Surah 7. Al-A'raf, Ayah 157
| الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | 'alladhena yattabicon ar- rasol an- nabey al- 'ummey 'alladhe yajidon -hu maktob(an) cinda -hum fe at- tawraah wa- al- 'injel ya'mur -hum bi- al- macrof wa- yanhaa -hum can al- munkar wa- yuh.ill la- -hum at.- t.ayyibaat wa- yuh.arrim calay -him al- khabaa'ith wa- yad.ac can -hum 'is.r -hum wa- al- aghlaal 'allate kaanat calay -him fa- 'alladhena 'aamano bi- -hi wa- cazzaro -hu wa- nas.aro -hu wa- ittabaco an- nor 'alladhe unzila maca -hu 'olaa'ika hum al- muflih.on |
| Pickthall | : | Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them. He will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honor him and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful. |
| Asad | : | those who shall follow the [last] Apostle, the unlettered Prophet whom they shall find described in the Torah that is with them, and [later on] in the Gospel:124 [the Prophet] who will enjoin upon them the doing of what is right and forbid them the doing of what is wrong, and make lawful to them the good things of life and forbid them the bad things, and lift from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them [aforetime].125 Those, therefore, who shall believe in him, and honour him, and succour him, and follow the light that has been bestowed from on high through him - it is they that shall attain to a happy state." |
| Malik | : | Now, special mercy is assigned to those who follow the Rasool, the unlettered Prophet (Muhammad) - whom they shall find described in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel). Who enjoins them what is good and forbids what is evil; makes pure things Halal (lawful) for them and impure things Haram (unlawful); relieves them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that were around their necks. Therefore, those who believe in him, honor him, help him, and follow the Light which is sent down with him will be the ones who will be successful in this life and the hereafter". |
| Yusuf Ali | : | "Those who follow the apostle the unlettered prophet whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures); in the law and the Gospel; for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil: he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him honor him help him and follow the light which is sent down with him it is they who will prosper." 1127 1128 1129 1130 |
Note - 124The interpolation of the words "later on" before the
reference to the Gospel is necessitated by the fact that
the whole of this passage is addressed to Moses and the
children of Israel, that is, long before the Gospel (in
the Qur'anic sense of this term - cf. surah {3}, note
[4]) was revealed to Jesus. The stories of some of the
earlier prophets given in this surah - beginning with the
story of Noah and ending with that of Moses and the
children of Israel - constitute a kind of introduction to
this command to follow the "unlettered Prophet",
Muhammad. The stress on his having been "unlettered"
(ummi), i.e., unable to read and write, serves to bring
out the fact that all his knowledge of the earlier
prophets and of the messages transmitted by them was due
to divine inspiration alone, and not to a familiarity
with the Bible as such. For the Old Testament predictions
of the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (especially in
Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18), see surah {2}, note [33];
for the New Testament prophecies to the same effect, see
61:6 and the corresponding note [6].
|
Note - 125A reference to the many severe rituals and obligations
laid down in Mosaic Law, as well as to the tendency
towards asceticism evident in the teachings of the
Gospels. Thus the Qur'an implies that those "burdens and
shackles", intended as means of spiritual discipline for
particular communities and particular stages of man's
development, will become unnecessary as soon as God's
message to man shall have achieved its final, universal
character in the teachings of the Last Prophet, Muhammad.
|
Note - 1127In this verse is a prefiguring, to Moses, of the Arabian
Messenger, the last and greatest of the messengers of
Allah. Prophecies about him will be found in the Taurat
and the Injil. In the reflex of the Taurat as now
accepted by the Jews, Moses says: "The Lord thy God will
raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto me" (Deut. xviii. 15): the only
Prophet who brought a Shari'at like that of Moses was
Muhammad Al- Mustafa, and he came of the house of Ismail
the brother of Isaac the father of Israel. In the reflex
of the Gospel as now accepted by the Christians, Christ
promised another Comforter (John xiv. 16): the Greek word
Paraclete which the Christians interpret as referring to
the Holy Spirit is by our Doctors taken to be Periclyte,
which would be the Greek form of Ahmad. See Q. lxi. 6.
|
Note - 1128Aglal: plural of gullun, a yoke, an iron collar. In the
formalism and exclusiveness of the Jews there were many
restrictions which were removed by Islam, a religion of
freedom in the faith of Allah, of universality in the
variety of races, languages, manners and customs.
|
Note - 1129Light which is sent down with him: the words are "with
him", not "to him", emphasizing the fact that the Light
which he brought illumines every one who has the
privilege of joining his great and universal Fellowship.
|
Note - 1130Falah = prosperity in its general sense as well as in its
spiritual sense. In the general sense it means that right
conduct is the only door to happiness and well-being. In
the spiritual sense it means that Faith and its fruits
(right conduct) are the only gates to salvation.
|
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The interpolation of the words "later on" before the reference to the Gospel is necessitated by the fact that the whole of this passage is addressed to Moses and the children of Israel, that is, long before the Gospel (in the Qur'anic sense of this term - cf. surah {3}, note [4]) was revealed to Jesus. The stories of some of the earlier prophets given in this surah - beginning with the story of Noah and ending with that of Moses and the children of Israel - constitute a kind of introduction to this command to follow the "unlettered Prophet", Muhammad. The stress on his having been "unlettered" (ummi), i.e., unable to read and write, serves to bring out the fact that all his knowledge of the earlier prophets and of the messages transmitted by them was due to divine inspiration alone, and not to a familiarity with the Bible as such. For the Old Testament predictions of the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (especially in Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and 18), see surah {2}, note [33]; for the New Testament prophecies to the same effect, see 61:6 and the corresponding note [6]. |
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A reference to the many severe rituals and obligations laid down in Mosaic Law, as well as to the tendency towards asceticism evident in the teachings of the Gospels. Thus the Qur'an implies that those "burdens and shackles", intended as means of spiritual discipline for particular communities and particular stages of man's development, will become unnecessary as soon as God's message to man shall have achieved its final, universal character in the teachings of the Last Prophet, Muhammad. |
| |
In this verse is a prefiguring, to Moses, of the Arabian Messenger, the last and greatest of the messengers of Allah. Prophecies about him will be found in the Taurat and the Injil. In the reflex of the Taurat as now accepted by the Jews, Moses says: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me" (Deut. xviii. 15): the only Prophet who brought a Shari'at like that of Moses was Muhammad Al- Mustafa, and he came of the house of Ismail the brother of Isaac the father of Israel. In the reflex of the Gospel as now accepted by the Christians, Christ promised another Comforter (John xiv. 16): the Greek word Paraclete which the Christians interpret as referring to the Holy Spirit is by our Doctors taken to be Periclyte, which would be the Greek form of Ahmad. See Q. lxi. 6. |
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Aglal: plural of gullun, a yoke, an iron collar. In the formalism and exclusiveness of the Jews there were many restrictions which were removed by Islam, a religion of freedom in the faith of Allah, of universality in the variety of races, languages, manners and customs. |
| |
Light which is sent down with him: the words are "with him", not "to him", emphasizing the fact that the Light which he brought illumines every one who has the privilege of joining his great and universal Fellowship. |
| |
Falah = prosperity in its general sense as well as in its spiritual sense. In the general sense it means that right conduct is the only door to happiness and well-being. In the spiritual sense it means that Faith and its fruits (right conduct) are the only gates to salvation. |
