Sura 29:
The Spider ( Al-'Ankaboot)
Number of verses: 69
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
1. A. L. M. (Alif Laam Meem)*
The Test is Mandatory
2. Do the people think that
they will be left to say, “We believe,” without being
put to the test?
3. We have tested those before
them, for GOD must distinguish those who are
truthful, and He must expose the liars.
4. Do those who commit sins think that they can ever fool us? Wrong indeed is their judgment.
5. Anyone hoping to meet GOD, (should know that) such a meeting with GOD will most assuredly come to pass. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.
6. Those who strive, strive
for their own good. GOD is in no need of
anyone.
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*29:1 See Appendix 1 for the
details of the Quran's mathematical composition and the meaning
of these previously mysterious Quranic Initials.
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7. Those who believe and lead a righteous life, we will certainly remit their sins, and will certainly reward them generously for their righteous works.
You Shall Honor Your Parents
8. We enjoined the human being
to honor his parents. But if they try to force you to set up
idols beside Me, do not obey them. To Me is your ultimate return,
then I will inform you of everything you had done.
9. Those who believe and lead a righteous life, we will certainly admit them with the righteous.
Fair Weather Friends
10. Among the people there are
those who say, “We believe in GOD,”
but as soon as they suffer any hardship because of GOD,
they equate people's persecution with GOD's
retribution. But if blessings from your Lord come your way, they
say, “We were with you.” Is GOD
not fully aware of the people's innermost thoughts?
11. GOD will most certainly distinguish those who believe, and He will most certainly expose the hypocrites.
12. Those who disbelieved said to those who believed, “If you follow our way, we will be responsible for your sins.” Not true; they cannot bear any of their sins. They are liars.
13. In fact, they will carry their own sins, in addition to loads of other people's sins for which they were responsible. Most certainly, they will be asked on the Day of Resurrection about their false claims.
Noah
14. We sent Noah to his people,
and he stayed with them one thousand years, less fifty*.
Subsequently, they incurred the flood because of their
transgressions.
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*29:14 Since the Quran's miracle
is mathematical, the numbers especially play an important
role in it. Thus, the thirty numbers mentioned in the Quran add
up to 162146, or 19 x 8534 (see Appendix 1 for the details).
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15. We saved him and those who accompanied him in the ark, and we set it up as a lesson for all the people.
Abraham
16. Abraham said to his people,
“You shall worship GOD, and reverence
Him. This is better for you, if you only knew.
17. “What you worship
instead of GOD are powerless idols; you have
invented a lie.”
God: The Only Source of
Provisions
The idols you worship beside GOD
do not possess any provisions for you. Therefore, you shall seek
provisions only from GOD. You shall worship
Him alone, and be appreciative of Him; to Him is your ultimate
return.
18. If you disbelieve, generations before you have also disbelieved. The sole function of the messenger is to deliver (the message).
Study the Origin of Life*
19. Have they not seen how GOD
initiates the creation, then repeats it? This is easy for GOD
to do.
20. Say, “Roam the earth
and find out the origin of life.” For GOD
will thus initiate the creation in the Hereafter. GOD
is Omnipotent.
21. He condemns to retribution whomever He wills, and showers His mercy upon whomever He wills. Ultimately, to Him you will be turned over.
22. None of you can escape from these facts, on earth or in the heaven, and you have none beside GOD as a Lord and Master.
23. Those who disbelieve in GOD's
revelations, and in meeting Him, have despaired from His mercy.
They have incurred a painful retribution.
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*29:19-20 We learn from the Quran
that evolution is a divinely guided process. See Appendix 31 for
the details.
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Back to Abraham
24. The only response from his
people was their saying, “Kill him, or burn him.” But GOD
saved him from the fire. This should provide lessons for people
who believe.
Social Pressure: A Profound
Disaster
25. He said, “You worship
beside GOD powerless idols due to peer
pressure, just to preserve some friendship among you in this
worldly life. But then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will
disown one another, and curse one another. Your destiny is Hell,
wherein you cannot help one another.”
26. Lot believed with him and said, “I am emigrating to my Lord. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise.”
27. We granted him (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, we assigned to his descendants prophethood and the scriptures, we endowed him with his due recompense in this life, and in the Hereafter he will surely be with the righteous.
Lot
28. Lot said to his people,
“You commit such an abomination, no one in the world has
ever done it before you.
29. “You practice sex with the men, you commit highway robbery, and you allow all kinds of vice in your society.” The only response from his people was to say, “Bring to us GOD's retribution, if you are truthful.”
30. He said, “My Lord,
grant me victory over these wicked people.”
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Angels Visit Abraham and Lot
31. When our messengers went to
Abraham with good news (about Isaac's birth), they also said,
“We are on our way to annihilate the people of that town
(Sodom), for its people have been wicked.”
32. He said, “But Lot is living there.” They said, “We are fully aware of everyone who lives in it. We will of course save him and his family, except his wife; she is doomed.”
33. When our messengers arrived at Lot's place, they were mistreated, and he was embarrassed by their presence. But they said, “Have no fear, and do not worry. We will save you and your family, except your wife; she is doomed.
34. “We will pour upon the people of this town a disaster from the sky, as a consequence of their wickedness.”
35. We left standing some of their ruins, to serve as a profound lesson for people who understand.
Shu`aib
36. To Midyan we sent their
brother Shu`aib. He said, “O my people, you shall worship GOD
and seek the Last Day, and do not roam the earth
corruptingly.”
37. They disbelieved him and, consequently, the earthquake annihilated them; they were left dead in their homes by morning.
38. Similarly, 'Aad and
Thamoud (were annihilated). This is made manifest to you through
their ruins. The devil had adorned their works in their eyes, and
had diverted them from the path, even though they had eyes.
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God's Immutable System
39. Also Qaaroon, Pharaoh, and
Hamaan; Moses went to them with clear signs. But they continued
to commit tyranny on earth. Consequently, they could not evade
(the retribution).
40. All those disbelievers were doomed as a consequence of their sins. Some of them we annihilated by violent winds, some were annihilated by the quake, some we caused the earth to swallow, and some we drowned. GOD is not the One who wronged them; it is they who wronged their own souls.
The Spider
41. The allegory of those who
accept other masters beside GOD is that of
the spider and her home; the flimsiest of all homes is the home
of the spider, if they only knew.
42. GOD knows full well that whatever they worship beside Him are really nothing. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise.
43. We cite these examples for the people, and none appreciate them except the knowledgeable.
44. GOD created the heavens and the earth, truthfully. This provides a sufficient proof for the believers.
The Contact Prayers (Salat)
45. You shall recite what is
revealed to you of the scripture, and observe the Contact Prayers
(Salat), for the Contact Prayers prohibit evil and vice. But the
remembrance of GOD (through Salat) is the
most important objective. GOD knows
everything you do.
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*29:41-43 It takes a knowledgeable
person to know that the Black Widow spider kills her mate. The
use of the feminine reference to the spider in 29:41 is thus
significant. This is in addition to the fact that the spider web
is physically very flimsy.
*29:45 Your god is whatever
occupies your mind most of the time (see 20:14 & Appendix
27).
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One God/One Religion
46. Do not argue with the
people of the scripture (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) except in
the nicest possible manner - unless they transgress - and say,
“We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was
revealed to you, and our god and your god is One and the same; to
Him we are submitters.”
47. We have revealed to you this scripture, and those whom we blessed with the previous scripture will believe in it. Also, some of your people will believe in it. Indeed, those who disregard our revelations are the real disbelievers.
Quran: Muhammad's Miracle*
48. You did not read the
previous scriptures, nor did you write them with your hand. In
that case, the rejectors would have had reason to harbor doubts.
49. In fact, these revelations are clear in the chests of those who possess knowledge. Only the wicked will disregard our revelations.
50. They said, “If only miracles could come down to him from his Lord!” Say, “All miracles come only from GOD; I am no more than a manifest warner.”
51. Is it not enough of a miracle that we sent down to you this book, being recited to them? This is indeed a mercy and a reminder for people who believe.
52. Say, “GOD
suffices as a witness between me and you. He knows everything in
the heavens and the earth. Surely, those who believe in falsehood
and disbelieve in GOD are the real
losers.”
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*29:50-51 It was the will of the
Most Wise to separate the Quran from its awesome mathematical
miracle by 1400 years. Seeing how the Muslims en masse have
idolized Muhammad, it is obvious that if the Quran's mathematical
miracle were also revealed through Muhammad, many people would
have worshiped him as God incarnate. As it is, God willed that
the great miracle of the Quran (74:30-35) shall await the
computer age, and to have it revealed through His Messenger of
the Covenant (see Appendices 1, 2, & 26).
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They Are in Hell
53. They challenge you to bring
the retribution! If it were not for a predetermined appointment,
the retribution would have come to them immediately. Certainly,
it will come to them suddenly, when they least expect it.*
54. They challenge you to bring retribution! Hell already surrounds the disbelievers.
55. The day will come when the retribution overwhelms them, from above them and from beneath their feet; He will say, “Taste the consequences of your works.”
Immigrate in the Cause of
God
56. O My servants who believed,
My earth is spacious, so worship Me.
57. Everyone will taste death,
then to us you will be ultimately returned.
58. Those who believe and lead a righteous life, we will surely settle them in Paradise, with mansions and flowing streams. Eternally they abide therein. What a beautiful reward for the workers.
59. They are the ones who steadfastly persevere, and trust in their Lord.
60. Many a creature that does not carry its provision, GOD provides for it, as well as for you. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.
Most Believers Destined for
Hell
61. If you ask them, “Who
created the heavens and the earth, and put the sun and the moon
in your service,” they will say, “GOD.”
Why then did they deviate?
62. GOD is the One who increases the provision for whomever He chooses from among His creatures, and withholds it. GOD is fully aware of all things.
63. If you ask them,
“Who sends down from the sky water, to revive dead
land,” they will say, “GOD.”
Say, “Praise GOD.” Most of them do
not understand.
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*29:53 Anyone who dies before the
age of 40 goes to Heaven, and not everyone deserves this. People
sometimes lament the slowness of justice when a vicious criminal
is not executed promptly. God knows who deserves Heaven (see
46:15 and Appendix 32).
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Re-arrange Your Priorities
64. This worldly life is no
more than vanity and play, while the abode of the Hereafter is
the real life, if they only knew.
65. When they ride on a ship, they implore GOD, devoting their prayers to Him. But as soon as He saves them to the shore, they revert to idolatry.
66. Let them disbelieve in what we have given them, and let them enjoy temporarily; they will surely find out.
67. Have they not seen that we have established a Sacred Sanctuary that we made secure, while all around them the people are in constant danger? Would they still believe in falsehood, and reject GOD's blessings?
68. Who is more evil than one who fabricates lies and attributes them to GOD, or rejects the truth when it comes to him? Is Hell not a just retribution for the disbelievers?
69. As for
those who strive in our cause, we will surely guide them in our
paths. Most assuredly, GOD is with the
pious.
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