Fortress of the Muslim
Fortress of the Muslim
حصن المسلم
Praise be to Allah, who brought us to life after causing us to die, and to Him is the return.
There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. To Him belongs the dominion and all praise, and He has power over all things. Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the greatest. There is no might or power except through Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent. My Lord, forgive me.
Translation notes
وَلا حَولَ وَلا قوّة إلاّ باللّهِ العليّ العظيم،
The English witness renders إلا بالله as ‘except by Allah's leave,’ while the Arabic wording is literally ‘except through/by Allah’; the witness may be using an idiomatic interpretation.
Should the conventional witness wording be retained in a reviewed edition, or should a closer rendering be preferred?
Praise be to Allah who granted me well-being in my body, returned my soul to me, and granted me leave to remember Him.
Translation notes
عافاني في جَسَدي
The English witness says ‘gave strength to my body,’ while عافاني more directly expresses being granted well-being or soundness.
Should the witness’s ‘gave strength’ be treated as an acceptable contextual rendering, or should a closer lexical rendering be preferred?
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and day are signs for people of understanding. (190)
Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth [say], ‘Our Lord, You did not create this in vain. Glory be to You, so protect us from the punishment of the Fire.’ (191)
Our Lord, surely whoever You admit to the Fire, You have disgraced him, and the wrongdoers will have no helpers. (192)
Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins, erase our misdeeds, and cause us to die with the righteous. (193)
Our Lord, grant us what You promised us through Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Surely You do not fail in Your promise. (194)
Then their Lord responded to them: ‘I will not let the work of any worker among you go to waste, male or female—you are of one another. So those who emigrated, were driven from their homes, were harmed in My cause, fought, and were killed—I will surely remove their misdeeds from them and admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, as a reward from Allah; and with Allah is the finest reward.’ (195)
Let not the movement of those who disbelieve through the lands deceive you. (196)
A brief enjoyment; then their abode is Hell, and what an evil resting place. (197)
But those who are mindful of their Lord will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein, as hospitality from Allah. What is with Allah is best for the righteous. (198)
Among the People of the Book there are certainly some who believe in Allah and what was sent down to you and what was sent down to them, humbling themselves before Allah. They do not sell Allah’s signs for a paltry price. Those will have their reward with their Lord. Indeed, Allah is swift in reckoning. (199)
O you who believe, be patient, outdo others in patience, remain steadfast at the frontier, and be mindful of Allah, so that you may succeed. (200)
Translation notes
وَقَاتَلُواْ وَقُتِلُواْ
The English witness renders the passive ‘were killed’ as ‘were martyred,’ which adds a religious evaluation not stated by the Arabic verb itself.
Should the witness’s interpretive ‘martyred’ be retained in any reviewed rendering, or should the direct wording be used?
بَعْضُكُم مِّن بَعْضٍ
The witness adds ‘Both are equal in reward’; that clause is not present in this Arabic passage.
Can the added explanatory clause be substantiated from a source outside this unit, or should it remain excluded from a translation of this Arabic text?
Praise be to Allah who clothed me with this garment and provided it for me without any power or strength of my own.
O Allah, to You belongs all praise. You have clothed me with it. I ask You for its good and for the good of what it was made for, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and from the evil of what it was made for.
May you wear it out, and may Allah Most High replace it.
Translation notes
تُبْـلي وَيُـخْلِفُ اللهُ تَعَالى
The witness supplies ‘when it is worn out’ as an explicit temporal clause; the Arabic instead says ‘you wear it out, and Allah replaces [it].’
Is the witness’s temporal wording an acceptable implicit interpretation, or should the direct wording be retained?
In the name of Allah. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from evil and the evil ones.
Translation notes
مِـنَ الْخُـبْثِ وَالْخَبائِث
The witness supplies an alternative interpretation, ‘the evil male and female jinn,’ for the Arabic terms; the short Arabic wording does not itself spell out that identification.
Should this wording be understood generically as evil and evil ones, or specifically as male and female jinn?
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
Translation notes
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاّ اللهُ
The witness renders لا إله إلا الله as ‘none has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ adding an interpretive phrase not stated explicitly in the Arabic wording.
Should this interpretive gloss be retained in a reviewed translation, or should the closer wording be used?
O Allah, make me one of those who repent to You,
and make me one of those who purify themselves.
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.
Translation notes
أَشْهَـدُ أَنْ لا إِلهَ إِلاّ أَنْتَ
The witness supplies ‘worthy of worship,’ an interpretive gloss not explicit in the Arabic phrase.
Should the worship qualification be retained as an interpretive gloss, or should the closer wording be used?
In the name of Allah, I place my trust in Allah. There is no might or power except through Allah.
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from going astray or being led astray, from slipping or being made to slip, from wronging or being wronged, and from acting foolishly or having foolishness committed against me.
Translation notes
أَنْ أَضِـلَّ أَوْ أُضَـل ، أَوْ أَزِلَّ أَوْ أُزَل ،
The witness specifies ‘others’ as the agents or recipients in these paired active and passive clauses, while the Arabic does not state those objects explicitly.
Are the explicit ‘others’ relations warranted by context for each pair, or should the translation preserve the Arabic’s unexpressed agents?
In the name of Allah we have entered, in the name of Allah we have gone out, and in our Lord we have placed our trust.
(Then let him greet his household.)
O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my tongue, light in my hearing, and light in my sight; light above me and light beneath me; light to my right and light to my left; light before me and light behind me. Place light in my soul. Make my light great, and magnify my light. Place light for me, and make me light. O Allah, grant me light. Place light in my sinews, my flesh, my blood, my hair, and my skin.
(O Allah, place light for me in my grave and light in my bones.)
(Increase me in light; increase me in light; increase me in light.)
(Grant me light upon light.)
I seek refuge in Allah, the Almighty, by His Noble Face and His eternal authority, from Satan, the accursed.
[In the name of Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.]
O Allah, open for me the gates of Your mercy.
Translation notes
وَسُلْطـانِه القَديـم
The witness renders السلطان القديم as ‘primordial power’; the phrase can be read more literally as His ancient or eternal authority/dominion.
Which contextual sense of سلطان is intended here, and should the witness’s ‘primordial power’ be retained?