21. Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ

٢١۔ سُورَةُ الأنبيَاء

21.1 The Day of Accountability is getting closer, but the disbelievers are still heedless to admonition and dispute as to how Messenger can be a human being?

٢١۔١ مقطع في سُورَةُ الأنبيَاء

quran:21:1In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

˹The time of˺ their account has approached for the people, while they are in heedlessness turning away.  

Nigh has drawn for mankind, the people of Mecca, the deniers of the Resurrection, their reckoning, ˹on˺ the Day of Resurrection, yet they are heedless, of it, disregardful, of the preparation ˹required˺ for it by way of ˹embracing˺ faith.
القرآن:٢١:١بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِي غَفْلَةٍ مُعْرِضُونَ  

{اقترب} قرب {للناس} أهل مكة منكري البعث {حسابهم} يوم القيامة {وهم في غفلة} عنه {معرضون} عن التأهب له بالإيمان.
quran:21:2

No mention comes to them anew from their Lord except that they listen to it while they are at play  

There does not come to them any new reminder from their Lord, ˹revealed˺ gradually, in other words, ˹new˺ words of the Qur’ān, but they listen to it as they play, ˹as they˺ engage in mockery,
القرآن:٢١:٢

مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ ذِكْرٍ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ مُحْدَثٍ إِلَّا اسْتَمَعُوهُ وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ  

{ما يأتيهم من ذكر من ربهم محدث} شيئاً فشيئاً أي لفظ قرآن {إلا استمعوه وهم يلعبون} يستهزئون.
quran:21:3

With their hearts distracted. And those who do wrong conceal their private conversation, ˹saying˺, "Is this ˹Prophet˺ except a human being like you? So would you approach magic while you are aware ˹of it˺?"  

with their hearts preoccupied, heedless of its meanings. And they are secret in ˹their˺ conference, ˹their˺ speech, ˹they˺ the evildoers (alladhīna zalamū, a substitution for the ˹third person plural indicator˺ wāw of wa-asarrū’l-najwā, ‘and they are secret in conference’) ‘Is this, namely, Muhammad (s), other than a ˹mortal˺ human being like yourselves?, and so what he produces is ˹mere˺ sorcery. Will you then take ˹to˺ sorcery, ˹will˺ you ˹succumb and˺ follow it, even though you are able to see?’, ˹even though˺ you know that it is sorcery?
القرآن:٢١:٣

لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَأَسَرُّوا النَّجْوَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا هَلْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ ۖ أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ  

{لاهية} غافلة {قلوبهم} عن معناه {وأسَرُّوا النجوى} الكلام {الذين ظلموا} بدل من واو {وأسروا النجوى الذين ظلموا} {هلْ هذا} أي محمد {إلا بشر مثلكم} فما يأتي به سحر {أفتأتون السحر} تتبعونه {وأنتم تبصرون} تعلمون أنه سحر.
quran:21:4

The Prophet said, "My Lord knows whatever is said throughout the heaven and earth, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing."  

He said, to them, ‘My Lord knows the words, that are ˹spoken˺, in the heavens and the earth, and He is the Hearer, of what they keep secret, the Knower’, of it.
القرآن:٢١:٤

قَالَ رَبِّي يَعْلَمُ الْقَوْلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ  

{قال} لهم {ربي يعلم القول} كائناً {في السماء والأرض وهو السميع} لما أسروه {العليم} به.
quran:21:5

But they say, "˹The revelation is but˺ a mixture of false dreams; rather, he has invented it; rather, he is a poet. So let him bring us a sign just as the previous ˹messengers˺ were sent ˹with miracles˺."  

Nay (bal, in the three instances ˹below˺ effects a transition from one subject to another) but they say, regarding those parts of the Qur’ān he ˹the Prophet˺ has brought ˹to them˺ are: ‘A muddle of nightmares, a confusion ˹of things˺ he has seen in ˹his˺ sleep. Nay, he has fabricated it, he has invented it; nay, he is a poet, and what he has brought is ˹merely˺ poetry! So let him bring us a sign, such as was sent to the ancients’, like the she-camel ˹Sālih˺, the staff and the ˹glowing˺ hand ˹of Moses˺. God, exalted be He, says:
القرآن:٢١:٥

بَلْ قَالُوا أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلَامٍ بَلِ افْتَرَاهُ بَلْ هُوَ شَاعِرٌ فَلْيَأْتِنَا بِآيَةٍ كَمَا أُرْسِلَ الْأَوَّلُونَ  

{بل} للانتقال من غرض إلى آخر في المواضع الثلاثة {قالوا} فيما أتى به من القرآن هو {أضغاث أحلام} أخلاط رآها في النوم {بل افتراه} اختلقه {بل هو شاعر} فما أتى به شعر {فليأتنا بآية كما أرسل الأولون} كالناقة والعصا واليد قال تعالى:
quran:21:6

Not a ˹single˺ city which We destroyed believed before them, so will they believe?  

No town before them ever believed — meaning ˹none of˺ its inhabitants — of those that We destroyed, for the denial of the signs brought to them. Would they then believe? No.
القرآن:٢١:٦

مَا آمَنَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا ۖ أَفَهُمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ  

{ما آمنت قبلهم من قرية} أي أهلها {أهلكناها} بتكذيبها ما أتاها من الآيات {أفهم يؤمنون} لا.
quran:21:7

And We sent not before you, ˹O Muhammad˺, except men to whom We revealed ˹the message˺, so ask the people of the message if you do not know.  

And We sent none before you other than men to whom We revealed (read nūhī or yūhā, ‘˹to whom˺ it is revealed’) and ˹We sent˺ not any angels. Ask the People of the Remembrance, those with knowledge of the Torah and the Gospel, if you do not know, this; for they will know it. Since you are more likely to believe them than the believers are to believing Muhammad (s).
القرآن:٢١:٧

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ ۖ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ  

{وما أرسلنا قبلك إلا رجالاً نوحي} وفي قراءة بالياء وفتح الحاء {إليهم} لا ملائكة {فاسألوا أهل الذكر} العلماء بالتوراة والإنجيل {إن كنتم لا تعلمون} ذلك فإنهم يعلمونه، وأنتم إلى تصديقهم أقرب من تصديق المؤمنين بمحمد.
quran:21:8

And We did not make the prophets forms not eating food, nor were they immortal ˹on earth˺.  

And We did not make them, namely, the messengers, bodies that did not eat food, nay, they eat it; and they were not immortal, in this world.
القرآن:٢١:٨

وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لَا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ  

{وما جعلناهم} أي الرسل {جسداً} بمعنى أجساداً {لا يأكلون الطعام} بل يأكلونه {وما كانوا خالدين} في الدنيا.
quran:21:9

Then We fulfilled for them the promise, and We saved them and whom We willed and destroyed the transgressors.  

Then We fulfilled to them the promise, to deliver them. So We delivered them and whomever We would, ˹of˺ those who believed in them, and We destroyed the prodigal, those who denied them.
القرآن:٢١:٩

ثُمَّ صَدَقْنَاهُمُ الْوَعْدَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُمْ وَمَنْ نَشَاءُ وَأَهْلَكْنَا الْمُسْرِفِينَ  

{ثم صدقناهم الوعد} بإنجائهم {فأنجيناهم ومن نشاء} المصدقين لهم {وأهلكنا المسرفين} المكذبين لهم.
quran:21:10

We have certainly sent down to you a Book in which is your mention. Then will you not reason?  

Now We have sent down ˹as revelation˺ to you, O clan of Quraysh, a Book in which there is the remembrance that is yours, for it is in your language. Will you not understand?, and so believe in it?
القرآن:٢١:١٠

لَقَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَابًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ ۖ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ  

لقد أنزلنا إليكم} يا معشر قريش {كتاباً فيه ذكركم} لأنه بلغتكم {أفلا تعقلون} فتؤمنون به.