Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Koran. An Explanatory Translation (1930)

SÛRAH LV

Ar-Rahmân takes its name from the first verse. In the refrain: "Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?” ye and the verb are in the dual form, and the question is generally believed to be addressed to mankind and the Jinn. Some have held that vv. 46–76 refer, not to the paradise hereafter, but to the later conquests of the Muslims, the four gardens being Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. There may well be a double meaning.

An early Meccan Sûrah.

The Beneficent

Revealed at Mecca
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

1. The Beneficent

2. Hath made known the Qur’ân.

3. He hath created man.

4. He hath taught him utterance.

5. The sun and the moon are made punctual.

6. The stars and the trees adore.

7. And the sky He hath uplifted; and He hath set the measure,

8. That ye exceed not the measure,

9. But observe the measure strictly, nor fall short thereof.

10. And the earth hath He appointed for (His) creatures,

11. Wherein are fruit and sheathed palm-trees,

12. Husked grain and scented herb.

13. Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?

Cite this page

Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Koran. An Explanatory Translation, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, Consulted online at “Quran Archive - Texts and Studies on the Quran” on 28 Mar. 2024: http://quran-archive.org/explorer/marmaduke-pickthall/1930?page=562