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

behold, a part of them ascribe partners to their Lord,
55 being unthankful for what We have given them.
So let them enjoy. Soon they shall know!
56 To what they do not know, they attribute
a share of what We have provided them.
By Allah, you will surely be questioned
concerning what you used to fabricate.
57 And they attribute daughters to Allah
— immaculate is He —
while they will have what they desire!
58 When one of them is brought the news
of a female [newborn],
his face becomes darkened
and he chokes with suppressed agony.
59 He hides from the people
out of distress at the news he has been brought:
shall he retain it in humiliation,
or bury it in the ground!1
Look! Evil is the judgement that they make.
60 For those who do not believe in the Hereafter
there is an evil description,
and the loftiest description belongs to Allah,
and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.
61 Were Allah to take mankind to task
for their wrongdoing,
He would not leave any living being upon it.2
But He respites them until a specified time;

1 This refers to the practice of pre-Islamic Arabs of burying their newborn daughters alive.

2 That is, on the surface of the earth.

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 29 Mar. 2024: http://quran-archive.org/explorer/ali-quli-qarai/2005?page=408