Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)

Those who were before them had acted likewise;
Allah did not wrong them,
but they used to wrong themselves.
34 So the evils of what they had earned visited them,
and they were besieged by
what they used to deride.
35 The polytheists say,
‘Had Allah wished,
we would not have worshiped anything besides Him
— neither we, nor our fathers —
nor would we have held anything holy besides Him.’1
Those who were before them had acted likewise.
Is the apostles’ duty
anything but to communicate in clear terms?
36 Certainly We raised an apostle in every nation
[to preach:] ‘Worship Allah,
and keep away from the Rebels.’
Then among them were some whom Allah guided,
and among them were some
who deserved to be in error.
So travel over the land
and then observe
how was the fate of the deniers.
37 If you are eager for them to be guided,
indeed Allah does not guide
those who mislead [others],
and they will have no helpers.
38 They swear by Allah with solemn oaths

1 Or ‘nor we would have forbidden anything without Him (that is, without His permission).’ Cf. 6:148.

Cite this page

Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation, Islamic College for Advance Studies Press (ICAS), London (Distributed by The Centre for Translation of the Holy Qur’ān, Qom, Iran), Consulted online at “Quran Archive - Texts and Studies on the Quran” on 28 Mar. 2024: http://quran-archive.org/explorer/ali-quli-qarai/2005?page=405