Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (13) Surah: Al-Isrā’
وَكُلَّ إِنسَٰنٍ أَلۡزَمۡنَٰهُ طَٰٓئِرَهُۥ فِي عُنُقِهِۦۖ وَنُخۡرِجُ لَهُۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ كِتَٰبٗا يَلۡقَىٰهُ مَنشُورًا
(13) [3519]To every human We have tethered his fate[3520] to his neck; and on the Day of Judgement, We bring out to him a book[3521] which he finds spread wide!
[3519] No human has any excuse after this Message, which details the evidences of God’s sole worthiness to worship, the truthfulness of the Noble Prophet (ﷺ) and the coming of the Hereafter, and that they have been recurrently admonished and encouraged; they have only themselves to blame for their fate (cf. al-Rāzī).
[3520] Ṭā’irahu (lit. his bird) hints at Arabian augury whence they used to employ birds as an omen of one’s fate and/or luck (cf. Abū ʿUbaydah, Majāz al-Qur’ān, Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ). Their custom, in what was known as zajr al-ṭayr (the scaring off of the bird), was to pelt a bird with a stone when deciding upon something; if it flew to the right then this was considered a good omen that augured well and they would go ahead with the matter, but if it flew to the left then it was taken to be a bad omen that augured ill and they would decide against it (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
Here, it means a person’s deeds which he commits willingly and none will be held accountable for it besides him (cf. Ibn Juzayy, Ibn Kathīr al-Saʿdī). However, al-Shinqīṭī (Aḍwā’ al-Bayān) explains that the word ṭā’īr here has two well-known interpretations. The first being a human’s deeds (as said here) and the second is a person’s lot in life both auspicious and/or inauspicious. Given their free will, people have no excuse to blame fate for what befalls them.
[3521] That is, the record of deeds, on which each person will be held accountable, minutely detailing their deeds whether good or bad (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “): “And the book ˹of deeds˺ will be laid ˹open˺, and you will see the criminal in fear of what is ˹recorded˺ in it. They will say: “Woe to us! What kind of book is this that does not leave any ˹deed˺, small or large, unaccounted for?” They will find whatever they did present ˹before them˺; your Lord will never wrong anyone” (18: 49).
[3520] Ṭā’irahu (lit. his bird) hints at Arabian augury whence they used to employ birds as an omen of one’s fate and/or luck (cf. Abū ʿUbaydah, Majāz al-Qur’ān, Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ). Their custom, in what was known as zajr al-ṭayr (the scaring off of the bird), was to pelt a bird with a stone when deciding upon something; if it flew to the right then this was considered a good omen that augured well and they would go ahead with the matter, but if it flew to the left then it was taken to be a bad omen that augured ill and they would decide against it (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
Here, it means a person’s deeds which he commits willingly and none will be held accountable for it besides him (cf. Ibn Juzayy, Ibn Kathīr al-Saʿdī). However, al-Shinqīṭī (Aḍwā’ al-Bayān) explains that the word ṭā’īr here has two well-known interpretations. The first being a human’s deeds (as said here) and the second is a person’s lot in life both auspicious and/or inauspicious. Given their free will, people have no excuse to blame fate for what befalls them.
[3521] That is, the record of deeds, on which each person will be held accountable, minutely detailing their deeds whether good or bad (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “): “And the book ˹of deeds˺ will be laid ˹open˺, and you will see the criminal in fear of what is ˹recorded˺ in it. They will say: “Woe to us! What kind of book is this that does not leave any ˹deed˺, small or large, unaccounted for?” They will find whatever they did present ˹before them˺; your Lord will never wrong anyone” (18: 49).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (13) Surah: Al-Isrā’
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.