RationalWiki:Annotated Qur'an/The Creator

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Annotated Qur'an
Sura 35: The Creator
Word-by-word translation
Alternate translations and related tafsirs
Alternate translations
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Qur'an 35:1[edit]

Praise be to God, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Maker of the angels messengers with wings—double, triple, and quadruple. He adds to creation as He wills. God is Able to do all things.

Qur'an 35:1 Notes[edit]

Will this chapter, literally titled "The Creator", actually prove that this world even has a creator in the first place. Also, will it prove the existence of angels?

Qur'an 35:2[edit]

Whatever mercy God unfolds for the people, none can withhold it. And if He withholds it, none can release it thereafter. He is the Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom.

Qur'an 35:2 Notes[edit]

Why would the All-Merciful ever withhold mercy whatsoever?

Qur'an 35:3[edit]

O people! Remember God’s blessings upon you. Is there a creator other than God who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no god but He. So how are you misled?

Qur'an 35:3 Notes[edit]

How can we tell that God exists? How can we tell that a creator has to exist in the first place? Also, this same god asks how people are misled. Many other chapters in this book answer that by stating clearly that this god deliberately misleads them. Granted, several other chapters, and even some of those same chapters, claim that prideful, arrogant sinners mislead themselves, but who says that this book is actually perfected by an all-knowing creator god and without contradiction?

Qur'an 35:4[edit]

If they reject you, messengers before you were also rejected. To God all matters are returned.

Qur'an 35:4 Notes[edit]

Messengers were rejected in the past. The reason is largely that their messages were unconvincing.

Qur'an 35:5[edit]

O people! The promise of God is true; so let not the lowly life seduce you, and let not the Tempter tempt you away from God.

Qur'an 35:5 Notes[edit]

God uses this verse in a perfect book to claim that his word is true, which should not need repeating. This verse contains no evidence and adds nothing new.

Qur'an 35:6[edit]

Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his gang to be among the inmates of the Inferno.

Qur'an 35:6 Notes[edit]

God creates people just so he can destine them for this very same Inferno. God also created Satan knowing exactly what he will do at any and all times. God is the enemy and openly brags about it repeatedly in a sickeningly redundant book.

Qur'an 35:7[edit]

Those who disbelieve will suffer a harsh punishment, but those who believe and do righteous deeds will have forgiveness and a great reward.

Qur'an 35:7 Notes[edit]

They will suffer a harsh punishment that God prescribed for them because they disbelieved, and they only disbelieved because God sealed their hearts and made them blind to the truth.

Qur'an 35:8[edit]

What of him whose evil deed was made attractive to him, and so he regards it as good? God leads astray whomever He wills, and He guides whomever He wills. Therefore, do not waste yourself sorrowing over them. God knows exactly what they do.

Qur'an 35:8 Notes[edit]

Muhammed, this verse might just be for you. If the many atrocities committed and commanded by Muhammed are not evil, then I don't know what is.

Qur'an 35:9[edit]

God is He who sends the winds, which agitate clouds, which We drive to a dead land, and thereby revive the ground after it had died. Likewise is the Resurrection.

Qur'an 35:9 Notes[edit]

Winds can agitate clouds in a sense, so credit where credit is due. However, how do we know that any conscious being, let alone a specific god, is responsible for them. Also, how can land itself die and be revived. Muhammad must surely not have thought that the land in which life grows it itself alive and that it can die and revive periodically because of the wind. That would be ridiculous. Its inclusion in a message meant for every civilization after would be even more ridiculous. This can be viewed metaphorically, but it is worded literally.

Qur'an 35:10[edit]

Whoever desires honor—all honor belongs to God. To Him ascends speech that is pure, and He elevates righteous conduct. As for those who plot evil, a terrible punishment awaits them, and the planning of these will fail.

Qur'an 35:10 Notes[edit]

Muhammed, did you forget that your own god revealed this to you? Did those many massacres not count as evil? Did the captivity of slaves, including sex slaves and children, not count as evil? Did the order to kill infidels and homosexuals not seem the slightest bit evil to you?

Qur'an 35:11[edit]

God created you from dust, then from a small drop; then He made you pairs. No female conceives, or delivers, except with His knowledge. No living thing advances in years, or its life is shortened, except it be in a Record. That is surely easy for God.

Qur'an 35:11 Notes[edit]

Embryologists, among other biologists, have been missing this revelation from the start. Why did they not include that in their fancy science?

Qur'an 35:12[edit]

The two seas are not the same. One is fresh, sweet, good to drink, while the other is salty and bitter. Yet from each you eat tender meat, and extract jewelry which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through them, so that you may seek of His bounty, so that you may give thanks.

Qur'an 35:12 Notes[edit]

There are only two seas? Did you mean to say that there are two types of seas, those being saltwater and freshwater? Also, why should anyone believe that this one specific god is the one responsible for them?

Qur'an 35:13[edit]

He merges the night into the day, and He merges the day into the night; and He regulates the sun and the moon, each running for a stated term. Such is God, your Lord; His is the sovereignty. As for those you call upon besides Him, they do not possess a speck.

Qur'an 35:13 Notes[edit]

Cosmologists have missed this incredible (read: not credible) scientific miracle for a while.

Qur'an 35:14[edit]

If you pray to them, they cannot hear your prayer. And even if they heard, they would not answer you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will reject your partnership. None informs you like an Expert.

Qur'an 35:14 Notes[edit]

And yet, somehow, this god hears your prayers and answers? Why do his answers resemble cryptic signs that could have arisen with or without an all-powerful god?

Qur'an 35:15[edit]

O people! It is you who are the poor, in need of God; while God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.

Qur'an 35:15 Notes[edit]

God needs to be demonstrated to exist in order to receive praise.

Qur'an 35:16[edit]

If He wills, He can do away with you, and produce a new creation.

Qur'an 35:16 Notes[edit]

God, in this book, has willed that upon many people in truly horrifying ways.

Qur'an 35:17[edit]

And that would not be difficult for God.

Qur'an 35:17 Notes[edit]

I can imagine this god lacking any sort of conscience that would prevent him from committing such evil acts.

Qur'an 35:18[edit]

No burdened soul can carry the burden of another. Even if one weighted down calls for help with its burden, nothing can be lifted from it, even if they were related. You are to warn those who fear their Lord inwardly, and perform the prayer. He who purifies himself purifies himself for his own good. To God is the ultimate return.

Qur'an 35:18 Notes[edit]

What even is a soul? Can that be demonstrated to exist? Also, this is more yapping about how only God can do anything and that humans are entirely powerless aside from this one specific god?

Qur'an 35:19[edit]

Not equal are the blind and the seeing.

Qur'an 35:19 Notes[edit]

God made people unequally based on eyesight, among other factors.

Qur'an 35:20[edit]

Nor are the darkness and the light.

Qur'an 35:20 Notes[edit]

Anybody who has the aforementioned eyesight can tell that. This is not miraculous enough to deserve to be its own verse.

Qur'an 35:21[edit]

Nor are the shade and the torrid heat.

Qur'an 35:21 Notes[edit]

The same annotation applies here.

Qur'an 35:22[edit]

Nor are equal the living and the dead. God causes whomever He wills to hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear.

Qur'an 35:22 Notes[edit]

To people who believe in literal necromancy, this might not seem as obvious, though the rest of us need solid evidence that a soul exists and persists after death in the first place.

Qur'an 35:23[edit]

You are only a warner.

Qur'an 35:23 Notes[edit]

That line has been repeated multiple times, including the times when Muhammed was a warlord.

Qur'an 35:24[edit]

We sent you with the truth; a bearer of good news, and a warner. There is no community but a warner has passed through it.

Qur'an 35:24 Notes[edit]

What constitutes a community? Without a clear answer, this is unfalsifiable but still ridiculous. Either way, this verse makes the previous verse useless, which should not happen in a book perfected by the all-knowing creator of the universe.

Qur'an 35:25[edit]

If they disbelieve you, those before them also disbelieved. Their messengers came to them with the clear proofs, with the Psalms, and with the Enlightening Scripture.

Qur'an 35:25 Notes[edit]

Can we see those clear proofs? Are those clear proofs listed anywhere in this book whatsoever? Islam teaches that previous scripture was accurate to God's message before people corrupted it, so is the truth of the original scriptures anywhere in these books?

Qur'an 35:26[edit]

Then I seized those who disbelieved—so how was My rejection?

Qur'an 35:26 Notes[edit]

God really loves to remind people about his frightening threats.

Qur'an 35:27[edit]

Have you not seen that God sends down water from the sky? With it We produce fruits of various colors. And in the mountains are streaks of white and red—varying in their hue—and pitch-black.

Qur'an 35:27 Notes[edit]

Prove that these entirely natural phenomena could only have come from this one specific deity.

Qur'an 35:28[edit]

Likewise, human beings, animals, and livestock come in various colors. From among His servants, the learned fear God. God is Almighty, Oft-Forgiving.

Qur'an 35:28 Notes[edit]

Human beings are animals, believe it or not. Livestock also refers almost exclusively to animals, and the same goes for the original Arabic. Either way, anybody with good eyesight can see this.

Qur'an 35:29[edit]

Those who recite the Book of God, and perform the prayer, and spend of what We have provided for them, secretly and publicly, expect a trade that will not fail.

Qur'an 35:29 Notes[edit]

Translation: "Stay in line and receive a reward!"

Qur'an 35:30[edit]

He will pay them their dues in full, and will increase them from His bounty. He is Forgiving and Appreciative.

Qur'an 35:30 Notes[edit]

He is only selectively forgiving and appreciative.

Qur'an 35:31[edit]

What We inspired in you, of the Book, is the truth, confirming what preceded it. God is Well-Informed of His servants, All-Seeing.

Qur'an 35:31 Notes[edit]

The author of a perfect book would not need to constantly assert that the book is perfectly truthful. The truth should be entirely evident to anyone reading it without this constant assertion, which just comes off as insecure and disingenuous with how often it appears in this book.

Qur'an 35:32[edit]

Then We passed the Book to those of Our servants whom We chose. Some of them wrong their souls, and some follow a middle course, and some are in the foremost in good deeds by God’s leave; that is the greatest blessing.

Qur'an 35:32 Notes[edit]

What of those who never receive the book in their lives?

Qur'an 35:33[edit]

The Gardens of Eden, which they will enter. They will be adorned therein with gold bracelets and pearls, and their garments therein will be of silk.

Qur'an 35:33 Notes[edit]

Luxurious rewards await those who worship!

Qur'an 35:34[edit]

And they will say, “Praise God, who has lifted all sorrow from us. Our Lord is Most Forgiving, Most Appreciative.

Qur'an 35:34 Notes[edit]

Most Forviging and yet refusing to forgive the vast majority of humanity

Qur'an 35:35[edit]

He Who settled us in the Home of Permanence, by His grace, where boredom will not touch us, and fatigue will not afflict us.”

Qur'an 35:35 Notes[edit]

I wonder how boredom will not touch us trillions upon quintillions upon googolplexes of millennia into our stay in heaven.

Qur'an 35:36[edit]

As for those who disbelieve, for them is the Fire of Hell, wherein they will never be finished off and die, nor will its punishment be lightened for them. Thus We will repay every ingrate.

Qur'an 35:36 Notes[edit]

Verse 35:34 is literally two (2) verses before this one. How could this being possibly be "Most Forgiving" in any way?

Qur'an 35:37[edit]

And they will scream therein, “Our Lord, let us out, and we will act righteously, differently from the way we used to act.” Did We not give you a life long enough, in which anyone who wanted to understand would have understood? And the warner did come to you. So taste. The evildoers will have no helper.

Qur'an 35:37 Notes[edit]

God admits to misguiding people and leading them astray all the time. Why should this be any different?

Qur'an 35:38[edit]

God is the Knower of the future of the heavens and the earth. He knows what the hearts contain.

Qur'an 35:38 Notes[edit]

The heart is not the thinking organ. That is the brain.

Qur'an 35:39[edit]

It is He who made you successors on earth. Whoever disbelieves, his disbelief will recoil upon him. The disbelief of the disbelievers adds only to their Lord's disfavor of them. The disbelief of the disbelievers adds only to their perdition.

Qur'an 35:39 Notes[edit]

Why does the lord who knows everything well in advance and chooses to go with it anyhow have any disfavor of any part of his creations?

Qur'an 35:40[edit]

Say, “Have you considered those partners of yours that you worship instead of God? Show me what they have created on earth. Or do they have any share in the heavens?” Or have We given them a book whose clear teachings they follow? In fact, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusions.

Qur'an 35:40 Notes[edit]

I have considered those who simply do not worship any gods at all. Also, even those believing in other gods can claim that those other gods created everything with just as much evidence as this one specific god revealing this one specific message. What evidence does this god have that he created anything and not them?

Qur'an 35:41[edit]

God holds the heavens and the earth, lest they fall apart. And were they to fall apart, there is none to hold them together except He. He is Most Clement, Most Forgiving.

Qur'an 35:41 Notes[edit]

The heavens cannot fall apart. They are not different layers on a firmament as some flat-earthers believe. Also, there he goes again calling himself the most Forgiving.

Qur'an 35:42[edit]

And they swore by God with their solemn oaths, that if a warner came to them, they would be more guided than any other people. Yet when a warner came to them, it only increased them in aversion.

Qur'an 35:42 Notes[edit]

The warner could at least provide sufficient evidence to not appear like a false prophet.

Qur'an 35:43[edit]

Priding themselves on earth, and scheming evil. But evil scheming overwhelms none but its authors. Do they expect anything but the precedent of the ancients? You will not find any change in God’s practice, and you will not find any substitute to God’s practice.

Qur'an 35:43 Notes[edit]

Can no good people in this world sincerely disbelieve? Must every disbeliever be evil for this religion to make any sense?

Qur'an 35:44[edit]

Have they not journeyed in the land and observed the fate of those who preceded them? They were superior to them in strength. But nothing can defeat God in the heavens or on Earth. He is indeed Omniscient and Omnipotent.

Qur'an 35:44 Notes[edit]

Many people have not journeyed the earth to see the specific ruins of the specific cities of those who preceded them. Even those who did that saw ruins without evidence that these ruins were the result of any of the tall tales in this storybook.

Qur'an 35:45[edit]

If God were to punish the people for what they have earned, He would not leave a single living creature on its surface. But He defers them until a stated time. Then, when their time has arrived—God is Observant of His creatures.

Qur'an 35:45 Notes[edit]

Nobody would deserve these horrific punishments if not for some might-makes-right dictator declaring what people do or don't deserve, and he literally created them exactly as they were to do exactly what was preordained for them.