Verse 17:63 | inQuran

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

And he said, ‘What thinkest Thou? Can this whom Thou hast honoured above me be my superior? If Thou wilt grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will most surely bring his descendants under my sway except a few.’

English - Five Volume Translation

And he said, ‘What thinkest Thou? Can this [a]whom Thou hast honoured above me be my superior? If Thou wilt grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection, [b]I will most surely bring his descendants under my sway except a few.’[1992]

7:13; 15:34; 38:77.

7:17-18; 15:40.

Important Words:

ارءیتک (what thinkest thou?) is derived from رای i.e. he saw with the eyes and means, hast thou considered? tell thou me, tell me; thinkest thou? or what thinkest thou? (Lane). See also 10:51.

لاحتنکن (I will most surely bring under my sway) is derived from حنک. They say حنک الفرس i.e. he put a rope in the mouth of the horse. احتنک الجراد الارض means, the locusts ate what was upon the land and consumed its herbage. احتنکه means, (1) he put a rope in his mouth and led him; (2) he took the whole of his property; and (3) he gained the mastery over him. The Quranic expression لاحتنکن ذریته means, I will assuredly extirpate his progeny; or I will assuredly incline his progeny to obey me, or I will assuredly gain the mastery over his progeny (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

By "resurrection" is here meant not the great Resurrection that is to take place after death but the time when believers will have achieved success and disbelievers met with discomfiture.

It may also mean the spiritual resurrection which is experienced by every believer when his faith becomes perfect and Satan ceases to exercise control over him.

Whether or not Satan has succeeded in carrying out his threat in leading astray a vast majority of mankind is an important question which calls for an answer. A hurried and thoughtless glance over the state of good and evil in the world may lead one to the wrong conclusion that evil predominates in the world. But the truth is quite the reverse. If all the utterances of the greatest of liars were to be critically examined, the number of his truthful utterances will be found to be far exceeding his lies. So is the case with other evils. A great majority of people in the world are disposed to be good and virtuous. They commit moral excesses only in the heat of passion. Similarly, the number of the wicked people in the world is much smaller than that of the good and the virtuous. The fact that wickedness attracts such wide notice in itself constitutes proof positive of the fact that human nature is innately good and recoils at even a slight touch of evil. It is therefore wrong to suppose that Satan has succeeded in carrying his threat into actual fact.

The dialogue described here and in other verses of the Quran as having taken place between God and Satan never actually took place. It is only a representation of the state of things existing in the world. See also 2:35; 7:13-19 & 15:28-29.

English - Short Commentary Translation

And he said, ‘What thinkest Thou? Can this [b]whom Thou hast honoured above me be my superior? If Thou wilt grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection,[1630] [a]I will most surely bring his descendants under my sway except a few.’[1631]

اردو ترجمہ مرزا طاہر احمد خلیفة المسیح الرابعؒ

اس نے کہا مجھے بتا تو سہی کہ کیا یہ وہ (چیز) ہے جسے تُو نے مجھ پر فضیلت دی ہے؟ اگر تُو مجھے قیامت کے دن تک مہلت دے دے تو میں ضرور اس کی نسلوں کو ہلاک کردوں گا سوائے چند ایک کے۔

French

Il dit : « Vois un peu ! Est-ce là celui que Tu as préféré à moi ? Si Tu voulais bien m’accorder un répit jusqu’au Jour de la Résurrection, très certainement je détruirais ses descendants, un petit nombre excepté. »

German

Er sprach (weiter): "Was dünket Dich? Dieser ist´s, den Du höher geehrt hast als mich! Willst Du mir Frist geben bis zum Tage der Auferstehung, so will ich gewisslich Gewalt erlangen über seine Nachkommen, bis auf wenige."

Chinese

他 (又) 说: “(安拉啊!) 告诉我, 这是[a]你所赐超过我荣誉的人 (他能做我所服从的?) 如果你给我缓期到复生日,[719]那么, 除了(你所拯救的) 少数人以外, [b]我使他的子孙都受我的统治。”[720]

Italian

Egli proseguì: «Che cosa credi Tu? Potrebbe questo, che Tu hai onorato al di sopra di me, essermi superiore? Se mi darai tregua fino al Giorno della risurrezione, senza dubbio porterò tutti i suoi discendenti, ad eccezione di pochi, sotto il mio dominio.»

Spanish

Y dijo: “¿Qué piensas Tú? Éste es aquel a quien preferiste sobre mí. Si me concedes un respiro hasta el Día de la Resurrección, ciertamente pondré a sus descendientes bajo mi dominio, excepto a unos pocos”.

اردو تفسیرِ صغیر

(نیز) اس نے کہا (کہ اے اللہ! تو ہی مجھے) بتا کہ کیا یہ (میرا مطاع ہو سکتا) ہے جسے تو نے مجھ پر شرف دے دیا ہے اگر تو نے مجھے قیامت کے دن تک مہلت دی تو (مجھے تیری ہی ذات کی قسم ہے کہ) میں اس کی (تمام) اولاد کو قابو میں کرلوں گا۔ سوائے تھوڑے سے لوگوں کے (جنہیں تو بچالے) ۔

اردو ترجمہ مودودی

پھر وہ بولا "دیکھ تو سہی، کیا یہ اس قابل تھا کہ تو نے اِسے مجھ پر فضیلت دی؟ اگر تو مجھے قیامت کے دن تک مہلت دے تو میں اس کی پوری نسل کی بیخ کنی کر ڈالوں، بس تھوڑے ہی لوگ مجھ سے بچ سکیں گے"

English - Sahih

[Iblees] said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored above me? If You delay me until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely destroy his descendants, except for a few."

اردو ترجمہ احمد علی

کہا بھلا دیکھ تو یہ شخص جسے تو نے مجھ سے بڑھایا اگرتو مجھے قیامت کے دن تک مہلت دے تو میں بھی سوائے چند لوگوں کے اس کی نسل کو قابو میں کر کے رہونگا

English - Talal Itani

He said, "Do You see this whom You have honored, above me? If You give me respite till (the) Day (of) the Resurrection, I will surely destroy his offspring except a few."

Chinese Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

a

7:13; 15:34; 38:77.

b

7:17, 18; 15:40.

719

“复生” 在这里的意思是, 每个信者在他的信念达到完美的地步时, 恶魔再无法控制他, 这时他就体验了这样的精神复生。

720

恶魔是否能胁迫极大多数人走邪道, 是需要答复的一个重要问题。如果对这世界上善与恶的情况粗略而轻率地看一下, 可能使人们得出在这世界上恶比善的势力大这样一个错误的结论。可是事实正相反。例如, 如果苛刻地审查那最会说谎的人讲的所有的话, 就会看到他所讲的真话的数量远远超过他的假话。同样地, 世界上恶人的数目比好人和有德行的人要少得多。邪恶的事情引起如此广泛的注意这一事实本身就证明人类本性天生是善良的, 因而即使稍稍接触一下邪恶的事就会发生反应。因此, 说恶魔已经成功地把他的胁迫变成了事实这一种猜想是错误的。

اردہ تفصیرِ صغیر نوٹس ^*

English - Arberry

He said, 'What thinkest Thou? This whom Thou hast honoured above me -- if Thou deferrest me to the Day of Resurrection I shall assuredly master his seed, save a few.'

English - Maududi

He then continued: "Look! This is he whom You have exalted above me! If you will grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection I shall uproot the whole of his progeny except only a few."

English - Ahmed Ali

(And) said: "Look! This is what you have honoured above me! If You defer (my term) till the Day of Resurrection, I will bring his progeny into complete subjugation, barring a few."

English - Yusuf Ali

He said: "Seest Thou? this is the one whom Thou hast honoured above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway - all but a few!"

English - Five Volume Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

a

7:13; 15:34; 38:77.

b

7:17-18; 15:40.

1992

Important Words:

ارءیتک (what thinkest thou?) is derived from رای i.e. he saw with the eyes and means, hast thou considered? tell thou me, tell me; thinkest thou? or what thinkest thou? (Lane). See also 10:51.

لاحتنکن (I will most surely bring under my sway) is derived from حنک. They say حنک الفرس i.e. he put a rope in the mouth of the horse. احتنک الجراد الارض means, the locusts ate what was upon the land and consumed its herbage. احتنکه means, (1) he put a rope in his mouth and led him; (2) he took the whole of his property; and (3) he gained the mastery over him. The Quranic expression لاحتنکن ذریته means, I will assuredly extirpate his progeny; or I will assuredly incline his progeny to obey me, or I will assuredly gain the mastery over his progeny (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

By "resurrection" is here meant not the great Resurrection that is to take place after death but the time when believers will have achieved success and disbelievers met with discomfiture.

It may also mean the spiritual resurrection which is experienced by every believer when his faith becomes perfect and Satan ceases to exercise control over him.

Whether or not Satan has succeeded in carrying out his threat in leading astray a vast majority of mankind is an important question which calls for an answer. A hurried and thoughtless glance over the state of good and evil in the world may lead one to the wrong conclusion that evil predominates in the world. But the truth is quite the reverse. If all the utterances of the greatest of liars were to be critically examined, the number of his truthful utterances will be found to be far exceeding his lies. So is the case with other evils. A great majority of people in the world are disposed to be good and virtuous. They commit moral excesses only in the heat of passion. Similarly, the number of the wicked people in the world is much smaller than that of the good and the virtuous. The fact that wickedness attracts such wide notice in itself constitutes proof positive of the fact that human nature is innately good and recoils at even a slight touch of evil. It is therefore wrong to suppose that Satan has succeeded in carrying his threat into actual fact.

The dialogue described here and in other verses of the Quran as having taken place between God and Satan never actually took place. It is only a representation of the state of things existing in the world. See also 2:35; 7:13-19 & 15:28-29.

English - Short Commentary Notes ^*

Cross Refs:

a

7:17, 18; 15:40.

b

7:13; 15:34; 38:77.

1630

By "resurrection" is here meant the spiritual resurrection which is experienced by every believer when his faith becomes perfect and Satan ceases to exercise control over him.

1631

Whether or not Satan has succeeded in carrying out his threat in leading astray a vast majority of mankind is an important question which calls for an answer. A hurried and thoughtless glance over the state of good and evil in the world may lead one to the wrong conclusion that evil predominates over good in the world. But the truth is the other way about. If, for example, all the utterances of the greatest of liars were to be critically examined, the number of his truthful utterances will be found to be far exceeding his lies. Similarly, the number of the wicked people in the world is much smaller than that of the good and the virtuous people. The fact that wickedness attracts such wide notice in itself constitutes a proof of the fact that human nature is innately good and recoils at even a slight touch of evil. It is, therefore, wrong to suppose that Satan has succeeded in carrying his threat into actual fact.

English - Pickthall

He said: Seest Thou this (creature) whom Thou hast honoured above me, if Thou give me grace until the Day of Resurrection I verily will seize his seed, save but a few.

English - Muhammad Ali ^ra

He said: Seest Thou? This is he whom Thou hast honoured above me! If Thou respite me to the day of Resurrection, I will certainly cause his progeny to perish except a few.

English - Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan ^ra

Tell me, Lord, can I submit to this one whom Thou hast honoured above me? If Thou wilt grant me respite till the Day of Judgment, I will most surely reduce his posterity to subjection except a few.

Verse 63

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