The Quran

253

Preface

۞ تِلكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلنا بَعضَهُم عَلىٰ بَعضٍ ۘ مِنهُم مَن كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَرَفَعَ بَعضَهُم دَرَجاتٍ ۚ وَآتَينا عيسَى ابنَ مَريَمَ البَيِّناتِ وَأَيَّدناهُ بِروحِ القُدُسِ ۗ وَلَو شاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقتَتَلَ الَّذينَ مِن بَعدِهِم مِن بَعدِ ما جاءَتهُمُ البَيِّناتُ وَلٰكِنِ اختَلَفوا فَمِنهُم مَن آمَنَ وَمِنهُم مَن كَفَرَ ۚ وَلَو شاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقتَتَلوا وَلٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفعَلُ ما يُريدُ

Yusuf Ali

Those messengers We endowed with gifts, some above others¹: To one of them God spoke²; others He raised to degrees (of honour)³; to Jesus the son of Mary We gave clear (Signs)⁴, and strengthened him with the holy spirit292-A. If God had so willed, succeeding generations would not have fought among each other, after clear (Signs) had come to them, but they (chose) to wrangle, some believing and others rejecting. If God had so willed, they would not have fought each other; but God Fulfilleth His plan⁵.

Different gifts and different modes of procedure are prescribed to God’s Messengers in different ages, and perhaps their degrees are different though it is not for mortals, with our imperfect knowledge, to make any difference between one and another of God’s Messengers (2:136). As this winds up the argument about fighting, three illustrations are given from the past, how it affected God’s Messengers. To Moses God spoke directly: he led his men for forty years through the wilderness, mainly fighting against the unbelief of his own people; he organised them to fight with the sword for Palestine, but was raised to God’s mercy before his enterprise ripened, and it fell to Joshua to carry out his plan. David, though a mere shepherd boy, was chosen by God. He overthrew the greatest warrior of his time, became a king, and waged successful wars, being also a prophet, a poet, and musician. Jesus was “strengthened with the Holy Spirit”: he was given no weapons to fight, and his mission was of a more limited character. In Muḥammad’s mission these and other characters were combined. Gentler than Jesus, he organised on a vaster scale than Moses, and from Medīna he ruled and gave laws, and the Qur-ān has a vaster scope than the Psalms of David. (Cf. 2:285).
Moses: see note above.
There is a two-fold sense: they were raised to high posts of honour, and they rose by degrees. I take the reference to be to David.
Cf. 2:87. See n. 401 to 3:62
If some power of choice was to be given to man, his selfishness inevitably caused divisions. It must not be supposed that it frustrates God’s Plan. He carries it out as He will.