(Translation history and the meaning of islam as submission)
Thus, for example, in Dawood’s translation: ‘He that chooses a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted of him and in the world to come, he will be one of the lost’ (3: 85),19 it has to be borne in mind that the word islam in the Arabic of the Qur’an means complete devotion/submission to God, unmixed with worship of any other.
The next translator of the Qur’an into English, E. H. Palmer (1840–82), is claimed to be the first who had direct and long-lasting contact with Arabs and sought, in style, to retain some of the ‘rude, fierce eloquence’ of the Qur’an but without becoming ‘too rude or familiar’. His translation appeared in 1880. He was the first to reflect, in his footnotes, some real respect for the text and the Prophet of Islam.
‘God caused His tranquillity to descend upon him and sent to his aid invisible warriors so that he routed the unbelievers and exalted the Word of God.’
and taqwa is commonly translated as ‘fear of God’, but the true meaning is closer to the concept of ‘being mindful of God’.
(Divine guidance, testing, and the invitation to mindfulness)
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy 1Alif Lam Mima
God is fully aware of the evildoers. 96[Prophet], you are sure to find them clinging to life more eagerly than any other people, even the polytheists. Any of them would wish to be given a life of a thousand years, though even such a long life would not save them from the torment: God sees everything they do.
Babylon to the two angels Harut and Marut. Yet these two never taught anyone without first warning him, ‘We are sent only to tempt—do not disbelieve.’ From these two, they learned what can cause discord between man and wife, although they harm no one with it except by God’s leave.
154Do not say that those who are killed in God’s cause are dead; they are alive, though you do not realize it. 155We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives, and crops. But [Prophet], give good news to those who are steadfast, 156those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return.’ 157These will be given blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.
Anyone who does good of his own accord will be rewarded, for God rewards good deeds, and knows everything.
169He always commands you to do what is evil and indecent, and to say things about God that you do not really know.a 170But when it is said to them, ‘Follow the message that God has sent down,’ they answer, ‘We follow the ways of our fathers.’ What! Even though their fathers understood nothing and were not guided?
(The ethics of action, sacrifice, and following God’s cause)
God wants ease for you, not hardship. He wants you to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him for having guided you, so that you may be thankful.
195Spend in God’s cause: do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands,c but do good, for God loves those who do good.
207But there is also a kind of man who gives his life away to please God, and God is most compassionate to His servants.
216Fighting is ordained for you, though you dislike it. You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows and you do not.’
God knows those who spoil things and those who improve them. Had He so willed, He could have made you vulnerable too: He is almighty and wise.’