The Quran

Preface

هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذي لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا هُوَ المَلِكُ القُدّوسُ السَّلامُ المُؤمِنُ المُهَيمِنُ العَزيزُ الجَبّارُ المُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبحانَ اللَّهِ عَمّا يُشرِكونَ

Yusuf Ali

God is He, than Whom there is no other god;-¹ the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety,² the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme:³ Glory to God. (High is He) above the partners⁴ they attribute to Him.

This phrase is repeated from the last verse in order to lead us to the contemplation of some other attributes of God, after we have realised those which form our fundamental conceptions of God. See the preceding and the following note.
How can a translator reproduce the sublimity and the comprehensiveness of the magnificent Arabic words, which mean so much in a single symbol? (1) “The Sovereign” in our human language implies the one undisputed authority which is entitled to give commands and to receive obedience, and which in fact receives obedience; the power which enforces law and justice. (2) Human authority may be misused, but in the tide “die Holy One”, we postulate a Being free from all stain or evil, and replete with the highest Purity. (3) “Salam” has not only the idea of Peace as opposed to Conflict, but wholeness as opposed to defects: hence our paraphrase “Source of Peace and Perfection”. (4) Mu'min, one who entertains Faith, who gives Faith to others, who is never false to the Faith that others place in him; hence our paraphrase “Guardian of Faith”. (5) “Preserver of Safety”: guarding all from danger, corruption, loss, etc.: the word is used for the Qur-ān in 5:48. These are the attributes of kindness and benevolence: in the next note are described the attributes of power.
See last note. (6) God is not only good, but He can carry out His Will. (7) And if anything resists or opposes Him, His Will prevails. (8) For He is Supreme, above all tilings and creatures. Thus we come back to tile Unity with which we began in verse 22.
Such being God’s attributes of Goodness and Power, how foolish is it of men to worship anything else but Him? Who can approach His glory and goodness?