Surah 31. Luqman, Ayah 34
| إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْأَرْحَامِ ۖ وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا ۖ وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ |
| Transliteration | : | 'inna 'allaah cinda -hu cilm as- saacah wa- yunazzil al- ghayth wa- yaclam maa fe al- arh.aam wa- maa tadre nafs maa-dhaa taksib ghad(an) wa- maa tadre nafs bi- 'ayy 'ard. tamot 'inna 'allaah calem khaber |
| Pickthall | : | Lo! Allah! With Him is knowledge of the Hour. He sendeth down the rain, and knoweth that which is in the wombs. No soul knoweth what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knoweth in what land it will die. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. |
| Asad | : | Verily, with God alone rests the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come; and He [it is who] sends down rain; and He [alone] knows what is in the wombs:31 whereas no one knows what he will reap tomorrow, and no one knows in what land he will die. Verily, God [alone] is all-knowing, all-aware. |
| Malik | : | Surely Allah Alone has the knowledge of the Hour, He is the One Who sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs. No one knows what he will earn the next day; and no one knows in what land he will die. Surely, Allah knows all this and is aware of everything. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He Who sends down rain and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things). 3625 3626 3627 |
Note - 31This relates not merely to the problem of the sex of the
as yet unborn embryo, but also to the question of whether
it will be born at all, and if so, what its natural
endowments and its character will be, as well as what
role it will be able to play in life; and life itself is
symbolized by the preceding mention of rain, and the end
of all life in this world, by the mention of the Last
Hour.
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Note - 3625The question of Knowledge or Mystery governs both clauses
here, viz.: Rain and Wombs. In fact it governs all the
five things mentioned in this verse: viz. (1) the Hour;
(2) Rain; (3) the Birth of a new Life (Wombs); (4) our
Physical Life from day to day; (5) our Death. See n. 3627
below. As regards Rain we are asked to contemplate how
and when it is sent down. The moisture may be sucked up
by the sun's heat in the Arabian Sea or the Red Sea or
the Indian Ocean near East Africa, or in the Lake Region
in Central Africa. The winds drive it hither and thither
across thousands of miles, or it may be, only short
distances. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." No doubt
it obeys certain physical Laws established by Allah, but
how these Laws are interlocked, one with another!
Meteorology, gravity, hydrostatics and dynamics,
climatology, hygrometry, and a dozen other sciences are
involved, and no man can completely master all of them,
and yet this relates to only one of the millions of facts
in physical nature, which are governed by Allah's
Knowledge and Law. The whole vegetable kingdom is
primarily affected by Rain. The mention of Wombs brings
in the mystery of animal Life, Embryology, Sex, and a
thousand other things. Who can tell-to take man alone-how
long it will remain in the womb, whether it will be born
alive, what sort of a new individual it will be,-a
blessing or a curse to its parents, or to Society?
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Note - 3626"Earn" here, as elsewhere, means not only "earn one's
livelihood" in a physical sense, but also to reap the
consequences (good or ill) of one's conduct generally.
The whole sentence practically means; "no man knows what
the morrow may bring forth."
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Note - 3627See the five Mysteries summed up in n. 3625 above. The
argument is about the mystery of Time and Knowledge. We
are supposed to know things in ordinary life. But what
does that knowledge amount to in reality? Only a
superficial acquaintance with things. And Time is even
more uncertain. In the case of rain, which causes
vegetable life to spring up, or in the case of new animal
life, can we answer with precision questions as to When
or How or Wherefore? So about questions of our life from
day to day or of our death. These are great mysteries,
and full knowledge is with Allah only. How much more so
in the case of the Ma'ad, the Final House, when all true
values will be restored and the balance redressed? It is
certain, but the When and the How are known to Allah
alone.
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This relates not merely to the problem of the sex of the as yet unborn embryo, but also to the question of whether it will be born at all, and if so, what its natural endowments and its character will be, as well as what role it will be able to play in life; and life itself is symbolized by the preceding mention of rain, and the end of all life in this world, by the mention of the Last Hour. |
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The question of Knowledge or Mystery governs both clauses here, viz.: Rain and Wombs. In fact it governs all the five things mentioned in this verse: viz. (1) the Hour; (2) Rain; (3) the Birth of a new Life (Wombs); (4) our Physical Life from day to day; (5) our Death. See n. 3627 below. As regards Rain we are asked to contemplate how and when it is sent down. The moisture may be sucked up by the sun's heat in the Arabian Sea or the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean near East Africa, or in the Lake Region in Central Africa. The winds drive it hither and thither across thousands of miles, or it may be, only short distances. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." No doubt it obeys certain physical Laws established by Allah, but how these Laws are interlocked, one with another! Meteorology, gravity, hydrostatics and dynamics, climatology, hygrometry, and a dozen other sciences are involved, and no man can completely master all of them, and yet this relates to only one of the millions of facts in physical nature, which are governed by Allah's Knowledge and Law. The whole vegetable kingdom is primarily affected by Rain. The mention of Wombs brings in the mystery of animal Life, Embryology, Sex, and a thousand other things. Who can tell-to take man alone-how long it will remain in the womb, whether it will be born alive, what sort of a new individual it will be,-a blessing or a curse to its parents, or to Society? |
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"Earn" here, as elsewhere, means not only "earn one's livelihood" in a physical sense, but also to reap the consequences (good or ill) of one's conduct generally. The whole sentence practically means; "no man knows what the morrow may bring forth." |
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See the five Mysteries summed up in n. 3625 above. The argument is about the mystery of Time and Knowledge. We are supposed to know things in ordinary life. But what does that knowledge amount to in reality? Only a superficial acquaintance with things. And Time is even more uncertain. In the case of rain, which causes vegetable life to spring up, or in the case of new animal life, can we answer with precision questions as to When or How or Wherefore? So about questions of our life from day to day or of our death. These are great mysteries, and full knowledge is with Allah only. How much more so in the case of the Ma'ad, the Final House, when all true values will be restored and the balance redressed? It is certain, but the When and the How are known to Allah alone. |
