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asad
 
1.  *     Alif. Lam. Ra.'  THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation - of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.`
 
2.  *     And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their life time].'
 
3.  *     Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth].
 
4.  *     And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been made known to it;`
 
5.  *     [but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it].5
 
6.  *     And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad!
 
7.  *     Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth?"
 
8.  *     [Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth;' and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further respite!'
 
9.  *     Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder? and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]. '°
 
10.  *     AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities" of old -
 
11.  *     and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him.
 
12.  *     Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin,
 
13.  *     who do not believe in it,". although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken."
 
14.  *     Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it,
 
15.  *     they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!"
 
16.  *     AND, INDEED, We have set up in the heavens great constellations," and endowed them with beauty for all to behold;
 
17.  *     and We have made them secure against every satanic force accursed `6-
 
18.  *     so that anyone who seeks to learn [the unknowable] by stealth is pursued by a flame clear to see."
 
19.  *     And the earth -We have spread it out wide, and placed on it mountains firm, and caused [life] of every kind to grow on it in a balanced manner,
 
20.  *     and provided thereon means of livelihood for you [O men] as well as for all [living beings] whose sustenance does not depend on you.'8
 
21.  *     For, no single thing exists that does not have its source with Us;` and nought do We bestow from on high unless it be in accordance with a measure well-defined."
 
22.  *     And We let loose the winds to fertilize [plants] 2' and We send down water from the skies and let you drink thereof: and it is not you who dispose of its source-
 
23.  *     for, behold, it is We-We alone -who grant life and deal death, and it is We alone who shall remain after all else will have passed away !22
 
24.  *     And well do We know [the hearts and deeds,of all human beings - both] those who lived before you and those who will come after you;2'
 
25.  *     and, behold, it is thy Sustainer who will gather them all together [on Judgment Day]: verily, He is wise, all-knowing!
 
26.  *     AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark - slime transmuted 24 -
 
27.  *     whereas the invisible beings We had created, [long] before that, out of the fire of scorching winds."
 
28.  *     And lo! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to create mortal man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted;
 
29.  *     and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!"
 
30.  *     Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together,
 
31.  *     save Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.`'
 
32.  *     Said He: "O Iblis! What is thy reason for not being among those who have prostrated themselves?"
 
33.  *     [Ib1Ts] replied: "It is not for me to prostrate myself before mortal man whom Thou hast created out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted!"
 
34.  *     Said He: "Go forth, then, from this [angelic state]: for, behold, thou art [henceforth] accursed,
 
35.  *     and [My] rejection shall be thy due until the Day of Judgment!"
 
36.  *     Said [Ib1Ts]: "Then, O my Sustainer, grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead!"
 
37.  *     Answered He: "Verily, so be it: thou shalt be among those who are granted respite
 
38.  *     till the Day the time whereof is known [to Me alone]."
 
39.  *     [Whereupon Iblis] said: "O my Sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, '9 I shall indeed make [all that is evil] on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them-into grievous error -
 
40.  *     (alll save such of them as are truly Thy servants!"3')
 
41.  *     Said He: "This is, with Me. a straight way:"
 
42.  *     verily, thou shalt have no power over My creatures- unless it be such as are [already] lost in grievous error and follow thee [of their own will]:`'
 
43.  *     and for all such, behold, hell is the promised goal.
 
44.  *     with seven gates leading into it, each gate receiving its allotted share of sinners.-33
 
45.  *     VERILY, those who are conscious of God [shall find themselves in the hereafter] amidst gardens and springs,
 
46.  *     [having been received with the greeting,] "Enter here in peace, secure!"
 
47.  *     And [by then] We shall have removed whatever unworthy thoughts or feelings may have been [lingering] in their breasts, [and they shall rest] as brethren, facing one another [in love] upon thrones of happiness.'°
 
48.  *     No weariness shall ever touch them in this [state of bliss], and never shall they have to forgo it."
 
49.  *     Tell My servants that I - I alone - am truly forgiving, a true dispenser of grace;
 
50.  *     and [also,] that the suffering which I shall impose [on sinners] will indeed be a suffering most grievous."
 
51.  *     AND TELL THEM [once again] about Abraham's guests"-
 
52.  *     [how,] when they presented themselves before him and bade him peace, he answered: "Behold, we are afraid of you!"
 
53.  *     Said they: "Fear not! Behold, we bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who will be endowed with deep knowledge."
 
54.  *     Said he: "Do you give me this glad tiding despite the fact that old age has overtaken me? Of what [strange thing], then, are you giving me a tiding!"
 
55.  *     They answered: "We have given thee the glad tiding of something that is bound to come true.-' so be not of those who abandon hope!"
 
56.  *     [Abraham] exclaimed: "And who-other than those who have utterly lost their way-could ever abandon the hope of his Sustainer's grace?"
 
57.  *     He added: "And what [else] may you have in view, O you [heavenly] messengers?"
 
58.  *     They answered: "We are sent to people lost in sin" [who are to be destroyed],
 
59.  *     barring Lot's household, all of whom, behold, we shall save -
 
60.  *     excepting only his wife, [of whom God says,] `We have ordained [that], behold, she should be among those who stay behind!' '4z
 
61.  *     AND WHEN the messengers [of God] came to the house of Lot,
 
62.  *     he said: "Behold, you are people unknown [here] !"
 
63.  *     They answered: "Nay, but we have come unto thee with [the announcement of] something that they [who are given to evil] have always been wont to call in question,"
 
64.  *     and we are bringing thee the certainty [of its fulfilment] :4s for, behold, we are speaking the truth indeed.
 
65.  *     Go, then., with thy household while it is yet night, with thyself following them in the rear; and let none of you look back,' but proceed whither you are bidden."
 
66.  *     And [through Our messengers] We revealed unto him this decree: "The last remnant of those [sinners] shall be wiped out in the morn."
 
67.  *     And the people of the city came [unto Lot], rejoicing at the glad tiding."8
 
68.  *     Exclaimed [Lot]: "Behold, these are my guests: so put me not to shame,
 
69.  *     but be conscious of God and disgrace me not!"
 
70.  *     They answered: "Have we not forbidden thee [to offer protection] to any kind of people?"9  relevant notes.  AL-HlJR  SCRAH
 
71.  *     [Lot] said: "[Take instead] these daughters of mine," if you must do [whatever you intend to do]!"
 
72.  *     [But the angels spoke thus:] "As thou livest, [O Lot, they will not listen to thee:]5' behold, in their delirium [of lust] they are but blit*ly stumbling to and fro!"
 
73.  *     And thereupon the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them32 at the time of sunrise,
 
74.  *     and We turned those [sinful towns} upside down, and rained down upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained.s'
 
75.  *     Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for those who can read the signs:"
 
76.  *     for, behold, those [towns] stood by a road that still exists."
 
77.  *     Verily, herein lies a message indeed for all who believe [in God].
 
78.  *     AND THE DWELLERS of the wooded dales [of Madyan, too,] were inveterate evildoers,
 
79.  *     and so We inflicted Our retribution on them.  And, behold, both these [sinful communities] lived by a highway, [to this day] plain to seed'
 
80.  *     AND, [likewise,] indeed, the people of AI-Hijr51 gave the lie to [Our] message-bearers:
 
81.  *     for We did vouchsafe them Our messages, but they obstinately turned their backs upon them-
 
82.  *     notwithstanding  commentary on this verse. The  of [God's] punish  that they had been wont [to enjoy Our blessings and] to hew out dwellings from the mountains, [wherein they could live] in security" -:
 
83.  *     and so the blast [of Our punishmennt] overtook them at early morn,
 
84.  *     and of no avail to them was all [the power] that they had acquired.
 
85.  *     AND [remember:] We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them without [an inner] truth;' but, behold, the Hour [when this will become clear to all] is indeed yet to come.  Hence, forgive [men's failings] with fair forbearance:
 
86.  *     verily, thy Sustainer is the all-knowing Creator of all things !61
 
87.  *     AND, INDEED, We have bestowed upon thee seven of the oft-repeated [verses], and [have, thus, laid open before thee] this sublime Qur'an:62
 
88.  *     [so] turn, not thine eyes [longingly] towards the worldly benefits which We have granted unto some 63 of those [that deny the truth]. And neither grieve over those [who refuse to heed thee], but spread the wings of thy tenderness over the believers,"
 
89.  *     and say: "Behold, I am indeed the plain warner [promised by God] !-61
 
90.  *     [For, thou art the bearer of a divine writ66] such  AL-HIJR  SCRAH 15  as We have bestowed from on high upon those who [afterwards] broke it up into parts ,e'
 
91.  *     [and] who [now] declare this Qur'an to be [a tissue of] falsehoods!
 
92.  *     But, by thy Sustainer! [On the Day of Judgment] We shall indeed call them to account, one and all,
 
93.  *     for whatever they have done!
 
94.  *     Hence, proclaim openly all that thou hast been bidden [to say], and leave alone all those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God:
 
95.  *     verily, We shall suffice thee against all who [now] deride [this message - all]
 
96.  *     who assert that there are, side by side with God, other divine powers as well:b9 for in time they will come to know [the truth].
 
97.  *     And well do We know that thy bosom is constricted by the [blasphemous] things that they say:
 
98.  *     but extol thou thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise Him, and be of those who prostrate themselves [before Him] in adoration,
 
99.  *     and worship thy Sustainer till death comes to thee.'°