The Quran with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English

Literal translations of the Qur'an may often sound irrelevant and fail to correspond to the original meaning. Therefore, many scholars recommend studying the Qur'an through interpretations with commentaries that deal with the reasons for revelation (asbab an-nuzul) and notes for specific references. This book is a comprehensive source that combines interpretation and commentary with extensive notes of explanation. Introduction :  FOREWORD All praise is for God, the Lord of the worlds, may His Majesty be exalted, and peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muḥammad, his household, Companions and the righteous servants among the inhabitants of the heaven and earth. The movement of returning to the Qur’ān which began in the Muslim world around a century ago, is continuing with its ups and downs, and right and wrong aspects. As is known, the Qur’ān was revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad, upon him be peace and blessings, over 23 years, 14 centuries ago, mostly on different occasions. This last “version” of the Divine Word which was planted in the Last Prophet as a seed and, growing swiftly, “raised on its stem, put out its shoots” (Qur’ān, 48: 29) came to leaf, blossomed, and yielded fruit in all aspects of life. Almost one third of the world having lived a peaceful life under its calm, serene shade for many centuries, the Qur’ān was veiled by the neglect and unfaithfulness of its “friends” and the hostility of its “enemies.” However, after a few centuries of misery, the Muslims all over the Muslim world felt the dire need of returning to the Qur’ān and found that this Word of God is as fresh as when it was first revealed and “growing younger as time gets older.” The very essence of their being deeply injured by the poison injected by materialistic trends, humans are in quest of an immediate cure. It is the Word of God which has this cure. However, it is in anticipation of “doctors” who will present it. The future of humanity is dependent on the efforts of these doctors to present this cure. If the Qur’ān had been fully and accurately understood and practiced effectively in life, the poisons produced in modern times would not have been able to find Muslim customers in considerable numbers, no matter if they had been presented in golden cups. However, unfortunately, in addition to these poisons being easily injected in many believing bodies, some so-called Muslim “doctors” who should have defied them with the Qur’ān, have taken them as if they were an antidote. They even have gone so far as to identify the cure of the Qur’ān with them and, further, have ventured to test it in the tubes of the laboratories where the poisons are produced. Part 1, Sūrah 1 Contents Foreword ...................xv On the Holy Qur’ān and Its Interpretation / M. Fethullah Gülen ..... .......xli SŪRAH 1 Al-Fātiḥah (The Opening) ..........2 2 Al-Baqarah (The Cow) .............12 3 Āl ‘Imrān (The Family of ‘Imrān) ........................139 4 An-Nisā’ (Women) ...................193 5 Al-Māedah (The Table) ..........253 6 Al-An‘ām (Cattle) ................... 294 7 Al-A‘rāf (The Heights) ............344 8 Al-Anfāl (Gains of War) ..........403 9 At-Tawbah (Repentance) .......423 10 Yūnus (Jonah) ...........................466 11 Hūd .............. 490 12 Yūsuf (Joseph) .......................... 522 13 Ar-Ra‘d (Thunder) ...................555 14 Ibrāhīm (Abraham) ..................570 15 Al-Ḥijr .........582 16 An-Naḥl (The Bee) ..................604 17 Al-Isrā’ (The Night Journey) 632 18 Al-Kahf (The Cave) .................675 19 Maryam (Mary) .......................708 20 Ṭā. Hā (Ṭā. Hā) ........................726 21 Al-Anbiyā’ (The Prophets) ....746 22 Al-Ḥajj (The Pilgrimage) ........ 771 23 Al-Mu’minūn (The Believers) 796 24 An-Nūr (The Light) ................. 817 25 Al-Furqān (The Criterion) ......845 26 Ash-Shu‘arāʼ (The Poets) ......863 27 An-Naml (The Ant) ................891 28 Al-Qaṣaṣ (The Narrative) .......913 29 Al-‘Ankabūt (The Spider) ......935 30 Ar-Rūm (The Byzantine Romans) ..................... 950 SŪRAH 31 Luqmān ........963 32 As-Sajdah (Prostration) ......... 972 33 Al-Ahzāb (The Confederates) ............................. 979 34 Sabaʼ (Sheba) ......................... 1009 35 Al-Fāṭir (The All-Originating) ...........................1021 36 Yā. Sīn (Yā. Sīn) .....................1033 37 Aṣ-Ṣāffāt (Those Aligned in Ranks) .................1048 38 Ṣād ...............1067 39 Az-Zumar (The Companies) .1080 40 Al-Muʼmin (The Believer) .....1097 41 Fuṣṣilat (Distinctly Spelled Out) ........................ 1112 42 Ash-Shūrā (Consultation) ..... 1123 43 Az-Zukhruf (Ornaments) ..... 1136 44 Ad-Dukhān (The Smoke) ..... 1147 45 Al-Jāthiyah (Kneeling Down) ............................ 1155 46 Al-Ahqāf (Wind-Shaped Dunes) ........................ 1164 47 Muḥammad ............................ 1173 48 Al-Fatḥ (Victory) ................... 1182 49 Al-Hujurāt (The Private Apartments) .............. 1195 50 Qāf .............1205 51 Adh-Dhāriyāt (The Scatterers) .........................1210 52 Aṭ-Ṭūr (Mount Sinai) ............ 1217 53 An-Najm (The Star) ..............1223 54 Al-Qamar (The Moon) .........1230 55 Ar-Raḥmān (The All-Merciful) ......................... 1238 56 Al-Wāqiʻah (The Event to Happen) .................. 1251 57 Al-Ḥadīd (Iron) ......................1259 58 Al-Mujādilah (The Pleading Woman) ...............1269 59 Al-Ḥashr (The Gathering) ....1277 60 Al-Mumtaḥanah (The Woman To Be Tested) .............................1285 61 Aṣ-Ṣaff (The Ranks) ............ 1290 62 Al-Jumuʻah (Friday) ..............1294 63 Al-Munāfiqūn (The Hypocrites) .......................1298 64 At-Taghābun (Gain and Loss) ........................... 1301 65 Aṭ-Ṭalaq (Divorce) ................1307 66 At-Taḥrīm (Prohibition) ........1313 SŪRAH 67 Al-Mulk (Sovereignty) .......... 1318 68 Al-Qalam (The Pen) ............. 1327 69 Al-Ḥāqqah (The Sure Reality) ........................... 1332 70 Al-Maʻārij (The Stairs of Ascent) ..................... 1338 71 Nūḥ (Noah) .............................1342 72 Al-Jinn (The Jinn) .................. 1346 73 Al-Muzzammil (The Enwrapped One) ............. 1351 74 Al-Muddaththir (The Cloaked One) ................. 1355 75 Al-Qiyāmah (Resurrection) ..1360 76 Al-Insān (Human) ................. 1364 77 Al-Mursalāt (The Companies Sent) ..................1369 78 An-Nabaʼ (The Tidings) ....... 1373 79 An-Nāziāt (Those Who Fly Out) ......................1379 80 ʻAbasa (He Frowned) ............ 1382 81 At-Takwīr (The Folding Up) ............................. 1385 82 Al-Infiṭār (The Cleaving Open) .........................1389 83 Al-Muṭaffifīn (Dealers in Fraud) ...................... 1391 84 Al-Inshiqāq (The Splitting Asunder) ................1393 85 Al-Burūj (The Constellations) ............................1396 86 Aṭ-Ṭāriq (That Which Comes at Night) ..........1398 87 Al-Aʻlā (The Most High) ......1400 88 Al-Ghāsiyah (The Overwhelming) ....................1403 89 Al-Fajr (The Dawn) ...............1405 90 Al-Balad (The City) ..............1408 91 Ash-Shams (The Sun) ........... 1410 92 Al-Layl (The Night) .............. 1413 93 Aḍ-Ḍuhā (The Forenoon) ..... 1415 94 Al-Inshirāḥ (The Expansion) ............................. 1417 95 At-Tīn (The Fig) ................... 1420 96 Al-ʻAlaq (The Clot) ...............1424 97 Al-Qadr (Destiny and Power) ............................1427 98 Al-Bayyinah (The Clear Evidence) ...................1429 99 Az-Zilzāl (The Earthquake) ..1432 100 Al-ʻĀdiyāt (The Chargers) .... 1434 101 Al-Qāriʻah (The Sudden, Mighty Stroke) ........ 1435 102 At-Takāthur (Rivalry in Worldly Increase) ..... 1436 SŪRAH 103 Al-ʻAṣr (Time Heavy with Events) ................... 1437 104 Al-Humazah (The Slanderer) ............................ 1438 105 Al-Fīl (The Elephant) ............1439 106 Quraysh ..... 1441 107 Al-Māūn (Assistance) .............1442 108 Al-Kawthar (Abundant Good) .......................... 1443 109 Al-Kāfirūn (The Unbelievers) ............................ 1445 110 An-Naṣr (Help) ...................... 1446 111 Tabbat (Ruin) ........................ 1448 112 Al-Ikhlāṣ (Purity of Faith) ...1449 113 Al-Falaq (The Daybreak) .....1452 114 An-Nās (Humankind) ........... 1454 APPENDICES 1 The Prophet Muḥammad in the Bible .............. 1457 2 Islam and War and the Main Factors in the Spread of Islam ...... 1463 3 More on Islam and War ........1469 4 The Status of Women in Islam .......................... 1473 5 The Prophet Muḥammad among His People ... 1477 The Qur’ān’s Challenge and Some Aspects of Its Miraculousness .......................1482 7 God Wills Good for Humankind but Humankind Incurs Evil .... 1487 8 On the Existence and Unity of God ..................1491 9 From the Diary of a Honeybee ..........................1495 10 The Ascension (Mi‘rāj) of the Prophet Muḥammad ................... 1499 11 Arguments for the Resurrection ........................1507 12 The Spirit, Its Identity and Arguments for Its Existence ........... 1517 13 Islam: God’s Original Pattern on Which He Has Created Humankind .............................1525 14 The Trust Human Has Undertaken ..................1529 GLOSSARIES A Glossary of God’s All-Beautiful Names ................. 1534 A Glossary of Names ......................1539 A Glossary of Terms ....................... 1554 SUBJECT INDEX ...... 1584 WORKS OF REFERENCE ......................1601