_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._
A. L. R. These are the signs of the wise Book!
Is it a matter of wonder to the people that we revealed to a man
from among themselves, “Warn the people; and bring good tidings
to those who believe, that the reward of their good faith is
with their Lord?” The unbelievers say, “Lo! this is an evident
sorcerer!”
Verily your Lord is God, who made the heavens and the earth in six
days--then ascended the throne to govern all things: there is
none to plead with Him save by His permission.--This is God, your
Lord! then worship ye Him: will ye not mind?
Unto Him shall ye all return by the sure promise of God: behold!
He produces a creature, then maketh it return again, that He may
reward with equity those who believe and do the things that are
right: but those who believe not, for them is the scalding drink,
and an aching torment--because they did not believe.
It is He who hath made the sun for shining, and the moon for light,
and ordained him mansions that ye may learn the number of years
and the reckoning of time. God did not create that but in truth.
He maketh His signs plain to a people who know.
Verily in the alterations of the night and the day, and in all
that God created in the heavens and the earth, are signs to a
godfearing folk.
Verily they who do not hope to meet us, and are satisfied with the
life of this world, and are content with it, and they who are
careless of our signs,--
Their dwelling-place is the Fire, for what they have earned.
Verily they who believe and do the things that are right, their
Lord shall guide them because of their faith; beneath them rivers
shall flow in gardens of delight:
Their cry therein shall be, “Extolled be thy glory, O God!” and
their salutation therein shall be “Peace!”
And the end of their cry shall be, “Praise to God, Lord of the
worlds!”
And if God should hasten woe upon men as they fain would hasten
weal, verily their appointed term is decreed for them! therefore
we leave those who hope not to meet us groping in their
disobedience.
Moreover, when affliction toucheth man, he calleth us upon his
side, sitting, or standing; and when we take away his affliction
from him, he passeth on as though he had not called us in the
affliction that touched him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors
seem good to them!
We have destroyed generations before you, when they sinned and
their apostles came to them with manifestations and they would
not believe;--thus do we requite the sinful folk.
Then we made you their successors in the earth after them, to see
how ye would act.
But when our manifest signs are recited to them, they who hope not
to meet us say, “Bring a different Korān from this, or change
it.” Say: It is not for me to change it of mine own will. I
follow only what is revealed to me: verily I fear if I disobey my
Lord the torment of the great Day.
Say: If God pleased, I had not recited it to you nor taught it you;
and already I had dwelt a lifetime amongst you before that: have
ye then no wits?
And who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie against God, or
saith His signs are lies? Surely the sinners shall not prosper!
And they worship beside God that which cannot hurt them or help
them; and they say, “These shall be our pleaders with God.” Say:
Will ye tell God of anything He doth not know in the heavens and
in the earth? Extolled be His glory! and far be He above what
they associate with Him!
Men were of only one religion: then they differed, and had not a
decree gone forth from thy Lord, there had certainly been made a
decision between them of that whereon they differed.
And they say, “Had a sign been sent down to him from his Lord
...”--but say: The unseen is with God alone: wait, therefore;
verily I am waiting with you.
And when we caused men to taste of mercy after affliction had
touched them, behold! they have a plot against our signs! Say:
God is quick at plotting! verily our messengers write down what
ye plot.
He it is who maketh you journey by land and sea, until, when ye are
in ships--and they run with them before a fair wind, and they
rejoice thereat, there cometh upon them a violent wind, and the
waves come upon them from every side, and they suppose they are
sore pressed therewith; they call on God, offering Him sincere
religion:--“Do thou but deliver us from this, and we will indeed
be of the thankful.”
But when we have delivered them, lo, they transgress unjustly on
the earth! O ye people! ye wrong your own souls only for the
enjoyment of the life of this world: then to us shall ye return;
and we will tell you what ye have done.
The likeness of the life of this world is as the water which we
send down from the heaven, and there mingleth with it the produce
of the earth of which men and cattle eat, until when the earth
hath put on its blazonry and is arrayed, and its inhabitants
think it is they who ordain it, our command cometh to it by
night or day, and we make it mown down, as if it had not teemed
yesterday! Thus do we explain our signs to a reflecting folk.
And God calleth you unto the abode of peace: and guideth whom He
will into the straight way:
To those who have done well, weal and to spare,
Neither blackness shall cover their faces nor shame! these are the
inmates of Paradise, to abide therein for ever.
And as for those who have earned evil, the recompense of evil is
its like; shame shall cover them--no defender shall they have
against God--as though their faces were darkened with the gloom
of night: these are the inmates of the Fire to abide therein for
ever.
And on the day we will gather them all together, then will we say
to those who made Partners with God, “To your place, ye and your
Partners!” and we will separate between them; and their partners
shall say, “Ye worshipped not us,
And God is witness enough between us and you that we were
indifferent to your worship!”
Then shall every soul make proof of what it hath sent on before,
and they shall be brought back to God their true Master, and what
they devised shall vanish from them.
Say: Who provideth you from the heaven and the earth? who is king
over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from
the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living? and who
ruleth all things? And they shall say, “God:” then say: Do ye not
fear?
So that is God your true Lord: and after the truth, what is there
but error? How then are ye turned away?
Thus is the word of thy Lord fulfilled upon those who work
iniquity: they shall not believe.
Say: Is there any of the Partners [of God] who can produce a
creature, then bring it back again? Say: God produceth a creature
then bringeth it back again: how then are ye deceived?
Say: Is there any of the Partners who guideth to the truth? Say:
God guideth unto the truth. Is he who guideth to the truth the
worthier to be followed, or he who guideth not except he be
guided? What is in you so to judge?
And most of them only follow a fancy: but a fancy profiteth nothing
against the truth! verily God knoweth what they do.
Moreover this Korān could not have been devised without God: but it
confirmeth what preceded it, and explaineth the Scripture--there
is no doubt therein--from the Lord of the worlds.
Do they say, “He hath devised it himself?” Say: Then bring a
chapter like it: and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye be
speakers of truth.
Nay, they call all that a lie, of which they compass not the
knowledge, though the explanation of it hath not yet been given
them; so did those who were before them call the Scriptures lies:
but see what was the end of the wicked!
And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it.
But thy Lord knoweth best about the evildoers.
And if they call thee a liar, say, I have my work, and ye have your
work: ye are clear of what I work, and I am clear of what ye work.
And some of them hearken to thee; but canst thou make the deaf hear
if they have no wits?
And some of them regard thee; but canst thou guide the blind when
they see not?
Verily God doth not wrong man a whit, but men wrong themselves.
And on a day He will gather them, as though they had tarried but an
hour of the day: they shall know one another! They are lost who
denied the meeting with God and were not guided!
Whether we show thee part of what we threatened against them,
or whether we take thee to ourself [before], to us is their
return--then shall God be witness of what they have done.
And every nation hath its apostle; and when their apostle is come,
it is decided between them with equity, and they are not wronged.
Yet they say, “When will this promise be, if ye be speakers of
truth?”
Say: I have no power for myself for woe or weal, except as God
pleaseth. Every people hath its appointed term: when their term
is come, they shall not put it off nor hasten it an hour.
Say: Bethink ye, if the torment of God come upon you by night or by
day, what portion of it will the sinners willingly hasten on?
When it happeneth, will ye believe it then? Yet would ye fain
hasten it on!
Then shall it be said to those who transgressed, “Taste ye the
torment of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded save according to what
ye have earned?”
They would fain know of thee if this is true. Say: Yea, by my Lord,
it is indeed true, and ye cannot weaken Him.
And if every soul that transgressed owned all that is on earth, he
would assuredly give it in ransom; and they will declare their
repentance when they have seen the torment: and there shall be a
decision between them with equity, and they shall not be wronged.
Is not indeed whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth God’s? Is
not indeed the promise of God true? But most of them do not know!
He giveth life and death, and to Him shall ye return.
O ye people! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a
healing for what is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy
to the believers.
Say: By the grace of God and his mercy! And in that let them
therefore rejoice: this is better than what they heap up.
Say: Do ye consider what God hath sent down to you for provision:
but ye made thereof unlawful and lawful? Say, did God permit you?
or do ye forge against God?
But what will they think on the day of resurrection who forge a lie
against God? Truly God is full of bounty towards man; but most of
them are not thankful.
Thou shalt not be in any business, and thou shalt not read from the
Korān, and ye shall not do any deed, but we are witness against
you when ye are engaged therein; and there escapeth not thy Lord
an ant’s weight in earth or in heaven: and there is nothing
lesser or greater than that, but it is in the plain Book.
Are not they truly the friends of God on whom is no fear neither
are they sorrowful--
They who believed and feared God,--
For them are good tidings in the life of this world, and in the
life to come there is no changing in God’s sentences. That is the
great prize!
And let not their discourse grieve thee: verily all power belongeth
to God, He it is who heareth and knoweth.
Doth not whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth
belong to God? then what do they follow who call upon Partners
beside God? verily they follow but a fancy; and verily they are
naught but liars.
It is He who made you the night to rest in, and the day for seeing:
verily in that are signs to a folk that can hear!
They say, “God hath taken him a son.” Extolled be his glory! He is
the Self-sufficient, all that is in the heavens, and all that
is in the earth is his! ye have no warranty for this! do ye say
about God that which ye know not?
Say: Verily they who forge this lie against God shall not prosper:--
A passing joy in this world, then to us they return; and then we
will make them taste the grievous torment, because they did not
believe.
And tell them the story of Noah, when he said to his people,--“O
my people! though my dwelling with you and my warning you of the
signs of God hath been grievous to you, yet in God do I put my
trust: so gather together your case and your Partners; then will
not your case fall upon you in the dark: then decide about me and
delay not.
And if ye turn, yet ask I no reward from you: my reward is with God
alone, and I am commanded to be of those who are resigned.”
But they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those who were
with him in the ship, and we made them to survive; and we drowned
those who had called our signs lies: see then what was the end of
those who were warned!
Then after him, we sent apostles to their people, and they came to
them with manifestations: but they would not believe in what they
had denied before: thus do we put a seal upon the hearts of the
transgressors.
Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his nobles
with our signs; but they were puffed up and were a sinful folk.
And when the truth came to them from us, they said, “This is clear
sorcery indeed.”
Moses said, “Say ye of the truth when it is come to you, Is this
sorcery?--but sorcerers shall not prosper.”
They said, “Art thou come to us to hinder us from what we found
our fathers in, and in order that for you twain there shall be
majesty in the land? but we are not going to believe in you!”
And Pharaoh said, “Fetch me every wise sorcerer.” And when the
sorcerers came, Moses said to them, “Cast down what ye have to
cast.”
And when they had cast them down, Moses said, “What ye come with is
sorcery: verily God will make it vain; aye, God doth not prosper
the work of evildoers;
And God will establish the truth by his word, though loth be the
sinners.”
And none believed in Moses but the children of his own folk, for
fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them: for
of a truth Pharaoh was mighty in the earth, and verily he was of
the transgressors.
And Moses said, “O my people! if ye believe in God, put your trust
in Him, if ye are resigned.”
And they said, “In God do we put our trust. O our Lord, make us not
a trial to the folk of the wicked,
And deliver us in Thy mercy from the folk of the unbelievers.”
Then revealed we to Moses and to his brother: “Build houses for
your people in Egypt, and make your houses with a Kibla, and
perform prayer, and give good tidings to the believers.”
And Moses said, “O our Lord, thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh and
his nobles adornments and riches in the life of this world: O
our Lord! may they err from thy way; O our Lord, confound their
riches, and harden their hearts, so shall they not believe until
they see the aching torment.”
God said: “Your prayer is heard, then stand ye upright, and follow
not the path of those who know not.”
And we brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh
and his host followed them, eager and hostile, until when
drowning overtook him he said, “I believe that there is no God
but He in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of
the resigned.”
“Now! thou hast been rebellious aforetime, and wast one of the
evildoers,
This day will we raise thee in thy flesh, to be a sign to those who
come after thee: but verily many men are heedless of our signs!”
Moreover we lodged the Children of Israel in a firm abode, and
provided them with good things: and they did not differ until the
knowledge came to them; verily thy Lord will decide between them
on the Day of Resurrection concerning that on which they differed.
And if thou art in doubt of what we have sent down to thee, inquire
of those who read the Scriptures before thee. Now hath truth come
unto thee from thy Lord: then be not thou of those who doubt,
Neither be of those who deny the signs of God lest thou be among
the losers.
Verily they against whom the word of thy Lord is passed shall not
believe,--
Though there came unto them every kind of sign,--till they behold
the aching torment.
Else any city had believed, and its faith had benefited it:--save
the people of JONAH; when they believed, we took away from them
the torment of shame in the life of this world, and provided for
them awhile.
But if thy Lord pleased, verily all who are in the earth had
believed together. Then canst thou compel men to become believers?
It is not in a soul to believe but by the permission of God: and He
shall lay His curse on those who have no wits.
Say: Look upon that which is in the heavens and in the earth: but
signs and warners avail not a folk that will not believe!
What then can they expect but the like of the days of those who
passed away before them? Say: Wait ye,--I too am waiting with you.
Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe: thus is it
binding on us to deliver the faithful.
Say: O ye people! if ye are in doubt of my religion, I do not
worship those whom ye worship beside God; but I worship God, who
taketh you away; and I am commanded to be of the faithful.
And set thy face towards religion as a Hanīf, and be not of those
idolaters:
And invoke not beside God that which can neither help nor hurt; for
if thou do, thou wilt certainly be of the wicked.
And if God touch thee with affliction, there is none to remove it
but He. And if He desire thy good, there is none to hinder His
bounty--He will confer it on whom He pleaseth of his servants:
and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful!
Say: O ye people! now hath truth come unto you from your Lord; then
he who is guided, is guided only for his own behoof: but he who
erreth doth err only against himself; and I am no governor over
you!
And follow what is revealed to thee: and be patient till God
judgeth; and He is the best of judges.
(x.)