The Quran

248

وَقالَ لَهُم نَبِيُّهُم إِنَّ آيَةَ مُلكِهِ أَن يَأتِيَكُمُ التّابوتُ فيهِ سَكينَةٌ مِن رَبِّكُم وَبَقِيَّةٌ مِمّا تَرَكَ آلُ موسىٰ وَآلُ هارونَ تَحمِلُهُ المَلائِكَةُ ۚ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَآيَةً لَكُم إِن كُنتُم مُؤمِنينَ

Muhammad Asad

And their prophet said unto them: "Behold, it shall be a sign of his [rightful] dominion that you will be granted a heart¹ endowed by your Sustainer with inner peace and with all that is enduring in the angel-borne heritage left behind by the House of Moses and the House of Aaron.² Herein, behold, there shall indeed be a sign for you if you are [truly] believers."

Lit., "that there will come to you the heart". The word tabut - here rendered as "heart" - has been conventionally interpreted as denoting the Ark of the Covenant mentioned in the Old Testament, which is said to have been a highly-ornamented chest or box. The explanations offered by most of the commentators who adopt the latter meaning are very contradictory, and seem to be based on Talmudic legends woven around that "ark". However, several authorities of the highest standing attribute to tabut the meaning of "bosom" or "heart" as well: thus, Baydawi in one of the alternatives offered in his commentary on this verse, as well as Zamakhshari in his Asas (though not in the Kashshaf ), Ibn al-Athir in the Nihdyah, Raghib, and Taj al-'Arus (the latter four in the article tabata ); see also Lane I, 321, and IV, 1394 (art. sakfnah). If we take this to be the meaning of tabut in the above context, it would be an allusion to the Israelites' coming change of heart (a change already indicated, in general terms, in verse 243 above). In view of the subsequent mention of the "inner peace" in the tabut, its rendering as "heart" is definitely more appropriate than "ark".
Lit., "and the remainder of that which the House (al) of Moses and the House of Aaron left behind. borne by the angels". The expression "borne by the angels" or "angel-borne" is an allusion to the God-inspired nature of the spiritual heritage left by those two prophets; while the "remainder" (baqiyyah) denotes that which is "lasting" or "enduring" in that heritage.