Texts of Islam

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 25. al-Furqan: The Criterion

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This is Surah Al-Furqan (Chapter 25, "The Criterion") from the Qur'an, presented in M.M. Pickthall's English translation — a landmark 1930 rendering notable for being among the first by a native English-speaking Muslim. The surah addresses the Prophet Muhammad directly, defending the authenticity of the Qur'anic revelation against the objections of Meccan disbelievers who dismissed it as plagiarized fables and mocked Muhammad for being an ordinary human rather than an angel or miracle-worker. It argues God's sovereignty through signs in nature — the alternation of night and day, rain giving life to dead land, the separation of salt and fresh water — and counters critics by citing the fates of past peoples (Noah's generation, the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud) who rejected earlier prophets and were destroyed. A distinctive rhetorical feature is its closing portrait of the "slaves of the Beneficent": a morally detailed list of virtues — humility, night prayer, balanced spending, avoidance of idolatry and adultery, and composure under provocation — framing righteous conduct as the practical answer to the theological disputes raised earlier. The surah thus moves from polemic and eschatology to an affirmative ethics, making it of interest both to readers studying Qur'anic argumentation and those interested in the Qur'an's vision of the devout life.

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 25. al-Furqan: The Criterion

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