Quran Verses Translated From Arabic To English For Islamic Religion

I remember the first time I read the entire Quran. When I was eleven

years old, during the month of Ramadan, my mother offered me

twenty

dollars if I finished the entire Quran. Well, needless to say, I

jumped all

over that offer.

Looking back, I know I did not understand much of what I was

reading. I

really don’t even remember what I was thinking while I

was reading the

book of Allah translated into English.

However, there is one part of th

e Arabic to English translation

that I

read back then that still

sticks out. The only reason these verses

stand out in my mind is

because I distinctly remember reading them

and being totally

confused.

These verses were from Suratul Baqarah (The Chapter of the Cow),

16-

20. The translation of these verses is as follows:

These are they who have purchased error for guidance, so

their

commerce was profitless. And they were not guided.

Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire;

then,

when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their

light and left

them in darkness, (So) they could not see.

They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the

right

path). Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is

darkness,

thunder, and lightning. They thrust their fingers in

their ears to

keep out the stunning thunderclap for fear of

death.

But Allah ever encompasses the disbelievers (i.e. Allah will

gather them all together). The lightning almost snatches

away

their sight, whenever it flashes for them, they walk

therein, and

when darkness covers them, they stand still.

And if Allah willed, He could have taken away their hearing

and

their sight. Certainly, Allah has power over all things.

You can just imagine my little eleven year old mind swirling around

after

reading these passages. And for years, I did not fully

understand these

verses. Even though I’ve taken

religion and

spirituality

classes, I never got a

good understanding of what Allah

meant in these verses.

Until I finally read Ibn Kathir’s

explanation

of the Quran. According

to Ibn

Kathir’s

book

, Allah, may He be praised and glorified, is

describing

two types of hypocrites in these verses. And in both

examples, the

similitude of light is used.

The term ‘light’, when used in the Quran can mean faith. This can

seen in many other verses in the Quran, such as where Allah

says in

Suratul Hadid, verse 9, what translates as:

It is He who sends down manifest signs to His slave

(Muhammad) that He may bring you out from darkness into

light.

And verily, Allah is to you full of kindness, Most Merciful.

In the above verse, Allah is speaking of bringing the believers out of

Kufr, disbelief, and into Faith, where darkness represents disbelief,

and

light represents faith.

A similar parable is given in Suratul Saff, verse 8, when speaking of

how some from the Children of Israel tried to destroy Islam by

speaking

badly about Prophet Muhammad and calling him a

sorcerer.

They intend to extinguish the Light of Allah with their

mouths.

But Allah will bring His Light to perfection, even

though the

disdisbelievers hate it.

Once again, in this verse, the term “Light of Allah” refers to the

religion

of Islam, faith, the Quran, and Allah’s guidance. And using

these two

verses as references, we can better understand the

meaning of the

verses in Suratul Baqarah.

So let’s take the verse where Allah says what translates as:

“Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire;

then,

when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their

light and left

them in darkness, (So) they could not see. They

are deaf, dumb,

and blind, so they return not (to the right

path).

”

This verse alludes to the man who accepts

the

Islam

ic religion

, and

has belief. But

later, that man rejects Islam, rejects the light, and

accepts darkness or

disbelief instead.

This kind of hypocrite is the kind that at one time believed, but later

accepted another religion and disbelieved.

So this hypocrite had the light at one point, but Allah completely took

away his light, leaving him in complete darkness. He believed, and

then he disbelieved.

This first type of hypocrite is easy to recognize, and we should all

pray

that Allah, may He be praised and glorified, keeps us on the

straight

path and allows us to die as Believers.

However, the second type of hypocrisy explained by these verses in

Suratul Baqarah is a little scary. That is because it can be very

difficult

to catch this form of hypocrisy creeping into our hearts.

Allah describes this hypocrisy in what translates as:

“

Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness,

thunder,

and lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears

to keep out

the stunning thunderclap for fear of death.

But Allah ever encompasses the disbelievers (i.e. Allah will

gather them all together). The lightning almost snatches

away

their sight, whenever it flashes for them, they walk

therein, and

when darkness covers them, they stand still.

And if Allah willed, He could have taken away their hearing

and

their sight. Certainly, Allah has power over all things.

”

This type of hypocrisy is for the one with doubts about his religion.

They

are wandering in the dark storm of doubt. When they are full of

doubt

and confusion, they are wandering in darkness.

But every now and then, they see a flash of truth, like the lightning in

thunderstorm, and receive a bit of guidance.

They recognize some of the truths of

he Muslim religion

, but for the

most part, they

are so full of doubts and their faith is so weak, that if

the slightest

misfortune falls on them, they will probably completely

reject Islam.

Let’s beware of both types of hypocrisy and constantly repent to

Allah

and seek His forgiveness. Let’s pray that Allah removes all

doubts from

our hearts, and guides us to the straight path.

The Shaytan (Satan) is rigorously trying to pull us into darkness,

hence

we must be even more rigorous about staying in the light.

And in case you were curious, the Quran as it is today is accepted

by both Sunni and Shia Muslims.

If you have received any benefit from this

or any of the other Islamic

articles on this site

, all the praise is due to

Allah. And any errors are

all my fault, and I ask Allah for His forgiveness

for anything incorrect

that I may have written.

As a reminder, study the Quran.