37 Preface وَكَذٰلِكَ أَنزَلناهُ حُكمًا عَرَبِيًّا ۚ وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعتَ أَهواءَهُم بَعدَما جاءَكَ مِنَ العِلمِ ما لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلا واقٍYusuf AliThus have We revealed it to be a judgment of authority1 in Arabic. Wert thou to follow their (vain) desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither protector nor defender2 against God. The Qur-ān is in Arabic; therefore the Arabs, among whom it was promulgated, could have no difficulty in understanding its precepts and using it in the judging of right and wrong in all their affairs. But it is also universal; therefore no one should give preference to his own vain fancies against this authoritative declaration.Cf. 2:120. The variation is in the single word “Waq here in place of “Nasir? in 2:120. In each case the apt word is chosen not only for the rhythm in its own passage but for the general meaning in the argument.