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1.  *     ELIF. LAM. RA. These are the signs of the Book, and of a lucid recital [Koran].
 
2.  *     Many a time will the infidels wish that they had been Muslims.
 
3.  *     Let them feast and enjoy themselves, and let hope beguile them: but they shall know the truth at last.
 
4.  *     We never destroyed a city whose term was not perfixed:
 
5.  *     No people can forestall or retard its destiny.
 
6.  *     They say: "O thou to whom the warning hath been sent down, thou art surely possessed by a djinn:
 
7.  *     Wouldst thou not have come to us with the angels, if thou wert of those who assert the truth?"
 
8.  *     We will not send down the angels without due cause. The Infidels would not in that case have been respited.
 
9.  *     Verily, We have sent down the warning, and verily, We will be its guardian;
 
10.  *     And already have We sent Apostles, before thee, among the sects of the ancients;
 
11.  *     But never came Apostles to them whom they did not deride.
 
12.  *     In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners of Mecca to do the same:
 
13.  *     They will not believe on him though the example of those of old hath gone before.
 
14.  *     Even were We to open above them a gate in Heaven, yet all the while they were mounting up to it,
 
15.  *     They would surely say: It is only that our eyes are drunken: nay, we are a people enchanted.
 
16.  *     We have set the signs of the zodiac in the Heavens, and adorned and decked them forth for the beholders,
 
17.  *     And We guard them from every stoned Satan,
 
18.  *     Save such as steal a hearing: and him doth a visible flame pursue.
 
19.  *     And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced measure:
 
20.  *     And We have provided therein sustenance for you, and for the creatures which not ye sustain:
 
21.  *     And no one thing is there, but with Us are its storehouses; and We send it not down but in settled measure:
 
22.  *     And We send forth the fertilising winds, and cause the rain to come down from the heaven, and give you to drink of it; and it is not ye who are its storers:
 
23.  *     And We cause to live and We cause to die, and We are the heir of all things:
 
24.  *     We know those of you who flourish first and We know those who come later:
 
25.  *     And truly thy Lord will gather them together again, for He is Wise, Knowing.
 
26.  *     We created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded;
 
27.  *     And the djinn had We before created of subtle fire.
 
28.  *     Remember when thy Lord said to the Angels, "I create man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded:
 
29.  *     And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of my spirit into him, then fall ye down and worship him."
 
30.  *     And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all together,
 
31.  *     Save Eblis: he refused to be with those who bowed in worship.
 
32.  *     O Eblis, said God, "wherefore art thou not with those who bow down in worship?"
 
33.  *     He said, "It beseemeth not me to bow in worship to man whom thou hast created of clay, of moulded loam."
 
34.  *     He said, "Begone then hence; thou art a stoned one,
 
35.  *     And the curse shall be on thee till the day of reckoning."
 
36.  *     He said, "O my Lord! respite me till the day when man shall be raised from the dead."
 
37.  *     He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be
 
38.  *     Till the day of the predestined time."
 
39.  *     He said, "O my Lord! because thou hast beguiled me, I will surely make all fair seeming to them on the earth; I will surely beguile them all;
 
40.  *     Except such of them as shall be thy sincere servants."
 
41.  *     He said, "This is the right way with me;
 
42.  *     For over none of my servants shalt thou have power, save those beguiled ones who shall follow thee."
 
43.  *     And verily, Hell is the promise for them one and all.
 
44.  *     It hath seven Portals; at each Portal is a separate band of them;
 
45.  *     But 'mid gardens and fountains shall the pious dwell:
 
46.  *     Enter ye therein in peace, secure-
 
47.  *     And all rancour will We remove from their bosoms: they shall sit as brethren, face to face, on couches:
 
48.  *     Therein no weariness shall reach them, nor forth from it shall they be cast for ever.
 
49.  *     Announce to my servants that I am the Gracious, the Merciful,
 
50.  *     And that my chastisement is the grievous chastisement.
 
51.  *     And tell them of Abraham's guests.
 
52.  *     When they entered in unto him, and said, "Peace." Verily, said he, "We fear you."
 
53.  *     They said, "Fear not, for of a sage son we bring thee tidings."
 
54.  *     He said, "Bring ye me such tidings now that old age hath come upon me? What, therefore, are your tidings really?"
 
55.  *     They said, "We announce them to thee in very truth. Be not then one of the despairing."
 
56.  *     And who, said he, "despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they who err?"
 
57.  *     He said, "What is your business then, O ye Sent Ones?"
 
58.  *     They said, "We are sent unto a people who are sinners,
 
59.  *     Except the family of Lot, whom verily we will rescue all,
 
60.  *     Except his wife. We have decreed that she shall be of those who linger."
 
61.  *     And when the Sent Ones came to the family of Lot
 
62.  *     He said, "Yes; are persons unknown to me."
 
63.  *     They said, "Yes; but we have come to thee for a purpose about which thy people doubt:
 
64.  *     We have come to thee with very truth, and we are truthful envoys.
 
65.  *     Lead forth therefore thy family in the dead of the night; follow thou on their rear: and let no one of you turn round, but pass ye on whither ye are bidden."
 
66.  *     And this command we gave him because to the last man should these people be cut off at morning.
 
67.  *     Then came the people of the city rejoicing at the news-
 
68.  *     He said, "These are my guests: therefore disgrace me not.
 
69.  *     And fear God and put me not to shame."
 
70.  *     They said, "Have we not forbidden thee to entertain any one whatever?"
 
71.  *     He said, "Here are my daughters, if ye will thus act."
 
72.  *     As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered in the drunkenness of their lust.
 
73.  *     So a tempest overtook them at their sunrise,
 
74.  *     And we turned the city upside down, and we rained stones of baked clay upon them.
 
75.  *     Verily, in this are signs for those who scan heedfully;
 
76.  *     And these cities lay on the high road.
 
77.  *     Verily, in this are signs for the faithful.
 
78.  *     The inhabitants also of El Aika were sinners:
 
79.  *     So we took vengeance on them, and they both became a plain example.
 
80.  *     And the people of HEDJR treated God's messengers as liars.
 
81.  *     And we brought forth our signs to them, but they drew back from them:
 
82.  *     And they hewed them out abodes in the mountains to secure them:
 
83.  *     But a tempest surprised them at early morn,
 
84.  *     And their labours availed them nothing.
 
85.  *     We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that between them is, but for a worthy end. And verily, "the hour" shall surely come. Wherefore do thou, Muhammad, forgive with kindly forgiveness,
 
86.  *     For thy Lord! He is the Creator, the Wise.
 
87.  *     We have already given thee the seven verses of repetition and the glorious Koran.
 
88.  *     Strain not thine eyes after the good things we have bestowed on some of the unbelievers: afflict not thyself on their account, and lower thy wing to the faithful.
 
89.  *     And SAY: I am the only plain-spoken warner.
 
90.  *     We will punish those who foster divisions,
 
91.  *     Who break up the Koran into parts:
 
92.  *     By thy Lord! we will surely take account from them one and all,
 
93.  *     Concerning that which they have done.
 
94.  *     Profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden, and withdraw from those who join gods to God.
 
95.  *     Verily, We will maintain thy cause against those who deride thee,
 
96.  *     Who set up gods with God: and at last shall they know their folly.
 
97.  *     Now know We that thy heart is distressed at what they say:
 
98.  *     But do thou celebrate the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who bow down in worship;
 
99.  *     And serve thy Lord till the certainty o'ertake thee.