Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (38) Surah: At-Tawbah
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَا لَكُمۡ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمُ ٱنفِرُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ٱثَّاقَلۡتُمۡ إِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِۚ أَرَضِيتُم بِٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا مِنَ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِۚ فَمَا مَتَٰعُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ
(38) [2090]You who Believe, what is it with you when it is said to you: “Mobilize in the path of Allah!” you sluggishly move, clinging heavily to the ground?[2091] Are you satisfied[2092] with the worldly life rather than the Hereafter? How ˹very˺ little is the enjoyment of the worldly life ˹compared to that˺ in the Hereafter[2093].
[2090] Now the sura turns to the lessons drawn from the Tabuk Expedition, exposing at length in the process a third type of disruptive segment amongst the population, the hypocrites, whose danger was yet more serious than the rest; they lurked among the Believers, posing as Believers themselves, all the while sabotaging society and trying to weaken it from within.
[2091] Iththāqaltum (translated here as: sluggishly move, clinging heavily to the ground) is a distinctly marked Qur’anic lexical phrase where sound and meaning are inseparably conflated. V. Abdur Rahim explains: “One can feel that the phonetic sequence ith-thā where a sukūn ˹diacritic˺ is followed by a long fatḥah ˹diacritic˺, and the heavy consonant th is doubled resulting in a lingering effect, more effectively suggests the idea of clinging to earth coupled with unwilling effort to get up than the original sequence ta-thā” (Iththāqaltum: A study of some lesser-known phonetic and morphological; changes in some Qur’anic words, pp. 14-15; it is also discussed by al-Qurṭubī, al-Zamakhsharī and Ibn ʿĀshūr). Therefore a simple translation of it is not possible, and would cloud over a beautiful aspect of Qur’anic diction. What is being captured here is the image of the languid reaction of some among the Believers to the call to arms for the Tabuk Expedition. Such unexpected reaction can only be appreciated within its context: people were of extremely meagre resources, the land was dry, the time was of sweltering heat, the palm dates ˹the staple food of Madinah˺ were ripe for harvest, the journey was far away and required much preparation and the enemy was, by far, much greater in number and probably the best in the world at that time (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Rāẓī, al-Zajjāj, Maʿānī al-Qur’ān).
[2092] Raḍītum (accept, agree to) is more expressive than the more likely alternatives such as āthartum or faḍḍaltum (prefer, opt for) because it denotes a willingness of the heart (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2093] al-Mustawrid Ibn Shaddād (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger (ﷺ) said: “By Allah, this worldly life by comparison to the Hereafter is like a person who dips this finger (pointing his index finger) in the sea; see how much he draws from it!” (Muslim: 2858).
[2091] Iththāqaltum (translated here as: sluggishly move, clinging heavily to the ground) is a distinctly marked Qur’anic lexical phrase where sound and meaning are inseparably conflated. V. Abdur Rahim explains: “One can feel that the phonetic sequence ith-thā where a sukūn ˹diacritic˺ is followed by a long fatḥah ˹diacritic˺, and the heavy consonant th is doubled resulting in a lingering effect, more effectively suggests the idea of clinging to earth coupled with unwilling effort to get up than the original sequence ta-thā” (Iththāqaltum: A study of some lesser-known phonetic and morphological; changes in some Qur’anic words, pp. 14-15; it is also discussed by al-Qurṭubī, al-Zamakhsharī and Ibn ʿĀshūr). Therefore a simple translation of it is not possible, and would cloud over a beautiful aspect of Qur’anic diction. What is being captured here is the image of the languid reaction of some among the Believers to the call to arms for the Tabuk Expedition. Such unexpected reaction can only be appreciated within its context: people were of extremely meagre resources, the land was dry, the time was of sweltering heat, the palm dates ˹the staple food of Madinah˺ were ripe for harvest, the journey was far away and required much preparation and the enemy was, by far, much greater in number and probably the best in the world at that time (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Rāẓī, al-Zajjāj, Maʿānī al-Qur’ān).
[2092] Raḍītum (accept, agree to) is more expressive than the more likely alternatives such as āthartum or faḍḍaltum (prefer, opt for) because it denotes a willingness of the heart (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2093] al-Mustawrid Ibn Shaddād (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger (ﷺ) said: “By Allah, this worldly life by comparison to the Hereafter is like a person who dips this finger (pointing his index finger) in the sea; see how much he draws from it!” (Muslim: 2858).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (38) Surah: At-Tawbah
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.