| rodwell | |
|---|---|
| 1. * | O THOU ENFOLDED in thy mantle, |
| 2. * | Stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer: |
| 3. * | Half; or curtail the half a little,- |
| 4. * | Or add to it: And with measured tone intone the Koran, |
| 5. * | For we shall devolve on thee weighty words. |
| 6. * | Verily, at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest, and words are most collected; |
| 7. * | But in the day time thou hast continual employ- |
| 8. * | And commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with entire devotion. |
| 9. * | Lord of the East and of the West! No God is there but He! Take Him for thy protector, |
| 10. * | And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure. |
| 11. * | And let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this life; and bear thou with them yet a little while: |
| 12. * | For with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire, |
| 13. * | And food that choketh, and a sore torment. |
| 14. * | The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken; and the mountains shall become a loose sand heap. |
| 15. * | Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh: |
| 16. * | But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid hold on him with a severe chastisement. |
| 17. * | And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the day that shall turn children greyheaded? |
| 18. * | The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this threat shall be carried into effect. |
| 19. * | Lo! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord. |
| 20. * | Of a truth, thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers. But God measureth the night and the day: He knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to you mer |