The Koran
CHAPTER XLII.
ENTITLED, CONSULTATION; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
H. M. A. S. K. Thus doth the mighty, the wise God, reveal his will unto
thee; and in like manner did he reveal it unto the prophets who were before
thee. Unto him belongeth whatever is in heaven and in earth; and he is
the high, the great God. It wanteth little but that the heavens be rent
in sunder from above; at the awfulness of his majesty: the angels celebrate
the praise of their Lord, and ask pardon for those who dwell in the earth.
Is not God the forgiver of sins, the merciful? But as to those who take
other gods for their patrons, besides him, God observeth their actions:
for thou art not a steward over them. Thus have we revealed unto thee an
Arabic Koran, that thou mayest warn the metropolis of Mecca, and the Arabs
who dwell round about it; and mayest threaten them with the day of the
general assembly, of which there is no doubt: one part shall then be placed
in paradise, and another part in hell. If God had pleased, he had made
them all of one religion: but he leadeth whom he pleaseth into his mercy;
and the unjust shall have no patron or helper. Do they take other patrons
besides him? whereas God is the only true patron: he quickeneth the dead;
and he is almighty. Whatever matter ye disagree about, the decision thereof
appertaineth unto God. This is God, my Lord: in him do I trust, and unto
him do I turn me; the Creator of heaven and earth: he hath given you wives
of your own species, and cattle both male and female; by which means he
multiplieth you: there is nothing like him; and it is he who heareth and
seeth. His are the keys of heaven and earth: he bestoweth provision abundantly
on whom he pleaseth, and he is sparing unto whom he pleaseth; for he knoweth
all things. He hath ordained you the religion which he commanded Noah,
and which we have revealed unto thee, O Mohammed, and which we commanded
Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus: saying, Observe this religion, and be not
divided therein. The worship of one God, to which thou invitest them, is
grievous unto the unbelievers: God will elect hereto whom he pleaseth,
and will direct unto the same him who shall repent. Those who lived in
times past were not divided among themselves, until after that the knowledge
of God's unity had come unto them; through their own perverseness; and
unless a previous decree had passed from thy Lord, to bear with them till
a determined time, verily the matter had been decided between them by the
destruction of the gainsayers. They who have inherited the scriptures after
them, are certainly in a perplexing doubt concerning the same. Wherefore
invite them to receive the sure faith, and be urgent with them, as thou
hast been commanded; and follow not their vain desires: and say, I believe
in all the scriptures which God hath sent down; and I am commanded to establish
justice among you: God is our Lord and your Lord: unto us will our works
he imputed, and unto you will your works be imputed: let there be no wrangling
between us and you; for God will assemble us all at the last day, and unto
him shall we return. As to those who dispute concerning God, after obedience
hath been paid him by receiving his religion, their disputing shall be
vain in the sight of their Lord; and wrath shall fall on them, and they
shall suffer a grievous punishment. It is God who hath sent down the scripture
with truth; and the balance of true judgment: and what shall inform thee
whether the hour be nigh at hand? They who believe not therein, wish it
to be hastened, by way of mockery: but they who believe dread the same,
and know it to be the truth. Are not those who dispute concerning the last
hour in a wide error? God is bounteous unto his servants: he provideth
for whom he pleaseth; and he is the strong, the mighty. Whoso chooseth
the tillage of the life to come, unto him will we give increase in his
tillage: and whoso chooseth the tillage of this world, we will give him
the fruit thereof; but he shall have no part in the life to come. Have
the idolaters deities which ordain them a religion which God hath not allowed?
But had it not been for the decree of respiting their punishment to the
day of separating the infidels from the true believers, judgment had been
already given between them: for the unjust shall surely suffer a painful
torment. On that day thou shalt see the unjust in great terror, because
of their demerits; and the penalty thereof shall fall upon them: but they
who believe and do good works, shall dwell in the delightful meadows of
paradise; they shall obtain whatever they shall desire, with their Lord.
This is the greatest acquisition. This is what God promiseth unto his servants
who believe and do good works. Say, I ask not of you, for this my preaching,
any reward, except the love of my relations: and whoever shall have deserved
well by one good action, unto him will we add the merit of another action
thereto; for God is inclined to forgive, and ready to reward. Do they say,
Mohammed hath blasphemously forged a lie concerning God? If God pleaseth,
he will seal up thy heart: and God will absolutely abolish vanity, and
will establish the truth in his words; for he knoweth the innermost parts
of men’s breasts. It is he who accepteth repentance from his servants,
and forgiveth sins, and knoweth that which ye do. He will incline his ear
unto those who believe and work righteousness, and will add unto them above
what they shall ask or deserve, of his bounty: but the unbelievers shall
suffer a severe punishment. If God should bestow abundance upon his servants,
they would certainly behave insolently in the earth: but he sendeth down
by measure unto every one that which he pleaseth; for he well knoweth and
seeth the condition of his servants. It is he who sendeth down the rain,
after men have despaired thereof, and spreadeth abroad his mercy; and he
is the patron justly to be praised. Among his signs is the creation of
heaven and earth; and of the living creatures with which he hath replenished
them both; and he is able to gather them together before his tribunal whenever
he pleaseth. Whatever misfortune befalleth you is sent you by God, for
that which your hands have deserved; and yet he forgiveth many things:
ye shall not frustrate the divine vengeance in the earth; neither shall
ye have any protector or helper against God. Among his signs also are the
ships running in the sea, like high mountains: if he pleaseth, he causeth
the wind to cease, and they lie still on the back of the water (verily
herein are signs, unto every patient and grateful person): or he destroyeth
them by shipwreck, because of that which their crews have merited; though
he pardoneth many things. And they who dispute against our signs shall
know that there will be no way for them to escape our vengeance. Whatever
things are given you, they are the provision of this present life: but
the reward which is with God is better and more durable, for those who
believe and put their trust in their Lord; and who avoid heinous and filthy
crimes, and when they are angry, forgive; and who hearken unto their Lord,
and are constantly at prayer, and whose affairs are directed by consultation
among themselves, and who give alms out of what we have bestowed on them;
and who, when an injury is done them, avenge themselves (and the retaliation
of evil ought to be an evil proportionate thereto): but he who forgiveth,
and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall receive his reward from God; for
he loveth not the unjust doers. And whoso shall avenge himself, after he
hath been injured; as to these, it is not lawful to punish them for it:
but it is only lawful to punish those who wrong men, and act insolently
in the earth, against justice; these shall suffer a grievous punishment.
And whoso beareth injuries patiently, and forgiveth; verily this is a necessary
work. Whom God shall cause to err, he shall afterwards have no protector.
And thou shalt see the ungodly, who shall say, when they behold the punishment
prepared for them, Is there no way to return back into the world? And thou
shalt see them exposed unto hell fire; dejected, because of the ignominy
they shall undergo: they shall look at the fire sideways and by stealth;
and the true believers shall say, Verily the losers are they who have lost
their own souls, and their families, on the day of resurrection: shall
not the ungodly continue in eternal torment? They shall have no protectors
to defend them against God: and whom God shall cause to err, he shall find
no way to the truth. Hearken unto your Lord, before the day come, which
God will not keep back: ye shall have no place of refuge on that day; neither
shall you be able to deny your sins. But if those to whom thou preachest
turn aside from thy admonitions, verily we have not sent thee to be a guardian
over them: thy duty is preaching only. When we cause man to taste mercy
from us, he rejoiceth thereat: but if evil befall them, for that which
their hands have formerly committed, verily man becometh ungrateful. Unto
God appertaineth the kingdom of heaven and earth: he createth that which
he pleaseth; he giveth females unto whom he pleaseth, and he giveth males
unto whom he pleaseth; or he giveth the males and females jointly: and
he maketh whom he pleaseth to be childless; for he is wise and powerful.
It is not fit for man that God should speak unto him otherwise than by
private revelation, or from behind a veil, or by his sending of a messenger
to reveal, by his permission, that which he pleaseth; for he is high and
wise. Thus have we revealed unto thee a revelation, by our command. Thou
didst not understand, before this, what the book of the Koran was, nor
what the faith was: but we have ordained the same for a light; we will
thereby direct such of our servants as we please: and thou shalt surely
direct them into the right way, the way of God, unto whom belongeth whatever
is in heaven and in earth. Shall not all things return unto God?
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