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| 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.'° |