_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._
A. L. M. R. These are the Signs of the Book! and that which was
sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth: but most men do not
believe.
It is God who raised the heavens without pillars that ye can see;
then ascended the Throne, and subdued the sun and the moon: each
runneth to its appointed goal, to rule every thing, to manifest
signs. Haply ye will be convinced of meeting your Lord!
And it is He who spread out the earth, and put thereon firm
mountains, and rivers; and of every fruit He hath made therein
two kinds: He maketh the night to cover the day; verily in that
are signs for reflecting folk.
And on the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of grapes,
and corn, and palms clustered and not clustered at the root;
they are watered by the same water, yet we make some better than
others for food: verily in that are signs for folk that have
wits.
If ever thou dost wonder, wonderful is their saying, “What! when we
have become dust, shall we indeed become a new creation?”
These are they who disbelieve in their Lord: and these shall have
the shackles on their necks, and these shall be the inmates of
the fire to abide therein for ever.
They will bid thee hasten evil rather than good: examples have
passed away before them; and verily thy Lord is full of
forgiveness unto men despite their iniquity; and verily thy Lord
is heavy in punishing.
And they who disbelieve say, “Unless a sign be sent down to him
from his Lord ...” Thou art but a warner, and to every people its
guide.
God knoweth what every woman beareth, and the decrease of the wombs
and the increase; for the pattern of all things is with Him,
Who knoweth the hidden and the seen, the Great, the Most High.
Equal is he of you who concealeth his words and he that proclaimeth
them: he who hideth by night, and he who goeth abroad by day.
Each hath angels before him and behind him, who watch over him by
God’s command. Verily God doth not change towards a people, till
they change themselves; and when God willeth evil unto a people,
there is no averting it, nor have they any protector beside Him.
It is He who showeth you the lightning for fear and hope [of rain],
and gathereth the lowering clouds,
And the THUNDER magnifieth His praise, and the angels, for awe of
Him, and He sendeth His thunderbolts and smiteth therewith whom
He pleaseth:--and they are wrangling about God! but strong is His
might!
Unto Him is the true cry: but those whom they cry to beside Him
shall answer them naught save as one who stretcheth forth his
hands to the water that it may reach his mouth, but it doth not
reach it! The cry of the unbelievers is but in error.
And unto God bow down all things in the heavens and the earth,
willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at morn and eve!
Say: Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: God. Say: Why
then have ye taken beside Him Patrons who are powerless for weal
or woe to themselves? Say: What! are the blind and the seeing
alike? or are darkness and light the same? or have they made
Partners for God, who create as He creates, so that they confuse
the creation? Say: God is the Creator of all things, He is the
One, the Conqueror.
He sendeth down water from heaven; and the valleys flow in their
degree, and the torrent beareth along foaming froth, and from
the [ore] which they burn in the fire, desiring ornaments or
necessaries, a scum like it ariseth. So doth God liken truth and
falsehood. As to the scum it passeth off as refuse, and as to
what profiteth man it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God frame
parables. For those who respond to their Lord, good; but those
who respond not to Him, had they all that the earth containeth
and its like beside it, they would surely give it in ransom:
these shall have an evil reckoning, and Hell shall be their
home,--and wretched the bed!
Is he who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee from thy
Lord is naught but the truth, like to him who is blind? but men
of understanding alone will mind,
Who fulfil their covenant with God and break not the compact;
And who join what God hath bidden to be joined, and who fear their
Lord and dread the evil reckoning;
And who are patient, seeking the face of their Lord, and perform
prayer and give alms secretly and openly of what we have provided
them, and turn away evil with good: for these is the reward of
the Abode,--
Gardens of eternity, into which they shall enter together with
those who were just of their fathers and their wives and their
offspring: and the angels shall go in unto them at every gate
[saying]:--
“Peace be upon you! because ye were patient.” And pleasant is the
reward of the Abode!
But those who break God’s covenant after they have pledged it, and
cut asunder what God hath bidden to be joined, and work iniquity
in the earth, for these is a curse and a sore abode!
God is lavish with provision to whom He pleaseth, or He stinteth
it. And they rejoice in the life of this world; but the life of
this world is but a passing joy to the life to come.
And they who disbelieve say, “Unless a sign be sent down to him
from his Lord ...” Say: God truly misleadeth whom He will; and He
guideth to himself those who repent,
Who believe, and whose hearts are at peace in the remembrance of
God! yea, in the remembrance of God shall the hearts be at peace
of those who believe and do the things that are right--good
betide them, and happy be their goal!
Thus have we sent thee among a nation, before whom other nations
have passed away, that thou mayest tell them what we have
inspired thee with: yet they disbelieve in the Merciful! Say: He
is my Lord--there is no God but Him. In Him do I put my trust,
and unto Him is my return.
Though there were a Korān by which the mountains were removed or
the earth cloven or the dead given speech--Nay! to God belongeth
the rule in all: know not they who believe, that if God pleased,
He would certainly have guided men in all?
And calamity shall not cease to befal the unbelievers for what they
have done, or settle hard by their dwellings, until the promise
of God shall come to pass. Verily God will not fail in what He
promised.
Before thee apostles have been mocked at--and long I suffered those
who disbelieved; then I took hold of them; and how great was my
punishment!
Who then is he that is standing over every soul to mark what it
hath earned? Yet they made Partners with God! Say: Name them!
could ye inform him of what He knoweth not in the earth, or are
they aught beyond words? Nay, their artifice commended itself to
those who disbelieve; and they are turned aside from the road;
and whom God misleadeth, he hath no guide.
Torment is theirs in the life of this world, and assuredly the
torment of the world to come shall be worse, and they shall have
no one to ward them from God.
A likeness of the Paradise which is promised to those that fear
God:--The rivers flow beneath it; its food and its shades are
everlasting. That is the end of those who fear God: but the end
of the unbelievers is the Fire.
They to whom we have given the Book rejoice in what hath been sent
down to thee, yet some of the confederates deny a part of it.
Say: I am commanded only to worship God, and not to associate any
with Him: on Him I cry, and unto Him is my goal.
Thus have we sent down the Korān as an Arabic judgment; and
assuredly, if thou followed their desires after the knowledge had
come to thee, thou shouldst have no protector nor warder against
God.
And we have sent apostles before thee, and gave them wives and
offspring. But to no apostle was it given to bring a sign save by
God’s permission: to each age its Book.
God wipeth out or confirmeth what He pleaseth, and with Him is the
Mother of the Book.
And whether we show thee somewhat of that which we promised them,
or take thee hence before; verily, it is thine to announce only,
and ours to take account.
See they not that we come into the land and cut down its chiefs?
And when God judgeth, there is none to reverse His sentence: and
He is swift to reckon.
And those who were before them plotted: but God’s is the master
plot: He knoweth what every one soul earneth, and the infidels
shall know for whom is the reward of the abode.
And those who disbelieve shall say, “Thou art not sent from God.”
Say: God is witness enough between me and you, and he that hath
knowledge of the Book.
(xii.)