Translation:
Enjoin prayer on your people, and be constant therein. We ask you not to provide 2657 sustenance: We provide it for you. But the (fruit of) the Hereafter is for righteousness.
Enjoin prayer on your people, and be constant therein. We ask you not to provide 2657 sustenance: We provide it for you. But the (fruit of) the Hereafter is for righteousness.
Translation:
And bid thy people to pray, and persevere therein. [But remember:] We do not ask thee to provide sustenance [for Us]: 117 it is We who provide sustenance for thee. And the future belongs to the God-conscious. 118
And bid thy people to pray, and persevere therein. [But remember:] We do not ask thee to provide sustenance [for Us]: 117 it is We who provide sustenance for thee. And the future belongs to the God-conscious. 118
Commentary:
117 My interpolation of the words "for Us" is based on Razi's interpretation of the above sentence: "God makes it clear that He has enjoined this [i.e., prayer] upon men for their own benefit alone, inasmuch as He Himself is sublimely exalted above any [need of] benefits." In other words, prayer must not be conceived as a kind of tribute to a "jealous God"-as the Old Testament, in its present corrupted form, frequently describes Him-but solely as a spiritual benefit for the person who prays.
118 Lit., "to God-consciousness".
117 My interpolation of the words "for Us" is based on Razi's interpretation of the above sentence: "God makes it clear that He has enjoined this [i.e., prayer] upon men for their own benefit alone, inasmuch as He Himself is sublimely exalted above any [need of] benefits." In other words, prayer must not be conceived as a kind of tribute to a "jealous God"-as the Old Testament, in its present corrupted form, frequently describes Him-but solely as a spiritual benefit for the person who prays.
118 Lit., "to God-consciousness".
2657 Sustenance, in the sense of the ordinary needs of life, the man of Allah does not worry about. That is provided by Allah for all, the just and the unjust. But the special provision, the real Sustenance, the spiritual fruit, is for a righteous life in the service of Allah.