Parable of the life SŪRAH AL-KAHF 18:45-49 TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY

Simple translation:

“And propound unto them the parable of the life of this world: (it is) like the rain which We send down from the skies, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth: but (in time) they turn into dry stubble that the winds blow freely about. And it is Allah (alone) who prevails over all things.”           

(18:45)

Commentary:

There is a powerful and compelling demonstration of Allah’s power in this reference to the passage of nature from rain, to greenery and finally to dry stubble freely blown about by the wind. The life of this world is like that. Nothing remains forever; everything perishes and passes away; and it is Allah alone Who prevails. Those, therefore, who betray Allah Most High for a US visa or Green Card, or for borrowing money on interest to do business and for other such reasons, are a people who have acted quite foolishly. Just a glance at the passage of nature from greenery to dry stubble should be sufficient to teach them to recognize the folly of their conduct in which they foolishly allowed the Duniyah to take precedence in their lives over submission to Allah as the Supreme Being in their lives.  

Simple translation:

“Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world: but good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever, are of far greater merit in thy Lord-God’s sight, and far better as (the foundation for) hope.”       

(18:46)

Commentary:

There are transient things in the world that men hanker for, such as wealth and children. But there is something else that is better since it abides beyond the count of time – and that is good deeds. And so, as the world becomes more and more corrupt in the Last Age, and as darkness envelops the world, the believer should strive to remain constant in his endeavor to be righteous in conduct and to do good deeds. 

Simple translation:

“Hence the Day on which We shall cause the mountains to disappear and the earth would appear as void and bare as a level stretch: for We will gather them all together, leaving out not a single one of them.”       

(18:47)

Explanatory translation:

“Hence, (let mankind bear in mind) the Day, on which We shall cause the mountains to disappear and the earth would appear as void and bare as a level stretch: for (on that Day) We will (resurrect the dead and) gather them all (i.e., all of mankind) together, leaving out not a single one of them.”

Commentary:

The Surah now returns to the compelling imagery of the Last Day, i.e., the resurrection and the gathering of mankind for the judgment from which none can escape. It is the constant consciousness of this coming event that assists believers in the greatest measure as they struggle to respond to the awesome tests and trials of the Last Age. 

Simple translation:

And they will be lined up before thy Lord-God, “Now, indeed, you have come unto Us, even as We created you in the first instance - although you were wont to assert that We would never appoint for you (this day of our) meeting!”

(18:48)

Explanatory translation:

And they will be lined up before thy Lord-God, (and He will say) “Now, indeed, you have come unto Us (in a bare, naked, lonely state), even as We created you in the first instance - although you were wont to assert that We would never appoint for you (this day of our) meeting (i.e., when all of Allah’s creatures would have to appear before Him for judgment)!”

Commentary:

Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet said, “You will be gathered (on the Day of Judgment), bare-footed, naked and uncircumcised.” He then recited: “As We produced the first creation, so shall We reproduce it. This is a promise We shall assuredly fulfill.” (Qur’an, al-Anbiyah, 21.104) He added, “The first to be dressed on the Day of Resurrection will be Abraham, and some of my companions will be taken towards the left side (i.e. to the (Hell Fire), and I will say: My companions! My companions! It will be said: They renegaded from Islam after you left them". Then I will say as the pious slave of Allah (i.e. Jesus) said, "And I was a witness Over them while I dwelt amongst them. When You took me up You were the Watcher over them, And You are a witness to all things. If You punish them. They are Your slaves. And if You forgive them, Verily you, only You, are the All-Mighty, the  All-Wise.” (Qur’an, al-Maidah, 5.117)

Who are those Muslims who would receive that awesome shock on the Day of Judgment when they learn to their horror that their lord-God has refused to recognize them to be Muslims? First amongst them must be those who, in this age of intense war on Islam and on the rightly-guided scholars of Islam, remain supporters of the Jewish-Christian alliance which now rules the world from Washington.  

Simple translation:

And the record will be laid  open and you will behold those guilty filled with terror at what lies therein; and they will exclaim: “Oh, woe unto us! What a record is this! It leaves out nothing, be it small or great, but takes everything into account! For they will find all that they ever did facing them, and your Lord-God is not unjust to anyone.”                          

(18:49)

Explanatory translation:

And the record (of everyone's deeds) will be laid  open and you will behold those guilty (of manifestly sinful conduct in the pursuit of wealth, power, privilege, lust, status, etc.,) filled with terror at what (they see) therein; and they will exclaim: “Oh, woe unto us! What a record is this! It leaves out nothing, be it small or great, but takes everything into account! For they will find all that they ever did (now) facing them, and (will know that) your Lord-God is not unjust to anyone.”

Commentary:

And so they will face unflinching absolute justice in which they cannot bribe the judge, or their victim’s lawyer, to get the case postponed again and again, nor can they hire high-priced lawyers who would intimidate the victim, as happens so frequently with insurance cases, nor can they ‘scam’ their way to subvert justice in any other devilish way. Absolute justice also necessarily implies no over-looking of deeds, big or small. Of course this Judge has announced that it is His prerogative to show mercy by forgiving whomsoever He wishes, and thus erasing sins from their record.*

(*May Allah have mercy on that dreadful day on this writer, and on both his parents, and on the believers. Amin!)

Source: SŪRAH AL-KAHF ARABIC TEXT - TRANSLATION

To Be Continued....

Surah Kahf Unveiling The End Time By Sheikh Imran Hosein

Parable of two men SŪRAH AL-KAHF 18:32-44 TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY

Simple translation:

“And narrate to the people this parable of two men, upon one of whom We had bestowed two vineyards, and surrounded them with date palms, and placed a field of grain in-between.”                                              

(18:32)

Simple translation:

“Each of the two gardens yielded its produce and never failed therein in any way, since We had caused a stream to gush forth in the midst of each of them.”                                                                                                 

(18:33)

Simple translation:

“And so he had produce in abundance. And (one day) he said to his companion, in boastful argument while bandying words with him, “More wealth have I than you, and mightier am I as regards (the number and power of my) followers!”                                                                       

(18:34)

Commentary:

Here is a beautiful parable that forcefully warns of one of major attacks of Dajjal on the faith of mankind, i.e. the attack of the Duniyah (worldly life). The reader would easily be able to recognize that this attack, which corrupts the heart to such an extent that the Duniyah replaces Allah Most High as supreme in the heart, has already met with resounding success in today’s world.

In consequence of being rich, the owner of the two gardens was convinced that he was a ‘somebody’, and that his companion, who was poor, was a ‘nobody’.  The corrupt rich (corrupted by wealth) eventually brainwash themselves into believing that they have more rights than the poor. Hence they should control power in society. They ‘make’ and ‘break’ governments. They buy elections with their check-books. They lead all important groups and, in particular, religious groups. They take control of the media, business, sports, politics, education etc. They even control the administration and management of the churches, temples, synagogues and Masajid. The consequence is that since they are themselves corrupt, they corrupt all others.  Dajjal’s success is thus phenomenal.

Simple translation:

“And having (thus) corrupted himself internally, he entered his garden, saying, “I do not think that this will ever perish!”                             

(18:35) 

Commentary:

This was an indication that the ‘rich’ man, who was corrupted by his wealth, had now lost touch with reality and was living in a world of fantasy.  His faith in Allah had become a thing of no meaning and substance since he had essentially lost all consciousness of His Lord as al-Akbar i.e., the Supreme Being Who gives life as well as wealth, and Who can take it all away whenever He wants to do so, Who makes and Who breaks and in Whose hands is all power. He had become the equivalent of a misguided missile that can be used and exploited by Dajjal to fulfill truly evil ends. The world today is filled with such people.

Simple translation:

“And neither do I think that the Last Hour will ever come. But even if I am brought before my Lord-God, I will surely find something even better than this as (my last) resort!”                                                                

(18:36)

Commentary:

And this was evidence that even though he still recognized Allah as his Lord-God, he had effectively turned away from Allah and was worshipping other than Allah Most High. The external formalistic shell of religion without its vital internal substance of moral rectitude and spiritual illumination could not protect him from the consequences of his internal corruption. His wealth led him to worship himself and his wealth rather than his Lord-God. 

The basic sign that such corruption has visited a people is their loss of any practical consciousness of a Last Day and of a Day of Judgment. When these beliefs have faded from consciousness then the consequence can be a greater corruption that can afflict the soul, namely, “I am on the right path and hence I will be rewarded by my Lord. The reward in the next life will surpass those of this life.” This represents the ultimate in brainwashing.  

Simple translation:

“His companion answered him in the course of their argument: “Will you blaspheme against Him who has created you out of dust, and then out of a drop of sperm, and in the end has fashioned you into a (complete) man?”

(18:37)

Commentary:

Surah al-Kahf now adopts a powerful psychological strategy with which it seeks to persuade the godless to return to the path of Allah. It focuses attention on the amazing process of creation of a human being. One of the many miracles of the Qur’an is the detailed information of embryology which it presented to the world 1400 years prior to the discovery by modern science of that which has now confirmed the truth of that information.

Simple translation:

“But as for myself, He is Allah, my Lord-God; and I should not worship other than my Lord-God.”           

(18:38)

Explanatory translation:

“But as for myself, (I recognize that) He is Allah, my Lord-God; and (that) I should not worship other than my Lord-God (by recognizing wealth, job, political party, the State etc., as supreme in my life).”

Commentary:

Here is tangible evidence of faith. The consciousness should ever reside in the heart that Allah Most High is ever Kind and is always Just to His servants. And so, a servant of the Lord can be miserably poor and can yet preserve his faith in Allah Most High since he has the assurance that any economic injustice, for example, that is inflicted on him has not come from Allah.   

And so those who struggle in the way of Islam in the modern world should know that the poor can preserve their faith in the age of Dajjal, even when they are reduced to poverty in consequence of Dajjal’s attack of Riba. They can remain faithful to Allah once they are made to understand that Allah is never unjust to anyone, and hence they cannot blame Him for their miserable prison of permanent poverty.   

Simple translation:

“Alas, if only you had said, on entering your garden, ‘Whatever Allah wills, for there is no power save with Allah!’ Although, as you see, I have less wealth and offspring than you,”                                                    

(18:39)

Explanatory translation:

And (he continued) “Alas, if only you had said, on entering your garden, ‘Whatever Allah wills (shall come to pass since) there is no power save with Allah!’ (Such would have been better for you). Although, as you see, I have less wealth and offspring (and entourage) than you (that does not make me a ‘nobody’),”

Commentary:

The poor man had the wisdom to discard the false argument that poverty itself was something disgraceful and a crime, and that it should be abolished. He rejected the argument that he who is poor is a ‘nobody’ and has to turn aside and make way for the rich to rule over him. He gave, instead, a very valuable lesson to all of the rich that they should reject the secularization of life by responding, whenever they are pleased with any material possession, with Ma shah Allah, la quwwata illa billah, i.e., what Allah wills has come to pass. There is no Power other than with Him. This would be a tangible way of recognizing Allah Most High as the Supreme Being in their lives and in the world.

Simple translation:

“but it may well be that my Lord-God will give me something better than your garden - just as He may let loose a calamity out of heaven upon this (your garden by way of reckoning), so that it becomes a heap of barren dust,”           

(18:40)

Commentary:

Like the poor man in this story, today’s poor should not lose consciousness of the fact that Allah is ever Just. They should know that if they remain patient in adversity, and firmly resist the wicked war on Islam that is being waged today by the Jewish-Christian alliance that rules the world on behalf of the Euro-Jewish State of Israel, they can expect one day to be rewarded for their faith, and they would have the happiness of seeing their tormentors bite the dust. Indeed the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has prophesied that Allah Most High would Himself destroy the Gog and Magog (Anglo-American-Israeli) world order which today oppresses all of mankind who resist them. In this particular instance, i.e., in Surah al-Kahf, the gardens were reduced to dust. But in the case of the present world order destruction would be through disease that would afflict them all and for which there would be no cure. The Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said that something would infect them at the back of their necks and hence the spinal cord would be affected and they would be so paralyzed that they would not be able to stand. They will then die like fleas: 

Narrated An-Nawwas ibn Sam’an: “ .  .  .  . It will be under such conditions that Allah will reveal to Jesus these words: I have brought forth from among My servants such people against whom none will be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur, and then Allah will send Gog and Magog and they will swarm down from every slope. The first of them will pass the Lake of Tiberius (i.e., the Sea of Galilee) and drink out of it. And when the last of them passes, he will say: There used to be water there. Jesus and his companions will then be besieged here (at Tur, and they will be so hard pressed) that the head of the ox will be dearer to them than one hundred dinars. Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him), Jesus, and his companions will supplicate Allah, Who will send to them insects (which will attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish as one single person . .  .  .  .” 

This writer is of the view that the process of divine punishment and destruction, akin to that which visited the gardens in Surah al-Kahf, has already commenced in today’s strange world. The awesome punishment which has already visited so many who engage in unnatural sex is but a sign of things to come.

Simple translation:

“or the water of the garden will run off underground so that you will never again be able to recover it."           

(18:41)

Commentary:

Because of faith in Allah Most High the poor can actually look forward to a divine intervention that can reverse the fortunes of both the rich and poor. That divine intervention in the Last Age takes the form of the release of Gog and Magog who so corrupt mankind in so far as respect for water, and the rational consumption of water, is concerned that the world would witness the ever-dwindling supply of fresh water. When mankind consumes more water than nature can replenish then eventually water would become so scarce, in the Holy Land in particular, that people would be forced to submit to Dajjal in order to get water. What is true for water is also true for oil. 

But ultimately the scarcity of water will affect all of mankind and eventually the poor would be able to show greater powers of endurance during that scarcity while the empire and lifestyle of the rich would grind to a very painful halt for lack of water.  

Simple translation:

“And (thus it happened that) his fruitful gardens were encompassed by ruin, and there he was, wringing his hands over all that he had spent on that which now lay waste while caved in to its very foundation; and all that he could say in response was, "Woe is me!, “Oh, would that I had not blasphemed against my Lord-God by worshipping other than my Lord-God!”                                                                                                      

(18:42)

Commentary:

Surah al-Kahf has here delivered a tremendous warning in the form of a parable (i.e., a fable or allegorical representation of something real in life or nature, from which a moral is drawn for instruction). A believer must beware of ever making the same monstrous mistake that the rich man in this story made, i.e., allowing material possessions or any other worldly matter to replace Allah Most High as supreme in his heart. The Surah warns that if that were ever to occur it would be Shirk – the one sin that Allah would never forgive. The world today is filled with Shirk. Those who rule the world are a people who constantly invite mankind to Shirk, or seduce them into Shirk. But Allah Most High will one day destroy that world of Shirk in the same way that the gardens were destroyed.

Simple translation:

“- for now he had no one to help him in Allah’s stead, nor could he (even) help himself (in seeking deliverance from Allah’s punishment).”         

(18:43)

Commentary:

When Allah Most High decides to punish someone no one can help him to escape that punishment. Punishment is now unfolding upon all of mankind (other than the true servants of Allah Most High) in this Last Age. In this sense the world is now witnessing hell itself spread out before the eyes of the disbelievers. They are living in hell and, just like the rich man in the story who was punished by Allah Most High, they have no means, and no one, to deliver them from that hell.    

Simple translation:

“For in such a matter (as well as in all other matters) all protective friendship and help belongs to (i.e., comes from) Allah alone, the True One. He is the best to grant recompense, and the best to determine what is to be.”            

(18:44)

Commentary:

At the conclusion of this very instructive parable of the fate of the rich man who was corrupted by his wealth and allowed the Dunyah to replace his Lord-God as the supreme object in his heart, Surah al-Kahf warns us that we should take care not to follow in his sinful footstep.

Source: SŪRAH AL-KAHF ARABIC TEXT - TRANSLATION

To Be Continued....

Surah Kahf Unveiling The End Time By Sheikh Imran Hosein