AL A’LA (The Most High)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Glorify the name of your guardian Lord most high,
2 Who has created and further, given order and proportion;
3 Who has ordained laws, and granted guidance;
4 And who brings out the pasture,
5 And then makes it swarthy stubble.
6 By degrees shall we teach you to declare it so you shall not forget,
7 Except as God wills: for he knows what is revealed and what is hidden.
8 And we will make easy for you the simple way.
9 Therefore give admonition in case the admonition profits.
10 The admonition will be received by those who fear,
11 But it will be avoided by those most unfortunate ones,
12 Who will enter the great fire,
13 In which they will then neither die nor live.
14 But those will prosper who purify themselves,
15 And glorify the Name of their guardian Lord in prayer.
16 No, you prefer the life of this world;
17 But the hereafter is better and more enduring.
18 And this is in the ancient scrolls,
19 The scrolls of Ibrahim and Musa.3
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
- the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎ - 87:19 Scrolls of Ibrahim and Musa, is probably a synonym for the Taurat. The Taurat was originally written on scrolls, and is ascribed to Prophet Musa. However, it also describes the family history of Prophet Ibrahim, and follows the story of his descendants right up to the time of Prophet Musa. See the Taurat, starting at Genesis 11:26. ↩︎