°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸ **Articlle on the Meaning of 4:69 ** °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸
Here is the original Arabic verse:
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Changez_lik, now some of the most authentic English translations of the verse compared to yours:
M. Pickthal: Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they!
A. J. Arberry: Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger - they are with those whom God has blessed. Prophets, just men, martyrs, the righteous; good companions they!
Shakir: And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they!
Daryabadi: And whosoever obeyeth Allah and the apostle, then those shall be with them whom Allah hath blessed – from among the prophets, the saints, the martyrs, and the righteous. Excellent are these as a company!
E. H. Palmer: Whoso obeys God and the Apostle, these are with those God has been pleased with, of prophets and confessors and martyrs and the righteous;- a fair company are they.
Sher Ali: And whoso obeys Allah and this Messenger shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed HIS blessings - the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous. And an excellent company are they.
Ayub Khan: And whoso obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs and the Righteous; and excellent companions are they!
M. Asad: For, all who pay heed unto God and the Apostle shall be among those upon whom God has bestowed His blessings: the prophets, and those who never deviated from the truth, and those who [with their lives] bore witness to the truth, and the righteous ones: and how goodly a company are these!
Qaribulla: Whosoever obeys Allah, and the Messenger, they are with those whom Allah has favored, the Prophets, the sincere, the martyrs and the righteous, and these are the best company.
You have either got your translation from Yousaf Ali, or from Khan & Hilali. Both of these translations are not literal. Yousuf Ali has called his translation ‘Approximate’, whereas Khan & Hilali call their work a Rough Translation. Therefore, these translators have not retained the original wording of the Koran in their translations. Instead, they have chosen the words that describe their personal opinion on the meanings of the verses. Despite the fact that an overwhelming number of translators have not agreed to their words, and in order to clear your further doubts as to how the part of the verse under discussion should be translated, let me explain this verse further.
-== The Translation of ﻊﻣ==-
The original words that occur in the verse are ** ﻢﻬﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻢﻌﻧﺍ ﻦﻳﺬﻟﺍ ﻊﻣ**.
ooO** Making Your Case **Ooo
Those who deny that this verse promises the followers of prophet Mohammad the blessing of prophethood insist that the meaning of ﻊﻣ is ‘in the company of’, whereas the word used for ‘among’ is ﻦﻤ. Thus this verse specifies that the followers of prophet Mohammad will be in the company of such people and will not be able to be among them. For this purpose they present some verses of the Koran where the word ﻊﻣ has been meant to signify the company.
For example, it has been said in the Koran, ** ﻦﻴﻨﻣﻮﻤﻟﺍ ﻊﻣ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻥﺎ ** i.e. God is with the believers. Certainly we can not translate this as God is among the believers and one of them. Similarly, there is another verse ﻦﻳﺮﺑﺎﺼﻟﺍ ﻊﻣ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻥﺎ. In the light of these verses, they conclude that we can not translate ﻊﻣ as ﻦﻤ and therefore the verse under discussion can not be translated to mean the followers of prophet Mohammad may be among the prophets.
ooO** Decisive Ruling **Ooo
One way I could defend my point would have been, to quote some verses from the Koran where ﻊﻣ means ‘among’. The discussion will then carry on indefinitely. Therefore, I think it will be more appropriate if I quote for you, a decisive and authentic ruling on the meaning of the word ﻊﻣ by a religious scholar whose knowledge and authority on the lexicon and the Koran is recognized and accepted.
Imam Raghib was an Islamic scholar who wrote the book ** ﻥﺍﺮﻘﻟﺍ ﺐﻳﺮﻏ ﻲﻓ ﺕﺍﺩﺮﻔﻤﻟﺎ **. This book is considered beyond any doubt, the most authentic dictionary of the Koran ever compiled in the history of Islam. If you look up the meaning of ﻊﻣ in this dictionary, (Page 486) Imam Raghib has explained:
** ﻲﻓ ﻭﺍ ﺭﺍﺪﻟﺍ ﻲﻓ ﺎﻌﻣ ﺎﻤﻫ ﻮﺤﻧ ﻥﺎﮑﻤﻟﺍ ﻲﻓ ﺎﻣﺍ ﻉﺎﻤﺘﺟﺎﻟﺍ ﻲﻀﺘﻘﻳ ﻊﻤ
ﺎﺧ ﺍﺭﺎﺻ ﺎﻤﻫﺪﺣﺍ ﻥﺎﻓ ﺏﺎﻟﺍﻭ ﺥﺎﻟﺍ ﻮﺤﻧ ﻦﻴﻔﻳ ﺎﻀﺘﻤﻟ ﺎﮐ ﻲﻨﻌﻤﻟﺍ
ﻮﺤﻧ ﻪﺒﺗﺮﻟﺍ ﻭ ﻑﺮﺸﻟﺍ ﻲﻓﺎﻣ ﺍﻭ ﻩﺎﺧﺍ ﺮﺧﺎﻟ ﺍﺭﺎﺻ ﺎﻣ ﻝﺎﺣ ﻲﻓ ﺮﺧﺎﻠﻟ
ﻮﻠﻌﻟﺍ ﻲﻓ ﺎﻤﻫ **
i.e. The word Ma’ requires union, and this union can be through four ways:
- Both coexist at a place (Makaan)
- Both coexist at a time (Zamaan)
- Both coexist in a meaning (Ma’naa)
- Both coexist in position (Rutbah & honor (Sharf)
Now, let us compare these meanings with the verse under discussion. It is obvious that only meaning that you can choose for this verse is the fourth one, otherwise you can not justify how the righteous of this time coexisted with the righteous that had died before them. We must take the verse to mean that the followers of Allah and prophet Mohammad will rise to the position of prophethood and the other blessings.
This meaning of the word ﻊﻣ is in accordance with many other verses of the Koran. It has been said in the Koran ** ﺭﺍﺮﺑﺎﻟﺍ ﻊﻣ ﺎﻨﻓﻮﺗ ﻭ ** (3:193) The only way you can translate this is, to mean give me death while I’m among the righteous, and one of them. You can not translate this to mean, that as soon as some righteous person dies, make me die as well. So, I agree that there are various meanings of the word ﻊﻣ, but in this verse we must translate to mean ‘among’.
ooO A Problem Ooo
Let me now point out a little problem with your opinion. If you translate the above verse to say that the followers of prophet Mohammad will only be in the company of Prophets and will never be able to be among them, then according to this translation, the verse will also imply that the followers of prophet Mohammad can not be ** ﻖﻳﺪﺻ , ** ﺪﻴﻬﺷ, or ** ﺢﻟﺎﺻ ** either, and can only be among them. Is this an acceptable meaning of the verse?
.. bhai mere we need to be face to face to battle this one out.. seriously … there is a communication gap.