“The Holy Qur’an Translated, Author Abdullah Yusuf Ali, New revised Edition”
C.1Glory to Allah Most High, full Grace and Mercy;
He Created All, including Man.
To Man He gave a special place in His Creation
He honored man to be His Agent,
And to that end, endued him with understanding.
Purified his affections, and gave him spiritual insight;
So that man should understand Nature,
Understand himself,
And know Allah through His wondrous signs,
And glorify Him in Truth, reverence, and unity.
C.2 For the fulfillment of this great trust
Man was further given a Will,
So that his act should reflect Allah’s universal Will and Law,
And his mind, freely choosing,
Should experience the sublime joy
Of being in Harmony with the infinite,
And with the great drama of the world around him,
And with his own spiritual growth
C.3 But, created though he was in the best of moulds,
Man fell from the Unity when his Will was warped,
And he chose the crooked path of Discord.
And sorrow and pain, selfishness and degradation.
Ignorance and hatred, despair and unbelief
Poisoned his life, and he saw shapes of evil
In the Physical, moral, and spiritual world,
And in himself
C. 4 Then did his soul rise against himself,
And his self-discord made discord between kith and kin:
Men began to fear the strong and oppress the weak,
To boast in prosperity, and curse in adversity.
And to flee each other, pursuing phantoms,
For the truth and reality of Unity
Was gone from their minds.
C.5 When men spread themselves over the earth,
And became many nations,
Speaking diverse languages,
And observing diverse customs and laws;
The evils became multiplied,
As one race or nation
Became alienated from another
The brotherhood of man was now doubly forgotten—
First, between individuals, and secondly between nations.
Arrogance, selfishness, and untruth
Were sown and reaped in larger fields;
And Peace, Faith, Love and Justice
Were obscured over masses of men,
As large tracts of land are starved
Of sunshine by clouds floating far on high.
C.6 But Allah, in His infinite mercy and love,
Who forgives and guides individuals and nations,
And turns to good even what seems to use evil,
Never forsakes the struggling soul that turns to Him,
Nor the groups of men and women
Who join together to obey His Will and Law
And strengthen each other in unity and truth,
Nor the Nations that dwell
In mountain or valley, heat or cold,
In regions fertile or arid,
In societies that roam over land or seas,
Or hunt, or tend flocks, or till the soil,
Or seek the seas for food or oil or fat or gems,
Or dig out from bowels of the earth
Precious stones or metals or stored-up heat and energy,
Or practice arts and crafts, or produce abundant wealth
By machines of ingenious workmanship,
Or live a frugal life of contemplation,
For all are creatures of one God,
And share His loving care
And must be brought within the pale
Of His eternal unity and harmony
C.7 And so this light of eternal Unity
Has shone in all ages and among all nations
Through chosen Messengers of Allah, who came
As men to dwell among men,
To share their joys and sorrows,
To suffer for them and with them-
Aye, and to suffer more than falls
To ordinary mortal lot-
That so their message and their life
Might fulfil* the eternal
And unchanging purpose of the Most High-
To lead man to his noblest destiny.
C.8 Ever this eternal light of Unity-
This mystic light of Allah’s own Will,
Has shone and shines with undiminished splendour.*
The names of many Messengers are inscribed
In the records of many nations and many tongues,
And many were the forms in which their message was delivered,
And manifold were the lives of the Messengers,
And manifold also was the response of their people;
But they all witnessed to the One Truth:
Of Allah’s unity, might, grace and love.
To Be Continued
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