30. Sūrat al-Rūm

٣٠۔ سُورَةُ الرُّوم

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30.1 The Romans' (Christians) defeat at the hands of Persia (Pagans) was taken as a sign of the Muslims' defeat at the hands of Arab disbelievers, so God gave good tidings for the Roman victory as well as the Muslim victory in a few years.

٣٠۔١ مقطع في سُورَةُ الرُّوم

quran:30:1 – In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

Alif, Lam, Meem.  

Alif lām mīm: God knows best what He means by these ˹letters˺.
القرآن:٣٠:١ – بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

الم  

{الم} الله أعلم بمراده في ذلك.
quran:30:2 –

The Byzantines have been defeated  

The Byzantines — who are among the People of the Scripture — have been vanquished; the Persians vanquished them, and they are not people of a scripture, but worship graven images. The Meccan disbelievers rejoiced in this ˹defeat of the Byzantines˺ and said to the Muslims, ‘We shall vanquish you as the Persians vanquished the Byzantines’;
القرآن:٣٠:٢ –

غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ  

{غُلبت الروم} وهم أهل الكتاب غلبتها فارس وليسوا أهل كتاب بل يعبدون الأوثان ففرح كفار مكة بذلك، وقالوا للمسلمين: نحن نغلبكم كما غلبت فارس الروم.
quran:30:3 –

In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome.  

in the nearer ˹part of the˺ land, that is, in the Byzantine land ˹that lies˺ nearest to Persia in Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra). There the two armies met and the Persians were the ones who had begun the invasion. But they, that is the Byzantines, after their vanquishing (ghalabihim: the verbal noun ˹ghalab˺ has been annexed to the direct object ˹hum˺, in other words, ghalabatu fāris iyyāhum, ‘the Persians’ vanquishing of them’) shall be the victors, over the Persians,
القرآن:٣٠:٣ –

فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ وَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ  

{في أدنى الأرض} أي أقرب أرض الروم إلى فارس بالجزيرة التقى فيها الجيشان والبادي بالغزو الفرس {وهم} أي الروم {من بعد غلبهم} أضيف المصدر إلى المفعول: أي غلبة فارس إياهم {سيغلبون} فارس.
quran:30:4 –

Within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice  

in a few years (bid‘, ˹usually means˺ between three and nine or ten years). So the two armies met again seven years after this former encounter and the Byzantines defeated the Persians. To God belongs the command before and after, that is, before the defeat of the Byzantines and thereafter, that is to say, the Persian victory at first and the Byzantine victory later were ˹the result of˺ God’s command, in other words, His will, and on that day, the day when the Byzantines will be victorious, the believers shall rejoice
القرآن:٣٠:٤ –

فِي بِضْعِ سِنِينَ ۗ لِلَّهِ الْأَمْرُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ بَعْدُ ۚ وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ  

{في بضع سنين} هو ما بين الثلاث إلى التسع أو العشر، فالتقي الجيشان في السنة السابعة من الالتقاء الأول وغلبت الروم فارس {لله الأمر من قبل ومن بعد} أي من قبل غلب الروم ومن بعده المعنى أن غلبة فارس أولا وغلبة الروم ثانيا بأمر الله: أي إرادته {ويومئذٍ} أي يوم تغلب الروم {يفرح المؤمنون}.
quran:30:5 –

In the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.  

in God’s help, to them against the Persians. They ˹the believers˺ indeed rejoiced in this, as they came to know of it on the day that it took place, on the day of ˹the battle of˺ Badr, when Gabriel came down with this ˹news˺ thereon, in addition to their rejoicing in their victory over the idolaters on that ˹same˺ day. He helps whomever He will; and He is the Mighty, the Victor, the Merciful, to believers.
القرآن:٣٠:٥ –

بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ  

{بنصر الله} إياهم على فارس وقد فرحوا بذلك وعلموا به يوم وقوعه أي يوم بدر بنزول جبريل بذلك مع فرحهم بنصرهم على قتل المشركين فيه {ينصر من يشاء وهو العزيز} الغالب {الرحيم} بالمؤمنين}.
quran:30:6 –

˹It is˺ the promise of Allah. Allah does not fail in His promise, but most of the people do not know.  

The promise of God (wa‘da’Llāhi is the verbal noun substituting for the ˹full˺ verbal construction; it is actually wa‘adahumu’Llāhu al-nasr, ‘God promised them victory’). God does not fail His promise, of such ˹help˺, but most people, namely, the disbelievers of Mecca, are not aware, of His promise to help them ˹to victory˺.
القرآن:٣٠:٦ –

وَعْدَ اللَّهِ ۖ لَا يُخْلِفُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ  

{وعد الله} مصدر بدل من اللفظ بفعله، والأصل وعدهم الله النصر {لا يخلف الله وعده} به {ولكن أكثر الناس} أي كفار مكة {لا يعلمون} وعده تعالى بنصرهم.
quran:30:7 –

They know what is apparent of the worldly life, but they, of the Hereafter, are unaware.  

They know ˹merely˺ an outward aspect of the life of this world, that is to say, its various means of ˹securing˺ livelihood, such as commerce, agriculture, construction and cultivation and so on; but they, of the Hereafter, they are oblivious (this repetition of hum, ‘they’, is for emphasis).
القرآن:٣٠:٧ –

يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ  

{يعلمون ظاهراً من الحياة الدنيا} أي معايشها من التجارة والزراعة والبناء والغرس وغير ذلك {وهم عن الآخرة هم غافلون} إعادة هم تأكيد.
quran:30:8 –

Do they not contemplate within themselves? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth and for a specified term. And indeed, many of the people, in ˹the matter of˺ the meeting with their Lord, are disbelievers.  

Have they not contemplated themselves?, so that they might emerge from their oblivion. God did not create the heavens and the earth, and what is between them, except with the truth and an appointed term, for that ˹creation˺, at the conclusion of which this ˹creation˺ will perish, and after which will be the Resurrection. But indeed many people, that is to say, ˹such as˺ the Meccan disbelievers, disbelieve in the encounter with their Lord, that is, they do not believe in resurrection after death.
القرآن:٣٠:٨ –

أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ ۗ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ۗ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ لَكَافِرُونَ  

{أَو لم يتفكروا في أنفسهم} ليرجعوا عن غفلتهم {ما خلق الله السماوات والأرض وما بينهما إلا بالحق وأجلٍ مسمى} لذلك تفنى عند انتهائه وبعد البعث {وإن كثيرا من الناس} أي: كفار مكة {بلقاء ربهم لكافرون} أي لا يؤمنون بالبعث بعد الموت.
quran:30:9 –

Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves.  

Have they not travelled in the land and beheld how was the consequence for those before them?, of ˹past˺ communities, which was that they were destroyed for denying their messengers. They were more powerful than them — such were ‘Ād and Thamūd — and they effected the land, they tilled it and churned it up to sow crops and cultivate ˹trees˺, and developed it more than these, the Meccan disbelievers, have developed it; and their messengers brought them clear signs, manifest proofs, for God would never wrong them, by destroying them without being guilty, but they used to wrong themselves, by denying their messengers.
القرآن:٣٠:٩ –

أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ وَعَمَرُوهَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا وَجَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ۖ فَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ  

{أوَ لم يسيروا في الأرض فينظروا كيف كانَ عاقبة الذين من قبلهم} من الأمم وهي إهلاكهم بتكذيبهم رسلهم {كانوا أشد منهم قوة} كعاد وثمود {وأثاروا الأرض} حرثوها وقلبوها للزرع والغرس {وعمَروها أكثر ممّا عمروها} أي كفار مكة {وجاءَتهم رسلهم بالبينات} بالحجج الظاهرات {فما كان الله ليظلمهم} بإهلاكهم بغير جرم {ولكن كانوا أنفسهم يظلمون} بتكذيبهم رسلهم.
quran:30:10 –

Then the end of those who did evil was the worst ˹consequence˺ because they denied the signs of Allah and used to ridicule them.  

Then the consequence for those who committed evil was evil (al-sū’ā is the feminine form of al-aswa’, ‘the worst’; ˹it may be read as˺ the predicate of kāna if one reads ‘āqibatu, in the nominative; or it is the subject of kāna if read as ‘āqibata, in the accusative; and so what is meant is Hell ˹in the former reading˺, or ˹according to the latter reading˺ simply their evil actions) because they denied the signs of God, the Qur’ān, and made a mock of them.
القرآن:٣٠:١٠ –

ثُمَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا السُّوأَىٰ أَنْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَكَانُوا بِهَا يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ  

ثم كان عاقبة الذين أساءُوا السُّوأى} تأنيث الأسوأ: الأقبح خبر كان على رفع عاقبة واسم كان على نصب عاقبة، والمراد بها جهنم وإساءتهم {أن} أي: بأن {كذبوا بآيات الله} القرآن {وكانوا بها يستهزءُون}.