17. Surah Al-Israa

الإسراءThe Night Journey · 111 ayahsتفہیم القرآن انگلش

Read Surah Al-Israa in the Quran reader
Ayah 17:95

قُلْ لَّوْ كَانَ فِی الْاَرْضِ مَلٰٓئِكَةٌ یَّمْشُوْنَ مُطْمَئِنِّیْنَ لَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَیْهِمْ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ مَلَكًا رَّسُوْلًا Open ayah 17:95 in the Quran reader

Say: "Had angels been walking about in peace on the earth, We would surely have sent to them an angel from the heavens as Messenger." 108

108. This is to say that Messenger does not merely convey the message but is sent to reform human life in accordance with it. He has to apply the principles of the message to the circumstances of human beings and has himself to demonstrate practically those principles. Moreover, he has to remove the misunderstandings of those people who try to listen to and understand his message. Besides this, he has to organize and train the believers to create a society based on the teachings of his message. He has to struggle against those who reject and oppose his message in order to subdue those powers that are bent upon corruption, and bring about that reformation for which Allah has sent His Messenger. As all these things have to be done in a society of human beings only a human Messenger can perform the mission. If an angel had been sent as a Messenger, the most he could have done was to convey the message, for he could not live among human beings and share their life and problems in order to reform them. It is thus clear that a human Messenger only could be suitable for this purpose.
Ayah 17:96

قُلْ كَفٰى بِاللّٰهِ شَهِیْدًۢا بَیْنِیْ وَ بَیْنَكُمْ١ؕ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهٖ خَبِیْرًۢا بَصِیْرًا Open ayah 17:96 in the Quran reader

Tell them, (O Prophet): "Allah suffices as a witness between me and you. Allah is well aware and fully observes everything pertaining to His servants." 109

109. That is, Allah is fully aware of all my efforts which I am sending in order to reform you, and He is fully aware of the efforts you are making against my mission. His witness is sufficient because He will pass the final judgment.
Ayahs 17:97–99

وَ مَنْ یَّهْدِ اللّٰهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ١ۚ وَ مَنْ یُّضْلِلْ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُمْ اَوْلِیَآءَ مِنْ دُوْنِهٖ١ؕ وَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ یَوْمَ الْقِیٰمَةِ عَلٰى وُجُوْهِهِمْ عُمْیًا وَّ بُكْمًا وَّ صُمًّا١ؕ مَاْوٰىهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ١ؕ كُلَّمَا خَبَتْ زِدْنٰهُمْ سَعِیْرًا Open ayah 17:97 in the Quran reader

Whomsoever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whomsoever Allah lets go astray, you shall find none - apart from Him 110 - who could protect him. We shall muster them all on the Day of Resurrection, on their faces - blind and dumb and deaf. 111 Hell shall be their refuge. Every time its Fire subsides, We will intensify for them its flame.

ذٰلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمْ بِاَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوْا بِاٰیٰتِنَا وَ قَالُوْۤا ءَاِذَا كُنَّا عِظَامًا وَّ رُفَاتًا ءَاِنَّا لَمَبْعُوْثُوْنَ خَلْقًا جَدِیْدًا Open ayah 17:98 in the Quran reader

That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our signs and said: 'What! When we shall be reduced to bones and particles (of dust), shall we be raised again as a new creation?'

اَوَ لَمْ یَرَوْا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ الَّذِیْ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضَ قَادِرٌ عَلٰۤى اَنْ یَّخْلُقَ مِثْلَهُمْ وَ جَعَلَ لَهُمْ اَجَلًا لَّا رَیْبَ فِیْهِ١ؕ فَاَبَى الظّٰلِمُوْنَ اِلَّا كُفُوْرًا Open ayah 17:99 in the Quran reader

Have they not perceived that Allah, Who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create the like of them? He has fixed a term for them about which there is no doubt. And yet the wrongdoers obstinately persist in disbelief.

110. In this verse, the Quran has enunciated a divine principle. Allah guides to the right way only that person who intends to follow His guidance, and lets go astray that person who intends to go astray. Thereafter none is able to bring back to the right way the one against whom Allah has closed the door of guidance because of his own persistent deviation and obduracy. It is obvious that if a man turns his back against the truth and rests content with falsehoods, there is no power in the world to make him turn away from falsehood and come to the truth. This is because after this depravity Allah provides for that wicked person such means as increase his aversion to truth and his love for falsehood. 111. On the Day of Resurrection, they will be raised up blind, dumb and deaf because they behaved like such people in this world and would not see the truth nor listen to the truth nor speak the truth.
Ayah 17:100

قُلْ لَّوْ اَنْتُمْ تَمْلِكُوْنَ خَزَآئِنَ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّیْۤ اِذًا لَّاَمْسَكْتُمْ خَشْیَةَ الْاِنْفَاقِ١ؕ وَ كَانَ الْاِنْسَانُ قَتُوْرًا۠ Open ayah 17:100 in the Quran reader

Tell them, (O Prophet): "Even if you owned the treasures of my Lord's Mercy you would have held them back for fear of spending them." Man is indeed ever niggardly. 112

112. This verse also suggests the same thing that has already been mentioned in Ayat 55. This hints at the real psychological reason why the disbelievers of Makkah were not inclined to accept Muhammad (peace be upon him), their contemporary, as a Prophet. For thus they would have to acknowledge his superiority and one does not easily acknowledge the superiority of his contemporary. This verse may be expanded like this: Those people who are so narrow minded that they are unwilling even to acknowledge the real superiority of another, cannot be expected to be generous in spending on others, if they possessed the keys of the treasures of Allah’s blessings.
Ayah 17:101

وَ لَقَدْ اٰتَیْنَا مُوْسٰى تِسْعَ اٰیٰتٍۭ بَیِّنٰتٍ فَسْئَلْ بَنِیْۤ اِسْرَآءِیْلَ اِذْ جَآءَهُمْ فَقَالَ لَهٗ فِرْعَوْنُ اِنِّیْ لَاَظُنُّكَ یٰمُوْسٰى مَسْحُوْرًا Open ayah 17:101 in the Quran reader

We granted Moses nine clear signs. 113 Ask the Children of Israel about that: when these signs came forth, Pharaoh said to him: "Moses, I think that you are bewitched." 114

113. It should be noted that this is the third answer to the demand of the disbelievers of Makkah for signs. They said: We will not believe in you until you do this and do that before our eyes. In answer to this demand, they are being warned: Nine clear signs, like the ones you are demanding, were shown one after the other to Pharaoh before you and you also know well what he said, simply because he did not want to believe in Moses (peace be upon him); you also know that when he rejected the Prophet, even after seeing the signs, We drowned him. The nine signs mentioned here have also been mentioned in (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 133). These were: (1) The staff which turned into a monster snake. (2) Moses’bright hand which shone like the sun. (3) The public defeat of the sorcery of the magicians. (4) Universal famine. (5) Storm. (6) Locusts. (7) Lice. (8) Frogs. (9) Rain of blood. 114. This has been particularly mentioned here because the mushriks of Makkah attributed the same epithet to the Prophet (peace be upon him) as contained in(Ayat 47). These wrong-doers say to each other: The man, you are following, is a bewitched person. Here they are being warned that they were following the attitude of Pharaoh, who gave the same epithet to Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). In this connection, we want to make a brief reference to an objection which has been raised by the modernists against a tradition according to which the Prophet (peace be upon him) once came under the influence of sorcery. They say that this tradition confirms that the epithet“bewitched”applied to the Prophet by the Quraish was correct, whereas the Quran refutes this as false. They forget that the same argument could be applied to the case of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) whom Pharaoh accused of being bewitched. For the Quran says, in (Surah Taaha, Ayats 66- 67): When the magicians threw down their cords and rods (instruments of their sorcery), it seemed to Moses as if they were running, as a result of which Moses (peace be upon him) conceived in his mind a sort of fear. If the words of the tradition were to be considered against the Quran, do not these words of the Quran contradict its own words that the charge of Moses (peace be upon him) being bewitched was false? Do these modernists consider this verse to confirm Pharaoh’s charge? As a matter of fact, these objectors do not know the sense in which the disbelievers of Makkah and Pharaoh called the Prophet and Prophet Moses (peace be upon them) bewitched. What they meant was that some enemy had so bewitched them that they had lost their senses and so in their insanity claimed to be prophets and delivered a curious message. The Quran refutes this charge as false. As regards the temporary influence of magic on same person or a part of him has not been denied, for the influence of magic is like the effect produced on a person who is hit with a stone. The fact that some prophet was temporarily influenced by magic, does not in any way affect his prophethood adversely. Just as poison produced its effect on a prophet, or a prophet was wounded, so a prophet could also temporarily come under the influence of magic. Such a temporary magic could not cause any defect in his prophethood. God forbid, had magic produced any adverse effect on his reasoning and thinking faculties, one might have been skeptical about the authenticity of the message. And when Pharaoh and the disbelievers of Makkah said that Prophet Moses and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them) were bewitched, they meant that they had lost their senses under the influence of magic. The Quran refutes this charge brought against the Prophets.
Ayahs 17:102–103

قَالَ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَاۤ اَنْزَلَ هٰۤؤُلَآءِ اِلَّا رَبُّ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ بَصَآئِرَ١ۚ وَ اِنِّیْ لَاَظُنُّكَ یٰفِرْعَوْنُ مَثْبُوْرًا Open ayah 17:102 in the Quran reader

Moses replied: "You know well that no one but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent these as eye-opening proofs. 116 I truly think, O Pharaoh, that you are indeed doomed." 117

فَاَرَادَ اَنْ یَّسْتَفِزَّهُمْ مِّنَ الْاَرْضِ فَاَغْرَقْنٰهُ وَ مَنْ مَّعَهٗ جَمِیْعًاۙ Open ayah 17:103 in the Quran reader

At last Pharaoh decided to uproot Moses and the Children of Israel from the land, but We drowned him together with all who were with him;

116. That is, I am not a bewitched man but you are indeed a doomed person. As you have been persistent in your disbelief even after seeing such obvious divine signs, you are surety doomed to destruction. 117. This part of the story of Pharaoh has been related here because it applied exactly to the mushriks of Makkah who were doing their best to uproot the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the believers from the land of Arabia. This story, so to say, tells them: Pharaoh resolved to uproot Moses (peace be upon him) and the Israelites but was himself completely annihilated along with his followers. But Moses (peace be upon him) and his followers settled down in the land. Likewise, if you persist on the same way, you will surely meet with the same end.
Ayah 17:104

وَّ قُلْنَا مِنْۢ بَعْدِهٖ لِبَنِیْۤ اِسْرَآءِیْلَ اسْكُنُوا الْاَرْضَ فَاِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ الْاٰخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِیْفًاؕ Open ayah 17:104 in the Quran reader

and thereafter We said to the Children of Israel: "Now dwell in the land, 117 but when the promised time of the Hereafter comes, We shall bring you all together."

117. This part of the story of Pharaoh has been related here because it applied exactly to the mushriks of Makkah who were doing their best to uproot the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the believers from the land of Arabia. This story, so to say, tells them: Pharaoh resolved to uproot Moses (peace be upon him) and the Israelites but was himself completely annihilated along with his followers. But Moses (peace be upon him) and his followers settled down in the land. Likewise, if you persist on the same way, you will surely meet with the same end.
Ayah 17:105

وَ بِالْحَقِّ اَنْزَلْنٰهُ وَ بِالْحَقِّ نَزَلَ١ؕ وَ مَاۤ اَرْسَلْنٰكَ اِلَّا مُبَشِّرًا وَّ نَذِیْرًاۘ Open ayah 17:105 in the Quran reader

We have sent down the Qur'an with the Truth, and it is with the Truth that it has descended. And We have not sent you but to proclaim good news and to warn. 118

118. That is, it is not your responsibility to cause, in a supernatural manner, springs to gush forth or gardens to grow or pieces of the sky to fall down in order to convince those people who do not judge the Quran by its teachings nor decide between the truth and falsehood on merit. As the Quran has been sent down with truth, you should present it before the people and tell them plainly that the one, who believes, does so for his own good and the one who rejects it, does it at his own peril.
Ayah 17:106

وَ قُرْاٰنًا فَرَقْنٰهُ لِتَقْرَاَهٗ عَلَى النَّاسِ عَلٰى مُكْثٍ وَّ نَزَّلْنٰهُ تَنْزِیْلًا Open ayah 17:106 in the Quran reader

We have revealed the Qur'an in parts that you may recite it to people slowly and with deliberation; and (for that reason) We have revealed it gradually 119 (to suit particular occasions).

119. This is an answer to this objection: Why has not Allah sent down His message as a whole? Why is He sending it piecemeal? Has Allah any need to think deliberately what to send down? As the answer to this objection has been given in (Surah An-Nahal, Ayats 101-102) and in the Explanatory Notes 104-106 added to them.
Ayahs 17:107–108

قُلْ اٰمِنُوْا بِهٖۤ اَوْ لَا تُؤْمِنُوْا١ؕ اِنَّ الَّذِیْنَ اُوْتُوا الْعِلْمَ مِنْ قَبْلِهٖۤ اِذَا یُتْلٰى عَلَیْهِمْ یَخِرُّوْنَ لِلْاَذْقَانِ سُجَّدًاۙ Open ayah 17:107 in the Quran reader

Tell them, (O Prophet): "Whether you believe in it, or do not believe," but when it is recited to those who were given the knowledge before its revelation, 120 they fall down upon their faces in prostration

وَّ یَقُوْلُوْنَ سُبْحٰنَ رَبِّنَاۤ اِنْ كَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّنَا لَمَفْعُوْلًا Open ayah 17:108 in the Quran reader

And say: 'Glory be to our Lord. Surely the promise of our Lord was bound to be fulfilled.

120. This refers to those people of the Book who were well versed in the Scriptures and could judge them from their themes and wording.
Ayah 17:109

وَ یَخِرُّوْنَ لِلْاَذْقَانِ یَبْكُوْنَ وَ یَزِیْدُهُمْ خُشُوْعًا۩ Open ayah 17:109 in the Quran reader

And they fall down upon their faces, weeping, and their humility 121 increases when (the Qur'an) is recited to them. 122

121. That is, when they listen to the Quran, they at once recognize that its bearer is the promised Prophet mentioned in the Books of the former Prophets. 122. This attitude of the righteous people of the Book has been mentioned at several places in the Quran, e.g., (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayats 113-114, 199), (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayats: 83-84).
Ayah 17:110

قُلِ ادْعُوا اللّٰهَ اَوِ ادْعُوا الرَّحْمٰنَ١ؕ اَیًّا مَّا تَدْعُوْا فَلَهُ الْاَسْمَآءُ الْحُسْنٰى١ۚ وَ لَا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَ لَا تُخَافِتْ بِهَا وَ ابْتَغِ بَیْنَ ذٰلِكَ سَبِیْلًا Open ayah 17:110 in the Quran reader

Say to them (O Prophet!): "Call upon Him as Allah or call upon Him as al-Rahman; call Him by whichever name you will, all His names are beautiful. 123 Neither offer your Prayer in too loud a voice, nor in a voice too low; but follow a middle course." 124

123. This is the answer to another objection of the disbelievers. They said: We have heard the name Allah for the Creator but where from have you brought the name Rahman? This was because the name "Rahman”was not used for Allah and they did not like it. 124. This instruction was given at Makkah. Ibn Abbas relates that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) or his companions offered their prayers, they recited the Quran in a loud voice. At this the disbelievers would raise a hue and cry and often called them names. Therefore, they were enjoined that they should neither say their prayers in such a loud voice as might incite the disbelievers nor should they say it in such a low voice that their own companions might not hear it. This instruction was discontinued under the changed conditions at Al-Madinah. However, if the Muslims have to face the same conditions, at any place or at any time, they should observe the same instruction.
Ayah 17:111

وَ قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِیْ لَمْ یَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًا وَّ لَمْ یَكُنْ لَّهٗ شَرِیْكٌ فِی الْمُلْكِ وَ لَمْ یَكُنْ لَّهٗ وَلِیٌّ مِّنَ الذُّلِّ وَ كَبِّرْهُ تَكْبِیْرًا۠ Open ayah 17:111 in the Quran reader

And say: "All praise be to Allah Who has neither taken to Himself a son, nor has He any partner in His kingdom, nor does He need anyone, out of weakness, to protect Him." 125 So glorify Him in a manner worthy of His glory.

125. A subtle sarcasm is implied in the sentence. The mushriks believed that Allah had appointed assistants and deputies for the administration of His kingdom. Obviously this meant that Allah was helpless and powerless to carry out the administration of His kingdom. Therefore, He needed supporters to help Him in the work of His Godhead. This sentence negates their false creeds, saying: He does not stand in need of any gods and saints in order to delegate to them the different departments of His Godhead or make them governors in different parts of His kingdom.