all His servants
17:31
- Do not kill your children for fear of want. We care for them as well as for you. Indeed killing them is a great sin
17:32
- And do not put yourself in a situation that impermissible sex can easily occur, it is indeed an incorrect and harmful route
17:33
- Nor kill the soul which God has made sacred, except for just cause, and if anyone is killed wrongfully, We have given his heir authority, but do not let him exceed bounds in the matter of taking life, for he will be helped
17:34
- Do not come near the orphans’ property except to increase it, until they attain the age of full strength. And fulfill your covenant, for covenants will be inquired into
17:35
- Give the full amount when you are to give, and weigh with a balance that is straight. That is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination
17:36
- And do not pursue that which you cannot know, for every act of hearing, seeing, or feeling in the heart will be inquired into
17:37
- Nor walk on the earth with arrogance, for you cannot tear the earth apart, nor reach the mountains’ height
17:38
- Of all such things, these wrongs are most hateful in the sight of your Lord
17:39
- These are among the sayings of wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you. Do not appoint with God another god, or you will be thrown into hell, blameworthy and rejected
17:40
- Has your Lord then preferred for you sons and taken for Himself daughters among the angels? Truly you utter a senseless saying
17:41
- We have explained things in various ways in this Quran, in order that they will remember, but it only increases their flight
17:42
- Say, if there had been gods with Him, as they say, then certainly they would have sought out a way to the owner of the throne
17:43
- Glory be to Him, He is high above all that they say, Exalted and Great
17:44
- The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein declare His glory. There is not a thing that does not glorify and praise Him, and yet you do not understand how they declare His glory, indeed He is Understanding, Most Forgiving
17:45
- When you recite the Quran, We put between you and those who do not believe in the hereafter, an invisible veil
17:46
- And We put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand the Quran, and deafness into their ears. When you commemorate your Lord and Him alone, with the Quran, they turn their backs—fleeing
17:47
- We know best why they listen, when they listen to you, and when they meet in private. Behold the wicked say, “You follow none other than a man possessed.
17:48
- See what comparisons they make for you, but they have gone astray, and never can they find a way
17:49
- They say, “What, when we are reduced to bones and dust, shall we really be raised up as a new creation?
17:50
- Say, “Whether you are stones or iron
17:51
- “Or created matter which, in your minds, is hardest.” Then they will say, “Who will cause us to return?” Say, “He who created you first.” Then they will shake their heads at you and say, “When will that be?” Say, “Perhaps it will be soon
17:52
- “It will be on a day when He will call you, and you will answer with His praise, and you will think that you stayed only a little while.
17:53
- Say to My servants that they should say those things which are best, for Satan sows dissensions among them, for Satan is to humanity a sworn enemy
17:54
- It is your Lord Who knows you best. If He pleases, He grants you mercy, or if He pleases, punishment. We have not sent you to be a manager of their affairs for them
17:55
- And it is your Lord Who knows best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth. We bestowed on some prophets more gifts than on others, and We gave to David the Psalms
17:56
- Say, “Call on others besides Him if you desire. They have neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them.
17:57
- Those who they call on desire ways to access their Lord, even those who are nearest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment, for the punishment of your Lord is that which you should remain aware
17:58
- There is not a population that We will not cause to perish before the Day of Accountability, or punish with a dreadful penalty. That is written in the record
17:59
- And We refrain from sending the signs only because the people of previous generations treated them as false. We sent the she-camel to the Thamud to open their eyes, but they treated it wrongfully. We only send the signs as a warning
17:60
- And when We told you that your Lord encompasses humanity, We granted the vision which We showed you as a trial for humanity, and the Cursed Tree in the Quran. We put fear into them, but it only increases their transgression
17:61
- Behold, We said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam.” They all bowed down, except Lucifer. He said, “Shall I bow down to one whom You created from mud?
17:62
- He said, “See this one whom You have honored above me? If You give me respite until the Day of Accountability, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway, all but a few.
17:63
- God said, “Go your way, if any of them follow you, indeed hell will be the reward of you all, a sufficient reward
17:64
- “Lead to destruction with your voice, those among them whom you can, make assaults on them with your cavalry and your infantry, share with them in their wealth and children, and make promises to them.” But Satan promises them nothing but deceit
17:65
- “As for My servants, no authority will you have over them.” Enough is your Lord for a manager of affairs
17:66
- Your Lord is He Who makes the ship sail smoothly for you through the sea, in order that you may seek of His bounty, for He is to you the Merciful Redeemer
17:67
- When distress seizes you at sea, those who you call upon besides Him leave you there, but when He brings you back safely to land, you turn away. Most ungrateful is the human being
17:68
- Do you then feel secure that He will not cause you to be swallowed up beneath the earth when you are on land, or that He will not send against you a violent tornado so that you can find no one to carry out your affairs for you
17:69
- Or do you feel secure that He will not send you back to sea a second time, and send against you a storm to drown you because of your ingratitude, so that you find no helper therein against Us
17:70
- We have honored the children of Adam, provided them with transport on land and sea, given them for sustenance things good and pure, and preferred them above a great part of Our creation
17:71
- One day We will call together all human beings with their leaders. Those who are given their record in their right hand will read it, and will not be dealt with unjustly in the least
17:72
- And those who were blind in the present will be blind in the hereafter, and most astray from the path
17:73
- And their purpose was to lure you away from that which We had revealed to you, to substitute in Our name something quite different, and then they would certainly have made you their friend
17:74
- And had We not given you strength, you would have inclined to them a little
17:75
- Then We would have made you taste an equal portion in this life, to the equal portion at death, and you would have found none to help you against Us
17:76
- Their purpose was to scare you off the land, in order to expel you, and they would not have stayed after you, except for a little
17:77
- This was Our way with the messengers We sent before you. You will find no change in Our way
17:78
- Establish prayer at the Sun’s decline until the darkness of night, and during the morning Quran recitation, for indeed the morning Quran recitation is a testimony
17:79
- And in the night, arise from sleep. And do a little extra. Soon your Lord will raise you to a station of praise and glory
17:80
- Say, “O my Lord, let my entry be by the gate of truth and honor, and likewise, let my exit be by the gate of truth and honor, and grant me, from Your presence, an authority to aid me.
17:81
- And say, “Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished, for falsehood is bound to perish.
17:82
- We send down in the Quran, that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe. To the unjust, it causes nothing but loss
17:83
- Yet when We bestow Our favors on human beings, they turn away, lying on their side, and when harm seizes them, they give themselves up to despair
17:84
- Say, “Everyone acts according to their own disposition, but your Lord knows best who it is who is best guided on the way.
17:85
- They ask you concerning the Spirit. Say, “The Spirit comes by command of my Lord. Of knowledge, there is only a little that is communicated to you.
17:86
- If it were Our will, We could take away that which We have sent you by inspiration. Then you would find nothing to plead your affair in that matter against Us
17:87
- It is only a mercy from your Lord. For His bounty to you is plentiful
17:88
- Say, “If all of humanity and jinn were to gather together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like of it, even if they backed up each other with help and support
17:89
- And We have explained to humanity in this Quran every kind of lesson. Yet the greater part of them refuse it, except with ingratitude
17:90
- They say, “We will not believe in you, until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth
17:91
- “Or until you have a garden of date trees and vines, and cause rivers to gush forth in their presence, carrying abundant water
17:92
- “Or you cause the sky to fall into pieces on us as you say, or you bring God and the angels before us face to face
17:93
- “Or you have a house adorned with gold, or you raise a ladder into the universe. No, we will not even believe in your raising a ladder until you bring down to us a book that we can read.” Say, “Glory to my Lord. Am I not only a human being, a messenger?
17:94
- What kept the people back from belief when guidance came to them was nothing but this, they said, “Has God sent a human to be His messenger?
17:95
- Say, “If there were settled on earth angels walking about in peace and quiet, We should certainly have sent down from the heavens an angel for a messenger.
17:96
- Say, “Enough is God for a witness between you and me, for He is well acquainted with His servants, and He sees all things.
17:97
- He who God guides is on true guidance, but he whom He leaves astray, never will you find for them a protector besides Him. On the Day of Accountability We will gather them together, lying on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be hell. Every time it subsides, We will increase for them the fierceness of the fire
17:98
- That is their reward, because they rejected Our signs and said, “When we are reduced to bones and dust, will we really be raised up as a new creation?
17:99
- Do they not see that God, Who created the heavens and the earth, has power to create the likes of them? He has decreed a term appointed, of which there is no doubt, but the unjust refuse to accept it, except with ingratitude
17:100
- Say, “If you had control of the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, then you would have kept them back, for fear of losing them, for human beings are indeed greedy.
17:101
- To Moses We gave nine clear signs, and to the Children of Israel. When he came to them Pharaoh said to him, “O Moses, I consider you indeed to have been worked upon by spells
17:102
- Moses said, “You know full well that these things have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth, as eye-opening evidence, and I consider you indeed, O Pharaoh, to be one doomed to destruction.
17:103
- So He chose to remove them from the face of the earth, so We drowned him and all who were with him
17:104
- Then We said to the Children of Israel, “Live securely in the land.” But when the second of the warnings came to pass, We gathered you together in a crowd
17:105
- We sent it down in truth, and in truth has it descended, and We sent you only to give hope and to warn
17:106
- It is a Quran which We have divided in order that you might recite it to people in intervals as We revealed it in stages
17:107
- Say, “Whether you believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given the knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration
17:108
- “And they say, ‘glory to Our Lord, truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled.’
17:109
- They bow on their faces in tears, and it increases their humility
17:110
- Say, “Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful Benefactor, or by whatever name you would like to call upon Him, because to Him belong the most beautiful names. Neither say your Salat loudly, nor say it in a low tone, but seek a way in between.
17:111
- Say, “Praise God, who does not have a son, and has no partner in His control, nor does He need any to protect Him out of weakness. Yes, exalt Him for His Greatness and Glory.

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IslamAwakened.com Qur'an Tafsir of Surah al-Isra` - Children of Israel, The Israelites as rendered by A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)