The Koran
CHAPTER LI.
ENTITLED, THE DISPERSING; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
By the winds dispersing and scattering the dust; and by the cloud bearing
a load of rain; by the ships running swiftly in the sea; and by the angels
who distribute things necessary for the support of all creatures: verily
that wherewith ye are threatened is certainly true; and the last judgment
will surely come. By the heaven furnished with paths; ye widely differ
in what ye say. He will be turned aside from the faith, who shall be turned
aside by the divine decree. Cursed be the liars; who wade in deep waters
of ignorance, neglecting their salvation. They ask, When will the day of
judgment come? On that day shall they be burned in hell fire; and it shall
be said unto them, Taste your punishment; this is what ye demanded to be
hastened. But the pious shall dwell among gardens and fountains, receiving
that which their Lord shall give them; because they were righteous doers
before this day. They slept but a small part of the night; and early in
the morning they asked pardon of God: and a due portion of their wealth
was given unto him who asked, and unto him who was forbidden by shame to
ask. There are signs of the divine power and goodness in the earth, unto
men of sound understanding: and also in your own selves: will ye not therefore
consider? Your sustenance is in the heaven; and also that which ye are
promised. Wherefore by the Lord of heaven and earth I swear that this is
certainly the truth; according to what yourselves speak. Hath not the story
of Abraham’s honored guest come to thy knowledge? When they went in unto
him, and said, Peace: he answered, Peace; saying within himself, These
are unknown people. And he went privately unto his family, and brought
a fatted calf. And he set it before them, and when he saw they touched
it not, he said, Do ye not eat? And he began to entertain a fear of them.
They said, Fear not: and they declared unto him the promise of a wise youth.
And his wife drew near with exclamation, and she smote her face, and said,
I am an old woman, and barren. The angels answered, Thus saith thy Lord:
Verily he is the wise, the knowing. (XXVII). And Abraham said unto them,
What is your errand, therefore, O messengers of God? They answered, Verily
we are sent unto a wicked people: that we may send down upon them stones
of baked clay, marked from thy Lord, for the destruction of transgressors.
And we brought forth the true believers who were in the city: but we found
not therein more than one family of Moslems. And we overthrew the same,
and left a sign therein unto those who dread the severe chastisement of
God. In Moses also was a sign: when we sent him unto Pharaoh with manifest
power. But he turned back with his princes, saying, That man is a sorcerer
or a madman. Wherefore we took him and his forces, and cast them into the
sea: and he was one worthy of reprehension. And in the tribe of Ad also
was a sign when we sent against them a destroying wind; it touched not
aught, whereon it came, but it rendered the same as a thing rotten and
reduced to dust. In Thamud likewise was a sign; when it was said unto them,
Enjoy yourselves for a time. But they insolently transgressed the command
of their Lord: wherefore a terrible noise from heaven assailed them, while
they looked on; and they were not able to stand on their feet, neither
did they save themselves from destruction. And the people of Noah did we
destroy before these: for they were a people who enormously transgressed.
We have built the heaven with might; and we have given it a large extent:
and we have stretched forth the earth beneath; and how evenly have we spread
the same! And of everything have we created two kinds, that peradventure
ye may consider. Fly, therefore, unto God; verily I am a public warner
unto you, from him. And set not up another god with the true God: verily
I am a public warner unto you, from him. In like manner there came no apostle
unto their predecessors, but they said, This man is a magician or a madman.
Have they bequeathed this behavior successively the one to the other? Yea;
they are a people who enormously transgress. Wherefore withdraw from them;
and thou shalt not be blameworthy in so doing. Yet continue to admonish:
for admonition profiteth the true believers. I have not created genii and
men for any other end than that they should serve me. I require not any
sustenance from them; neither will I that they feed me. Verily God is he
who provideth for creatures; possessed of mighty power. Unto those who
shall injure our apostle shall be given a portion like unto the portion
of those who behaved like them in times past; and they shall not wish the
same to be hastened. Woe, therefore, to the unbelievers, because of day
with which they are threatened!
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