THE KORAN

Sura 13 - THUNDER

MECCA - 43 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Mim. Ra.¹ These, the signs of the Book! And that which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the very truth: But the greater part of men will not believe.

It is God who hath reared the Heavens without pillars thou canst behold; then mounted his throne, and imposed laws on the sun and moon: each travelleth to its appointed goal. He ordereth all things. He maketh his signs clear, that ye may have firm faith in a meeting with your Lord.

And He it is who hath outstretched the earth, and placed on it the firm mountains, and rivers: and of every fruit He hath placed on it two kinds: He causeth the night to enshroud the day. Verily in this are signs for those who reflect.

And on the earth hard by each other are its various portions: gardens of grapes and corn, and palm trees single or clustered. Though watered by the same water, yet some make we more excellent as food than other: Verily in all this are signs for those who understand.

If ever thou dost marvel, marvellous surely is their saying, ‘What! when we have become dust, shall we be restored in a new creation?’

These are they who in their Lord believe not: these! the collars shall be on their necks; and these shall be inmates of the fire, to abide therein for aye.

To hasten evil rather than good will they challenge thee: but, before their time have been like examples. Full, truly, of mercy is thy Lord unto men, despite their sins; but verily, thy Lord is right vehement to punish.

And they who believe not say: ‘If a sign from his Lord be not sent down to him . . .!’ Thou art a warner only. And every people hath its guide.

God knoweth the burden of every female, and how much their wombs lessen and enlarge: with Him everything is by measure:

Knower of the Hidden and the Manifest! the Great! the Most High!

Alike to Him is that person among you who concealeth his words, and he that telleth them abroad: he who hideth him in the night, and he who cometh forth in the day.

Each hath a succession of Angels before him and behind him, who watch over him by God’s behest. Verily, God will not change his gifts to men, till they change what is in themselves: and when God willeth evil unto men, there is none can turn it away, nor have they any protector beside Him.

He it is who maketh the lightning to shine unto you; for fear and hope: and who bringeth up the laden clouds.

And the THUNDER uttereth his praise, and the Angels also, for awe of Him: and he sendeth his bolts and smiteth with them whom he will² while they are wrangling about God! Mighty is he in prowess.

Prayer is His of right: but these deities to whom they pray beside Him give them no answer, otherwise than as he is answered who stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may reach his mouth, when it cannot reach it! The prayer of the Infidels only wandereth, and is lost.

And unto God doth all in the Heavens and on the Earth bow down in worship, willingly or by constraint: their very shadows also morn and even!

SAY: Who is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth? SAY: God. SAY: Why then have ye taken beside Him protectors, who even for their own selves have no power for help or harm? SAY: What! shall the blind and the seeing be held equal? Shall the darkness and the light be held equal? Or have they given associates to God who have created as He hath created, so that their creation appear to them like His? SAY: God is the Creator of all things! He is the One! the Conquering!

He sendeth down the rain from Heaven: then flow the torrents in their due measure, and the flood beareth along a swelling foam. And from the metals which are molten in the fire for the sake of ornaments or utensils, a like scum ariseth. In this way doth God depict (set forth) truth and falsehood. As to the foam, it is quickly gone: and as to what is useful to man, it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God set forth comparisons! To those who respond to their Lord shall be an excellent reward; but those who respond not to his call, had they all that the earth containeth twice over, they would surely give it for their ransom. Evil their reckoning! and Hell their home! And wretched the bed!

Shall he then who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, act like him who is blind? Men of insight only will bear this in mind,

Who fulfil their pledge to God, and break not their compact:

And who join together what God hath bidden to be joined, and who fear their Lord, and dread an ill reckoning;

And who, from desire to see the face of their Lord, are constant amid trials, and observe prayer and give alms, in secret and openly, out of what we have bestowed upon them, and turn aside evil by good: for these is the recompense of that abode,

Gardens of Eden — into which they shall enter together with the just of their fathers, and their wives, and their descendants: and the angels shall go in unto them at every portal:

‘Peace be with you!’ say they, ‘because ye have endured all things!’ Charming the recompense of their abode!

But those who, after having contracted it, break their covenant with God, and cut asunder what God hath bidden to be united, and commit misdeeds on the earth, these, a curse awaiteth them, and an ill abode!

God is open-handed with supplies to whom he will, or is sparing. They rejoice in the life that now is, but this present life is but a passing good, in respect of the life to come!³

And they who believe not say, ‘Unless a sign be sent down to him from his Lord. . .’ SAY: God truly will mislead whom he will; and He will guide to Himself him who turneth to Him,

Those who believe, and whose hearts rest securely on the thought of God. What! Shall not men’s hearts repose in the thought of God? They who believe and do the things that be right — blessedness awaiteth them, and a goodly home.

Thus have we sent thee to a people whom other peoples have preceded, that thou mightest rehearse to them our revelations to thee. Yet they believe not on the God of Mercy.⁴ SAY: He is my Lord. There is no God but He. In Him do I put my trust. To Him must I return.

If there were a Koran by which the mountains could be set in motion, or the earth cleft, or the dead be made to speak. . .! But all sovereignty is in the hands of God. Do then believers doubt⁵ that had He pleased God would certainly have guided all men aright?

Misfortune shall not cease to light on the unbelievers for what they have done, or to take up its abode hard by their dwellings, until the threat of God come to pass. Verily, God will not fail his plighted word.

Before thee indeed have apostles been mocked at; but though I bore long with the unbelievers, at last I seized upon them;— and how severe was my punishment!

Who is it then that is standing over every soul to mark its actions? Yet have they set up associates with God. SAY: Name them. What! Would ye inform God of that which He knoweth not on the Earth? Or are they not a mere empty name? But prepared of old for the infidels was this fraud of theirs; and they are turned aside from the path; and whom God causeth to err, no guide shall there be for him!

Chastisement awaiteth them in this present life, and more grievous shall be the chastisement of the next: and none shall screen them from God.

A picture of the Paradise which God hath promised to them that fear Him. The rivers flow beneath its bowers: its food and its shades are perpetual. This is the reward of those who fear God; but the reward of the unbelievers is the Fire.

They to whom we have given the Book rejoice⁶ in what hath been sent down to thee; yet some are banded together who deny a part of it. SAY: I am commanded to worship God, and not to associate any creature with Him. On Him do I call, and to Him shall I return.

Thus, then, as a code in the Arabic tongue have we sent down the Koran; and truly, if after the knowledge that hath reached thee thou follow their desires, thou shalt have no guardian nor protector against God.

Apostles truly have we already sent before thee, and wives and offspring have we given them. Yet no apostle had come with miracles unless by the leave of God. To each age its Book.

What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm: for with Him is the source of revelation.⁷

Moreover, whether we cause thee to see the fulfilment of part of our menaces, or whether we take thee hence, verily, thy work is preaching only, and ours to take account.

See they not that we come into their land and cut short its borders?⁸ God pronounceth a doom, and there is none to reverse his doom. And swift is He to take account.

Those who lived before them made plots: but all plotting is controlled by God: He knoweth the works of every one, and the infidels shall know whose will be the recompense of the abode.

The infidels, moreover, will say; Thou art not sent of God. SAY: God is witness enough betwixt me and you, and, whoever hath knowledge of the Book.

Sura 14 - ABRAHAM, ON WHOM BE PEACE

MECCA - 52 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Ra. This Book have we sent down to thee that by their Lord’s permission thou mayest bring men out of darkness into light, into the path of the Mighty, the Glorious—

Of God; to whom belongeth whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is on the Earth: and woe! for their terrible punishment, to the infidels,

Who love the life that now is, above that which is to come, and mislead from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked. These are in a far-gone error.

And in order that He might speak plainly to them, we have not sent any Apostle, save with the speech of his own people; but God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will he guideth: and He is the mighty, the Wise.

Of old did we send Moses with our signs: and said to him, ‘Bring forth thy people from the darkness into the light, and remind them of the days of God.’ Verily, in this are signs for every patient, grateful person:

When Moses said to his people, ‘Remember the kindness of God to you, when he rescued you from the family of Pharaoh who laid on you a cruel affliction, slaughtering your male children, and suffering only your females to live.’ In this was a sore trial from your Lord—

And when your Lord caused it to be heard that, ‘If we render thanks then will I surely increase you more and more: but if ye be thankless . . .Verily, right terrible my chastisement.’

And Moses said, ‘If ye and all who are on the Earth be thankless, yet truly God is passing Rich, and worthy of all praise.’

Hath not the story reached you of those who were before you, the people of Noah, and Ad, and Themoud,

And of those who lived after them? None knoweth them but God. When their prophets came to them with proofs of their mission, they put their hands on their mouths and said, ‘In sooth, we believe not your message; and in sooth, of that to which you bid us, we are in doubt, as of a thing suspicious.’

Their prophets said: ‘Is there any doubt concerning God, maker of the Heavens and of the Earth, who calleth you that He may pardon your sins, and respite you until an appointed time?’

They said, ‘Ye are but men like us: fain would ye turn us from our fathers’ worship. Bring us therefore some clear proof.’

Their Apostles said to them, ‘We are indeed but men like you. But God bestoweth favors on such of his servants as he pleaseth, and it is not in our power to bring you any special proof,

But by the leave of God. In God therefore let the faithful trust.

And why should we not put our trust in God, since He hath already guided us in our ways. We will certainly bear with constancy the harm you would do to us. In God let the trustful trust.’

And they who believed not said to their Apostles, ‘Forth from our land will we surely drive you, or, to our religion shall ye return.’ Then their Lord revealed to them, ‘We will certainly destroy the wicked doers,

And we shall certainly cause you to dwell in the land after them. This for him who dreadeth the appearance at my judgment-seat and who dreadeth my menace!’

Then sought they help from God, and every proud rebellious one perished:

Hell is before him: and of tainted water shall he be made to drink:

He shall sup it and scarce swallow it for loathing; and Death shall assail him on every side, but he shall not die: and before him shall be seen a grievous torment.

A likeness of those who believe not in their Lord. Their works are like ashes which the wind scattereth on a stormy day: no advantage shall they gain from their works. This is the far-gone wandering.

Seest thou not that in truth¹ hath God created the Heavens and the Earth? Were such his pleasure He could make you pass away, and cause a new creation to arise.

And this would not be hard for God.

All mankind shall come forth before God; and the weak shall say to the men of might, ‘Verily, we were your followers: will ye not then relieve us of some part of the vengeance of God?’

They shall say, ‘If God had guided us, we surely had guided you. It is now all one whether we be impatient, or endure with patience. We have no escape.’

And after doom hath been given, Satan shall say, ‘Verily, God promised you a promise of truth: I, too, made you a promise, but I deceived you. Yet I had no power over you:

But I only called you and ye answered me. Blame not me then, but blame yourselves: I cannot aid you, neither can ye aid me. I never believed that I was His equal with whom ye joined me.’² As for the evil doers, a grievous torment doth await them.

But they who shall have believed and done the things that be right, shall be brought into gardens beneath which the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for ever by the permission of their Lord: their greeting therein shall be ‘Peace.’

Seest thou not to what God likeneth a good word? To a good tree:³ its root firmly fixed, and its branches in the Heaven:

Yielding its fruit in all seasons by the will of its Lord. God setteth forth these similitudes to men that haply they may reflect.

And an evil word is like an evil tree torn up from the face of the earth, and without strength to stand.

Those who believe shall God stablish by his steadfast word both in this life and in that which is to come: but the wicked shall He cause to err: God doth his pleasure.

Hast thou not beholden those who repay the goodness of God with infidelity, and sink their people into the abode of perdition—

Hell? Therein shall they be burned; and wretched the dwelling!

They set up compeers with God in order to mislead man from his way. SAY: Enjoy your pleasures yet awhile, but assuredly, your going hence shall be into the fire.

Speak to my servants who have believed, that they observe prayer, and give alms of that with which we have supplied them, both privately and openly, ere the day come when there shall be neither traffic nor friendship.

It is God who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and sendeth down water from the Heaven, and so bringeth forth the fruits for your food: And He hath subjected to you the ships, so that by His command, they pass through the sea; and He hath subjected the rivers to you: and He hath subjected to you the sun and the moon in their constant courses: and He hath subjected the day and the night to you: of everything which ye ask Him, giveth He to you; and if ye would reckon up the favors of God, ye cannot count them! Surely man is unjust, ungrateful!

ABRAHAM said, ‘O Lord make this land secure, and turn aside me and my children from serving idols:

For many men, O my Lord, have they led astray. But whosoever shall follow me, he truly shall be of me; and whosoever shall disobey me. . .Thou truly art Gracious, Merciful.

O our Lord! verily I have settled some of my offspring in an unfruitful valley, nigh to thy holy house;⁴ O our Lord, that they may strictly observe prayer! Make thou therefore the hearts of men to yearn towards them, and supply them with fruits that they may be thankful.

O our Lord! thou truly knowest what we hide and what we bring to light; nought on earth or in heaven is hidden from God. Praise be to God who hath given me, in my old age, Ismael and Isaac! My Lord is the hearer of prayer.

Lord! grant that I and my posterity may observe prayer. O our Lord! and grant this my petition. O our Lord! forgive me and my parents and the faithful, on the day wherein account shall be taken.’

Think thou not that God is regardless of the deeds of the wicked. He only respiteth them to the day on which all eyes shall stare up with terror:

They hasten forward in fear; their heads upraised in supplication; their looks riveted; and their hearts a blank. Warn men therefore of the day when the punishment shall overtake them,

And when the evil doers shall say, ‘O our Lord! respite us yet a little while:⁵

To thy call will we make answer; thine Apostles will we follow.’ ‘Did ye not once swear that no change should befall you?

Yet ye dwelt in the dwellings of those⁶ who were the authors of their undoing⁷ and it was made plain to you how we had dealt with them; and we held them up to you as examples. They plotted their plots: but God could master their plots, even though their plots had been so powerful as to move the mountains.’

Think not then that God will fail his promise to his Apostles: aye! God is mighty, and Vengeance is His.

On the day when the Earth shall be changed into another Earth, and the Heavens also, men shall come forth unto God, the Only, the Victorious.

And thou shalt see the wicked on that day linked together in chains—

Their garments of pitch, and fire shall enwrap their faces — that God may reward every soul as it deserveth; verily God is prompt to reckon.

This is a message for mankind, that they may thereby be warned: and that they may know that there is but one God; and that men of understanding may ponder it.

Sura 15 - HEDJR¹

MECCA - 99 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Ra.² These are the signs of the Book, and of a lucid recital [Koran].

Many a time will the infidels wish that they had been Muslims.

Let them feast and enjoy themselves, and let hope beguile them: but they shall know the truth at last.

We never destroyed a city whose term was not perfixed:³

No people can forestall or retard its destiny.

They say: ‘O thou to whom the warning hath been sent down, thou art surely possessed by a djinn:

Wouldst thou not have come to us with the angels, if thou wert of those who assert the truth?’

— We will not send down the angels without due cause.⁴ The Infidels would not in that case have been respited.

Verily, We have sent down the warning, and verily, We will be its guardian;

And already have We sent Apostles, before thee, among the sects of the ancients;

But never came Apostles to them whom they did not deride.

In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners of Mecca to do the same:

They will not believe on him though the example of those of old hath gone before.

Even were We to open above them a gate in Heaven, yet all the while they were mounting up to it,

They would surely say: It is only that our eyes are drunken: nay, we are a people enchanted.

We have set the signs of the zodiac⁵ in the Heavens, and adorned and decked them forth for the beholders,

And We guard them from every stoned⁶ Satan,

Save such as steal a hearing:⁷ and him doth a visible flame pursue.

And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced measure:

And We have provided therein sustenance for you, and for the creatures which not ye sustain:

And no one thing is there, but with Us are its storehouses; and We send it not down but in settled measure:

And We send forth the fertilizing winds, and cause the rain to come down from the heaven, and give you to drink of it; and it is not ye who are its storers:

And We cause to live and We cause to die,⁸ and We are the heir of all things:

We know those of you who flourish first and We know those who come later:

And truly thy Lord will gather them together again, for He is Wise, Knowing.

We created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded;

And the djinn had We before created of subtle fire.

Remember when thy Lord said to the Angels, ‘I create man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded:

And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of my spirit into him, then fall ye down and worship him.’

And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all of together,

Save Eblis: he refused to be with those who bowed in worship.

‘O Eblis,’⁹ said God, ‘wherefore art thou not with those who bow down in worship?’

He said, ‘It beseemeth not me to bow in worship to man whom thou hast created of clay, of moulded loam.’

He said, ‘Begone then hence; thou art a stoned one,’¹⁰

And the curse shall be on thee till the day of reckoning.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! respite me till the day when man shall be raised from the dead.’

He said, ‘One then of the respited shalt thou be

Till the day of the predestined time.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! because thou hast beguiled me, I will surely make all fair seeming to them¹¹ on the earth; I will surely beguile them all;

Except such of them as shall be thy sincere servants.’

He said, ‘This is the right way with me;

For over none of my servants shalt thou have power, save those beguiled ones who shall follow thee.’

And verily, Hell is the promise for them one and all.

It hath seven Portals;¹² at each Portal is a separate band of them;

But ’mid gardens and fountains shall the pious dwell:

‘Enter ye therein in peace, secure —’

And all rancor will We remove from their bosoms: they shall sit as brethren, face to face, on couches:

Therein no weariness shall reach them, nor forth from it shall they be cast for ever.

Announce to my servants that I am the Gracious, the Merciful,

And that my chastisement is the grievous chastisement.

And tell them of Abraham’s guests.

When they entered in unto him, and said, ‘Peace.’ ‘Verily,’ said he, ‘We fear you.’

They said, ‘Fear not, for of a sage son we bring thee tidings.’

He said, ‘Bring ye me such tidings now that old age hath come upon me? What, therefore, are your tidings really?’

They said, ‘We announce them to thee in very truth. Be not then one of the despairing.’

‘And who,’ said he, ‘despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they who err?’

He said, ‘What is your business then, O ye Sent Ones?’

They said, ‘We are sent unto a people who are sinners,

Except the family of Lot, whom verily we will rescue all,

Except his wife. We have decreed that she shall be of those who linger.’

And when the Sent Ones came to the family of Lot

He said, ‘Ye are persons unknown to me.’

They said, ‘Yes; but we have come to thee for a purpose about which thy people doubt:

We have come to thee with very truth, and we are truthful envoys.

Lead forth therefore thy family in the dead of the night; follow thou on their rear: and let no one of you turn round, but pass ye on whither ye are bidden.’

And this command we gave him because to the last man should these people be cut off at morning.

Then came the people of the city rejoicing at the news¹³ —

He said, ‘These are my guests: therefore disgrace me not.

And fear God and put me not to shame.’

They said, ‘Have we not forbidden thee to entertain any one whatever?’¹⁴

He said, ‘Here are my daughters, if ye will thus act.’

As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered in the drunkenness of their lust.

So a tempest overtook them at their sunrise,

And we turned the city upside down, and we rained stones of baked clay upon them.

Verily, in this are signs for those who scan heedfully;

And these cities lay on the high road.¹⁵

Verily, in this are signs for the faithful.

The inhabitants also of El Aika¹⁶ were sinners:

So we took vengeance on them, and they both became a plain example.

And the people of HEDJR treated God’s messengers as liars.

And we brought forth our signs to them, but they drew back from them:

And they hewed them out abodes in the mountains to secure them:

But a tempest surprised them at early morn,

And their labors availed them nothing.

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that between them is, but for a worthy end.¹⁷ And verily, ‘the hour’ shall surely come. Wherefore do thou, Muhammad, forgive with kindly forgiveness,

For thy Lord! He is the Creator, the Wise.

We have already given thee the seven verses of repetition¹⁸ and the glorious Koran.

Strain not thine eyes after the good things we have bestowed on some of the unbelievers: afflict not thyself on their account, and lower thy wing to the faithful.¹⁹

And SAY: I am the only plain-spoken warner.

We will punish those who foster divisions,²⁰

Who break up the Koran into parts:

By thy Lord! we will surely take account from them one and all,

Concerning that which they have done.

Profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden,²¹ and withdraw from those who join gods to God.

Verily, We will maintain thy cause against those who deride thee,

Who set up gods with God: and at last shall they know their folly.

Now know We that thy heart is distressed²² at what they say:

But do thou celebrate the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who bow down in worship;

And serve thy Lord till the certainty²³ o’ertake thee.

Sura 16 -THE BEE

MECCA - 128 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The doom of God cometh to pass. Then hasten it not. Glory be to Him! High let Him be exalted above the gods whom they join with Him!

By His own behest will He cause the angels to descend with the Spirit on whom he pleaseth among his servants, bidding them, ‘Warn that there is no God but me; therefore fear me.’

He hath created the Heavens and the Earth to set forth his truth;¹ high let Him be exalted above the gods they join with Him!

Man hath He created from a moist germ;² yet lo! man is an open caviller.

And the cattle! for you hath He created them: in them ye have warm garments and gainful uses; and of them ye eat:

And they beseem you well³ when ye fetch them home and when ye drive them forth to pasture:

And they carry your burdens to lands which ye could not else reach but with travail of soul: truly your Lord is full of goodness, and merciful:

And He hath given you horses, mules, and asses, that ye may ride them, and for your ornament: and things of which ye have no knowledge hath he created.

Of God it is to point out ‘the Way.’ Some turn aside from it: but had He pleased, He had guided you all aright.

It is He who sendeth down rain out of Heaven: from it is your drink; and from it are the plants by which ye pasture.

By it He causeth the corn, and the olives, and the palm-trees, and the grapes to spring forth for you, and all kinds of fruits; verily, in this are signs for those who ponder.

And He hath subjected to you the night and the day; the sun and the moon and the stars too are subjected to you by his behest; verily, in this are signs for those who understand:

And all of varied hues that He hath created for you over the earth: verily, in this are signs for those who remember.

And He it is who hath subjected the sea to you, that ye may eat of its fresh fish, and take forth from it ornaments to wear — thou seest the ships ploughing its billows — and that ye may go in quest of his bounties, and that ye might give thanks.

And He hath thrown firm mountains on the earth, lest it move with you; and rivers and paths for your guidance,

And way marks. By the stars too are men guided.

Shall He then who hath created be as he who hath not created? Will ye not consider?

And if ye would reckon up the favors of God, ye could not count them. Aye! God is right Gracious, Merciful!

And God knoweth what ye conceal, and what ye bring to light,

While the gods whom they call on beside God, create nothing, but are themselves created:

Dead are they, lifeless! and they know not

When they shall be raised!

Your God is the one God: and they who believe not in a future life, have hearts given to denial, and are men of pride:—

Beyond a doubt God knoweth what they conceal and what they manifest:—

He truly loveth not the men of pride.

For when it is said to them, ‘What is this your Lord hath sent down?’ they say, ‘Fables of the ancients,’—

That on the day of resurrection they may bear their own entire burden, and the burden of those whom they, in their ignorance, misled. Shall it not be a grievous burden for them?

They who were before them did plot of old. But God attacked their building at its foundation — the roof fell on them from above; and, whence they looked not for it, punishment overtook them:⁴

On the day of resurrection, too, will He shame them. He will say, ‘Where are the gods ye associated with me, the subjects of your disputes?’ They to whom ‘the knowledge’ hath been given will say, Verily, this day shall shame and evil fall upon the infidels.

The sinners against their own souls whom the angels shall cause to die will proffer the submission, ‘No evil have we done.’ Nay! God knoweth what ye have wrought:

Enter ye therefore the gates of Hell to remain therein for ever: and horrid the abiding place of the haughty ones!

But to those who have feared God it shall be said, ‘What is this that your Lord hath awarded?’ They shall say, ‘That which is best. To those who do good, a good reward in this present world; but better the mansion of the next, and right pleasant the abode of the God-fearing!’

Gardens of Eden into which they shall enter; rivers shall flow beneath their shades; all they wish for shall they find therein! Thus God rewardeth those who fear Him;

To whom, as righteous persons, the angels shall say, when they receive their souls, ‘Peace be on you! Enter Paradise as the meed of your labors.’

What can the infidels expect but that the angels of death come upon them, or that a sentence of thy Lord take effect? Thus did they who flourished before them. God was not unjust to them, but to their ownselves were they unjust;

And the ill which they had done recoiled upon them, and that which they had scoffed at encompassed them round about.

They who have joined other gods with God say, ‘Had He pleased, neither we nor our fathers had worshipped aught but him; nor should we, apart from him, have forbidden aught.’ Thus acted they who were before them. Yet is the duty of the apostles other than public preaching?

And to every people have we sent an apostle saying:— Worship God and turn away from Taghout.⁵ Some of them there were whom God guided, and there were others decreed to err. But go through the land and see what hath been the end of those who treated my apostles as liars!

If thou art anxious for their guidance, know that God will not guide him whom He would lead astray, neither shall they have any helpers.

And they swear by God with their most sacred oath that ‘God will never raise him who once is dead.’ Nay, but on Him is a promise binding, though most men know it not,—

That He may clear up to them the subject of their disputes, and that the infidels may know that they are liars.

Our word to a thing when we will it, is but to say, ‘Be,’ and it is.⁶

And as to those who when oppressed have fled their country for the sake of God, we will surely provide them a goodly abode in this world, but greater the reward of the next life, did they but know it

They who bear ills with patience and put their trust in the Lord!

None have we sent before thee but men inspired — ask of those who have Books of Monition,⁷ if ye know it not—

With proofs of their mission and Scriptures: and to thee have we sent down this Book of Monition that thou mayest make clear to men what hath been sent down to them, and that they may ponder it.

What! Are they then who have plotted mischiefs, sure that God will not cause the earth to cleave under them? or that a chastisement will not come upon them whence they looked not for it?

Or that He will not seize upon them in their comings and goings, while they shall not be able to resist him?

Or that he will not seize them with some slowly wasting scourge? But verily your Lord is Good, Gracious.

Have they not seen how everything which God hath created turneth its shadow right and left, prostrating itself before God in all abasement?

And all in the Heavens and all on the Earth, each thing that moveth, and the very angels, prostrate them in adoration before God, and are free from pride;

They fear their Lord who is above them, and do what they are bidden:

For God hath said, ‘Take not to yourselves two gods,— for He is one God: me, therefore! yea, me revere!

All in the Heavens and in the Earth is His! His due unceasing service! Will ye then fear any other than God?

And all your blessings are assuredly from God: then, when trouble befalleth you, to Him ye turn for help:

Then when He relieveth you of the trouble, lo! some of you join associates with your Lord:—

To prove how thankless are they for our gifts! Enjoy yourselves then: but in the end ye shall know the truth.

And for idols, of which they know nothing, they set apart a share of our bounties! By God ye shall be called to account for your devices!

And they ascribe daughters unto God! Glory be to Him! But they desire them not for themselves:⁸

For when the birth of a daughter is announced to any one of them, dark shadows settle on his face, and he is sad:

He hideth him from the people because of the ill tidings: shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it in the dust?⁹ Are not their judgments wrong?

To whatever is evil may they be likened who believe not in a future life;¹⁰ but God is to be likened to whatever is loftiest: for He is the Mighty, the Wise.

Should God punish men for their perverse doings, he would not leave on earth a moving thing! but to an appointed term doth He respite them; and when their term is come, they shall not delay or advance it an hour.

Yet what they loathe themselves do they assign to God: and their tongues utter the lie, that theirs shall be a goodly lot. But beyond a doubt is it that the fire awaiteth them, and that they shall be the first sent into it.

By God we have sent Apostles to nations before thee, but Satan prepared their work for them, and this day is he their liege; and a woeful punishment doth await them.

And we have sent down the Book to thee only, that thou mightest clear up to them the subject of their wranglings, and as a guidance and a mercy to those who believe.

And God sendeth down water from Heaven, and by it giveth life to the Earth after it hath been dead; verily, in this is a sign to those who hearken.

Ye have also teaching from the cattle. We give you drink of the pure milk, between dregs and blood, which is in their bellies; the pleasant beverage of them that quaff it.

And among fruits ye have the palm and the vine, from which ye get wine and healthful nutriment: in this, verily, are signs for those who reflect.

And thy Lord hath taught the BEE, saying: ‘Provide thee houses in the mountains, and in the trees, and in the hives which men do build thee:

Feed, moreover, on every kind of fruit, and walk the beaten paths of thy Lord.’ From its belly cometh forth a fluid of varying hues,¹¹ which yieldeth medicine to man. Verily in this is a sign for those who consider.

And God hath created you; by and bye will he take you to himself; and some among you will he carry on to abject old age, when all that once was known is known no longer. Aye, God is Knowing, Powerful.

And God hath abounded to some of you more than to others in the supplies of life; yet they to whom He hath abounded, impart not thereof to the slaves whom their right hands possess, so that they may share alike. What! will they deny, then, that these boons are from God?

God, too, hath given you wives of your own race, and from your wives hath He given you sons and grandsons, and with good things hath he supplied you. What, will they then believe in vain idols? For God’s boons they are ungrateful!

And they worship beside God those who neither out of the Heavens or Earth can provide them a particle of food, and have no power in themselves!

Make no comparisons, therefore, with God.¹² Verily, God hath knowledge, but ye have not.

God maketh comparison between a slave¹³ the property of his lord, who hath no power over anything, and a free man whom we have ourselves supplied with goodly supplies, and who giveth alms therefrom both in secret and openly. Shall they be held equal? No: praise be to God! But most men know it not.

God setteth forth also a comparison between two men, one of whom is dumb from his birth, and hath no power over anything, and is a burden to his lord: send him where he will, he cometh not back with success. Shall he and the man who enjoineth what is just, and keepeth in the straight path, be held equal?

God’s are the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth! and the business of the last hour will be but as the twinkling of an eye, or even less. Yes! for all things is God Potent.

God hath brought you out of your mothers’ wombs devoid of all knowledge; but hath given you hearing, and sight, and heart, that haply ye might render thanks.

Have they never looked up at the birds subjected to Him in Heaven’s vault? None holdeth them in hand but God! In this are signs for those who believe.

And God hath given you tents to dwell in: and He hath given you the skins of beasts for tents, that ye may find them light when ye shift your quarters, or when ye halt; and from their wool and soft fur and hair, hath He supplied you with furniture and goods for temporary use.

And from the things which He hath created, hath God provided shade for you, and hath given you the mountains for places of shelter, and hath given you garments to defend you from the heat, and garments to defend you in your wars. Thus doth He fill up the measure of His goodness towards you, that you may resign yourselves to Him.

But if they turn their backs, still thy office is only plain spoken preaching.

They own the goodness of God — then they disown it — and most of them are infidels.

But one day, we will raise up a witness out of every nation: then shall the infidels have no permission to make excuses, and they shall find no favor.

And when they who have acted thus wrongly shall behold their torment, it shall not be made light to them, nor will God deign to look upon them.

And when they who had joined associates with God shall see those their associate-gods, they shall say, ‘O our Lord! these are our associate-gods whom we called upon beside Thee.’ But they shall retort on them, ‘Verily, ye are liars.’

And on that day shall they proffer submission to God; and the deities of their own invention shall vanish from them.

As for those who were infidels and turned others aside from the way of God, to them we will add punishment on punishment for their corrupt doings.

And one day we will summon up in every people a witness against them from among themselves; and we will bring thee up as a witness against these Meccans: for to thee have we sent down the Book which cleareth up everything, a guidance, and mercy, and glad tidings to those who resign themselves to God (to Muslims).

Verily, God enjoineth justice and the doing of good and gifts to kindred; and he forbiddeth wickedness and wrong and oppression. He warneth you that haply ye may be mindful.

Be faithful in the covenant of God when ye have covenanted, and break not your oaths after ye have pledged them: for now have ye made God to stand surety for you. Verily, God hath knowledge of what ye do.

And, because you are a more numerous people than some other people, be not like her who unravelleth the thread which she had strongly spun, by taking your oaths with mutual perfidy. God is making trial of you in this: and in the day of resurrection he will assuredly clear up to you that concerning which ye are now at variance.

Had God pleased, He could have made you one people: but He causeth whom He will to err, and whom He will He guideth: and ye shall assuredly be called to account for your doings.

Therefore take not your oaths with mutual fraud, lest your foot slip after it hath been firmly fixed, and ye taste of evil because ye have turned others aside from the way of God, and great be your punishment.

And barter not the covenant of God for a mean price; for with God is that which is better for you, if ye do but understand.

All that is with you passeth away, but that which is with God abideth. With a reward meet for their best deeds will we surely recompense those who have patiently endured.

Whoso doeth that which is right, whether male or female, if a believer, him will we surely quicken to a happy life, and recompense them with a reward meet for their best deeds.

When thou readest the Koran, have recourse to God for help against Satan the stoned,¹⁴

For no power hath he over those who believe, and put their trust in their Lord,

But only hath he power over those who turn away from God, and join other deities with Him.

And when we change one (sign) verse for another, and God knoweth best what He revealeth, they say, ‘Thou art only a fabricator.’ Nay! but most of them have no knowledge.

SAY: The Holy Spirit¹⁵ hath brought it down with truth from thy Lord, that He may stablish those who have believed, and as guidance and glad tidings to the Muslims.

We also know that they say, ‘Surely a certain person teacheth him.’ But the tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign,¹⁶ while this Koran is in the plain Arabic.

As for those who believe not in the signs of God, God will not guide them, and a sore torment doth await them.

Surely they invent a lie who believe not in the signs of God — and they are the liars.

Whoso, after he hath believed in God denieth him, if he were forced to it and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, shall be guiltless:¹⁷ but whoso openeth his breast to infidelity — on such shall be wrath from God, and a severe punishment awaiteth them.

This, because they have loved this present life beyond the next, and because God guideth not the unbelievers!

These are they whose hearts and ears and eyes God hath sealed up: these are the careless ones: in the next world shall they perish beyond a doubt.

To those also who after their trials fled their country,¹⁸ then fought and endured with patience, verily, thy Lord will in the end be forgiving, gracious.

On a certain day shall every soul come to plead for itself, and every soul shall be repaid according to its deeds; and they shall not be wronged.

God proposeth the instance of a city,¹⁹ secure and at ease, to which its supplies come in plenty from every side. But she was thankless for the boons of God; God therefore made her taste the woe²⁰ of famine and of fear, for what they had done.

Moreover, an apostle of their own people came to them, and they treated him as an impostor. So chastisement overtook them because they were evil doers.

Of what God hath supplied you eat the lawful and good, and be grateful for the favors of God, if ye are his worshippers.

Forbidden to you is that only which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine’s flesh, and that which hath been slain in the name of any other than God: but if any be forced, and neither lust for it nor wilfully transgress, then verily God is forgiving, gracious.²¹

And say not with a lie upon your tongue, ‘This is lawful and this is forbidden:’ for so will ye invent a lie concerning God: but they who invent a lie of God shall not prosper:

Brief their enjoyment, but sore their punishment!

To the Jews²² we have forbidden that of which we before told thee; we injured them not, but they injured themselves.

To those who have done evil in ignorance, then afterwards have repented and amended, verily thy Lord is in the end right gracious, merciful.

Verily, Abraham was a leader in religion:²³ obedient to God, sound in faith:²⁴ he was not of those who join gods with God.

Grateful was he for His favors: God chose him and guided him to the straight way;

And we bestowed on him good things in this world: and in the world to come he shall be among the just.

We have moreover revealed to thee that thou follow the religion of Abraham, the sound in faith. He was not of those who join gods with God.

The Sabbath was only ordained for those who differed about it: and of a truth thy Lord will decide between them on the day of resurrection as to the subject of their disputes.

Summon thou to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and with kindly warning: dispute with them in the kindest manner: thy Lord best knoweth those who stray from his way, and He best knoweth those who have yielded to his guidance.

If ye make reprisals,²⁵ then make them to the same extent that ye were injured: but if ye can endure patiently, best will it be for the patiently enduring.

Endure then with patience. But thy patient endurance must be sought in none but God. And be not grieved about the infidels, and be not troubled at their devices; for God is with those who fear him and do good deeds.

Sura 17 - THE NIGHT JOURNEY

MECCA¹ - 111 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Glory be to Him who carried his servant by night² from the sacred temple of Mecca to the temple³ that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed, that we might show him of our signs! for He is the Hearer, the Seer.

And⁴ we gave the Book to Moses and ordained it for guidance to the children of Israel — ‘that ye take no other Guardian than me.’

O posterity of those whom we bare with Noah! He truly was a grateful servant!

And we solemnly declared to the children of Israel in the Book, ‘Twice surely will ye enact crimes in the earth, and with great loftiness of pride will ye surely be uplifted.’

So when the menace for the first crime⁵ came to be inflicted, we sent against you our servants endued with terrible prowess; and they searched the inmost part of your abodes, and the menace was accomplished.

Then we gave you the mastery over them⁶ in turn, and increased you in wealth and children, and made you a most numerous host.

We said, ‘If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well: and if ye do evil, against yourselves will ye do it. And when the menace for your latter crime⁷ came to be inflicted, then we sent an enemy to sadden your faces, and to enter the temple as they entered it at first, and to destroy with utter destruction that which they had conquered.

Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! but if ye return we wilI return:⁸ and we have appointed Hell — the prison of the infidels.

Verily, this Koran guideth to what is most upright; and it announceth to believers

Who do the things that are right, that for them is a great reward;

And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have got ready a painful punishment.

Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man is hasty.

We have made the night and the day for two signs: the sign of the night do we obscure, but the sign of the day cause we to shine forth, that ye may seek plenty from your Lord, and that ye may know the number of the years and the reckoning of time; and we have made everything distinct by distinctiveness.

And every man’s fate⁹ have we fastened about his neck: and on the day of resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall be proffered to him wide open:

— ‘Read thy Book:¹⁰ there needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.’

For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to his own loss only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall not be laden with another’s load. We never punished until we had first sent an apostle:

And when we willed to destroy a city, to its affluent ones did we address our bidding; but when they acted criminally therein, just was its doom, and we destroyed it with an utter destruction.

And since Noah, how many nations have we exterminated! And of the sins of his servants thy Lord is sufficiently informed, observant.

Whoso chooseth this quickly passing life, quickly will we bestow therein that which we please — even on him we choose; afterwards we will appoint hell for him, in which he shall burn — disgraced, outcast:

But whoso chooseth the next life, and striveth after it as it should be striven for, being also a believer, — these! their striving shall be grateful to God:

To all — both to these and those — will we prolong the gifts of thy Lord; for not to any shall the gifts of thy Lord be denied.

See how we have caused some of them to excel others! but the next life shall be greater in its grades, and greater in excellence

Set not up another god with God, lest thou sit thee down disgraced, helpless.¹¹

Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but him; and, kindness to your parents, whether one or both of them attain to old age with thee: and say not to them, ‘Fie!’ neither reproach them; but speak to them both with respectful speech;

And defer humbly to them¹² out of tenderness; and say, ‘Lord, have compassion on them both, even as they reared me when I was little.’

Your Lord well knoweth what is in your souls; he knoweth whether ye be righteous:

And gracious is He to those who return to Him.

And to him who is of kin render his due, and also to the poor and to the wayfarer; yet waste not wastefully,

For the wasteful are brethren of the Satans, and Satan was ungrateful to his Lord:

But if thou turn away from them, while thou thyself seekest boons from thy Lord for which thou hopest, at least speak to them with kindly speech:

And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; nor yet open it with all openness, lest thou sit thee down in rebuke, in beggary.

Verily, thy Lord will provide with open hand for whom he pleaseth, and will be sparing. His servants doth he scan, inspect.

Kill not your children for fear of want:¹³ for them and for you will we provide. Verily, the killing them is a great wickedness.

Have nought to do with adultery; for it is a foul thing and an evil way:

Neither slay any one whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a just cause: and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, to his heir¹⁴ have we given powers; but let him not outstep bounds in putting the manslayer to death, for he too, in his turn, will be assisted and avenged.

And touch not the substance of the orphan, unless in an upright way, till he attain his age of strength: And perform your covenant; verily the covenant shall be enquired of:

And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with just balance. This will be better, and fairest for settlement:

And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge;¹⁵ because the hearing and the sight and the heart,— each of these shall be enquired of:

And walk not proudly on the earth, for thou canst not cleave the earth, neither shalt thou reach to the mountains in height:

All this is evil; odious to thy Lord.

This is a part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee. Set not up any other god with God, lest thou be cast into HeII, rebuked, cast away.

What! hath your Lord prepared sons for you, and taken for himself daughters from among the angels? Indeed, ye say a dreadful saying.

Moreover, for man’s warning have we varied¹⁶ this Koran: Yet it only increaseth their flight from it.

SAY: If, as ye affirm, there were other gods with Him, they would in that case seek occasion against the occupant of the throne:

Glory to Him! Immensely high is He exalted above their blasphemies!

The seven heavens¹⁷ praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein; neither is there aught which doth not celebrate his praise; but their utterances of praise ye understand not. He is kind, indulgent.

When thou recitest the Koran we place between thee and those who believe not in the life to come, a dark veil;

And we put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it, and in their ears a heaviness;

And when in the Koran thou namest thy One Lord, they turn their backs in flight.

We well know why they hearken, when they hearken unto thee, and when they whisper apart; when the wicked say, ‘Ye follow no other than a man enchanted.’

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they are in error, neither can they find the path.

They also say, ‘After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we in sooth be raised a new creation?’

SAY: ‘Yes, though ye were stones, or iron, or any other creature, to your seeming, yet harder to be raised.’ But they will say, ‘Who shall bring us back?’ SAY: ‘He who created you at first.’ And they will wag their heads at thee, and say, ‘When shall this be?’ SAY: ‘Haply it is nigh.’

On that day shall God call you forth, and ye shall answer by praising Him; and ye shall seem to have tarried but a little while.

Enjoin my servants to speak in kindly sort: Verily Satan would stir up strifes among them, for Satan is man’s avowed foe.

Your Lord well knoweth you: if He please He will have mercy on you; or if He please He will chastise you: and we have not sent thee to be a guardian over them.

Thy Lord hath full knowledge of all in the heavens and the earth. Higher gifts have we given to some of the prophets than to others, and the Psalter we gave to David.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye fancy to be Gods beside Him; yet they will have no power to relieve you from trouble, or to shift it elsewhere.

Those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their Lord,¹⁸ striving which of them shall be nearest to him: they also hope for his mercy and fear his chastisement. Verily the chastisement of thy Lord is to be dreaded.

There is no city which we will not destroy before the day of Resurrection, or chastise it with a grievous chastisement. This is written in the Book.

Nothing hindered us from sending thee with the power of working miracles, except that the peoples of old treated them as lies. We gave to Themoud¹⁹ the she-camel before their very eyes, yet they maltreated her! We send not a prophet with miracles but to strike terror.

And remember when we said to thee, Verily, thy Lord is round about mankind; we ordained the vision²⁰ which we showed thee, and likewise the cursed tree of the Koran, only for men to dispute of; we will strike them with terror; but it shall only increase in them enormous wickedness:

And when we said to the Angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam:’ and they all prostrated them, save Eblis. ‘What!’ said he, ‘shall I bow me before him whom thou hast created of clay?

Seest thou this man whom thou hast honored above me? Verily, if thou respite me till the day of Resurrection, I will destroy his offspring, except a few.’

He said, ‘Begone; but whosoever of them shall follow thee, verily, Hell shall be your recompense; an ample recompense!

And entice such of them as thou canst by thy voice; assault them with thy horsemen and thy footmen;²¹ be their partner in their riches and in their children, and make them promises: but Satan shall make them only deceitful promises.

As to my servants, no power over them shalt thou have; And thy Lord will be their sufficient guardian.’

It is your Lord who speedeth onward the ships for you in the sea, that ye may seek of his abundance; for he is merciful towards you.

When a misfortune befalleth you out at sea, they whom ye invoke are not to be found: God alone is there: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land, ye place yourselves at a distance from Him. Ungrateful is man.

What! are ye sure, then, that he will not cleave the sides of the earth for you? or that he will not send against you a whirlwind charged with sands? Then shall ye find no protector.

Or are ye sure that he will not cause you to put back to sea a second time, and send against you a storm blast, and drown you, for that ye have been thankless? Then shall ye find no helper against us therein.

And now have we honored the children of Adam: by land and by sea have we carried them: food have we provided for them of good things, and with endowments beyond many of our creatures have we endowed them.

One day we will summon all men with their leaders: they whose book shall be given into their right hand, shall read their book, and not be wronged a thread:

And he who has been blind here, shall be blind hereafter, and wander yet more from the way.

And, verily, they had well nigh beguiled thee from what we revealed to thee, and caused thee to invent some other thing in our name: but in that case they would surely have taken thee as a friend;²²

And had we not settled thee, thou hadst well nigh leaned to them a little:

In that case we would surely have made thee taste of woe²³ in life and of woe in death: then thou shouldest not have found a helper against us.

And truly they had almost caused thee to quit the land, in order wholly to drive thee forth from it:²⁴ but then, themselves should have tarried but a little after thee.

This was our way with the Apostles we have already sent before thee, and in this our way thou shalt find no change.

Observe prayer at sunset, till the first darkening of the night, and the daybreak reading — for the daybreak reading hath its witnesses,

And watch unto it in the night: this shall be an excess in service:²⁵ it may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a glorious station:

And say, ‘O my Lord, cause me to enter²⁶ with a perfect entry, and to come forth with a perfect forthcoming, and give me from thy presence a helping power:’

And SAY: Truth is come and falsehood is vanished. Verily, falsehood is a thing that vanisheth.

And we send down of the Koran that which is a healing and a mercy to the faithful: But it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.

When we bestow favors on man, he withdraweth and goeth aside; but when evil toucheth him, he is despairing.

SAY: Every one acteth after his own manner: but your Lord well knoweth who is best guided in his path.

And they will ask thee of the Spirit.²⁷ SAY: The Spirit proceedeth at my Lord’s command: but of knowledge, only a little to you is given.

If we pleased, we could take away what we have revealed to thee: none couldst thou then find thee to undertake thy cause with us,

Save as a mercy from thy Lord; great, verily, is his favor towards thee.

SAY: Verily, were men and Djinn assembled to produce the like of this Koran, they could not produce its like, though the one should help the other.

And of a truth we have set out to men every kind of similitude in this Koran, but most men have refused everything except unbelief.

And they say, ‘By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth;

Or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst;

Or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee;

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou mount up into Heaven; nor will we believe in thy mounting up, till thou send down to us a book which we may read.’ SAY: Praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?

And what hindereth men from believing, when the guidance hath come to them, but that they say, ‘Hath God sent a man as an apostle?’

SAY: Did angels walk the earth as its familiars, we had surely sent them an angel-apostle out of Heaven.

SAY: God is witness enough between you and me. His servants He scanneth, eyeth.

And He whom God shall guide will be guided indeed; and whom he shall mislead thou shalt find none to assist, but Him: and we will gather them together on the day of the resurrection, on their faces, blind and dumb and deaf: Hell shall be their abode: so oft as its fires die down, we will rekindle the flame.

This shall be their reward for that they believed not our signs and said, ‘When we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a new creation?’

Do they not perceive that God, who created the Heavens and the Earth, is able to create their like? And he hath ordained them a term; there is no doubt of it: but the wicked refuse everything except unbelief.

SAY: If ye held the treasures of my Lord’s mercy ye would certainly refrain from them through fear of spending them: for man is covetous.

We therefore gave to Moses nine clear signs. Ask thou, therefore, the children of Israel how it was when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said to him, ‘Verily, I deem thee, O Moses, a man enchanted.’

Said Moses, ‘Thou knowest that none hath sent down these clear signs but the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth; and I surely deem thee, O Pharaoh, a person lost.’

So Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all his followers.

And after his death, we said to the children of Israel, ‘Dwell ye in the land:’ and when the promise of the next life shall come to pass, we will bring you both up together to judgment. In truth have we sent down the Koran, and in truth hath it descended, and we have only sent thee to announce and to warn.

And we have parcelled out the Koran into sections, that thou mightest recite it unto men by slow degrees, and we have sent it down piecemeal.

SAY: Believe ye therein or believe ye not? They verily to whom knowledge had been given previously, fall on their faces worshipping when it is recited to them, and say: ‘Glory be to God! the promise of our Lord is made good!’

They fall down on their faces weeping, and It increaseth their humility.

SAY: Call upon God (Allah),²⁸ or call upon the God of Mercy (Arrahman), by whichsoever ye will invoke him: He hath most excellent names. And be not loud in thy prayer, neither pronounce it too low;²⁹ but between these follow a middle way:

And SAY: Praise be to God who hath not begotten a son, who hath no partner in the Kingdom, nor any protector on account of weakness. And magnify him by proclaiming His greatness.³⁰

Sura 18 - THE CAVE

MECCA - 110 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant, and hath not made it tortuous¹

But direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and announce to the faithful who do the things that are right, that a goodly reward, wherein they shall abide for ever, awaiteth them;

And that it may warn those who say, ‘God hath begotten a Son.’

No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!

And haply, if they believe not in this new revelation, thou wilt slay thyself, on their very footsteps, out of vexation.

Verily, we have made all that is on earth as its adornment, that we might make trial who among mankind would excel in works:

But we are surely about to reduce all that is thereon to dust!

Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al Rakim² were one of our wondrous signs?

When the youths betook them to the cave they said, ‘O our Lord! grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright.’

Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:

Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best reckon the space of their abiding.

We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them;

And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous.

These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though they bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?

So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord will unfold his mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best.’

And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director.

And thou wouldst have deemed them awake,³ though they were sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched.⁴ Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them.

So we awaked them that they might question one another. Said one of them, ‘How long have ye tarried here?’ They said, ‘We have tarried a day or part of a day.’ They said, ‘Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin into the city, and let him mark who therein hath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be courteous, and not discover you to any one.

For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever.’

And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to ‘the Hour’ there is no doubt of its coming. When they disputed among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said, ‘Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about them.’ Those who prevailed in the matter said, ‘A place of worship will we surely raise over them.’

Some say, ‘They were three; their dog the fourth:’ others say, ‘Five; their dog the sixth,’ guessing at the secret: others say, ‘Seven; and their dog the eighth.’ SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know them.

Therefore be clear in thy discussions about them,⁵ and ask not any Christian concerning them.

Say not thou of a thing, ‘I will surely do it to-morrow;’ without, ‘If God will.’⁶ And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, ‘Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness.’

And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.⁷

SAY: God best knoweth how long they tarried: With Him are the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth: Look thou and hearken unto Him alone.⁸ Man hath no guardian but Him, and none may bear part in his judgments:—

And publish what hath been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord — none may change his words,— and thou shalt find no refuge beside Him.

Be patient with those who call upon their Lord at morn and even, seeking his face: and let not thine eyes be turned away from them in quest of the pomp of this life;⁹ neither obey him¹⁰ whose heart we have made careless of the remembrance of Us, and who followeth his own lusts, and whose ways are unbridled.

And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will, believe; and let him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders we have got ready the fire whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they implore help, helped shall they be with water like molten brass which shall scald their faces. Wretched the drink! and an unhappy couch!

But as to those who have believed and done the things that are right,— Verily we will not suffer the reward of him whose works were good, to perish!

For them, the gardens of Eden, under whose shades shall rivers flow: decked shall they be therein with bracelets of gold, and green robes of silk and rich brocade shall they wear, reclining them therein on thrones. Blissful the reward! and a pleasant couch!¹¹

And set forth to them as a parable two men; on one of whom we bestowed two gardens of grape vines, and surrounded both with palm-trees, and placed corn fields between them: Each of the gardens did yield its fruit, and failed not thereof at all:

And we caused a river to flow in their midst: And this man received his fruit, and said, disputing with him, to his companion, ‘More have I than thou of wealth, and my family is mightier.’

And he went into his garden — to his own soul unjust. He said, ‘I do not think that this will ever perish:

And I do not think that “the Hour” will come: and even if I be taken back to my Lord, I shall surely find a better than it in exchange.’

His fellow said to him, disputing with him, ‘What! hast thou no belief in him who created thee of the dust, then of the germs of life,¹² then fashioned thee a perfect man?

But God is my Lord; and no other being will I associate with my Lord.

And why didst thou not say when thou enteredst thy garden, ‘What God willeth! There is no power but in God.’ Though thou seest that I have less than thou of wealth and children,

Yet haply my Lord may bestow on me better than thy garden, and may send his bolts upon it out of Heaven, so that the next dawn shall find it barren dust;

Or its water become deep sunk, so that thou art unable to find it.’

And his fruits were encompassed by destruction. Then began he to turn down the palms of his hands at what he had spent on it; for its vines were falling down on their trellises, and he said, ‘Oh that I had not joined any other god to my Lord!’

And he had no host to help him instead of God, neither was he able to help himself.

Protection in such a case is of God — the Truth: He is the best rewarder, and He bringeth to the best issue.

And set before them a similitude of the present life. It is as water which we send down from Heaven, and the herb of the Earth is mingled with it, and on the morrow it becometh dry stubble which the winds scatter: for God hath power over all things.

Wealth and children are the adornment of this present life: but good works, which are lasting, are better in the sight of thy Lord as to recompense, and better as to hope.

And call to mind the day when we will cause the mountains to pass away,¹³ and thou shalt see the earth a levelled plain, and we will gather mankind together, and not leave of them any one.

And they shall be set before thy Lord in ranks:— ‘Now are ye come unto us as we created you at first: but ye thought that we should not make good to you the promise.’

And each shall have his book put into his hand: and thou shalt see the wicked in alarm at that which is therein: and they shall say, ‘O woe to us! what meaneth this Book? It leaveth neither small nor great unnoted down!’ And they shall find all that they have wrought present to them, and thy Lord will not deal unjustly with any one.

When we said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ they all prostrated them save Eblis, who was of the Djinn,¹⁴ and revolted from his Lord’s behest.— What! will ye then take him and his offspring as patrons rather than Me? and they your enemies? Sad exchange for the ungodly!

I made them not witnesses of the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, nor of their own creation, neither did I take seducers as my helpers.

On a certain day, God shall say, ‘Call ye on the companions ye joined with me, deeming them to be gods:’ and they shall call on them, but they shall not answer them: then will we place a valley of perdition between them:

And the wicked shall see the fire, and shall have a foreboding that they shall be flung into it, and they shall find no escape from it.

And now in this Koran we have presented to man similitudes of every kind: but, at most things is man a caviller.

And what, now that guidance is come to them, letteth men from believing and from asking forgiveness of their Lord — unless they wait till that the doom of the ancients overtake them, or the chastisement come upon them in the sight of the universe?

We send not our Sent Ones but to announce and to warn: but the infidels cavil with vain words in order to refute the truth; and they treat my signs and their own warnings with scorn.

But who is worse than he who when told of the signs of his Lord turneth him away and forgetteth what in time past his hands have wrought? Truly we have thrown veils over their hearts lest they should understand this Koran, and into their ears a heaviness:

And if thou bid them to ‘the guidance’ yet will they not even then be guided ever.

The gracious one, full of compassion, is thy Lord! if he would have chastised them for their demerits he would have hastened their chastisement. But they have a time fixed for the accomplishment of our menaces: and beside God they shall find no refuge.

And those cities did we destroy when they became impious; and of their coming destruction we gave them warning.

Remember when Moses said to his servant, ‘I will not stop till I reach the confluence of the two seas,¹⁵ or for years will I journey on.’

But when they reached their confluence, they forgot their fish, and it took its way in the sea at will.

And when they had passed on, said Moses to his servant, ‘Bring us our morning meal; for now have we incurred weariness from this journey.’

He said, ‘What thinkest thou? When we repaired to the rock for rest I forgot the fish; and none but Satan made me forget it, so as not to mention it; and it hath taken its way in the sea in a wondrous sort.’

He said, ‘It is this we were in quest of.’¹⁶ And they both went back retracing their footsteps.

Then found they one of our servants to whom we had vouchsafed our mercy, and whom we had instructed with our knowledge.

And Moses said to him, ‘Shall I follow thee that thou teach me, for guidance, of that which thou too hast been taught?’

He said, ‘Verily, thou canst not have patience with me;

How canst thou be patient in matters whose meaning thou comprehendest not?’

He said, ‘Thou shalt find me patient if God please, nor will I disobey thy bidding.’

He said, ‘Then, if thou follow me, ask me not of aught until I have given thee an account thereof.’

So they both went on, till they embarked in a ship, and he — the unknown — staved it in. ‘What!’ said Moses, ‘hast thou staved it in that thou mayest drown its crew? a strange thing now hast thou done!’

He said, ‘Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?’

He said, ‘Chide me not that I forgat, nor lay on me a hard command.’

Then went they on till they met a youth, and he slew him. Said Moses, ‘Hast thou slain him who is free from guilt of blood? Now hast thou wrought a grievous thing!’

He said, ‘Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?’

Moses said, ‘If after this I ask thee aught, then let me be thy comrade no longer; but now hast thou my excuse.’

They went on till they came to the people of a city. Of this people they asked food, but they refused them for guests. And they found in it a wall that was about to fall, and he set it upright. Said Moses, ‘If thou hadst wished, for this thou mightest have obtained pay.’

He said, ‘This is the parting point between me and thee. But I will first tell thee the meaning of that which thou couldst not await with patience.

As to the vessel, it belonged to poor men who toiled upon the sea, and I was minded to damage it, for in their rear was a king who seized every ship by force.

As to the youth his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should trouble them by error and infidelity.

And we desired that their Lord might give them in his place a child, better than he in virtue, and nearer to filial piety.

And as to the wall, it belonged to two orphan youths in the city, and beneath it was their treasure: and their father was a righteous man: and thy Lord desired that they should reach the age of strength, and take forth their treasure through the mercy of thy Lord. And not of mine own will have I done this.This is the interpretation of that which thou couldst not bear with patience.’

They will ask thee of Dhoulkarnain [the two-horned¹⁷]. SAY: I will recite to you an account of him.

We stablished his power upon the earth, and made for him a way to everything. And a route he followed,

Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it to set in a miry fount; and hard by he found a people.

We said, ‘O Dhoulkarnain! either chastise or treat them generously.’

‘The impious,’ said he, ‘will we surely chastise;’ then shall he be taken back to his Lord, and he will chastise him with a grievous chastisement.

But as to him who believeth and doeth that which is right, he shall have a generous recompense, and we will lay on them our easy behests.

Then followed he a route

Until when he reached the rising of the sun he found it to rise on a people to whom we had given no shelter from it.

Thus it was. And we had full knowledge of the forces that were with him.

Then followed he a route.

Until he came between the two mountains, beneath which he found a people who scarce understood a language.

They said, ‘O Dhoulkarnain! verily, Gog and Magog¹⁸ waste this land; shall we then pay thee tribute, so thou build a rampart¹⁹ between us and them?’

He said, ‘Better than your tribute is the might wherewith my Lord hath strengthened me; but help me strenuously, and I will set a barrier between you and them.

Bring me blocks of iron,’— until when it filled the space between the mountain sides — ‘Ply,’ said he, ‘your bellows,’— until when he had made it red with heat (fire), he said,— ‘Bring me molten brass that I may pour upon it.’

And Gog and Magog were not able to scale it, neither were they able to dig through it.

‘This,’ said he, ‘is a mercy from my Lord:

But when the promise of my Lord shall come to pass, he will turn it to dust; and the promise of my Lord is true.’

On that day we will let them dash like billows one over another; and there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and we will gather them together in a body.

And we will set Hell on that day close before the infidels,

Whose eyes were veiled from my warning, and who had no power to hear.

What! do the infidels think that they can take my servants as their patrons, beside Me? Verily, we have got Hell ready as the abode of the infidels.

SAY: Shall we tell you who they are that have lost their labor most?

Whose aim in the present life hath been mistaken, and who deem that what they do is right?

They are those who believe not in the signs of the Lord, or that they shall ever meet him. Vain, therefore, are their works; and no weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection.

This shall be their reward — Hell.²⁰ Because they were unbelievers, and treated my signs and my Apostles with scorn.

But as for those who believe and do the things that are right, they shall have the gardens of Paradise²¹ for their abode:

They shall remain therein for ever: they shall wish for no change from it.

SAY: Should the sea become ink, to write the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail ere the words of my Lord would fail, though we brought its like in aid.

SAY: In sooth I am only a man like you. It hath been revealed to me that your God is one only God: let him then who hopeth to meet his Lord work a righteous work: nor let him give any other creature a share in the worship of his Lord.

Sura 19¹ - MARY

MECCA - 98 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Kaf. Ha. Ya. Ain. Sad.² A recital of thy Lord’s mercy to his servant Zachariah;

When he called upon his Lord with secret calling,

And said: ‘O Lord, verily my bones are weakened, and the hoar hairs glisten on my head,

And never, Lord, have I prayed to thee with ill success.

But now I have fears for my kindred after me;³ and my wife is barren:

Give me, then, a successor as thy special gift, who shall be my heir and an heir of the family of Jacob: and make him, Lord, well pleasing to thee.’

‘O Zachariah! verily we announce to thee a son,— his name John:

That name We have given to none before him.⁴

He said: ‘O my Lord! how when my wife is barren shall I have a son, and when I have now reached old age, failing in my powers?’

He said: So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said, Easy is this to me, for I created thee aforetime when thou wast nothing.’

He said: ‘Vouchsafe me, O my Lord! a sign.’ He said: ‘Thy sign shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou speakest not to man.’

And he came forth from the sanctuary to his people, and made signs to them to sing praises morn and even.

We said: ‘O John! receive the Book with purpose of heart:’⁵— and We bestowed on him wisdom while yet a child;

And mercifulness from Ourself, and purity; and pious was he, and duteous to his parents; and not proud, rebellious.

And peace was on him on the day he was born, and the day of his death, and shall be on the day when he shall be raised to life!

And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward,⁶

And took a veil to shroud herself from them:⁷ and we sent our spirit⁸ to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man.⁹

She said: ‘I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.’

He said: ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’

She said: ‘How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.’

He said: ‘So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: “Easy is this with me;” and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed.’

And she conceived him,¹⁰ and retired with him to a far-off place.

And the throes came upon her¹¹ by the trunk of a palm. She said: ‘Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!’

And one cried to her from below her:¹² ‘Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:—

And shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee:¹³ it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee.

Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye:¹⁴ and shouldst thou see a man,

Say,— Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.— To no one will I speak this day.’

Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, ‘O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing!

O sister of Aaron!¹⁵ Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.’

And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, ‘How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?’

It said,¹⁶ ‘Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and He hath made me a prophet;

And He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live;

And to be duteous to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved.

And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.’

This is Jesus, the son of Mary; this is a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.

It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is.¹⁷

And verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; adore Him then. This is the right way.

But the Sects have fallen to variance among themselves about Jesus: but woe, because of the assembly of a great day, to those who believe not!

Make them hear, make them behold the day when they shall come before us! But the offenders this day are in a manifest error.

Warn them of the day of sighing when the decree shall be accomplished, while they are sunk in heedlessness and while they believe not.

Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it. To us shall they be brought back.

Make mention also in the Book of Abraham; for he was a man of truth, a Prophet.¹⁸

When he said to his Father, ‘O my Father! why dost thou worship that which neither seeth nor heareth, nor profiteth thee aught?

O my Father! verily now hath knowledge come to me which hath not come to thee. Follow me therefore — I will guide thee into an even path.

O my Father! worship not Satan, for Satan is a rebel against the God of Mercy.

O my Father! indeed I fear lest a chastisement from the God of Mercy light upon thee, and thou become Satan’s vassal.’

He said, ‘Castest thou off my Gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear not, I will surely stone thee. Begone from me for a length of time.’

He said, ‘Peace be on thee! I will pray my Lord for thy forgiveness, for he is gracious to me:

But I will separate myself from you, and the gods ye call on beside God, and on my Lord will I call. Haply, my prayers to my Lord will not be with ill success.’

And when he had separated himself from them and that which they worshipped beside God, we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each of them we made a prophet:

And we bestowed gifts on them in our mercy, and gave them the lofty tongue of truth.’¹⁹

And commemorate Moses in ‘the Book;’ for he was a man of purity: moreover he was an Apostle, a Prophet:

From the right side of the mountain we called to him, and caused him to draw nigh to us for secret converse:

And we bestowed on him in our mercy his brother Aaron, a Prophet.

And commemorate lsmael in ‘the Book;’ for he was true to his promise, and was an Apostle, a Prophet;

And he enjoined prayer and almsgiving on his people, and was well pleasing to his Lord.

And commemorate Edris²⁰ in ‘the Book;’ for he was a man of truth, a Prophet:

And we uplifted him to a place on high.²¹

These are they among the prophets of the posterity of Adam, and among those whom we bare with Noah, and among the posterity of Abraham and Israel, and among those whom we have guided and chosen, to whom God hath showed favor. When the signs of the God of Mercy were rehearsed to them, they bowed them down worshipping and weeping.

But others have come in their place after them: they have made an end of prayer, and have gone after their own lusts; and in the end they shall meet with evil:—

Save those who turn and believe and do that which is right, these shall enter the Garden, and in nought shall they be wronged:

The Garden of Eden, which the God of Mercy hath promised to his servants, though yet unseen:²² for his promise shall come to pass:

No vain discourse shall they hear therein, but only ‘Peace;’ and their food shall be given them at morn and even:

This is the Paradise which we will make the heritage of those our servants who fear us.

We²³ come not down from Heaven but by thy Lord’s command. His, whatever is before us and whatever is behind us, and whatever is between the two! And thy Lord is not forgetful,—

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them! Worship Him, then, and abide thou steadfast in his worship. Knowest thou any other of the same name?²⁴

Man saith: ‘What! after I am dead, shall I in the end be brought forth alive?’

Doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was nought?

And I swear by thy Lord, we will surely gather together them and the Satans: then will we set them on their knees round Hell:

Then will we take forth from each band those of them who have been stoutest in rebellion against the God of Mercy:

Then shall we know right well to whom its burning is most due:

No one is there of you who shall not go down unto it²⁵ — This is a settled decree with thy Lord—

Then will we deliver those who had the fear of God, and the wicked will we leave in it on their knees.

And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, the infidels say to those who believe: ‘Which of the two parties²⁶ is in the best plight? and which is the most goodly company?’

But how many generations have we brought to ruin before them, who surpassed them in riches and in splendor!

SAY: As to those who are in error, the God of Mercy will lengthen out to them a length of days

Until they see that with which they are threatened, whether it be some present chastisement, or whether it be ‘the Hour,’ and they shall then know which is in the worse state, and which the more weak in forces:

But God will increase the guidance of the already guided.

And good works which abide, are in thy Lord’s sight better in respect of guerdon, and better in the issue than all worldly good.

Hast thou marked him who believeth not in our signs, and saith, ‘I shall surely have riches and children bestowed upon me?’

Hath he mounted up into the secrets of God? Hath he made a compact with the God of Mercy?

No! we will certainly write down what he saith, and will lengthen the length of his chastisement:

And We will inherit what he spake of, and he shall come before us all alone.

They have taken other gods beside God to be their help.²⁷

But it shall not be. Those gods will disavow their worship and will become their enemies.

Seest thou not that we send the Satans against the Infidels to urge them into sin?

Wherefore be not thou in haste with them;²⁸ for a small number of days do we number to them.

One day we will gather the God-fearing before the God of Mercy with honors due:²⁹

But the sinners will we drive unto Hell, like flocks driven to the watering.

None shall have power to intercede, save he who hath received permission at the hands of the God of Mercy.

They say: ‘The God of Mercy hath gotten offspring.’ Now have ye done a monstrous thing!

Almost might the very Heavens be rent thereat, and the Earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in fragments,

That they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth not the God of Mercy to beget a son!

Verily there is none in the Heavens and in the Earth but shall approach the God of Mercy as a servant. He hath taken note of them, and numbered them with exact numbering:

And each of them shall come to Him, on the day of Resurrection, singly:

But love will the God of Mercy vouchsafe to those who believe and do the things that be right.

Verily we have made this Koran easy and in thine own tongue, that thou mayest announce glad tidings by it to the God-fearing, and that thou mayest warn the contentious by it.

How many generations have we destroyed before them! Canst thou search out one of them? or canst thou hear a whisper from them?

Sura 20¹ - TA. HA.

MECCA - 135 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TA. HA.² Not to sadden thee have we sent down this Koran to thee,

But as a warning for him who feareth;

It is a missive from Him who hath made the earth and the lofty heavens!

The God of Mercy sitteth on his throne:

His, whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and whatsoever is between them both, and whatsoever is beneath the humid soil!

Thou needest not raise thy voice:³ for He knoweth the secret whisper, and the yet more hidden.

God! There is no God but He! Most excellent His titles!

Hath the history of Moses reached thee?

When he saw a fire, and said to his family, ‘Tarry ye here, for I perceive a fire:

Haply I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a guide.’⁴

And when he came to it, he was called to, ‘O Moses!

Verily, I am thy Lord: therefore pull off thy shoes: for thou art in the holy valley of Towa.

And I have chosen thee: hearken then to what shall be revealed.

Verily, I am God: there is no God but me: therefore worship me, and observe prayer for a remembrance of me.

Verily the hour is coming:— I all but manifest it —

That every soul may be recompensed for its labors.

Nor let him who believeth not therein and followeth his lust, turn thee aside from this truth, and thou perish.

Now, what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?’

Said he, ‘It is my staff on which I lean, and with which I beat down leaves for my sheep, and I have other uses for it.’

He said, ‘Cast it down, O Moses!’

So he cast it down, and lo! it became a serpent that ran along.

He said, ‘Lay hold on it, and fear not: to its former state will we restore it.

Now place thy right hand to thy arm-pit: it shall come forth white, but unhurt:— another sign!—

That We may show thee the greatest of our signs.

Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! enlarge my breast for me,

And make my work easy for me,

And loose the knot of my tongue,⁵

That they may understand my speech.

And give me a counsellor⁶ from among my family,

Aaron my brother;

By him gird up my loins,⁷

And make him a colleague in my work,

That we may praise thee oft and oft remember thee,

For thou regardest us.’

He said, ‘O Moses, thou hast obtained thy suit:

Already, at another time, have we showed thee favor,

When we spake unto thy mother what was spoken:

“Cast him into the ark:⁸ then cast him on the sea [the river], and the sea shall throw him on the shore: and an enemy to me and an enemy to him shall take him up.” And I myself have made thee an object of love,

That thou mightest be reared in mine eye.

When thy sister went and said, “Shall I show you one who will nurse him?”⁹ Then We returned thee to thy mother that her eye might be cheered, and that she might not grieve. And when thou slewest a person, We delivered thee from trouble, and We tried thee with other trial.

For years didst thou stay among the people of Midian; then camest thou hither by my decree, O Moses:

And I have chosen thee for Myself.

Go thou and thy brother with my signs and be not slack to remember me.

Go ye to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds:

But speak ye to him with gentle speech; haply he will reflect or fear.’

They said, ‘O our Lord! truly we fear lest he break forth against us, or act with exceeding injustice.’

He said, ‘Fear ye not, for I am with you both. I will hearken and I will behold.

Go ye then to him and say, “Verily we are Sent ones of thy Lord; send therefore the children of Israel with us and vex them not: now are we come to thee with signs from thy Lord, and, Peace shall be on him who followeth the right guidance.

For now hath it been revealed to us, that chastisement shall be on him who chargeth with falsehood, and turneth him away.”’

And he said, ‘Who is your Lord, O Moses?’

He said, ‘Our Lord is He who hath given to everything its form and then guideth it aright.’

‘But what,’ said he, ‘was the state of generations past?’¹⁰

He said, ‘The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in the Book of his decrees. My Lord erreth not, nor forgetteth.

He hath spread the earth as a bed, and hath traced out paths for you therein, and hath sent down rain from Heaven, and by it we bring forth the kinds¹¹ of various herbs:

— “Eat ye, and feed your cattle.” Of a truth in this are signs unto men endued with understanding.

From it have we created you, and into it will we return you, and out of it will we bring you forth a second time.’¹²

And we showed him all our signs: but he treated them as falsehoods, and refused to believe.

He said, ‘Hast thou come, O Moses, to drive us from our land by thine enchantments?

Therefore will we assuredly confront thee with like enchantments: so appoint a meeting between us and you — we will not fail it, we, and do not thou — in a place alike for both.’

He said, ‘On the feast day¹³ be your meeting, and in broad daylight let the people be assembled.’

And Pharaoh turned away, and collected his craftsmen and came.

Said Moses to them, ‘Woe to you! devise not a lie against God:

For then will he destroy you by a punishment. They who have lied have ever perished.’

And the magicians discussed their plan, and spake apart in secret:

They said, ‘These two are surely sorcerers: fain would they drive you from your land by their sorceries, and lead away in their paths your chiefest men:

So muster your craft: then come in order: well this day shall it be for him, who shall gain the upper hand.’

They said, ‘O Moses, wilt thou first cast down thy rod, or shall we be the first who cast?’

He said, ‘Yes, cast ye down first.’ And lo! by their enchantment their cords and rods seemed to him as if they ran.

And Moses conceived a secret fear within him.

We said, ‘Fear not, for thou shalt be the uppermost:

Cast forth then what is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up what they have produced: they have only produced the deceit of an enchanter: and come where he may, ill shall an enchanter fare.’

And the magicians fell down and worshipped. They said, ‘We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses.’

Said Pharaoh, ‘Believe ye on him ere I give you leave? He, in sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic. I will therefore cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on trunks of the palm, and assuredly shall ye learn which of us is severest in punishing, and who is the more abiding.’¹⁴

They said, ‘We will not have more regard to thee than to the clear tokens which have come to us, or than to Him who hath made us: doom the doom thou wilt: Thou canst only doom as to this present life: of a truth we have believed on our Lord that he may pardon us our sins and the sorcery to which thou hast forced us, for God is better, and more abiding than thou.¹⁵

As for him who shall come before his Lord laden with crime — for him verily is Hell: he shall not die in it and he shall not live.

But he who shall come before Him, a believer, with righteous works,— these! the loftiest grades await them:

Gardens of Eden, beneath whose trees¹⁶ the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for ever. This, the reward of him who hath been pure.’

Then revealed we to Moses, ‘Go forth by night with my servants and cleave for them a dry path in the sea;

Fear not thou to be overtaken, neither be thou afraid.’

And Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, and the whelming billows of the sea overwhelmed¹⁷ them, for Pharaoh misled his people, and did not guide them.

O children of Israel! we rescued you from your foes; and We appointed a meeting with you on the right side of the mountain; and We caused the manna and the quail to descend upon you:

‘Eat,’ said We, ‘of the good things with which we have supplied you; but without excess, lest my wrath fall upon you; for on whom my wrath doth fall, he perisheth outright.

Surely however will I forgive him who turneth to God and believeth, and worketh righteousness, and then yieldeth to guidance.

But what hath hastened thee on apart from thy people,¹⁸ O Moses?’

He said, ‘They are hard on my footsteps: but to thee, O Lord, have I hastened, that thou mightest be well pleased with me.’

He said, ‘Of a truth now have we proved thy people since thou didst leave them, and Samiri¹⁹ had led them astray.’

And Moses returned to his people, angered, sorrowful.

He said, ‘O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good promise? Was the time of my absence long to you? or desired ye that wrath from your Lord should light upon you, that ye failed in your promise to me?’

They said, ‘Not of our own accord have we failed in the promise to thee, but we were made to bring loads of the people’s trinkets, and we threw them into the fire — and Samiri likewise cast them in, and brought forth to them a corporeal lowing²⁰ calf: and they said, “This is your God and the God of Moses, whom he hath forgotten.”’

What! saw they not that it returned them no answer, and could neither hurt nor help them?

And Aaron had before said to them, ‘O my people! by this calf are ye only proved: surely your Lord is the God of Mercy: follow me therefore and obey my bidding.’

They said, ‘We will not cease devotion to it, till Moses come back to us.’

He said, ‘O Aaron! when thou sawest that they had gone astray, what hindered thee from following me? Hast thou then disobeyed my command?’

He said, ‘O Son of my mother! seize me not by my beard, nor by my head: indeed I feared lest thou shouldst say, “Thou hast rent the children of Israel asunder, and hast not observed my orders.”’

He said, ‘And what was thy motive, O Samiri?’ He said, ‘I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful of dust from the track²¹ of the messenger of God, and flung it into the calf, for so my soul prompted me.’

He said, ‘Begone then: verily thy doom even in this life shall be to say, “Touch me not.”²² And there is a threat against thee, which thou shalt not escape hereafter. Now look at thy god to which thou hast continued so devoted: we will surely burn it and reduce it to ashes, which we will cast into the sea.

Your God is God, beside whom there is no God: In his knowledge he embraceth all things.’

Thus do We recite to thee histories of what passed of old; and from ourself have we given thee admonition.

Whoso shall turn aside from it shall verily carry a burden on the day of Resurrection:

Under it shall they remain: and grievous, in the day of Resurrection, shall it be to them to bear.

On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and We will gather the wicked together on that day with leaden²³ eyes:

They shall say in a low voice, one to another,— ‘Ye tarried but ten days on earth.’

We are most knowing with respect to that which they will say when the most veracious²⁴ of them will say. ‘Ye have not tarried above a day.’

And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord will scatter them in dust;

And he will leave them a level plain: thou shalt see in it no hollows or jutting hills.

On that day shall men follow their summoner²⁵ — he marcheth straight on: and low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy, nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall.

No intercession shall avail on that day, save his whom the God of Mercy shall allow to intercede, and whose words he shall approve.

He knoweth their future and their past; but in their own knowledge they comprehend it not:—

And humble shall be their faces before Him that Liveth, the Self-subsisting: and undone he, who shall bear the burden of iniquity;

But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss.

Thus have We sent down to thee an Arabic Koran, and have set forth menaces therein diversely, that haply they may fear God, or that it may give birth to reflection in them.

Exalted then be God, the King, the Truth! Be not hasty in its recital²⁶ while the revelation of it to thee is incomplete. Say rather, ‘O my Lord, increase knowledge unto me.’

And of old We made a covenant with Adam; but he forgat it; and we found no firmness of purpose in him.

And when We said to the angels, ‘Fall down and worship Adam,’ they worshipped all, save Eblis, who refused: and We said, ‘O Adam! this truly is a foe to thee and to thy wife. Let him not therefore drive you out of the garden, and ye become wretched:

For to thee is it granted that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither shalt thou be naked;

And that thou shalt not thirst therein, neither shalt thou parch with heat;’

But Satan whispered him: said he, ‘O Adam! shall I show thee the tree of Eternity,²⁷ and the Kingdom that faileth not?’

And they both ate thereof, and their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew of the leaves of the Garden to cover them, and Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray.

Afterwards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned towards him, and guided him.

And God said, ‘Get ye all down hence, the one of you a foe unto the other. Hereafter shall guidance come unto you from me;

And whoso followeth my guidance shall not err, and shall not be wretched:

But whoso turneth away from my monition, his truly shall be a life of misery:

And We will assemble him with others on the day of Resurrection, blind.’²⁸

He will say, ‘O my Lord! why hast thou assembled me with others, blind? whereas I was endowed with sight.’

He will answer, ‘Thus is it, because our signs came unto thee and thou didst forget them, and thus shalt thou be forgotten this day.’

Even thus will We recompense him who hath transgressed and hath not believed in the signs of his Lord; and assuredly the chastisement of the next world will be more severe and more lasting.

Are not they, who walk the very places where they dwelt, aware how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily in this are signs to men of insight.

And had not a decree of respite from thy Lord first gone forth, their chastisement had at once ensued. Yet the time is fixed.

Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in the night do thou praise Him, and in the extremes²⁹ of the day, that thou haply mayest please Him.

And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of them — the braveries of this world — that we may thereby prove them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more lasting.

Enjoin prayer on thy family, and persevere therein. We ask not of thee to find thine own provision — we will provide for thee, and a happy issue shall there be to piety.

But they say, ‘If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord. . . !’³⁰ But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in the Books of old?

And had We destroyed them by a chastisement before its time, they would surely have said, ‘O our Lord! How could we believe if thou didst not send unto us an Apostle that we might follow thy signs ere that we were humbled and disgraced.’

SAY: Each one of us awaiteth the end. Wait ye then, and ye shall know which of us have been followers of the even way, and who hath been the rightly guided.

Sura 21 - THE PROPHETS

MECCA - 112 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

This people’s reckoning hath drawn nigh, yet, sunk in carelessness, they turn aside.

Every fresh warning that cometh to them from their Lord they only hear to mock it,—

Their hearts set on lusts: and they who have done this wrong say in secret discourse, ‘Is He more than a man like yourselves? What! will ye, with your eyes open,¹ accede to sorcery?’

SAY: ‘My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and on the earth: He is the Hearer, the Knower.’

‘Nay,’ say they, ‘it is the medley of dreams: nay, he hath forged it: nay, he is a poet: let him come to us with a sign as the prophets of old were sent.’

Before their time, none of the cities which we have destroyed, believed: will these men, then, believe?

And we sent none, previous to thee, but men to whom we had revealed ourselves. Ask ye the people who are warned by Scriptures,² if ye know it not.

We gave them not bodies which could dispense with food: and they were not to live for ever.

Then made we good our promise to them; and we delivered them and whom we pleased, and we destroyed the transgressors.

And now have we sent down to you ‘the book,’ in which is your warning: What, will ye not then understand?

And how many a guilty city have we broken down, and raised up after it other peoples:

And when they felt our vengeance, lo! they fled from it.

‘Flee not,’ said the angels in mockery, ‘but come back to that wherein ye revelled, and to your abodes! Questions will haply be put to you.’

They said, ‘Oh, woe to us! Verily we have been evil doers.’

And this ceased not to be their cry, until we made them like reaped corn, extinct.

We created not the heaven and the earth, and what is between them, for sport:

Had it been our wish to find a pastime, we had surely found it in ourselves;— if to do so had been our will.

Nay, we will hurl the truth at falsehood, and it shall smite it, and lo! it shall vanish. But woe be to you for what ye utter of God!

All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they wearied:

They praise Him night and day: they rest not.³

Have they taken gods from the earth who can quicken the dead?

Had there been in either heaven or earth gods besides God, both surely had gone to ruin. But glory be to God, the Lord of the throne, beyond what they utter!

He shall not be asked of his doings, but they shall be asked.

Have they taken other gods beside Him? SAY: Bring forth your proofs that they are gods. This is the warning of those who are with me, and the warning of those who were before me: but most of them know not the truth, and turn aside.

No apostle have we sent before thee to whom we did not reveal that ‘Verily there is no God beside me: therefore worship me.’

Yet they say, ‘The God of Mercy hath begotten issue from the angels.’ Glory be to Him! Nay, they are but His honored servants:

They speak not till He hath spoken;⁴ and they do His bidding.

He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and no plea shall they offer

Save for whom He pleaseth; and they tremble for fear of Him.

And that angel among them who saith ‘I am a god beside Him,’ will we recompense with hell: in such sort will we recompense the offenders.

Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a solid mass, and that we clave them asunder, and that by means of water we give life to everything? Will they not then believe?

And we set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them, and we made on it broad passages between them as routes for their guidance;

And we made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they away from its signs.

And He it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each moving swiftly in its sphere.

At no time⁵ have we granted to man a life that shall last for ever: if thou then die, shall they live for ever?

Every soul shall taste of death:⁶ and for trial will we prove you with evil and with good; and unto Us shall ye be brought back.

And when the infidels see thee they receive thee only with scoffs:— ‘What! is this he who maketh such mention of your gods?’ Yet when mention is made to them of the God of Mercy, they believe not.

‘Man,’ say they, ‘is made up of haste.’⁷ But I will show you my signs:⁸ desire them not then to be hastened.

They say, ‘When will this threat be made good? Tell us, if ye be men of truth?’

Did the infidels but know the time when they shall not be able to keep the fire of hell from their faces or from their backs, neither shall they be helped!

But it shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and they shall not be able to put it back, neither shall they be respited.

Other apostles have been scoffed at before thee: but that doom at which they mocked encompassed the scoffers.

SAY: Who shall protect you by night and by day from the God of Mercy? Yet turn they away from the warning of their Lord.

Have they gods beside Us who can defend them? For their own succor have they no power; neither shall the gods they join with God screen them from Us.

Yes! we have given these men and their fathers enjoyments so long as their life lasted. What! see they not that we come to a land and straiten its borders?⁹ Is it they who are the conquerors?

SAY: I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me: but the deaf will not hear the call, whenever they are warned;

Yet if a breath of thy Lord’s chastisement touch them, they will assuredly say, ‘Oh! woe to us! we have indeed been offenders.’

Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed: and our reckoning will suffice.

We gave of old to Moses and Aaron the illumination,¹⁰ and a light and a warning for the God-fearing,

Who dread their Lord in secret, and who tremble for ‘the Hour.’

And this Koran which we have sent down is a blessed warning: will ye then disown it?

Of old we gave unto Abraham his direction,¹¹ for we knew him worthy.

When he said to his Father and to his people, ‘What are these images to which ye are devoted?’

They said, ‘We found our fathers worshipping them.’

He said, ‘Truly ye and your fathers have been in a plain mistake.’

They said, ‘Hast thou come unto us in earnest? or art thou of those who jest?’

He said, ‘Nay, your Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, who hath created them both; and to this am I one of those who witness:

— And, by God, I will certainly lay a plot against your idols, after ye shall have retired and turned your backs.’

So, he broke them all in pieces, except the chief of them, that to it they might return, inquiring.

They said, ‘Who hath done this to our gods? Verily he is one of the unjust.’

They said, ‘We heard a youth make mention of them: they call him Abraham.’

They said, ‘Then bring him before the people’s eyes, that they may witness against him.’

They said, ‘Hast thou done this to our gods, O Abraham?’

He said, ‘Nay, that their chief hath done it: but ask ye them, if they can speak.’

So they turned their thoughts upon themselves, and said, ‘Ye truly are the impious persons:’

Then became headstrong in their former error¹² and exclaimed, ‘Thou knowest that these speak not.’

He said, ‘What! do ye then worship, instead of God, that which doth not profit you at all, nor injure you? Fie on you and on that ye worship instead of God! What! do ye not then understand?’

They said:¹³ ‘Burn him, and come to the succor of your gods: if ye will do anything at all.’

We said, ‘O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!’¹⁴

And they sought to lay a plot against him, but we made them the sufferers.

And we brought him and Lot in safety to the land which we have blessed for all human beings:

And we gave him Isaac and Jacob as a farther gift, and we made all of them righteous:

We also made them models who should guide others by our command, and we inspired them with good deeds and constancy in prayer and almsgiving, and they worshipped us.

And unto Lot we gave wisdom, and knowledge; and we rescued him from the city which wrought filthiness; for they were a people, evil, perverse:

And we caused him to enter into our mercy, for he was of the righteous.

And remember Noah when aforetime he cried to us and we heard him, and delivered him and his family from the great calamity;

And we helped him against the people who treated our signs as impostures. An evil people verily were they, and we drowned them all.

And David and Solomon; when they gave judgment concerning a field when some people’s sheep had caused a waste therein; and we were witnesses of their judgment.

And we gave Solomon insight into the affair; and on both of them we bestowed wisdom and knowledge. And we constrained the mountains and the birds to join with David in our praise: Our doing was it!

And we taught David the art of making mail¹⁵ for you, to defend you from each other’s violence: will ye therefore be thankful?

And to Solomon we subjected the strongly blowing wind: it sped at his bidding to the land we had blessed; for we know all things:

And sundry Satans¹⁶ who should dive for him and perform other work beside: and we kept watch over them.

And remember Job: When he cried to his Lord, ‘Truly evil hath touched me: but thou art the most merciful of those who show mercy.’

So we heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we gave him back his family, and as many more with them,— a mercy from us, and a memorial for those who serve us:

And Ismael, and Edris¹⁷ and Dhoulkefl¹⁸ — all steadfast in patience.

And we caused them to enter into our mercy; for they were of the righteous:

And Dhoulnoun;¹⁹ when he went on his way in anger, and thought that we had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried ‘There is no God but thou: Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I have been one of the evil doers:’

So we heard him and rescued him from misery: for thus rescue we the faithful:

And Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, ‘O my Lord, leave me not childless: but there is no better heir than Thyself.’²⁰

So we heard him, and gave him John, and we made his wife fit for child-bearing. Verily, these vied in goodness, and called upon us with love and fear, and humbled themselves before us:

And her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom²¹ we breathed of our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures.

Of a truth, this, your religion, is the one²² Religion, and I your Lord; therefore serve me:

But they have rent asunder this their great concern among themselves into sects. All of them shall return to us.

And whoso shall do the things that are right, and be a believer, his efforts shall not be disowned: and surely will we write them down for him.

There is a ban on every city which we shall have destroyed, that they shall not rise again,

Until a way is opened for Gog and Magog,²³ and they shall hasten from every high land,

And this sure promise shall draw on. And lo! the eyes of the infidels shall stare amazedly; and they shall say, ‘Oh, our misery! of this were we careless! yea, we were impious persons.’

Verily, ye, and what ye worship beside God,²⁴ shall be fuel for hell: ye shall go down into it.

Were these gods, they would not go down into it; but they shall all abide in it for ever.

Therein shall they groan; but nought therein shall they hear to comfort them.

But they for whom we have before ordained good things, shall be far away from it:

Its slightest sound they shall not hear: in what their souls longed for, they shall abide for ever:

The great terror shall not trouble them; and the angel shall meet them with, ‘This is your day which ye were promised.’

On that day we will roll up the heaven as one rolleth up²⁵ written scrolls. As we made the first creation, so will we bring it forth again. This promise bindeth us; verily, we will perform it.

And now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms that ‘my servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.’²⁶

Verily, in this Koran is teaching for those who serve God.

We have not sent thee otherwise than as mercy unto all creatures.

SAY: Verily it hath been revealed to me that your God is one God; are ye then resigned to Him? (Muslims.)

But if they turn their backs, then SAY: I have warned you all alike; but I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh or distant.

God truly knoweth what is spoken aloud, and He also knoweth that which ye hide.

And I know not whether haply this delay be not for your trial, and that ye may enjoy yourselves for a time.

My Lord saith: Judge ye with truth; for our Lord is the God of Mercy — whose help is to be sought against what ye utter.

Sura 22. - THE PILGRIMAGE

MEDINA.¹ - 78 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O Men of Mecca, fear your Lord. Verily, the earthquake of the last Hour will be a tremendous thing!

On the day when ye shall behold it, every suckling woman shall forsake her sucking babe; and every woman that hath a burden in her womb shall cast her burden; and thou shalt see men drunken, yet are they not drunken: but it is the mighty chastisement of God!

There is a man² who, without knowledge, wrangleth about God, and followeth every rebellious Satan;

Concerning whom it is decreed, that he shall surely beguile and guide into the torment of the Flame, whoever shall take him for his Lord.

O men! if ye doubt as to the resurrection, yet, of a truth, have We created you of dust, then of the moist germs of life, then of clots of blood, then of pieces of flesh shapen and unshapen, that We might give you proofs of our power! And We cause one sex or the other, at our pleasure, to abide in the womb until the appointed time; then We bring you forth infants; then permit you to reach your age of strength; and one of you dieth, and another of you liveth on to an age so abject that all his former knowledge is clean forgotten!³ And thou hast seen the earth dried up and barren: but when We send down the rain upon it, it stirreth and swelleth, and groweth every kind of luxuriant herb.

This, for that God is the Truth, and that it is He who quickeneth the dead, and that He hath power over everything:

And that ‘the Hour’ will indeed come — there is no doubt of it — and that God will wake up to life those who are in the tombs.

A man there is who disputeth about God without knowledge or guidance or enlightening Book,

Turning aside in scorn to mislead others from the way of God! Disgrace shall be his in this world; and on the day of the resurrection, We will make him taste the torment of the burning:—

‘This, for thy handywork of old! for God is not unjust to His servants.’

There are some who serve God in a single point. If good come upon one of them, he resteth in it; but if trial come upon him, he turneth him round (to infidelity) with the loss both of this world and of the next! This same is the clear ruin!

He calleth upon that beside God which can neither hurt him nor profit him. This same is the far-gone error!

He calleth on him who would sooner hurt than profit him. Surely, bad the lord, and, surely, bad the vassal!

But God will bring in those who shall believe and do the things that are right, into gardens ‘neath which the rivers flow: for God doth that which He pleaseth.

Let him who thinketh that God will not help His Apostle in this world and in the next, stretch a cord aloft as if to destroy himself; then let him cut it, and see whether his devices can bring that⁴ to nought at which he was angry!

Thus send we down the Koran with its clear signs (verses): and because God guideth whom He pleaseth.

As to those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites,⁵ and the Christians, and the Magians, and those who join other gods with God, of a truth, God shall decide between them on the day of resurrection: for God is witness of all things.

Seest thou not that all in the Heavens and all on the Earth adoreth God? the sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the beasts, and many men? But of many is chastisement the due:

And whom God shall disgrace there shall be none to honor: God doth that which pleaseth Him.

These, the Faithful and the Infidels, are the two disputants who dispute concerning their Lord: but for those who have disbelieved, garments of fire shall be cut out; the boiling water shall be poured down upon their heads:

All that is in their bowels, and their skins, shall be dissolved: and there are maces of iron for them!

So oft as they, for very anguish, would fain come forth thence, back shall they be turned into it: and — ‘Taste ye the torment of the burning.’

But God will bring in those who shall have believed, and done the things that are right, into gardens ‘neath which the rivers flow. Adorned shall they be therein with golden bracelets and with pearls, and their raiment therein shall be of silk;

For they were guided to the best of words; guided to the glorious path!

But those who believe not, and seduce others from the way of God, and from the Holy Mosque which we have appointed to all men, alike for those who abide therein, and for the stranger;

And those who seek impiously to profane it, we will cause to taste a grievous punishment.

And call to mind when we assigned the site of the House⁶ to Abraham and said: ‘Unite not aught with Me in worship, and cleanse My House for those who go in procession round it, and who stand or bow in worship:’—

And proclaim to the peoples a PILGRIMAGE: Let them come to thee on foot and on every fleet⁷ camel, arriving by every deep defile:

That they may bear witness of its benefits to them, and may make mention of God’s name on the appointed days,⁸ over the brute beasts with which He hath supplied them for sustenance: Therefore eat thereof yourselves, and feed the needy, the poor:

Then let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close,⁹ and let them pay their vows, and circuit the ancient House.

This do. And he that respecteth the sacred ordinances of God, this will be best for him with his Lord. The flesh of cattle is allowed you, save of those already specified to you. Shun ye, therefore, the pollutions of idols; and shun ye the word of falsehood;

Sound in faith Godward, uniting no god with Him; for whoever uniteth gods with God, is like that which falleth from on high, and the birds snatch it away, or the wind wafteth it to a distant place.

This do. And they who respect the rites of God, perform an action which proceedeth from piety of heart.

Ye may obtain advantages from the cattle up to the set time for slaying them: then, the place for sacrificing them is at the ancient House.

And to every people have we appointed rites, that they may commemorate the name of God over the brute beasts which He hath provided for them. And your God is the one God. To Him, therefore, surrender yourselves: and bear thou good tidings to those who humble them,—

Whose hearts, when mention is made of God, thrill with awe; and to those who remain steadfast under all that befalleth them, and observe prayer, and give alms of that with which we have supplied them.

And the camels have we appointed you for the sacrifice to God: much good have ye in them. Make mention, therefore, of the name of God over them when ye slay them, as they stand in a row; and when they are fallen over on their sides, eat of them, and feed him who is content and asketh not, and him who asketh. Thus have We subjected them to you, to the intent ye should be thankful.¹⁰

By no means can their flesh reach unto God, neither their blood; but piety on your part reacheth Him. Thus hath He subjected them to you, that ye might magnify God for His guidance: moreover, announce to those who do good deeds —

That God will ward off mischief from believers: for God loveth not the false, the Infidel.

A sanction is given to those who, because they have suffered outrages, have taken up arms; and verily, God is well able to succor them:

Those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully, only because they say ‘Our Lord is the God.’ And if God had not repelled some men by others, cloisters, and churches, and oratories, and mosques, wherein the name of God is ever commemorated, would surely have been destroyed. And him who helpeth God will God surely help:¹¹ for God is right Strong, Mighty:—

Those who, if we establish them in this land, will observe prayer, and pay the alms of obligations, and enjoin what is right, and forbid what is evil. And the final issue of all things is unto God.

Moreover, if they charge thee with imposture, then already, before them, the people of Noah, and Ad and Themoud, and the people of Abraham, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in Madian, have charged their prophets with imposture! Moses, too, was charged with imposture! And I bore long with the unbelievers; then seize on them: and how great was the change I wrought!

And how many cities which had been ungodly, and whose roofs are now laid low in ruin, have We destroyed! And wells have been abandoned and lofty castles!

Have they not journeyed through the land? Have they not hearts to understand with, or ears to hear with? It is not that these sights their eyes are blind, but the hearts in their breasts are blind!

And they will bid thee to hasten the chastisement. But God cannot fail His threat. And verily, a day with thy Lord is a thousand years,¹² as ye reckon them!

How many cities have I long borne with, wicked though they were, yet then laid hold on them to chastise them! Unto Me shall all return.

SAY: O men! I am only your open warner:

And they who believe and do the things that are right, shall have forgiveness and an honorable provision;

But those who strive to invalidate our signs shall be inmates of Hell.

We have not sent any apostle or prophet before thee, among whose desires Satan injected not some wrong desire, but God shall bring to nought that which Satan had suggested. Thus shall God affirm His revelations¹³ for God is Knowing, Wise!

That He may make that which Satan hath injected, a trial to those in whose hearts is a disease, and whose hearts are hardened.— Verily, the wicked are in a far-gone severance from the truth!—

And that they to whom ‘the Knowledge’ hath been given, may know that the Koran is the truth from thy Lord and may believe in it, and their hearts may acquiesce in it for God is surely the guider of those who believe, into the straight path.

But the Infidels will not cease to doubt concerning it, until ‘the Hour’ come suddenly upon them, or until the chastisement of the day of desolation come upon them.

On that day the Kingdom shall be God’s: He shall judge between them: and they who shall have believed and done the things that are right, shall be in gardens of delight:

But they who were Infidels and treated our signs as lies — these then — their’s a shameful chastisement!

And as to those who fled their country for the cause of God, and were afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will God provide for them! for verily, God! He, surely, is the best of providers!

He will assuredly bring them in with an in-bringing that shall please them well: for verily, God is right Knowing, Gracious.

So shall it be. And whoever in making exact reprisal for injury done him, shall again be wronged, God will assuredly aid him: for God is most Merciful, Gracious.

So shall it be; for that God causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and He causeth the day to enter in upon the night: and for that God Heareth, Seeth.

So shall it be, for that God is the truth; and because what they call on beside Him is vanity: and because God is the Lofty, the Mighty!

Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from Heaven, and that on the morrow the earth is clad with verdure? for God is benignant, cognizant of all.

His, all in the Heavens and all on Earth: and verily, God! He assuredly is the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

Seest thou not that God hath put under you whatever is in the earth; and the ships which traverse the sea at His bidding? And He holdeth back the heaven that it fall not on the earth, unless He permit it! for God is right Gracious to mankind, Merciful.

And He it is who hath given you life, then will cause you to die, then will give you life — of a truth man is all ungrateful.

To every people have we appointed observances which they observe. Therefore, let them not dispute this matter with thee, but bid them to thy Lord, for thou art on the right way:

But if they debate with thee, then SAY: God best knoweth what ye do!

God will judge between you on the day of resurrection, as to the matters wherein ye differ.

Knowest thou not that God knoweth whatever is in the Heaven and on the Earth? This truly is written in the Book: this truly is easy for God.

They worship beside God, that for which He hath sent down no warranty, and that of which they have no knowledge: but for those who commit this wrong, no helper!

And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, thou mayst perceive disdain in the countenances of the Infidels. Scarce can they refrain from rushing to attack those who rehearse our signs to them! SAY: Shall I tell you of worse than this? The fire which God hath threatened to those who believe not! Wretched the passage thither!

O men! a parable is set forth to you, wherefore hearken to it. Verily, they on whom ye call beside God, cannot create a fly, though they assemble for it; and if the fly carry off aught from them, they cannot take it away from it! Weak the suppliant and the supplicated!

Unworthy the estimate they form of God!¹⁴ for God is right Powerful, Mighty!

God chooseth messengers from among the angels and from among men: verily, God Heareth, Seeth.

He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and unto God shall all things return.

Believers! bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord, and work righteousness that you may fare well.

And do valiantly in the cause of God as it behoveth you to do for Him. He hath elected you, and hath not laid on you any hardship in religion, the Faith of your father Abraham. He hath named you the Muslims.

Heretofore and in this Book, that the Apostles may be a witness against you, and that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind. Therefore observe prayer, and pay the legal impost, and cleave fast to God. He is your liege Lord — a goodly Lord, and a goodly Helper!

Sura 23 - THE BELIEVERS

MECCA¹ - 118 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Happy now the BELIEVERS,
Who humble them in their prayers,
And who keep aloof from vain words,²
And who are doers of alms deeds,
And who restrain their appetites,

(Save with their wives, or the slaves whom their right hands possess: for in that case they shall be free from blame:

But they whose desires reach further than this are transgressors:)

And who tend well their trusts and their covenants,
And who keep them strictly to their prayers:
These shall be the heritors,
Who shall inherit the paradise, to abide therein for ever.
Now of fine clay have we created man:
Then we placed him, a moist germ,³ in a safe abode;

Then made we the moist germ a clot of blood: then made the clotted blood into a piece of flesh; then made the piece of flesh into bones: and we clothed the bones with flesh: then brought forth man of yet another make⁴ — Blessed therefore be God, the most excellent of Makers⁵ —

Then after this ye shall surely die:

Then shall ye be waked up on the day of resurrection.

And we have created over you seven heavens:⁶— and we are not careless of the creation.

And we send down water from the Heaven in its due degree, and we cause it to settle on the earth;— and we have power for its withdrawal:—

And by it we cause gardens of palm trees, and vineyards to spring forth for you, in which ye have plenteous fruits, and whereof ye eat;

And the tree that groweth up on Mount Sinai; which yieldeth oil and a juice for those who eat.

And there is a lesson for you in the cattle: We give you to drink of what is in their bellies, and many advantages do ye derive from them, and for food they serve you;

And on them and on ships are ye borne.

We sent Noah heretofore unto his people, and he said, ‘O my people! serve God: ye have no other God than He: will ye not therefore fear Him?

But the chiefs of the people who believed not said, ‘This is but a man like yourselves: he fain would raise himself above you: but had it pleased God to send, He would have sent angels: We heard not of this with our sires of old;—

Verily he is but a man possessed; leave him alone therefore for a time.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! help me against their charge of imposture.’

So we revealed unto him, ‘Make the ark under our eye, and as we have taught, and when our doom shall come on, and the earth’s surface shall boil up,⁷

Carry into it of every kind a pair, and thy family, save him on whom sentence hath already passed: and plead not with me for the wicked, for they shall be drowned.

And when thou, and they who shall be with thee, shall go up into the ark; say, “Praise be unto God, who hath rescued us from the wicked folk.”

And say, “O my Lord! disembark me with a blessed disembarking: for thou art the best to disembark.”’

Verily in this were signs, and verily we made proof of man.

We then raised up other generations after them;

And we sent among them an apostle from out themselves, with, ‘Worship ye God! ye have no other God than He: will ye not therefore fear Him?’

And the chiefs of His people who believed not, and who deemed the meeting with us in the life to come to be a lie, and whom we had richly supplied in this present life, said, ‘This is man like yourselves; he eateth of what ye eat,

And he drinketh of what ye drink:

And if ye obey a man like yourselves, then ye will surely be undone.

What! doth he foretell you, that after ye shall be dead and become dust and bones, ye shall be brought forth?

Away, away with his predictions!

There is no life beyond our present life; we die, and we live, and we shall not be quickened again!

This is merely a man who forgeth a lie about God: and we will not believe him.’

He said, ‘O my Lord! help me against this charge of imposture.’

He said, ‘Yet a little, and they will soon repent them!’

Then did the shout of the destroying angel in justice surprise them, and we made them like leaves swept down by a torrent. Away then with the wicked people!

Then raised we up other generations after them —

Neither too soon, nor too late, shall a people reach its appointed time —

Then sent we our apostles one after another. Oft as their apostle presented himself to a nation, they treated him as a liar; and we caused one nation to follow another; and we made them the burden of a tale. Away then with the people who believe not!

Then sent we Moses and his brother Aaron, with our signs and manifest power,

To Pharaoh and his princes; but they behaved them proudly, for they were a haughty people.

And they said, ‘Shall we believe on two men like ourselves, whose people are our slaves?’

And they treated them both as impostors; wherefore they became of the destroyed.

And we gave Moses the Book for Israel’s guidance.

And we appointed the Son of Mary, and His mother for a sign; and we prepared an abode for both in a lofty spot,⁸ quiet, and watered with springs.

‘O ye apostles! eat of things that are good: and do that which is right: of your doings I am cognizant.

And truly this your religion is the one religion;⁹ and I am your Lord: therefore fear me.’

But men have rent their great concern, one among another, into sects; every party rejoicing in that which is their own;

Wherefore leave them till a certain time, in their depths of error.

What! think they that what we largely bestow on them of wealth and children,

We hasten to them for their good? Nay, they have no knowledge.

But they who are awed with the dread of their Lord,

And who believe in the signs of their Lord,

And who join no other gods with their Lord,

And who give that which they give with hearts thrilled with dread because they must return unto their Lord,

These hasten after good, and are the first to win it.

We will not burden a soul beyond its power: and with us is a book, which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be wronged:

But as to this Book, their hearts are plunged in error, and their works are far other than those of Muslims, and they will work those works,

Until when we lay hold on their affluent ones with punishment; lo! they cry for help:

— ‘Cry not for help this day, for by Us ye shall not be succored:

Long since were my signs rehearsed to you, but ye turned back on your heels,

Puffed up with pride, discoursing foolishly by night.’

Do they not then heed the things spoken — whether that hath come to them which came not to their fathers of old?

Or do they not recognize their apostle; and therefore disavow him?

Or say they, ‘A Djinn is in him?’ Nay! he hath come to them with the truth; but the truth do most of them abhor.

But if the truth had followed in the train of their desires, the heavens and the earth, and all that therein is, had surely come to ruin! But we have brought them their warning; and from their warning they withdraw.

Dost thou ask them for remuneration? But, remuneration from thy Lord is best; and He is the best provider.

And thou indeed biddest them to the right path;

But verily they who believe not in the life to come, from that path do surely wander!

And if we had taken compassion on them, and relieved them from their trouble, they would have plunged on in their wickedness, wildly wandering.¹⁰

We formerly laid hold on them with chastisement, yet they did not humble them to their Lord, nor did they abase them;

Until, when we have opened upon them the door of a severe punishment, lo! they are in despair at it.

It is He who hath implanted in you hearing, and sight, and heart; how few of you give thanks!

It is He who hath caused you to be born on the earth: and unto Him shall ye be gathered.

And it is He who maketh alive and killeth, and of Him is the change of the night and of the day: Will ye not understand?

But they say, as said those of old:—

They say, ‘What! When we shall be dead, and have become dust and bones, shall we, indeed, be waked to life?

This have we been promised, we and our fathers aforetime: but it is only fables of the ancients.’

SAY: Whose is the earth, and all that is therein;— if ye know?

They will answer, ‘God’s.’ SAY: Will ye not then reflect?

SAY: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the glorious throne?

They will say, ‘They are God’s.’ SAY: Will ye not, then, fear Him?

SAY: In whose hand is the empire of all things, who protecteth but is not protected? if ye know:

They will answer, ‘In God’s.’ SAY: How, then, can ye be so spell-bound?

Yea, we have brought them the truth; but they are surely liars:

God hath not begotten offspring; neither is there any other God with Him: else had each god assuredly taken away that which he had created,¹¹ and some had assuredly uplifted themselves above others! Far from the glory of God, be what they affirm of Him!

He knoweth alike the unseen and the seen: far be He uplifted above the gods whom they associate with Him!

SAY: O my Lord! If thou wilt let me witness the infliction of that with which they have been threatened!

O my Lord! place me not among the ungodly people.

Verily, we are well able to make thee see the punishment with which we have threatened them.

Turn aside evil with that which is better: we best know what they utter against thee.

And SAY: ‘O my Lord! I betake me to Thee, against the promptings of the Satans:

And I betake me to Thee, O my Lord! that they gain no hurtful access to me.’

When death overtaketh one of the wicked, he saith, ‘Lord, send me back again,

That I may do the good which I have left undone.’¹² ‘By no means.’ These are the very words which he shall speak: But behind them shall be a barrier, until the day when they shall be raised again.

And when the trumpet shall be sounded, the ties of kindred between them shall cease on that day; neither shall they ask each other’s help.

They whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest.

But they whose balances shall be light,— these are they who shall lose their souls, abiding in hell for ever:

The fire shall scorch their faces, and their lips shall quiver therein:—

— ‘What! Were not my signs rehearsed unto you? and did ye not treat them as lies?’

They shall say, ‘O our Lord! our ill-fortune prevailed against us, and we became an erring people.

O our Lord! Bring us forth hence: if we go back again to our sins, we shall indeed be evil doers.’

He will say; ‘Be ye driven down into it; and, address me not.’

A part truly of my servants was there, who said, ‘O our Lord! we believe: forgive us, then, and be merciful to us, for of the merciful art thou the best.’

But ye received them with such scoffs that they suffered you to forget my warning, and ye laughed them to scorn.

Verily this day will I reward them, for their patient endurance: the blissful ones shall they be!

He will say, ‘What number of years tarried ye on earth?’

They will say, ‘We tarried a day, or part of a day;¹³ but ask the recording angels.’¹⁴

God will say, ‘Short indeed was the time ye tarried, if that ye knew it.

What! Did ye then think that we had created you for pastime, and that ye should not be brought back again to us?’ Wherefore let God be exalted, the King, the Truth! There is no god but He! Lord of the stately throne! And whoso, together with God, shall call on another god, for whom he hath no proof, shall surely have to give account to his Lord. Aye, it shall fare ill with the infidels.

And SAY: ‘O my Lord, pardon, and have mercy; for of those who show mercy, art thou the best.’

Sura 24 - LIGHT

MEDINA - 64 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

A Sura which we have sent down and sanctioned! Clear signs have we sent down therein, that ye may take warning.

The whore and the whoremonger — scourge each of them with an hundred stripes; and let not compassion keep you from carrying out the sentence of God, if ye believe in God and the last day: And let some of the faithful witness their chastisement.¹

The whoremonger shall not marry other than a whore or an idolatress; and the whore shall not marry other than a whoremonger or an idolater. Such alliances are forbidden to the faithful.

They who defame virtuous women,² and bring not four witnesses, scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive ye not their testimony for ever, for these are perverse persons —

Save those who afterwards repent and live virtuously; for truly God is Lenient, Merciful!

And they who shall accuse their wives, and have no witnesses but themselves, the testimony of each of them shall be a testimony by God four times repeated, that he is indeed of them that speak the truth.³

And the fifth time that the malison of God be upon him, if he be of them that lie.

But it shall avert the chastisement from her if she testify a testimony four times repeated, by God, that he is of them that lie;

And a fifth time to call down the wrath of God on her, if he have spoke the truth.

And but for the goodness and mercy of God towards you, and that God is He who loveth to turn, Wise. . . !

Of a truth, they who advanced that lie⁴ were a large number of you; but regard it not as an evil to you. No, it is an advantage to you.⁵ To every man among them shall it be done according to the offense he hath committed; and as to that person⁶ among them who took on himself to aggravate it, a sore punishment doth await him.

Did not the faithful of both sexes, when ye heard of this, form a favorable judgment in their own minds, and say, ‘This is a manifest lie?’

Have they brought four witnesses of the fact? If they cannot produce the witnesses, they are the liars in the sight of God.

And but for the goodness of God towards you, and His mercy in this world and in the next, a severe punishment had come upon you for that which ye spread abroad, when ye uttered with your tongues, and spake with your mouths that of which ye had no knowledge. Ye deemed it to be a light matter, but with God it was a grave one.

And did ye say when ye heard it, ‘It is not for us to talk of this affair! O God! By thy Glory, this is a gross calumny?’

God hath warned you that ye go not back to the like of this for ever, if ye be believers:

And God maketh His signs clear to you: for God is Knowing, Wise.

But as for those who love that foul calumnies should go forth against those who believe, a grievous chastisement awaits them

In this world and in the next. And God hath knowledge, but ye have not.

And but for the goodness of God towards you and His Mercy, and that God is Kind, Merciful. . . !

O ye who believe! follow not the steps of Satan, for whosoever shall follow the steps of Satan, he will enjoin on him what is base and blameworthy; and but for the goodness of God towards you,⁷ and His mercy, no one of you had been cleansed for ever: but God maketh whom He will to be clean, and God Heareth, Knoweth.

And let not persons of wealth and means among you swear that they will not give to their kindred, to the poor, and to those who have fled their homes in the cause of God; let them rather pardon and pass over the offense.⁸ Desire ye not that God should forgive you? And God is Gracious, Merciful!

Verily, they who throw out charges against virtuous but careless women, who yet are believers, shall be cursed in this world and in the world to come; and a terrible punishment doth await them.

Their own tongues, and hands, and feet, shall one day bear witness against them of their own doings.⁹

On that day will God pay them their just due, and they shall know that God is the clear Truth itself.

Bad women for bad men, and bad men for bad women; but virtuous women for virtuous men, and virtuous men for virtuous women! These shall be cleared from calumnies; theirs shall be forgiveness and an honorable provision.

O ye who believe! enter not into other houses¹⁰ than your own, until ye have asked leave, and have saluted its inmates. This will be best for you: haply ye will bear this in mind.

And if ye find no one therein, then enter it not till leave be given you; and if it be said to you, ‘Go ye back,’ then go ye back. This will be more blameless in you, and God knoweth what ye do.

There shall be no harm in your entering houses in which no one dwelleth, for the supply of your needs: and God knoweth what ye do openly and what ye hide.

Speak unto the believers that they restrain their eyes and observe continence. Thus will they be more pure. God is well aware of what they do.

And speak to the believing women that they refrain their eyes, and observe continence; and that they display not their ornaments, except those which are external; and that they throw their veils over their bosoms, and display not their ornaments, except to their husbands or their fathers, or their husbands’ fathers, or their sons, or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male domestics who have no natural force, or to children who note not women’s nakedness. And let them not strike their feet together, so as to discover their hidden ornaments.¹¹ And be ye all turned to God, O ye Believers! that it may be well with you.

And marry those among you who are single, and your good servants, and the handmaidens. If they are poor, God of His bounty will enrich them. God is all-bounteous, Knowing.

And let those who cannot find a match¹² live in continence till God of His bounty shall enrich them. And to those of your slaves who desire a deed of manumission, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of God which He hath given you.¹³ Force not your female slaves into sin, in order that ye may gain the casual fruitions of this world, if they wish to preserve their modesty. Yet if any one compel them, then Verily to them, after their compulsion, will God be Forgiving, Merciful.

And now have we sent down to you clear signs, and an instance from among those who flourished before you, and a caution for the God-fearing.¹⁴

God is the LIGHT of the Heavens and of the Earth. His Light is like a niche in which is a lamp — the lamp encased in glass — the glass, as it were, a glistening star. From a blessed tree is it lighted, the olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to His light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things.

In the temples which God hath allowed to be reared, that His name may therein be remembered, do men praise Him morn and even.

Men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of God, and from the observance of prayer, and the payment of the stated alms, through fear of the day when hearts shall throb and eyes shall roll:

That for their most excellent works may God recompense them, and of His bounty increase it to them more and more: for God maketh provision for whom He pleaseth without measure.

But as to the infidels, their works are like the vapor in a plain which the thirsty dreameth to be water, until when he cometh unto it, he findeth it not aught, but findeth that God is with him; and He fully payeth him his account: for swift to take account is God:

Or like the darkness on the deep sea when covered by billows riding upon billows, above which are clouds: darkness upon darkness. When a man reacheth forth his hand, he cannot nearly see it! He to whom God shall not give light, no light at all hath he!

Hast thou not seen how all in the Heavens and in the Earth uttereth the praise of God?— the very birds as they spread their wings? Every creature knoweth its prayer and its praise! and God knoweth what they do.

God’s, the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: and unto God the final return!

Hast thou not seen that God driveth clouds lightly forward, then gathereth them together, then pileth them in masses? And then thou seest the rain forthcoming from their midst; and He causeth clouds like mountains charged with hail, to descend from the heaven, and He maketh it to fall on whom He will, and from whom He will He turneth it aside.— The brightness of His lightning all but taketh away the sight!

God causeth the day and the night to take their turn. Verily in this is teaching for men of insight. And God hath created every animal of water.¹⁵ Some go upon the belly; some go upon two feet; some go upon four feet. God hath created what He pleased. Aye, God hath power over all things.

Now have we sent down distinct signs.— and God guideth whom He will into the right path:

For there are who say ‘We believe on God and on the Apostle, and we obey;’ yet, after this, a part of them turn back.¹⁶ But these are not of the faithful.

And when they are summoned before God and His Apostle that He may judge between them, lo! a part of them withdraw:

But had the truth been on their side, they would have come to Him, obedient.

What! are they diseased of heart? Do they doubt? Are they afraid that God and His Apostles will deal unfairly with them? Nay, themselves are the unjust doers.

The words of the believers, when called to God and His Apostle that He may judge between them, are only to say, ‘We have heard, and we obey:’ these are they with whom it shall be well.

And whoso shall obey God, and His Apostle, and shall dread God and fear Him, these are they that shall be the blissful.

And they have sworn by God, with a most solemn oath, that if thou give them the word, they will certainly march forth. SAY: swear ye not: of more worth is obedience. Verily, God is well aware of what ye do.

SAY: Obey God and obey the Apostle. Suppose that ye turn back, still the burden of his duty is on him only, and the burden of your duty rests on you. If ye obey Him, ye shall have guidance: but plain preaching is all that devolves upon the Apostle.

God hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are right, that He will cause them to succeed others in the land, as He gave succession to those who were before them, and that He will establish for them that religion which they delight in, and that after their fears He will give them security in exchange. They shall worship Me: nought shall they join with Me: And whoso, after this, believe not, they will be the impious.

But observe prayer, and pay the stated alms, and obey the Apostle, that haply ye may find mercy.

Let not the Infidels think that they can weaken God on His own Earth: their dwelling place shall be the Fire! and right wretched the journey!

O ye who believe! let your slaves, and those of you who have not come of age, ask leave of you, three times a day, ere they come into your presence;— before the morning prayer, and when ye lay aside your garments at mid-day, and after the evening prayer. These are your three times of privacy. No blame shall attach to you or to them, if after these times, when ye go your rounds of attendance on one another, they come in without permission. Thus doth God make clear to you His signs: and God is Knowing, Wise!

And when your children come of age, let them ask leave to come into your presence, as they who were before them asked it. Thus doth God make clear to you his signs: and God is Knowing, Wise.

As to women who are past childbearing, and have no hope of marriage, no blame shall attach to them if they lay aside their outer garments, but so as not to show their ornaments. Yet if they abstain from this, it will be better for them: and God Heareth, Knoweth.

No crime¹⁷ shall it be in the blind, or in the lame, or in the sick, to eat at your tables: or in yourselves, if ye eat in your own houses, or in the houses of your fathers, or of your mothers, or of your brothers, or of your sisters, or of your uncles on the father’s side, or of your aunts on the father’s side, or of your uncles on the mother’s side, or of your aunts on the mother’s side, or in those of which ye possess the keys, or in the house of your friend. No blame shall attach to you whether ye eat together or apart.

And when ye enter houses, salute one another with a good and blessed greeting as from God. Thus doth God make clear to you His signs, that haply ye may comprehend them.

Verily, they only are believers who believe in God and His Apostle, and who, when they are with him upon any affair of common interest, depart not until they have sought his leave. Yes, they who ask leave of thee, are those who believe in God and His Apostle. And when they ask leave of Thee on account of any affairs of their own, then grant it to those of them whom thou wilt, and ask indulgence for them of God: for God is Indulgent, Merciful.

Address not the Apostle as ye address one another.¹⁸ God knoweth those of you who withdraw quietly from the assemblies, screening themselves behind others. And let those who transgress his command beware, lest some present trouble befall them, or a grievous chastisement befall them, hereafter.

Is not whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth God’s? He knoweth your state; and one day shall men be assembled before Him, and He will tell them of what they have done: for God knoweth all things.

Sura 25 - AL FURKAN

MECCA - 77 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Blessed be He who hath sent down AL FURKAN¹ (the illumination) on his servant, that to all creatures he may be a warner.

His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! No son hath He begotten! No partner hath He in his Empire! All things hath He created, and decreeing hath decreed their destinies.

Yet have they adopted gods beside Him which have created nothing, but were themselves created:

And no power have they over themselves for evil or for good, nor have they power of death, or of life, or of raising the dead.

And the infidels say, ‘This Koran is a mere fraud of his own devising, and others have helped him with it,² who had come hither by outrage and lie.’³

And they say, ‘Tales of the ancients that he hath put in writing! and they were dictated to him morn and even.’

SAY: He hath sent it down who knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth. He truly is the Gracious, the Merciful.

And they say, ‘What sort of apostle is this? He eateth food and he walketh the streets! Unless an angel be sent down and take part in his warnings,

Or a treasure be thrown down to him, or he have a garden that supplieth him with food. . .’⁴ and those unjust persons say, ‘Ye follow but a man enchanted.’

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they err, and cannot find their way.

Blessed be He who if he please can give thee better than that of which they speak — Gardens, ‘neath which the rivers flow: and pavilions will He assign thee.

Aye, they have treated the coming of ‘the Hour’ as a lie. But a flaming fire have we got ready for those who treat the coming of the Hour as a lie.

When it shall see them from afar, they shall hear its raging and roaring,—

And when they shall be flung into a narrow space thereof bound together, they shall invoke destruction on the spot:

— ‘Call not this day for one destruction, but call for destructions many.’

SAY: Is this, or the Paradise of Eternity which was promised to the God-fearing, best? Their recompense shall it be and their retreat;

Abiding therein for ever, they shall have in it all that they desire! It is a promise to be claimed of thy Lord.

And on the day when he shall gather them together, and those whom they worshipped beside God, he will say, ‘Was it ye who led these my servants astray, or of themselves strayed they from the path?’

They will say, ‘Glory be to thee! It beseemed not us to take other lords than thee. But thou gavest them and their fathers their fill of good things, till they forgat the remembrance of thee, and became a lost people.’

Then will God say to the Idolaters, ‘Now have they made you liars in what ye say,⁵ and they have no power to avert your doom, or to succor you.’

And whosoever of you thus offendeth, we will make him taste a great punishment.

Never have we sent Apostles before thee who ate not common food, and walked not the streets. And we test you by means of each other. Will ye be steadfast? Thy Lord is looking on!

They who look not forward to meet Us say, ‘If the angels be not sent down to us, or unless we behold our Lord. . .’ Ah! they are proud of heart, and exceed with great excess!

On the day when they shall see the angels, no good news shall there be for the guilty ones, and they shall cry out, ‘A barrier that cannot be passed!’⁶

Then will we proceed to the works which they have wrought, and make them as scattered dust.

Happier, on that day, the inmates of the Garden as to abode, and better off as to place of noontide slumber!

On that day shall the heaven with its clouds be cleft, and the angels shall be sent down, descending.

On that day shall all empire be in very deed with the God of Mercy, and a hard day shall it be for the Infidels.

And on that day shall the wicked one⁷ bite his hands, and say, ‘Oh! would that I had taken the same path with the Apostle!

‘Oh! woe is me! would that I had not taken such an one⁸ for my friend!

It was he who led me astray from the Warning which had reached me! and Satan is man’s betrayer.’⁹

Then said the Apostle, ‘O my Lord! truly my people have esteemed this Koran to be vain babbling.’

Thus have we given to every Prophet an enemy from among the wicked ones — But thy Lord is a sufficient guide and helper.

And the infidels say, ‘Unless the Koran be sent down to him all at once. . .’ But in this way would we stablish thy heart by it; in parcels have we parcelled it out to thee;¹⁰

Nor shall they come to thee with puzzling questions,¹¹ but we will come to thee with the truth, and their best solution,

They who shall be gathered upon their faces into hell, shall have the worst place, and be farthest from the path of happiness.

Heretofore we gave the law to Moses, and appointed his brother Aaron to be his counsellor:¹²

And we said, ‘Go ye to the people who treat our signs as lies.’ And them destroyed we with utter destruction.

And as to the people of Noah! when they treated their Apostles as impostors, we drowned them; and we made them a sign to mankind:— A grievous chastisement have we prepared for the wicked!

And Ad and Themoud, and the men of Rass,¹³ and divers generations between them:

Unto each of them did we set forth parables for warnings, and each of them did we utterly exterminate.

Oft ere this have the unbelieving Meccans passed by the city on which was rained a fatal rain. What! Have they not seen it? Yet have they no hope of a resurrection!

And when they see thee, they do but take thee as the subject of their railleries. ‘What! Is this he whom God has sent as an Apostle?

Indeed he had well nigh led us astray from our gods, had we not persevered steadfastly in their service.’ But in the end they shall know, when they shall see the punishment, who hath most strayed from the path.

What thinkest thou? He who hath taken his passions as a god — wilt thou be a guardian over him?

Thinkest thou that the greater part of them hear or understand? They are just like the brutes! Yes! they stray even further from the right way.

Hast thou not seen how thy Lord lengtheneth out the shadow?¹⁴ Had He pleased he had made it motionless.¹⁵ But we made the sun to be its guide;

Then draw it in unto Us with easy indrawing.

He it is who ordaineth the night as a garment, and sleep for rest, and ordaineth the day for waking up to life:

He it is who sendeth the winds as the forerunner of his mercy (rain); and pure water send we down from Heaven,

That we may revive by it a dead land: and we give it for drink to our creation, beasts and men in numbers;

And we distribute it among them on all sides, that they may reflect: but most men refuse to be aught but thankless.

Had we pleased, we had raised up a warner in every city.

Give not way therefore to the Infidels, but by means of this Koran strive against them with a mighty strife.

And He it is who hath let loose the two seas,¹⁶ the one sweet, fresh; and the other salt, bitter; and hath put an interspace between them, and a barrier that cannot be passed.

And it is He who hath created man of water,¹⁷ and established between them the ties of kindred and affinity: and potent is thy Lord.

Yet beside God do they worship what can neither help nor hurt them: and the Infidel is Satan’s helper against his Lord:

Still we have sent thee only as a herald and a warner.

SAY: I ask of you no recompense for it,¹⁸ except from him who is willing to take the way to his Lord.

And put thou thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not, and celebrate his praise; (He fully knoweth the faults of his servants) who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, and whatever is between them, then mounted his Throne: the God of Mercy! Ask now of the Wise concerning Him.

But when it is said to them, ‘Bow down before the God of Mercy,’ they say, ‘Who is the God of Mercy? Shall we bow down to what thou biddest?’ And they fly from thee the more.

Blessed be He who hath placed in the Heaven the sign of the Zodiac!¹⁹ who hath placed in it the Lamp of the Sun, and the light-giving Moon!

And it is He who hath ordained the night and the day to succeed one another for those who desire to think on God or desire to be thankful.

And the servants of the God of Mercy are they who walk upon the Earth softly; and when the ignorant²⁰ address them, they reply, ‘Peace!’

They that pass the night in the worship of their lord prostrate and standing:—

And that say, ‘O our Lord! turn away from us the torment of Hell, for its torment is endless: it is indeed an ill abode and resting place!

Those who when they spend are neither lavish nor niggard, but keep the mean:—

Those who call on no other gods with God, nor slay whom God hath forbidden to be slain, except for a just cause, and who commit not fornication (for he who doth this shall meet the reward of his wickedness:

Doubled to him shall be the torment on the day of Resurrection; and in it shall he remain, disgraced, for ever:—

Save those who shall repent and believe and do righteous works — for them God will change their evil things into good things, for God is Gracious, Merciful —

And whoso turneth to God and doeth what is right, he verily will convert with a true conversion):

And they who bear not witness to that which is false, and when they pass by frivolous sport, pass on with dignity:—

And they who, when monished by the signs of their Lord, fall not down thereat, as if deaf and blind:—

And who say, ‘O our Lord! give us in our wives and offspring the joy of our eyes, and make us examples to those who fear thee:’

These shall be rewarded with the High Places of Paradise for their steadfast endurance, and they shall meet therein with — Welcome and Salutation:—

For ever shall they remain therein: a fair abode and resting­place!

SAY: Not on your account doth my Lord care if ye call not on Him! ye have treated his Apostle as an impostor: but bye and bye a punishment shall cleave to them.