فَٱلْمُورِيَٰتِ قَدْحًۭا﴿٢﴾
sparks of fire striking,
തീപ്പൊരികൾ പറത്തുകയും,
فَٱلْمُغِيرَٰتِ صُبْحًۭا﴿٣﴾
rushing to assault at morn,
പിന്നെ പുലര്വേളയില് കടന്നാക്രമിക്കാനായി പാഞ്ഞടുക്കുന്നവ,
فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِۦ نَقْعًۭا﴿٤﴾
thereby raising clouds of dust,
അതിലൂടെ പൊടിപറത്തുകയും,
فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِۦ جَمْعًا﴿٥﴾
thereby storming [blindly] into any host!2
അങ്ങനെ ഏതൊരു സംഘത്തിലേക്കും (അന്ധമായി) ഇരച്ചുകയറുന്നവ തന്നെയാണ് സത്യം!
إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ لِرَبِّهِۦ لَكَنُودٌۭ﴿٦﴾
VERILY, towards his Sustainer man is most ungrateful3
തീർച്ചയായും, മനുഷ്യൻ തന്റെ നാഥനോട് കടുത്ത നന്ദികേട് കാണിക്കുന്നവനാകുന്നു.
وَإِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌۭ﴿٧﴾
and to this, behold, he [himself] bears witness indeed:
തീർച്ചയായും, ഇതിന് അവൻ (സ്വയം) അതിന് സാക്ഷ്യം വഹിക്കുന്നവനുമാണ്:
وَإِنَّهُۥ لِحُبِّ ٱلْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌ﴿٨﴾
for, verily, to the love of wealth is he most ardently devoted.
തീർച്ചയായും അവൻ ധനത്തോട് കഠിനമായ സ്നേഹമുള്ളവനാകുന്നു.
۞ أَفَلَا يَعْلَمُ إِذَا بُعْثِرَ مَا فِى ٱلْقُبُورِ﴿٩﴾
But does he not know that [on the Last Day,] when all that is in the graves is raised and brought out,
എന്നാൽ അവൻ അറിയുന്നില്ലേ, (അന്ത്യനാളിൽ) കല്ലറകളിലുള്ളതെല്ലാം ഉയിർത്തെഴുന്നേൽപ്പിക്കപ്പെടുകയും പുറത്തുകൊണ്ടുവരപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ,
وَحُصِّلَ مَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ﴿١٠﴾
and all that is [hidden] in men's hearts is bared
മനുഷ്യരുടെ ഹൃദയങ്ങളിൽ (ഒളിഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്ന) എല്ലാ കാര്യങ്ങളും വെളിപ്പെടുത്തപ്പെടുമ്പോൾ
إِنَّ رَبَّهُم بِهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ لَّخَبِيرٌۢ﴿١١﴾
that on that Day their Sustainer [will show that He] has always been fully aware of them?
ആ നാളിൽ തങ്ങളുടെ നാഥൻ അവരെക്കുറിച്ച് എപ്പോഴും പൂർണ്ണമായി അറിയുന്നവനായിരുന്നു (എന്ന് അവൻ വ്യക്തമാക്കുമെന്ന്)?
Footnotes by Muhammad Asad
- 1. Since the subsequent clauses refer to a parabolic, imaginary situation, the adjurative particle wa is more suitably rendered here as "Oh", instead of the rendering "Consider' usually adopted by me, or the adjuration "By" appearing in most other translations.
- 2. I.e., blinded by clouds of dust and not knowing whether their assault aims at friend or foe. The metaphoric image developed in the above five verses is closely connected with the sequence, although this connection has never been brought out by the classical commentators. The term al-adiyat undoubtedly denotes the war-horses, or chargers, employed by the Arabs from time immemorial down to the Middle Ages (the feminine gender of this term being due to the fact that, as a rule, they preferred mares to stallions). But whereas the conventional explanation is based on the assumption that "the chargers" symbolize here the believers' fight in God's cause (jihad) and, therefore, represent something highly commendable, it takes no account whatever of the discrepancy between so positive an imagery and the condemnation expressed in verses 6 ff., not to speak of the fact that such a conventional interpretation does not provide any logical link between the two parts of the surah. But since such a link must exist, and since verses 6-11 are undoubtedly condemnatory, we must conclude that the first five verses, too, have the same or at least, a similar - character. This character becomes at once obvious if we dissociate ourselves from the preconceived notion that the imagery of "the chargers" is used here in a laudatory sense. In fact, the opposite is the case. Beyond any doubt, "the chargers" symbolize the erring human soul or self - a soul devoid of all spiritual direction, obsessed and ridden by all manner of wrong, selfish desires, madly, unseeingly rushing onwards, unchecked by conscience or reason, blinded by the dust-clouds of confused and confusing appetites, storming into insoluble situations and, thus, into its own spiritual destruction.
- 3. I.e., whenever he surrenders to his appetites, symbolized by the madly storming chargers, he forgets God and his own responsibility to Him.