第一段经文触动了人们的心，它告诉人们关于他们自身的存在：他们都是从一个灵魂被造的，而它的配偶也是从它而被造的。

The first passage touched people’s hearts by telling them about their existence, how they are all created from a single soul and how its mate was also created from it.

它向他们讲述了动物是成对被创造的，以及人在母亲腹中的三重黑暗之中被创造的情形。它也提到了真主的手赋予了他们人类的特性，以及他们生长发育的能力。

It told them about the creation of animals in pairs, and how man is created in three depths of darkness inside the mother’s belly. It touched on how God’s hand gave them their human characteristics and their ability to grow and develop.

接着，这一章再次触动他们的心灵，向他们展示他们在困境与顺境中的状况。它展示了他们如何夸耀自己，以及在软弱之时如何在不同状态之间摇摆。只有当他们与真主保持联系并在祂面前谦卑时，他们才能保持始终如一。那时，他们就会认识真理，知道自己的道路。他们也将能够从自身的人性特质中获益。

Now the sūrah touches their hearts again as it shows them their conditions in times of hardship and times of ease. It shows them how they boast and how, in their weakness, they swing from one condition to another. They are consistent only when they maintain their bond with God and humble themselves before Him. They will then know the truth and know their way. They will also then be able to benefit from their human characteristics.

当人遭遇磨难时，他会向他的主呼求，转向祂寻求帮助；但一旦祂以恩典赐予他恩惠，他便忘记了先前所呼求和祈祷的事，并声称有他物与真主并列，从而使他人偏离祂的道路。你说：你暂且在你的不信中享受吧；你确是注定要进入火狱的人之一。（第8节）

When man suffers affliction, he cries out to his Lord, turning to Him for help; but once He bestows upon him a favour by His grace, he forgets what he cried and prayed for earlier, and claims that others are equal to God, thus leading others astray from His path. Say [to him]: Enjoy yourself a while in your disbelief; for you are one of those destined to the fire.’ (Verse 8)

当人遭受苦难时，人的本性便会赤裸地显现出来。面具被撕下，遮掩被揭开，幻想随之消散。此时，人的本性会唯独转向它的主，因为它知道只有祂才能消除苦难。它也会意识到，此前关于神有同伴的一切说法都是虚妄的。

Human nature appears naked when man suffers affliction. Masks are torn off, covers are removed and disillusionment disappears. At this point, human nature turns to its Lord alone knowing that only He can remove affliction. It realizes that all its claims about God having partners are false.

当苦难过去，人享受着真主丰厚的恩赐时，他又会用大量虚假的影响玷污自己的天性。他忘记了在遭受苦难时对真主的恳切祈求，如今选择无视自己对真主独一性的承认，也忘记了唯有祂才能消除他的困厄。他把这一切都抛诸脑后，开始宣称有others与真主平等。这些所谓的同等者，可能是人们像蒙昧时代初期那样崇拜的神明，也可能以价值观、人物或境遇的形式出现，人在自己的意识中赋予它们本应只属于真主的那一部分。我们在各处遇到的许多蒙昧时代的情形中都能看到这一点。因此，人可能崇拜自己的欲望、倾向、希望、恐惧、财富、子女、统治者和首领，其崇拜方式与崇拜真主相同，甚至更为虔诚。事实上，他对它们的爱可能超过对真主的爱。多神信仰有不同的形式，其中一些十分隐蔽。人们可能不会把这些视为多神信仰，因为它们并不采取承认多位神明的明显形式；然而，其本质仍是多神信仰。

When affliction is gone and man finds himself enjoying an abundance of God’s favours, he again burdens his nature with heaps of false influences. He forgets his earnest pleas to God during the time of his affliction, choosing now to overlook his acknowledgement of God’s oneness and that it is He alone who can relieve his hardship. He forgets all this and begins to claim that others are equal to God. These alleged equals may be deities man worships just like in the early days of jāhiliyyah, or they may be in the shape of values, persons, or situations to which he gives in his consciousness a share of what belongs exclusively to God. We see this in many of the jāhiliyyah situations we encounter everywhere. Thus man may worship his desires, inclinations, hopes, fears, wealth, children, rulers and chiefs in the same way as he worships God or even in greater devotion. In fact, he may love them more than he loves God. Polytheism can take different forms, some of which are subtle. People may not think of these as polytheism because they do not take the familiar form of acknowledging multiple deities; yet they are essentially polytheistic.

其结果便是偏离正道，远离真主的道路——这条道路只有一种形式，即承认祂的独一性，并且只将崇拜与爱献给祂一位。 Note: I used "真主" for "God" as the Chinese word, following the rule that "Allah" must not be written; however, per the rules, the word for God should be the Chinese word for God. Corrected version below. 其结果便是偏离正道，远离神的道路——这条道路只有一种形式，即承认祂的独一性，并且只将崇拜与爱献给祂一位。

The result is to go astray, moving away from God’s way which has one form, namely, acknowledging His oneness and addressing worship and love to Him alone.

该章随后向信士们发出号召，要求他们常怀敬畏之心，并确保时时行善。他们应当把今世短暂的生命，作为赢得来世永恒回报的途径：

The sūrah then addresses the believers, requiring them to remain God-fearing and to ensure that they always do good. They should use their life on earth, short as it is, as a means to earn everlasting reward in the life to come:

说：[如此说的是真主]信道的众仆啊！你们当敬畏你们的主！在今世行善的人，将得到美好的报酬。真主的大地是广阔的。在患难中坚忍的人，将得到充分的报酬，且不计其数。(10)

Say: [Thus speaks God] You servants of Mine who believe! Fear your Lord! Those who do good in this world will have a good reward. Wide is God’s earth. Those who are patient in adversity will be given their reward in full, beyond reckoning. (10)

这里需要注意阿拉伯文原文的措辞。方括号中的“上主如此说”这几个字并不在原文之中，是为了消除混淆而加上的。

It is important to note here how the Arabic text is phrased. The words between brackets, ‘thus speaks God’, are not in the text. They are added to remove confusion.

原文应当是：“告诉我的仆人们”，但先知被安排来向他们发出讲话，因为一段讲话能够提醒听众，并使他们更加留意即将到来的内容。当先知向他们讲话时，他并不以自己的仆人身份称呼他们，因为他们是真主的仆人，而不是他的。这意味着他是奉真主之名进行讲话，是真主直接向他们发出的讲话。先知仅仅是传达这段讲话的中介。

The text should originally read: “Say to My servants,” but the Prophet is made to address them, because an address alerts the addressees and makes them more aware of what is to come. When the Prophet addresses them, he does not call them as his servants, because they are God’s servants, not his. This means that he is addressing them in God’s name, making the address from God directly to them. The Prophet is merely the means by which the address is given.

"说：[真主如是说：]信道的众仆啊！你们应当敬畏你们的主。"（第10节）

“Say: [Thus speaks God:] You servants of Mine who believe! Fear your Lord” (Verse 10)

敬畏真主意味着拥有一颗敏感的心，怀着谨慎、畏惧与希望仰望祂，小心避免触怒祂，并急切地追求祂的喜悦。这一点可以从前一节经文中所描绘的那位谦卑虔诚的崇拜者的生动图景中看出。

To fear God means to have a sensitive heart and to look up to Him cautiously and with apprehension, hope, wary lest one should incur His displeasure and keen to earn His pleasure. It is seen in the bright picture drawn in the previous verse of a devout worshipper, full of humility.

“那些在今世行善的人，将得到美好的报酬。”（第10节）多么丰厚的报酬啊：今世的生活短暂而脆弱，一件善行，却在永恒的来世得到美好的回报。这确实是神的恩典。祂知道人的软弱与微薄的努力，所以慷慨地回报他，并眷顾他。

“Those who do good in this world will have a good reward.” (Verse 10) What a great reward: a good deed in this present life, which is short and flimsy, is repaid with something good in the life to come, which is everlasting. This is certainly an act of God’s grace. He knows man’s weakness and small effort, so He repays him generously and takes care of him.