Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān; Translated and Explained by Muhammad Asad (1980)
(170) But when they are told, “Follow what God has bestowed from on high,” some answer, “Nay, we shall follow [only] that which we found our forefathers believing in and doing.” Why, even if their forefathers did not use their reason at all, and were devoid of all guidance?
(171) And so, the parable of those who are bent on denying the truth is that of the beast which hears the shepherd s cry, and hears in it nothing but the sound of a voice and a call.138 Deaf are they, and dumb, and blind: for they do not use their reason.
(172) O you who have attained to faith! Partake of the good things which We have provided for you as sustenance, and render thanks unto God, if it is [truly] Him that you worship.
(173) He has forbidden to you only carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than God’s has been invoked;139 but if one is driven by necessity – neither coveting it nor exceeding his immediate need – no sin shall be upon him: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
(174) Verily, as for those who suppress aught of the revelation 140 which God has bestowed from on high, and barter it away for a trifling gain – they but fill their bellies with fire. And God will not speak unto them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them [of their sins]; and grievous suffering awaits them. (175) It is they who take error in exchange for guidance, and suffering in exchange for forgiveness: yet how little do they seem to fear the fire!
(176) Thus it is: since it is God who bestows 141 the divine writ from on high, setting forth the truth, all
of deduction and then put forward as “God’s ordinances”. The connection between this passage and the preceding ones is obvious. In verses 165–167 the Qurʾān speaks of those “who choose to believe in beings that supposedly rival God”: and this implies also a false attribution, to those beings, of a right to issue quasi-religious ordinances of their own, as well as an attribution of religious validity to customs sanctioned by nothing but ancient usage (see next verse).
138 This is a very free rendering of the elliptic sentence which, literally, reads thus: “The parable of those who are bent on denying the truth is as that of him who cries unto what hears nothing but a cry and a call.” The verb naʿqa is mostly used to describe the inarticulate cry with which the shepherd drives his flock.
139 I.e., all that has been dedicated or offered in sacrifice to an idol or a saint or a person considered to be “divine”. For a more comprehensive enumeration of the forbidden kinds of flesh, see 5:3.
140 This term is used here in its generic sense, comprising both the Qurʾān and the earlier revelations.
141 Lit., “has been bestowing”. Since the form nazzala implies gradualness and continuity in the process of revelation, it can best be rendered by the use of the present tense.
