今天的人类正处在悬崖边缘。使人类陷入险境的并非那笼罩在头顶、可能导致彻底毁灭的危险——这只是一个症状，并非真正的病根——而是因为人类失去了那些不仅对其健康发展、而且对其真正进步都至关重要的根本价值。

Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head-this being just a symptom and not the real disease -but because humanity is devoid of those vital values which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress.

即使是西方世界也意识到，西方文明无法为人类的引导提供任何健康的价值观。它明白，自己并不拥有任何能够满足其自身良知、并为其存在提供正当理由的东西。

Even the Western world realises that Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind. It knows that it does not possess anything which will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence.

西方的民主已经变得如此贫瘠，以至于它以社会主义之名，借鉴东方集团的制度，尤其是在经济制度方面。东方集团的情况也是一样。其社会理论，其中以马克思主义为首，最初不仅吸引了东方的大量民众，也吸引了西方的许多人，因为它是一种以信仰为基础的生活方式。但如今，马克思主义在思想层面已经失败，如果说世界上没有一个国家真正是马克思主义的，也不算夸张。总的来说，这一理论与人的本性及其需求相冲突。这种意识形态只在堕落的社会中，或在长期某种形式的独裁统治之下变得畏缩的社会中才能兴盛。然而如今，即使在这些条件下，其唯物主义经济制度也正在失败，尽管这曾是其结构所依托的唯一基础。作为共产主义国家领袖的俄罗斯，自身也在遭受粮食短缺之苦。沙皇时期，俄罗斯曾能生产剩余粮食，如今却不得不从国外进口粮食，并为此出售其黄金储备。其主要原因在于集体农庄制度的失败，或者可以说，是一种违背人性的制度的失败。

Democracy in the West has become infertile to such an extent that it is borrowing from the systems of the Eastern bloc, especially in the economic system, under the name of socialism. It is the same with the Eastern bloc. Its social theories, foremost among which is Marxism, in the beginning attracted not only a large number of people from the East but also from the West, as it was a way of life based on a creed. But now Marxism is defeated on the plane of thought, and if it is stated that not a single nation in the world is truly Marxist, it will not be an exaggeration. On the whole this theory conflicts with man's nature and its needs. This ideology prospers only in a degenerate society or in a society which has become cowed as a result of some form of prolonged dictatorship. But now, even under these circumstances, its materialistic economic system is failing, although this was the only foundation on which its structure was based. Russia, which is the leader of the communist countries, is itself suffering from shortages of food. Although during the times of the Tsars Russia used to produce surplus food, it now has to import food from abroad and has to sell its reserves of gold for this purpose. The main reason for this is the failure of the system of collective farming, or, one can say, the failure of a system which is against human nature.

人类迫切需要新的领导力！西方人对人类的领导now正在走向衰落，这并非因为西方文化在物质上变得贫乏，也不是因为其经济和军事力量变弱。西方体系的时代之所以走向终结，主要在于它已失去那些曾使其成为人类领导者的生命性价值。

It is essential for mankind to have new leadership! The leadership of mankind by Western man is now on the decline, not because Western culture has become poor materially or because its economic and military power has become weak. The period of the Western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values which enabled it to be the leader of mankind.

新的领导层有必要保存并发展欧洲创造性天才所带来的物质成果，同时为人类提供迄今尚未被人类发现的崇高理想与价值观，并让人类认识一种与人性相协调、积极且富有建设性、切实可行的生活方式。

It is necessary for the new leadership to preserve and develop the material fruits of the creative genius of Europe, and also to provide mankind with such high ideals and values as have so far remained undiscovered by mankind, and which will also acquaint humanity with a way of life which is harmonious with human nature, which is positive and constructive, and which is practicable.

伊斯兰是唯一拥有这些价值观和这种生活方式的体系。

Islam is the only System which possesses these values and this way of life.

科学复兴的时期也已经结束了。这一时期始于公元十六世纪的文艺复兴，在十八和十九世纪达到顶峰，但它并不具有一种复兴的精神。

The period of the resurgence of science has also come to an end. This period, which began with the Renaissance in the sixteenth century after Christ and reached its zenith in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, does not possess a reviving spirit.

所有现代出现的民族主义和沙文主义意识形态，以及由它们衍生出的一切运动和理论，也都已失去了生命力。总而言之，所有人造的个人或集体理论都已被证明是失败的。

All nationalistic and chauvinistic ideologies which have appeared in modern times, and all the movements and theories derived from them, have also lost their vitality. In short, all man-made individual or collective theories have proved to be failures.

在这个关键而令人困惑的时刻，伊斯兰教和穆斯林群体的转机已经到来——伊斯兰教并不禁止物质发明。事实上，它将此视为人类从一开始就负有的责任：当真主委派人类作为祂在地上的代理人时，便已确立了这一责任；在某些条件下，它也被视为对真主的崇拜，以及人类受造的目的之一。"当你的主对天使们说：我要在大地上设置一个代理人。"（《古兰经》2:30）

At this crucial and bewildering juncture, the turn of Islam and the Muslim community has arrived -the turn of Islam, which does not prohibit material inventions. Indeed, it counts it as an obligation on man from the very beginning of time, when God deputed him as His representative on earth, and regards it under certain conditions a5 worship of God and one of the purposes of man's creation. "And when Your Sustainer said to the angels, I am going to make My representative on earth.," (Qur'an 2:30)

“我创造精灵和人类，只是为了让他们崇拜我。”（51:56）

"And I have not created jinns and men except that they worship Me." (2:143)

因此，穆斯林群体的时代已经到来，去履行真主为人类所规定的使命。

Thus the turn of the Muslim community has come to fulfill the task for mankind which God has enjoined upon it.

你们是为人类而兴起的最优秀的民族：你们劝人行善，禁人作恶，并且信仰真主。（3:110）

"You are the best community raised for the good of mankind. You enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong, and you believe in God." (3:110)

这样,我使你们成为中正的民族,以便你们成为人类的见证人,使者也成为你们的见证人。(2:143)

"Thus We have made you a middle community, so that you be witnesses for mankind as the Messenger is a witness for you." (2:143)

伊斯兰若不在一个社会中、更确切地说在一个国家中具体体现出来，就无法履行其使命；因为人，尤其是在这个时代，不会去倾听一种在活生生的社会中看不到具体体现的抽象理论。从这一点来看，我们可以说，穆斯林共同体已经消失了几个世纪。因为这个穆斯林共同体，既不是指某块伊斯兰存在的土地的名称，也不是指其先辈曾在更早时期生活于伊斯兰制度之下的民族。它是指这样一群人的名称：他们的风俗、观念与概念、规则与制度、价值与标准，全都源自伊斯兰的渊源。具备这些特征的穆斯林共同体，在真主的律法在大地上被搁置的那一刻便已消失。

Islam cannot fulfill its role except by taking concrete form in a society, rather, in a nation; for man does not listen, especially in this age, to an abstract theory which is not seen materialized in a living society. From this point of view, we can say that the Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries, for this Muslim community does not denote the name of a land in which Islam resides, nor is it a people whose forefathers lived under the Islamic system at some earlier time. It is the name of a group of people whose manners, ideas and concepts, rules and regulations, values and criteria, are all derived from the Islamic source. The Muslim community with these characteristics vanished at the moment the laws of God became suspended on earth.

如果伊斯兰要再次扮演人类领袖的角色，那么穆斯林社会就必须恢复到它最初的面貌。

If Islam is again to play the role of the leader of man- kind, then it is necessary that the Muslim community be restored to its original form.

有必要复兴那个穆斯林群体——它如今被几代人积累的人为传统所掩埋,被那些与伊斯兰教义几乎毫无关联的虚假法律和习俗压得喘不过气来,尽管如此,它仍自称为"伊斯兰世界"。我清楚地知道,从"复兴"的尝试到获得"领导地位"之间还有很长的距离,因为穆斯林群体早已从存在与视野中消失,人类的领导权也早已转移到其他意识形态、其他民族、其他理念与其他制度手中。

It is necessary to revive that Muslim community which is buried under the debris of the man-made traditions of several generations, and which is crushed under the weight of those false laws and customs which are not even remotely related to the Islamic teachings, and which, in spite of all this, calls itself the 'world of Islam.' I am aware that between the attempt at 'revival' and the attainment of 'leadership' there is a great distance, as the Muslim community has long ago vanished from existence and from observation, and the leadership of mankind has long since passed to other ideologies and other nations, other concepts and other systems.

这一时期正是欧洲的天才创造出科学、文化、法律和物质生产等领域奇妙成果的时代，正因如此，人类才在创造力和物质舒适方面达到了巨大的高度。要对这些奇妙发明的创造者挑剔指摘，并非易事，尤其是当我们所说的"伊斯兰世界"似乎完全不具备这些美好的事物时。

This was the era during which Europe's genius created its marvellous works in science, culture, law and material production, due to which mankind has progressed to great heights of creativity and material comfort. It is not easy to find fault with the inventors of such marvellous things, especially since what we call the 'world of Islam' is completely devoid of all this beauty.

尽管如此，复兴伊斯兰仍然是必要的。复兴伊斯兰与重新获得世界领导地位之间的距离也许十分遥远，途中也可能困难重重；但复兴伊斯兰的第一步必须迈出。

But in spite of all this, it is necessary to revive Islam. The distance between the revival of Islam and the attainment of world leadership may be vast, and there may be great difficulties on the way; but the first step must be taken for the revival of Islam.

要使我们的工作有见识、有智慧，我们首先必须清楚地了解那些品质的本质，穆斯林群体正是凭借这些品质，才能履行其作为世界领导者的责任。

If we are to perform our task with insight and wisdom, we must first know clearly the nature of those qualities on the basis of which the Muslim community can fulfill its obligation as the leader of the world.

这对于我们在其重建与复兴的最初阶段不犯任何错误，是至关重要的。

This is essential so that we may not commit any blunders at the very first stage of its reconstruction and revival.

当今的穆斯林社会既无能力，也无必要在物质发明方面向人类展示伟大的天才，以至于让世界俯首于其优势之下，从而再次重建其世界领导地位。欧洲的创造性思维在这一领域遥遥领先，至少在未来几个世纪内，我们不能指望与欧洲竞争并在这些领域超越它。

The Muslim community today is neither capable of nor required to present before mankind great genius in material inventions, which will make the world bow its head before its supremacy and thus re-establish once more its world leadership. Europe's creative mind is far ahead in this area, and at least for a few centuries to come we cannot expect to compete with Europe and attain supremacy over it in these fields.

因此我们必须具备另一种品质,一种现代文明所不具备的品质。

Hence we must have some other quality, that quality which modern civilization does not possess.

但这并不意味着我们应当忽视物质进步。我们也应当全力以赴，在这一方向上付出努力，不是因为在现阶段这是取得人类领导地位的必要条件，而是因为它是我们自身生存的必要条件；而伊斯兰教本身将人提升到上主在地上的代理人的地位，并在某些条件下将这一代理人的职责视为对上主的崇拜和人被造的目的，因此伊斯兰教使物质进步成为我们的义务。

But this does not mean that we should neglect material progress. We should also give our full attention and effort in this direction, not because at this stage it is an essential requirement for attaining the leadership of mankind, but because it is an essential condition for our very existence; and Islam itself, which elevates man to the position of representative of God on earth, and which, under certain conditions, considers the responsibilities of this representative as the worship of God and the purpose of man's creation, makes material progress obligatory for us.

要获得人类的领导地位,我们必须拥有超越物质进步的东西,而这另一种品质,只能是一种信仰和一种生活方式:它一方面保留现代科学与技术的成果,另一方面以与技术在物质享受领域所达到的同等卓越水准,满足人类的基本需求。此外,这种信仰与生活方式还必须在人类社会中具体体现出来,换言之,即在穆斯林社会中体现出来。

To attain the leadership of mankind, we must have something to offer besides material progress, and this other quality can only be a faith and a way of life which on the one hand conserves the benefits of modern science and technology, and on the other fulfills the basic human needs on the same level of excellence as technology has fulfilled them in the sphere of material comfort. And then this faith and way of life must take concrete form in a human society - in other words, In a Muslim society.

如果我们审视现代生活方式的根源与基础，便可以清楚地看到，整个世界都沉浸在贾希利叶之中（即对神圣指引的无知），而一切令人惊叹的物质享受与高度发达的发明，并不能减少这种无知。这种贾希利叶建立在反抗神在地上的主权之上。它将神最伟大的属性之一，即主权，转移到人的身上，使一部分人凌驾于另一部分人之上。它如今已不再是古代贾希利叶那种简单原始的形式，而是采取了这样一种主张：创立价值、制定集体行为规则、选择任何生活方式的权利属于人类自身，而无须顾及神所规定的。这种反抗神之权威的结果，便是对神的受造物的压迫。因此，共产主义制度下普通人的屈辱，以及资本主义制度下因贪图财富和帝国主义而对个人和民族的剥削，都不过是反抗神之权威、否定神所赋予人之尊严的必然结果。

If we look at the sources and foundations of modern ways of living, it becomes clear that the whole world is steeped in Jahiliyyah, [Ignorance of the Divine guidance] and all the marvellous material comforts and high-level inventions do not diminish this ignorance. This Jahiliyyah is based on rebellion against God's sovereignty on earth. It transfers to man one of the greatest attributes of God, namely sovereignty, and makes some men lords over others. It is now not in that simple and primitive form of the ancient Jahiliyyah, but takes the form of claiming that the right to create values, to legislate rules of collective behavior, and to choose any way of life rests with men, without regard to what God has prescribed. The result of this rebellion against the authority of God is the oppression of His creatures. Thus the humiliation of the common man under the communist systems and the exploitation of individuals and nations due to greed for wealth and imperialism under the capitalist systems are but a corollary of rebellion against God's authority and the denial of the dignity of man given to him by God.

在这一点上，伊斯兰的生活方式是独一无二的，因为在伊斯兰以外的各种制度中，人们都以某种形式崇拜他人。唯有在伊斯兰的生活方式中，所有人才能摆脱人对人的奴役，只向真主一者奉献崇拜，只从真主一者获得指引，只向真主一者俯首。

In this respect, Islam's way of life is unique, for in systems other that Islam, some people worship others in some form or or another. Only in the Islamic way of life do all men become free from the servitude of some men to others and devote themselves to the worship of God alone, deriving guidance from Him alone, and bowing before Him alone.

这里正是道路分岔之处，而这正是我们所拥有、并可以呈现给全人类的那种新理念——这一理念，以及它为人类生活的一切实际方面所组织起来的生活方式。这是人类尚不知晓的那一重要信息。它既不是西方的发明，也不是欧洲的天才之作，无论是东方的还是西方的。

This is where the roads separate, and this is that new concept which we possess and can present to mankind - this and the way of life which this concept organizes for all the practical aspects of man's life. This is that vital message of which mankind does not know. It is not a product of Western invention nor of European genius, whether eastern or western.

毫无疑问,我们拥有这一新事物,它达到了至高的完美,是人类所未曾知晓、也无法创造的。

Without doubt, we possess this new thing which is perfect to the highest degree, a thing which mankind does not know about and is not capable of 'producing'.

但正如我们此前所言，这一新制度的美，除非具象化为现实，否则无从体会。因此，一个群体必须依照它来安排自身事务，并向世界展示。为了实现这一点，我们需要在某个穆斯林国家发起伊斯兰复兴运动。

But as we have stated before, the beauty of this new system cannot be appreciated unless it takes a concrete form. Hence it is essential that a community arrange its affairs according to it and show it to the world. In order to bring this about, we need to initiate the movement of Islamic revival in some Muslim country.

只有这样的复兴运动，无论距离远近，最终都能够获得世界领导地位。要开始复兴伊斯兰的事业，又该如何可能呢？

Only such a revivalist movement will eventually attain to the status of world leadership, whether the distance is near or far. How is it possible to start the task of reviving Islam?

有必要存在一支先锋队伍,怀着这样的决心出发,并持续前行于这条道路上,穿越遍布整个世界的、广阔无边的蒙昧(Jahiliyyah)之海。在前行的过程中,它应当与这无所不在的蒙昧保持一定距离,同时又应当与之保留某些联系。

It is necessary that there should be a vanguard which sets out with this determination and then keeps walking on the path, marching through the vast ocean of Jahiliyyah which has encompassed the entire world. During its course, it should keep itself somewhat aloof from this all-encompassing Jahiliyyah and should also keep some ties with it.

有必要让这支先锋队了解通往这一目标之路上的路标与里程碑,以便他们认清这段漫长旅程的起点、性质、责任和最终目的。不仅如此,他们还应当明白自己相对于这种已在全球各地扎下根基的蒙昧(Jahiliyyah)所处的位置:何时与他人合作,何时与他们分道扬镳;他们应当培养怎样的品格与素质,而其周围的蒙昧又以怎样的品格与素质武装自己;如何用伊斯兰的语言向蒙昧之人发出呼吁,应当讨论哪些话题与问题;以及在这一切事务上,从何处、以何种方式获取指引。

It is necessary that this vanguard should know the landmarks and the milestones of the road toward this goal so that they may recognize the starting place, the nature, the responsibilities and the ultimate purpose of this long journey. Not only this, but they ought to be aware of their position as opposed to this Jahiliyyah, which has struck its stakes throughout the earth: when to co-operate with others and when to separate from them: what characteristics and qualities they should cultivate, and with what characteristics and qualities the Jahiliyyah immediately surrounding them is armed; how to address the people of Jahiliyyah in the language of Islam, and what topics and problems ought to be discussed; and where and how to obtain guidance in all these matters.

这些路标必然要以这一信仰的第一手源泉——《古兰经》的光辉为准绳来确定，也要以其基本教义为准绳，还要以它在第一代穆斯林心中所树立的观念为准绳；那些穆斯林是真主所兴起、用以完成祂旨意的人，他们曾经以真主所定的方向，改变了人类历史的进程。

The milestones will necessarily be determined by the light of the first source of this faith-the Holy Qur'an - and from its basic teachings, and from the concept which it created in the minds of the first group of Muslims, those whom God raised to fulfill His will, those who once changed the course of human history in the direction ordained by God.

我把这本书命名为《路标》，是因为我认为它所表达的，是一个正在走向实现的、等待已久的现实，它属于这一先锋群体。书中有四章取自我的《古兰经注释》《在古兰经的光影中》（Fi Jilal al-Qur'an，即《在古兰经的荫蔽下》），我根据主题作了些许改动。这篇导言以及其他章节，是我在不同时期写成的。在撰写这些章节时，我记录下了我在沉思《古兰经》所呈现的生活方式时所领悟的深刻真理。这些思想看似零散、互不关联，但它们有一个共同点：这些思想都是路上的“路标”，而路标本来就是彼此分散的。这些文字合起来，是一个系列的第一辑，我希望在真主的佑助下，就这一主题再写出几辑。

I have written "Milestones" for this vanguard, which I consider to be a waiting reality about to be materialized. Four chapters [ These chapters are "The Nature of the Qur'anic Method". "Islamic Concept and Culture", "Jihaad in the Cause of God", and "Revival of the Muslim Community and its characteristics.] are taken from my commentary, Fi Jilal al-Qur'an, [ In the Shades of the Qur'an, a commentary on the Qur'an.] which I have changed here and there slightly to suit the topic. This introduction and the other chapters I wrote at various times. In writing these chapters I have set down the deep truths which I grasped during my meditations over the way of life presented in the Holy Qur'an. These thoughts may appear random and disconnected, but one thing is common among them; that is, these thoughts are milestones on the road,' and it is the nature of signs along the road to be disconnected. Taken together, these writings are a first installment of a series, and with God's help I hope to write some more collections on this topic.

而引导来自真主。

And the guidance is from God.