Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
29. Sūrat al-‘Ankabūt 1
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
1 Alif, Lām, Mīm.
2 Do the people suppose that they will be let off
because they say, ‘We have faith,’
and they will not be tested?
3 Certainly We tested those who were before them.
So Allah shall surely ascertain those who are truthful,
and He shall surely ascertain the liars.
4 Do those who commit misdeeds suppose
that they can outmaneuver Us?
Evil is the judgement that they make.
5 Whoever expects to encounter Allah [should know
that] Allah’s [appointed] time will indeed come,
and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.
6 Whoever strives, strives only for his own sake.2
Indeed Allah has no need of the creatures.
7 As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds,
We will absolve them of their misdeeds
and We will surely reward them
by the best of what they used to do.
8 We have enjoined man to be good to his parents.
But if they urge you to ascribe to Me as partner
1 The sūrah takes its name from verse 41 which mentions the spider (‘ankabūt).
2 Or ‘Whoever wages jihād, wages jihād only for his own sake.’
